diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:53:26 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:53:26 -0700 |
| commit | 910f04a54cbbb699f5d75b543d57af7ae17d070b (patch) | |
| tree | 7fafd17b53b62a87c67d3a96e0c62ac0f801b0bb | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30264-0.txt | 3519 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30264-h/30264-h.htm | 4160 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30264-h/images/frontis.jpg | bin | 0 -> 68825 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30264-h/images/map1.jpg | bin | 0 -> 67029 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30264-h/images/map2.jpg | bin | 0 -> 60990 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264-8.txt | 3916 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 81828 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 268668 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264-h/30264-h.htm | 4567 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264-h/images/frontis.jpg | bin | 0 -> 68825 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264-h/images/map1.jpg | bin | 0 -> 67029 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264-h/images/map2.jpg | bin | 0 -> 60990 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264.txt | 3916 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/30264.zip | bin | 0 -> 81714 bytes |
17 files changed, 20094 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30264-0.txt b/30264-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..982c365 --- /dev/null +++ b/30264-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3519 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30264 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 30264-h.htm or 30264-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30264/30264-h/30264-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30264/30264-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/ligeonlineofma00bige + + + + + +LIÉGE +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + +[Illustration: GLENNA L. BIGELOW] + + +LIÉGE +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + +An American Girl's Experiences When the Germans Came Through Belgium + +by + +GLENNA LINDSLEY BIGELOW + + + + + + + +New York: John Lane Company +London: John Lane, The Bodley Head +MCMXVIII + +Copyright, 1918, by +John Lane Company + + + + +_TO THE KING OF THE BELGIANS_ + + + _Multitudes upon multitudes they throng + And thicken: who shall number their array? + They bid the peoples tremble and obey: + Their faces are set forward, all for wrong. + They trample on the covenant and are strong + And terrible. Who shall dare to say them nay? + How shall a little nation bar the way + Where that resistless host is borne along?_ + + _You never thought, O! gallant King, to bow + To overmastering force and stand aside. + Safe and secure you might have reigned. But now + Your Belgium is transfigured, glorified, + The friend of France and England, who avow + An Equal here, and thank the men who died._ + + _H. M._ + _London Times, August 14, 1914._ + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Liége on the Line of March, or An American Girl's Experience When the +Germans Came Through Belgium, is a unique story. No other American +probably was in the exact position of Miss Bigelow who was at the +Château d'Angleur, Liége, Belgium, with the family of Monsieur X. at the +outbreak of the war and experienced with them and the people of their +country those tragic events which, up to the present, have hardly even +been sketched for the world. + +What the public already knows of armies, guns, trenches, etc., has +little to do with the suffering that the people of an invaded country +endures, when the white-hot flame of the enemy invasion sweeps over the +land scorching every flower and leaving in its wake only desolation and +pain and despair. This narrative describes in detail just what might +come to any one of its readers if the Germans were victorious in Europe. +Let him picture to himself his line of action or even his line of +thought if an insolent officer came into his home, took his paintings +from the wall, his rugs from the floor, his private papers from his +desk and, finally, his sons to--what fate? The most pacific of pacifists +would draw a tight breath at such proceedings. And these are the least +of things that have happened in Belgium. + +But the journal was not written with exhortative design. It is the +simple and truthful story of daily events as they occurred; if, at +times, the words seem brutal, the circumstances were brutal. Why should +one not know them? + +The Château d'Angleur was respected as far as real pillaging and +destroying were concerned for the fact that a cousin of Monsieur X., a +Belgian by birth, is the wife of the Count von M. of Germany, at one +time Grand Chancellor of the Imperial Court and a trusted friend of +Emperor William the Second. As was proven afterwards this relationship, +surprisingly enough, had some influence on the side of clemency. + +Monsieur X. was one of that family of famous Belgian bankers which has +existed for four generations. He was also President of the International +Sleeping Car Company of Europe to which honor he was appointed at the +death of his brother Monsieur Georges X., the originator and founder of +the Company. + +Madame X. is a Russian by birth, the great-granddaughter of Prince ----, +who was at one time Grand Chancellor of the Court of Russia, and a +cousin of Princess ----, a lady in waiting to Her Former Majesty the +Czarina of Russia. The daughter of Madame X., Baronne de H., wife of a +Belgian nobleman of Brussels, is a personal friend of Their Majesties, +the King and Queen of Belgium. + +Miss Bigelow, though a neutral subject, was nevertheless a virtual +prisoner of the Germans from August to November, 1914, owing to the lack +of facility in getting away from Belgium. The railroad was taken over +entirely by the German Army; automobiles, horses, carriages, etc., being +long since confiscated and appropriated by the Germans. Considerable +anxiety was felt as to her safety as no communication with the outside +world was possible during those three months of internment. Therefore, +her journal was faithfully kept for the benefit of her family and +depicts the comfortable luxurious life of the days preceding August, +1914, the shock of the Declaration of War, the terrific battle of +Sartilmont, three kilometres from the château, which entailed indirectly +the death of Monsieur X. in the early morning of the following day while +the guns were still booming. It also includes the bombardment of Liége +which lasted twelve days, the care of soldiers burned in the forts, the +capture of the city by the Prussians, their brutal shooting of +civilians, the burning of parts of the town and the taking of citizens +as hostages. + +The passing of the German army with all its accompanying paraphernalia +that went to the front in the first days is described as it was +photographed on the brain of the writer, looking down from her window, +day after day, onto the highroad. + +The journal ends with the attempted withdrawal to Brussels, the final +escape to Holland by the aid of the Dutch Consul of Maestricht, the +journey from Flushing, Holland, to Folkestone, England, to Calais and to +Paris. The last part of this journal will appeal to those who have known +and loved Paris in the old days, and portrays her to the world as the +flower she is, revealing her truth and her worth tho' stripped of that +individual worldliness which was yet a charm. + +_Note.--All except German names in the Journal are fictitious._ + + + + +LIÉGE + +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + + + +LIÉGE, ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + + + +_July 30th, Thursday._ + + +To-day has been warm, very warm and sultry, a day of surprises, +beginning with the sudden disappearance of Monsieur X.'s trusted head +clerk--a German boy who has been in the office for fifteen years and who +knew every phase of the situation. What reason on earth could he have +had for vanishing like that with all his personal belongings, not +leaving one trace behind to show that such a person had ever been? Odd, +but certainly done with studied thoroughness. + +This afternoon we sat at the end of the garden by the little lake, +listless and content to do nothing. The air was ominously still, as I +remember it now, and the sun beat down through a yellow haze. Suddenly, +without the slightest warning, huge drops of rain began to fall. You can +imagine that we scurried up the path as fast as possible, past the old +oak, and reached the terrace just before the very heavens opened in a +flood and a great shaft of lightning, like a sword, swept down from the +sky straight to the oak tree, crushing it completely. My hand trembles a +little as I write tonight--it was the suddenness of the onslaught which +unnerved me, I suppose, for it was a curious thing that there were no +signs of approaching storm except the dull yellow light which we did not +notice then. + +There was a small dinner this evening and the table was beautiful as +usual with old silver and candles which shed their warm light about--all +lovely and luxurious. Monsieur R., M.P., did his best to draw out the +political opinions of the party, but conversation, quite contrary to +custom, was fitful. I think every one was a little unstrung by the +afternoon's experience and the air even yet is full of electricity. + +During one of the unwelcome pauses of the dinner a motor came panting up +the drive and "Uncle Henri" burst in, virtually hatless and coatless, +fairly bristling with political news and very much annoyed that +something, anything, had wrecked his normal existence for a moment. But +this something which has happened is terribly serious. The French trains +are not going beyond the frontier to-night, and part of "Uncle Henri's" +agitation was due to this fact as he had been obliged to walk a few +hundred yards to get the Belgian train. In the excitement of such an +unheard of proceeding he had plunged ponderously along in the dark and +mud with his fellow-travellers and incidentally lost his luggage and his +valet, the ineradicably English James. Nobody took in the seriousness of +such a strange tale at first, for Uncle Henri is, before all, _très +comédien_. But why was he not in Russia as he was expected to be? Very +good reasons indeed, for it appears that Austria and Serbia and Germany +and Russia are about to jump down each other's throats, according to +widespread rumor. France, too, is writhing in suppressed excitement +which one cannot understand, with conditions growing worse every minute. +It would seem rather left-handed for Germany and Russia to reach around +through France to cross swords. + +Timid little Madame N. asked if these things might indicate War. +Everybody scouted the idea and ridiculed the thought of the hard-headed, +common-sense, Western world doing anything so absurd. So we will leave +it to the _diplomats_ to settle the difficulty. I am glad that they can. + + + + +_July 31st, Friday._ + + +Yesterday was only a preliminary to the seething in the tea-pot which +exists as to-day's events show--everybody is bewildered at the +tremendous things that have started and the equally tremendous things +that have stopped. What does it all mean? There is the greatest +excitement aroused by the foreign news in the evening papers, announcing +in glaring headlines a diplomatic rupture between Germany and Russia. So +it's true! Probably your seismic stock market has already foretold +coming disturbance, but for Europe it is a positive bomb. Already here +in Liége not more than half of the daily four hundred and eighty trains +have passed the city, and it is reported that none of these go beyond +the frontier. + + + + +_August 1st, Saturday._ + + +Today the papers announce the stunning news that Germany has declared +war against Russia. The report must be sufficiently authentic, for, as +if by magic, the Belgian army is already gathering itself together with +an almost superhuman rapidity, proof of which we have had in the masses +of troops that have been passing the château all day. Yesterday, trouble +was a newspaper rumor; today, deadly earnestness. And what excitement +all about! The air is positively charged and the whole community is +agog; people with anxious faces accost each other in the street; +farmers neglect their crops to come into town, bank clerks lay down +their pens and shop doors are beginning to close. + + + + +_August 2nd, Sunday._ + + +The world has suddenly become nothing but people, and the transition +from the peaceful, care-free existence of four days ago is so great that +I cannot write intelligently, today, because so much is happening. +Following on His Majesty King Albert's magnificent discourse [_Vive le +roi!_], the spirit of a great and glorious decision has set the empire +in motion. The vast machine moves--though some of the bolts creak and +protest a little in their rusty coats and the earth trembles to the +rhythm of tramping feet. Hundreds of soldiers and cannon have been +passing all night, and this morning routes in every direction are +blockaded by detachments from different regiments. There are uniforms of +all types and colors, the ensemble looking like a variegated bouquet +snatched hurriedly by the wayside; the sorting will come later, one +doesn't ask how. The old farm at the end of the garden has been turned +into a barracks, and recruits are being drilled among the apple trees in +the orchard. The excitement is intense--one treads carefully fearing to +be the first to prick the bubble. The newspapers are disquieting, as it +appears now that Germany will probably declare war against France, too, +and is contemplating passing through Belgium by Namur or Luxembourg to +the French frontier. That is a rather offensive threat, as, of course, +there is the neutrality of Belgium and one cannot get away with that. We +consider ourselves most lucky to be here rather than in France. + +A detachment of Belgian soldier boys slept in the stables last night. +Monsieur X. sent them his best cigars, and this morning, as soon as they +tumbled out, they made a straight line for the kitchen whence they +scented hot coffee. The good heart of the old, fat cook, who is a native +of Amsterdam, was melted at once and she gave unsparingly until they +flattered and coaxed her into such a state of bewilderment that even +Dutch patience was at last exhausted when she saw them pouring in and +pouring in and boldly attacking her sumptuous pantries _en masse_. + + + + +_August 3rd, Monday._ + + +Preparations for war are going on rapidly; scores of automobiles are +racing past like mad things, carrying Governmental messages no doubt +and the Government itself, by its eternal prerogative, is commandeering +for its use everybody's private property--horses, cows, automobiles, +pigs, merchandise, provisions, etc. And how one gives for one's country! +The men, their goods; the women, their sons. The spirit of the people is +magnificent. Huge loads of hay in long processions like caravans are +coming in from the country along with immense droves of cattle. In the +orchard adjoining the château are already domiciled two hundred or more +cows and the discordant melody from this hoarse-throated chorus, +uninterrupted day or night, is driving us to madness. Indoors, we +ourselves are laying in a supply of things in case of necessity and the +kitchen is piled high with bags of flour, coffee, beans, tinned goods, +etc., and in the pasture is a new cow. Beef will probably be the _pièce +de resistance_ for many a day. + +Monsieur X.'s old coiffeur came out from town today. He is French and by +far the most volatile person about the news of the moment that I have +seen. It is like a play to hear him declaim on the situation, but, poor +man, having endured the Siege of Paris for six months in 1870, he +doubtless has recollections. And he makes the most of them as well as of +his dramatic ability, describing in an eloquent manner how he fried +rats in a saucepan, which with some spice and plenty of onion all +around, he admitted, were "_pas mal du tout_." Madame X. herself was in +the "Siege of Paris" in 1870 and is therefore taking thought. + +These details of the equipment and provisioning of the army will be as +interesting to you as they are engaging to us here in the midst of it, +for they are not commonly even included in a rapid conception of "War" +though being in reality the biggest part of it. + +What masses of convoys and munitions! They must constitute that same +impressive "impedimenta" that one used to read about in Cæsar's Wars +which by its unfailing late arrival constantly threw the old Romans into +such a frightful _dépit_. But happily, in this case, it comes first +instead of last. + +The whole world seems to be changing place like sand on a moving disc +and my mind is losing its grip on what is real--it's a curious feeling. +Madame X. and her family, like everybody else, are extremely anxious, as +one would naturally be with his country, his home and his future in +peril, but I, in my superb (what shall I say?) Americanism or optimism, +am sure it will come out all right: nevertheless I feel confused. + + + + +_August 4th, Tuesday._ + + +The situation, already grave, has taken a definite turn. Germany is +going to attack France through Belgium. Completely ignoring the +neutrality of the latter, she demands to "just pass through peaceably," +but being refused permission, so much the worse for those who are in the +road. Personally speaking, I should say we are decidedly in the +road--Aix-la-Chapelle--Liége--Namur. Don't you think the crow would +agree with me? + +We saw a charming spectacle this morning if anything connected with war +can be so called,--a little company of _mitrailleuses-à -chien_, that is, +small, shrapnel gun carriages drawn by the famous Belgian dogs. It sort +of made my heart crinkle up to see those magnificent animals, detailed +for fatal duty without doubt, pushing on so joyously. Straining in the +traces and really smiling with their great tongues hanging out, they +were performing their work, proud as Punch, and eager to get on. + +In the afternoon we were suddenly startled by the booming of nearby +cannon. I shall never forget the first sound of it! It might have been +the Last Trumpet and we didn't know that it was not. My soul turned sick +and seemed to be tumbling down a fathomless abyss while a pair of +unprejudiced eyes watched its descent. Please do not think I am not +serious--it is a moment when one meets things face to face and the +inevitable is happening. We hear that the firing is for the purpose of +demolishing houses and churches before the forts, which might in any way +obstruct the range of the guns. Did I explain that Liége is encircled by +twelve forts, built about twenty-eight years ago under the personal +direction of Général Brialmont? They are on the same principle as those +of Namur and Bucharest, and are large affairs of concrete, sunk three +stories under ground and furnished with elaborate electrical apparatus. +Covering and protecting the cannon are automatic, armored cupolas, +rising and falling with the modern, disappearing guns. Here is a tiny, +freehand map which will give you an idea of the country as well as the +situation of Château d'A----, where I am and which is just between the +city and the enceinte of forts. A shell overreaching this latter, from +the enemy's field cannon, would, I should say, tumble right into our +"zone." But we do not even admit of such a possibility in speaking to +each other. Isn't it funny how we continue to deceive ourselves and life +is a sham to the last throw? + +[Illustration: MAP OF LIÉGE WITH THE TWELVE SURROUNDING FORTS] + +Général Brialmont warned the Government when the forts were under +construction, that if it could not maintain an army sufficiently strong +to defend the open country between them, he was building them for the +Germans. That statement revived suddenly, gives rise to an apprehension +hitherto unfelt by the _Liégeois_, who have absolute faith in the +impregnability of Liége. + +Madame X.'s oldest son, Monsieur S., and his wife, arrived tonight from +France by auto. They would never have been able to get here if Monsieur +S. had not the royal seal on some state papers which he was bringing +from the Belgian Embassy in Paris. Was there ever such a wildly exciting +ride, plunging through two battle lines (French and Belgian) into massed +formations everywhere? Nevertheless Madame S. said she used to fall +asleep from sheer fatigue during the long drives in the blackness of the +night or when they were stopped for hours at a time to identify even a +king's messenger. + + + + +_August 5th, Wednesday._ + + +I wonder what you are thinking of events, at home? You will marvel that +I can write at such length when the very skies seem to be pressing down +upon us. But it is the greatest relaxation possible and a kind of +safety valve. It makes me think of some lines of Shakespeare where +different conditions "oft make the wise dumb and teach the fool to +speak." So I write on. The news we get may not be altogether authentic, +as we receive nothing now except by word of mouth. By report it seems +that England, France and Russia are prepared to defend the neutrality of +Belgium with their armies. Liége is now in a state of siege with the +Prussians before the forts. Commerce in the city has ceased completely +with the railroad, telegraph, telephone, post, tramcars, newspapers, +shops and factories. Can you understand what that means? At one time or +another in our lives most of us have been the victim of a social +condition called a "strike"--horribly inconvenient circumstances, when +the mail-man did not come, for instance, or train service was laid off +or the electric light went out for a time. But these instances were all +individual, that is, they happened separately, while here the whole +Universe has shut down together. I could not make you comprehend the +criticalness of our position. I feel as if we were suspended by the +finest thread between heaven and earth, for there is nothing very solid +under our feet and only a sea of ether over our heads. This description +is wholly inadequate to interpret the sensation or the uncertainty. Can +you imagine what it would be like? I cannot exactly say I feel "fear"; +perhaps I cannot define fear; but a heaven-sent optimism buoys me up. In +our journeys 'round, having previously experienced cold plunges in the +dark, the fascination of "chance" lets us hope. + +"War!" What other lone factor could bring about at the same moment, such +circumstances, the absolute cessation of every living element of our +existence? I know that you will be amused at my sudden plunging into the +psychological realm, but it all makes me wonder. Oh, our dear +civilization and the convenient things we are used to! A puff of smoke, +a hostile shot and they are gone. And here we are, groping like the +veriest savage for a hole to hide in and something to eat. I assure you, +nothing else occupies us for the moment. How is it that the whole house +of cards falls down together? In all these centuries of Struggle and +Learning and Science and Dissent has nobody found a common leaven for +bread? + +It is not yet decided if we shall go to Brussels considering what is +rather sure to happen. Several days ago large quantities of gasoline +were buried in the garden under the shrubbery in the event of our +leaving quickly by automobile. However, Brussels is an open city and it +is a question if we would be as well off there as here in this strongly +fortified place. + +But Dieu! If they do come--? There is the sub-cellar of the château +whose fine arches and solid vaulting two hundred years old, would hold +even if the house were burned down about our ears. But no! To be +suffocated under burning ruins, no, no! We will not think of that! + +A moment of reckless mirth assails me: I want to scream! I feel like the +fair Dido mounting her funeral pyre. + +One other hiding place has been thought of. Up in the woods on the +hill-side is a long tunnel about four feet in diameter which conducts a +tiny mountain stream down to the lake. It is dark and wet. Could we stay +there on our knees in the water for many hours, perhaps days? Heavens! +It is unthinkable. Let us die in the open, if die we must. + +I am writing this morning in my room, which looks out on the highroad +and the hurrying troops. It is not a time that one would choose for +composition, but I want you to get as vivid an impression as possible of +events as they occur, _et enfin_, I must do something. The booming of +cannon has commenced again, which is sufficiently frequent and of a +certain terrifying decision to assure us that fighting has really +begun. + +This ceased during the early evening and we went to bed in peace. That +is, we went to bed. Madame X.'s oldest son was detailed for sentinel +duty on the little road at the side of the château leading up to the +plateau from where the sound of guns came during the day. Monsieur J., +the other son, with a friend of his, was carrying messages from one fort +to another in his auto, miraculously scooting between the shots. + +About 10 P. M. we were violently awakened by furious sounds of +shots in the distance which must have been rifle fire and which grew +more and more distinct, gradually becoming incessant like a long, +uninterrupted drum roll--the machine guns, I suppose. These frightful +noises, increased in volume by the minute and coming on and on in our +direction, were shortly right over the hill above us. The bullets rained +like hail and shells shrieked and split the universe from end to end. We +lay in our beds, trembling, while utter terror seized us as the fracas +would subside a little and then roll nearer and nearer in a perfect +deluge of horrible sounds. Suddenly in the middle of it all a terrific +blast rent the air; the forts had entered into this hideous contest! Oh +the joy of it! I hardly breathed between their shots which seemed +centuries apart and in reality were only a few minutes, for I thought, +now, surely the struggle must end; no enemy can long withstand their +mighty will. But the battle lasted all night with increasing fury. The +roar and din were beyond words, the concerted effort of four forts, the +giant field cannon, machine guns and rifles. My heart stands still when +I remember the thundering of those forts, the premeditated destruction, +the finality which each boom! bespoke, and the thousands of human beings +up there fighting like madmen. The latter, in the wild confusion of +fire, battle and the blackness of the night, finished by shooting into +each other by mistake as their officers were cut down in their midst. + +About 2 A. M. we all gathered in Madame X.'s sitting-room. +Suddenly, quite unconscious of any definite purpose, I remember pulling +on the light. Monsieur X., aghast, said, "Mademoiselle, put it out +quickly. They might see it through the dark and aim for it." + +What a night! and what visions we conjured up of the invincible +Prussians, drunk with blood and battle ready for any atrocity, plunging +down the hill into our own garden. The sound of the guns was so near +that Monsieur X. thought the battle must be in the open on his own +property just above the hill. As a matter of fact it was only three +kilometres away, on the plain of Sartilmont. + + + + +_August 6th, Thursday._ + + +Rain came with the light. That gentle pattering on the sod, after the +tumult of the night, was the sweetest sound I ever heard. It was just as +if Nature had put out Her mother's hand over the earth to soothe its +troubled breast. Was she pleading for that mercy which drops as Her own +gentle tears from Heaven? + +During the morning the road in front of the château was filled with +Belgian troops, bedraggled with mud, trying to regain order. And there +they halted for hours and hours in the rain--an absolute picture of +dejection. Even the horses imbibed the general despair as they stood +there, heads drooping, their manes stirring in the wind. That must be +the hard part of it--waiting for orders; but they did it well, no +impatience nor fretting, just obeying the command, their very immobility +carving them a niche in the landscape. These men had been fighting for +several days and, bowed down as they were with the wet and misery of it +all, made a shocking contrast to fresh troops of cavalry which passed at +the same time, brandishing long, dramatic looking lances. And Felix, +the second gardener, who is one of these "_lanciers_," came to say +good-bye in the elegant uniform of his regiment and looking very smart +in white trousers and short blue jacket--in fact, a man transformed. + +I had always seen him in wooden sabots and blue apron coaxing this +flower and that into bloom, but he had never been a great success at it. +When his elder brother died, he had wished, so much, to replace him as +head-gardener, so his master let him try for a little and he had failed, +indifferently. But here was a soldier-man, stout heart and valiant +sword, eager to serve his King. This time he will not fail but will meet +his opportunity more than half way.[1] All day Red Cross ambulances and +every kind of vehicle were hurrying by, bringing the wounded from the +battlefield. Madame X.'s family physician stopped in on one of his trips +for a moment's respite from the awfulness up there--his description of +those scenes is too terrible to write about. The carnage was +awful--pieces of bodies scattered about everywhere, the wounded writhing +in their death agony and the dead standing up straight against masses of +dead. + +In the evening, indistinct sounds of a far off battle could be heard as +the struggle moved on to another quarter. Nearer, we heard the trailing +of heavy artillery down the mountain and against our will the thought +formulated itself, "Will that wave of terror roll back to us?" Our ears +have developed an abnormal acuteness, so that almost a pin falling will +make taut nerves scream, though in reality nobody moves--a glance is +enough to both ask and answer a question. A marvelous new +self-possession seems to have come to everybody which bridges over a +natural despair and forms, at least, a skeleton framework by which we +keep each other up. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Not heard of again. + + + + +_August 7th, Friday._ + + +More or less booming from the forts all day. As communications of every +kind have been cut off, we cannot know what is happening. But where is +the assistance so direfully needed, promised by both France and England +to poor little Belgium with the great German army moving on Liége? +Everybody has faith, however, in the Allies, and in the streets it is +pathetic to hear people assuring each other, "_O, oui, les Français +viennent ce soir_" (Oh, yes, the French are coming to-night). There are +many German troops in town already, who somehow have pushed their way +in between the firing, but the city will not cede the forts, so the +bombardment may begin at any moment. I cannot define my +impressions--some day I may be able to, but just now I do not know what +they are. Happily the château is on the edge of the city and there is a +certain quiet at present, but in town pandemonium reigns. Men, women and +children are fleeing in all directions with their few most precious +possessions tied up in a bundle. And where are they going to, the poor +things, with all roads in the country choked up, soldiers and trenches +everywhere? + + + + +_August 8th, Saturday._ + + +This morning we walked through the garden to service in the little +village church. For a short moment a welcome calm stole over us in the +quiet of those walls, but how sinister to hear the eternal boom of +cannon between the words of the Mass. All the bridges of the city are +mined and guarded. The five days given Liége by the Prussians to +surrender are up tonight. What will tomorrow bring forth? The Belgians +have blown up the tunnel at Trois Ponts, near the German frontier, as +well as the railroad in many places, which will impede the enemy's +advance considerably, and great trees have been cut down across the +roads in all the country roundabout. + +Mère Gavin came hobbling down the path from the top of the hill this +evening to tell us of the astonishing experience she had this afternoon +when a peasant came to her old hut and offered to buy her cow. Now as +her cow is her most precious possession and her sole support she refused +at once, tho' frightened at her own boldness. The stranger, however, was +rather insistent and asked if she would rent the cow, then, for fifty +francs an hour? Was there ever a queerer offer? Of course fifty francs +was a gold-mine to Mère Gavin, so she accepted, and was fairly overcome +when the man laid down three hundred francs on the table and told her to +keep them for him. Then he drove the cow away over the hills while Mère +G. sat staring stupidly at her gold. After a time he came back (with the +cow) and said, "Old One, three hours after I have gone, you can tell +your people that the red _pantalons_ (French soldiers) will be here in +forty-eight hours." Was that not a clever way for a French Scout to find +out the lie of the land? + + + + +_August 9th, Sunday._ + + +Some of the Prussians have succeeded in penetrating into the city, tho' +the forts have not surrendered, and are already establishing martial +rule. Aeroplanes, with the wings turned back, _Taubes_, have been flying +about all the morning. In the afternoon we went up over the hill to the +plain of Sartilmont, the battlefield of Wednesday night. All along the +road were heaps of uniforms, some quite new, probably taken from the +dead. Those horrid limp things made me shiver with their lifelessness, +and the spirit of death, everywhere, seemed to close us in. Countless +numbers of haversacks were strewn about, doubtless cast away by the +soldiers to disencumber themselves in falling quickly back from one +position to another. In them, generally, was a change of underwear, +light boots, hard biscuit, canned meats and confiture. Already a flock +of human ravens was collected about the piles of débris, sorting out +what was good to take and collecting fragments of bread for a happy +repast. It was sickening to see, when possibly some of those brave, dead +soldiers were lying, yet unburied, in the nearby hedges and ravines. +Arrived at the little village we saw destruction a plenty. The +inhabitants all had terror-stricken countenances and yet in their desire +to please, literally fell over each other in haste to tell and show. +Some of the buildings were entirely demolished, others with doors hacked +up and windows broken, while everywhere houses and trees were riddled +with bullets. One old peasant woman told me that she and fifty others +were imprisoned for twenty-four hours by the Germans in a tiny stable, +without food or drink, and for no apparent reason. + +The battlefield on the top of a ridge of hills between the Ourthe and +the Meuse is a large plain, around the edges of which lay scores of +magnificent trees cut down in haste to give unobstructed range. Their +branches had been previously soaked in _pétrole_ and set on fire. The +effect of those prostrate, charred monsters added to the desolation all +around. Across the end of the plain were those famous open trenches of +"two stories," that is, with about a two-foot elevation of earth in the +bottom against the front wall of the ditch, forming a kind of platform +for the soldiers when taking aim. + +These were dug by the soldiers and men from the factories of Liége. In +front of the trenches were constructed those marvellous, barbed wire +fences, about one and one half metres apart and perhaps five rows deep, +with the wire twisted and wound in every conceivable fashion. Thirty +feet in front of this barrier was buried a string of mines, connected +with the trenches by an electric wire, to be exploded at a given +moment. Dark as the night was, the enemy found and severed some of +these communications so that most of the mines were rendered +ineffective. We saw the cut wire in several places. What hope can those +poor soldiers have, enemy or no, the advance guard of the besiegers, who +are pushed forward often at the point of the bayonet, armed only with +huge scissors to cut through such an almost impenetrable defense? + +A most touching sight was the graves of thirty Belgians in one end of +these trenches. Does that not seem a terrible irony to be buried in +one's own trenches? A few common, wayside flowers were strewn on the +graves, in front of which was an old prayer-stool and a wooden cross +surmounted with a Belgian _képi_ (military cap). This cap seemed a +living thing almost and reminded me of the red fez so often seen on the +Moslem tombs in the cemeteries of Constantinople, which seemingly +strives to evoke a vital spirit from the frigid marble. Nailed to the +cross was a fragment of those well-known lines of the Immortal Cæsar, +"Of all the peoples of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest." You see, the +old warrior knew that long ago. + +Near by was a small, shrapnel gun carriage, by which stood a toothless, +old man who told, in that excruciating _Wallon_ tongue, a pathetic story +of one of the dogs which had probably drawn it. His mate doubtless was +killed in battle, but he returned three days later, lay down beside the +broken wheels and defied anyone to approach. + + + + +_Monday, August 10th._ + + +Monsieur S. came home to-day laden down with bags of gold like Ali Baba. +How he is going to do away with it so that the ferret eyes of the enemy +will not spy it out, is a problem to me. And I do not want it explained +for I am sure I should look right into the forbidden corner at the wrong +moment and give the secret away. + +Although there are thousands of German soldiers who have come into the +city and who control it, they are like rats in a trap. On account of the +twelve surrounding forts they cannot leave it and for the same reason no +one can come to their aid. So they have mounted machine guns in corner +houses of many streets and it is horrible to see those deadly mouths +gaping out of the windows. In case of an uprising among the civilians +the soldiers' revenge will be to kill the women and children. But no! +that is not possible in these days, from men who are neither savages nor +Turks. + +A heavy cannonading began at 4.30 A. M.--it literally tore us +from sleep, for it seemed as if the very house were tumbling down about +our ears and the singing and whizzing of those big shells was _bizarre_, +to put it mildly. One did not know whether to get up or efface one's +self in the blankets. I remember having the utmost confidence in the +headboard of my bed, which was toward the window. But that did not +obliterate the siren whistle of those big shells and the moment of +suspense between the lightning and the thunder. After each deafening +burst I kept reiterating to myself, "Saved again," as one would repeat a +chronological table of something important. About 8.00 A. M. we +straggled into the breakfast room--all of us rather lifeless and with +very white faces and little appetite for either eating or talking. There +seemed to be only one thing to say, which was, "Did you hear that?" It +was the same sensation again of the thread between heaven and earth. I +wonder if it will break! + +This afternoon we took a little walk into the city along the river, +Madame X., her two sons--Monsieur S. and Monsieur J., her daughter, +Baronne de H., and myself. We passed several Prussian guards on the +bridges and Monsieur S. talked with one of them. It appears that the men +are very disheartened. This man said he had started with a company of +seven hundred soldiers and entered Liége with sixty four. That's what it +means to "take cities without difficulty"--and nobody remembers the +seven hundred mothers, or wives, or children that are left. The +burgomaster has received some most sensational news from Brussels, but +it is too ridiculous to be believed. + +Tonight is still and Nature is beautiful in the moonlight. Is it the +calm before the storm? Here in the château we are comfortable with +plenty to eat and faithful servants. In town one is not so lucky as a +cousin of Madame X. is quartering forty soldiers and ten officers at +table who are not--or rather, who are a little argumentative, and we +have heard of some instances where the "host" and "hostess" have had to +sleep in the garret or the cellar or wherever they could, while the best +rooms are appropriated by the _militaires_. Blankets, etc., are also +being requisitioned from many houses. + +It is reported that Général Léman narrowly escaped being captured +recently when he was lunching in the court of the Café ---- in town. His +companions-in-arms suddenly became aware of four men in strange uniform +who were approaching, and gave the alarm. Général Léman succeeded in +getting over the wall of the garden while the others engaged the spies +in a hand-to-hand fight and overcame them. + + + + +_August 11th, Tuesday._ + + +Invincible Liége! People are still firm in their faith, encouraged by +the peace of the morning. The day was quiet until 6.00 _P. M._, when +furious shooting into the valley began. We saw the great shells bursting +in the air and between the clouds of smoke we could distinguish an old +monastery on the other side of the valley which was being shot to pieces +by the enemy's field-cannon. The structure changed shape half a dozen +times before our eyes and the setting sun concentrated, as if purposely, +all its rays on the windows which made them blaze forth through all that +fury like the veritable Hand of God, writing in fire. It seemed almost +like a premonition. + +Pressure from those tremendous guns could remodel mountains, and Nature +herself, sometimes, cannot hold out against the fiendish ingenuity of +man. And the city, itself! Can it hold out? + +In the garden, very near the foot of the mountain, is the old farmhouse, +in one corner of which is a little chapel whose door stands open the +year round. It is of particular interest to the peasants, being the +last relic of a certain superstitious legend of the countryside. The +people come from miles around, crossing the fields by a little path +which they themselves have beaten down, to kneel before this tiny altar; +and on the last Sunday in May, the annual fête, the priests, leading a +religious procession which starts from the church, say Mass there. This +year, May 31st, 1914, the head gardener, who is the indisputable +authority on floral subjects in the village, borrowed everything from +the conservatory and gardens that he could lay his hands on in the way +of decoration. He arranged the semi-circle in front of the little chapel +very artistically with branches of leaves, palms and hundreds of pansies +which the day before had been uprooted from the terraces of the château +to make room for the red, summer geraniums. + +At ten o'clock this Sunday morning the usual fusillade and tolling of +bells announced the departure of the procession from the church. It +passed slowly along by the highroad and presently we heard a chorus of +young voices singing hymns--the girls and boys of the village: the music +was soft and illusive in the distance, developing a sweet crescendo as +they turned into the pasture, fairly plowing their way through a sea of +daisies. Behind them came two little acolytes, fair as angels, swinging +their golden incense lamps; then followed six choir boys, chanting the +Mass, like veritable della Robbias, in their red soutanes and exquisite, +white, lace surplices. Next were the clergy, in robes of cloth of gold +and rare Flemish lace, carrying the Host under a purple velvet canopy. +The village people followed on in quiet devoutness and, arrived at the +chapel, placed lighted candles in the sconces at each side of the grille +door. When the Mass was said and the last plaintive notes had died away, +little children came forward and heaped their thousand-colored bouquets +before the altar. It was an impressive ceremony and must, by its +charming simplicity, leave a mark on many a worldly heart. + +Today, August 11th, 1914, at dusk, as the cannon had ceased firing, we +took a little recreation, following the paths on the mountainside; +looking down from a height of perhaps one hundred feet through the +trees, we saw the little chapel gleaming like a beacon in the dark, +dozens of blinking candles pinioned against the black walls. The grille +door was woven with nosegays, making a curtain of flowers which +partially concealed the altar beyond. + +Before it, stretching up supplicating hands, many women knelt, bowed +down with grief and despair, and children, awed by recent memories, +stood immovable in their places. Poor, poor people! Some of them in +spite of their unwavering faith must drink the bitter cup so near at +hand. + + + + +_August 13th, Thursday._ + + +It is true that one gets inured to danger (particularly if one has not +so far been hit) and after a week of the bombardment, we have a distinct +feeling of annoyance at being disturbed at an unearthly hour every +morning by the screeching and bursting of shells. + +About four A. M. we were awakened by another terrifying +whizzing and exploding of bombs as if we were in the very midst of a +battlefield. This lasted about three hours and all we could do was wait. +I often wonder if it's as hard for the men to go off to war as it is for +the women to stay. The battle was inconceivably furious this morning. If +you could imagine five hundred of the worst thunderstorms, shaken up +together, that you ever experienced, you would arrive at a mild notion +of the tumult, not counting the apprehension, the danger and that +terrifying voice in the whistling trail of every shell which sings, +"This time I'll get you." At four this afternoon the Fort of +Chaudefontaine fell, blown up by the Prussians. Between four and six +o'clock the firing ceased. + +It was an evening of ineffable beauty and the garden looked so lovely in +its mantle of roses, the little lake at the foot with its white swans +and the wooded mountain rising up almost from its waters--a picture of +calm and contentment. We were there taking a long breath after the +nightmare of the day, when the young gardener rushed in from the village +with the news that thirty of the soldiers in the fort, wounded and +burned beyond recognition, were being brought into the Sisters' Convent, +which had been turned into a Red Cross Ambulance hospital. + +The shells from the great field pieces of the enemy falling upon the +forts had shattered the cupolas and had caused them to fall in upon the +Belgians who were thus imprisoned and barely escaped suffocation from +the poisonous gases of the exploding shells. The electric wires were cut +immediately so that the poor things who were entrapped three stories +underground groped about in the dark some time before they at last found +the stairs which led them up through shot and flame and gas to the air. + +Gathering some old linen together we fairly flew across the field to the +convent and stopped short, staggered by what we saw. Never on this +earth could one imagine so horrible a sight as those thirty charred +bodies with no suggestion of faces--just a flat, swollen, black surface, +with no eyes, nose nor mouth. Some of the wounded lay on beds, others in +the middle of the floor or wherever there was space, and each was +holding up hands burned to the bone. The room was dimly lighted, a +hushed quiet reigned except for an occasional stifled groan of pain or a +sigh of concern from the villagers or the swish of the black garments of +those ministering angels, the nuns, as they fluttered about among the +suffering; their white coifs, like a halo, contrasting them with that +other Angel, whose black wings, indeed visible, already shadowed his +chosen. + + + + +_August 14th, Friday._ + + +One has hoped against hope, but the worst has happened and the people +are despondent. Liége is certainly in the hands of the Prussians. They +have been pouring into the city all day and most of the forts have +either been destroyed by the German field artillery or been blown up by +their defenders rather than surrender. We nursed the soldiers all +day--if last night was horrible I could not find the words to describe +what the daylight revealed, or the awful odor of burned flesh when the +wounds were redressed. It was pitiful to see the courage of the poor +men--the Belgians are brave not only on the battle field. With lips too +seared to articulate, they would try to speak and one could occasionally +catch an indistinct "_de l'eau_," or a half-formed "_Merci, chère +Soeur_," but never a moan or a groan. + +At night, as we were wearily returning home, the young footman, with +ashen face, met us half-way down the steps and announced that there +would be Prussian officers at dinner who were already quartered in the +château. We were nearly too tired to be impressed at this as one +naturally would, at least, be moved in one sense or another, but we did +inwardly wonder what the keynote might be at table. + +At eight o'clock dinner was served. Madame X.'s daughter and I, after +such a scrubbing and disinfecting, came down the last ones and stepped +into a veritable playworld of the Middle Ages with the most beautiful +setting--a large salon, opening out onto the terrace, with old, +Flemish-wood fire-place and raftered ceiling, Japanese bronzes, rugs +from the Orient, soft lamps and portraits of dear grandmothers, in the +beauty of their youth, smiling out from their golden frames on the +walls. As we came into the room from the brightly lighted hall, a +semi-circle of gray-green coats rose right up out of the dimness and we +were blinded by a vision of shining buttons, polished boots, gleaming +swords and a military salute accompanied by clinking spurs. At the end +of the room stood Madame X. and her sons waiting for us. Naturally there +were no presentations and the moment was unique in the extreme--nobody +moved for a second which seemed like a decade and nobody spoke, so all +there remained to do was to acknowledge the salute with a semi-circular +bow. + +Dinner was an odd affair tho' it went off not so badly. Madame X., in +her proud Russian beauty and her admirable control of the conditions, +was superb. I never admired anybody so much, for it is not easy to +entertain at one's board an enemy who has just usurped home and country, +but her extraordinary charm and dignity gave the situation its note and +the "guests" were everything that was agreeable. We talked of +generalities, as well as "War," in four languages (Russian, French, +English and German) with much the same _sang-froid_ as the juggler who +tosses knives and, when the meal was done, thanked Heaven that nobody +had launched a tactless bomb which might have plunged us into a boiling +sea. There was nothing particularly boastful in their conversation, +though at times a certain assured reference to "Paris in a fortnight" +crept in, which we found difficult to digest--in fact I was furious. +Paris, indeed! Beautiful Paris! My neighbor at table on the right was a +man of perhaps fifty-eight years, rather gray and grandfatherly, with +such nice, blue eyes. Prefacing all his remarks with a nervous little +cough to fix my attention, he would launch with difficulty one or two +phrases in restricted French followed by a few straggling words in +English and finally finished up with a burst of voluble German. It was a +work of art to understand him, but I arrived panting--at least I had +that sensation, and it is not the first time I have given thanks for a +woman's natural intuition. Then I decided to lead out next--anyway I +wanted to get him started on "War" without precipitating an +international difficulty and I asked him as stupidly as possible +(perhaps I did not need to simulate that) if he liked "War." He +hesitated just a second and I was prepared for the usual self-respecting +denial when he horrified me by answering a simple "Yes." _Voilà , le +sentiment prusse!_ + +Afterward when we went into the salon all the officers, commencing with +the superior, came up to Madame X. and kicking their spurs together with +the habitual "_Danke, Frau_," kissed our hands all around. The youngest +soldier among them was a handsome boy of about twenty-two years, who +interested me rather, because he was different--even his boots were +different and he truly had a striking manner, though very gracious. I am +convinced that he was a prince of a reigning house. The atmosphere had a +way of parting in rapid waves when he came in and dropping behind him +like an impervious shield when he went out. Fair, young Achilles! Will a +fatal arrow attain his charméd person? + + + + +_August 15th, Saturday._ + + +We took care of the wounded all day: it is the most heartrending +spectacle to see those poor, black heads lying there on their pillows. +They were so shapeless and immovable, I had almost begun to look upon +them as without life like charred logs, when, after finishing a dressing +this morning, I was startled by a hearty, "_Merci, chère Soeur._" Oh, +the joy of it! That brightened the whole scene and flooded me with hope. +Then they have not lost their intelligences, they aren't mere pieces of +wood and one day when their poor flesh has rejuvenated itself, they will +be given back to real life--and their country, again. + +The village people and the Sisters were so ardent in their desire to +help that dressings well covered with ointment sometimes fell from their +eager fingers onto grimy blankets or flopped, butter side down, so to +speak, upon the floor; which did not disconcert anyone but me, whose +modern prophylactic soul rattled and shook with horror as the +recalcitrant bandage was gaily redeemed from its dusty resting-place and +applied as originally intended. + +It seemed as if I must remonstrate, but the dear whole-hearted helper +was so sure that her dressing would cure and the patient was so +overwhelmingly grateful for the trouble she took to pick it up for him, +that I was dumb before their exquisite faith. + +Here was something too big for my stilted aseptic advice and it occurred +to me, suddenly, that perhaps there _are_ many things yet undreamed of +in our philosophy. + +All day long the troops in an endless chain have been passing on the +highroad before the château. The air was full of mingled sounds, as, for +example, the singing of the soldiers in the distance, which sounds like +the droning of bees far away and always heralds an advance of troops; +the rhythmic shuffling of feet, the thud of horses' hoofs, the chugging +of autos which carry the superior officers, and the heavy wheels of the +gun carriages with their clanking chains. Their order, equipment and +discipline are admirable to see. + +All their apparel is new, as one of the officers told Monsieur D. at +Spa. Uniforms, boots, belts, saddles, bridles and even buttons--all new +and spic and span for a triumphal entry into Paris. Each man carries two +sets of buttons, one for field service (negligible) and the other, +shining brass ones, for the review down the Champs Elysées. + +All the officers wear a tiny card-board map of Belgium about (3" x 4"), +hung on their coat buttons and every soldier has embossed on his belt +plate "_Gott mit Uns._" At dinner the officers were very entertaining; +the ice was somewhat broken, at least, we knew better what piece was +safe clinging to and we managed to exchange some ideas. It is rather odd +how few of these educated men speak French. In fact, it is so odd that +it makes us suspicious and cautious. Monsieur J. attacked the captain +with this question, as a leader, "when he thought the war would be +over?" (This being the second week of it.) His answer was _net_ and +forbade argument--"We shall be 'home' by Christmas, or Easter at the +latest." But he did have the grace to congratulate the Belgian army on +its stout defense of Liége, for instead of the two days given the +Germans by their Emperor to capture it, they had been constrained to +take nearly two weeks at it. + + + + +_August 16th, Sunday._ + + +A warm, beautiful morning. As Madame de H. and I walked through the +garden and the wood to the little convent ambulance, it was difficult +not to contrast smiling Nature with the frightful scenes of which, in a +few minutes, we would be a part. The awful stench of burned flesh met us +half a block away and congealed my courage as I walked, for it permeates +everything. We can even taste it, it clings in our hair when we go home +and we are obliged to hang our nursing clothes out of the window all +night. I felt as if I must run away from it and those terrible +dressings, reeking with purulence, where ears and eyelids and lips come +off and fingers and hands peel like a glove. + +Then I thought of the patience of those brave fellows and the pain and +awfulness of living it. The fortitude and devotion of the village men +and women are beyond praise--they come day after day to help in the +nursing, some spending the night, turn and turn about. Especially the +tenderness of the men for their "_camarades_" is one of the sweetest +things I ever saw, for they are as gentle and capable in their care as +any woman could possibly be. + +Prussian troops continue to pass and it is a wonderfully impressive +sight; infantry in gray-green khaki, singing, always singing their +famous "_Wacht am Rhein_" and other folk songs: the _Uhlans_, on +beautiful prancing horses, with their long lances and gray-blue capes +fluttering in the wind; _chasseurs_ in light green; "_Hussars de la +Mort_" with the death's head emblem in the front of their high fur hats +and endless companies of artillery with their huge field cannon, each +drawn by six magnificent horses. On the gun carriages sit four gunners +back to back, still as statues, with arms folded as if on parade. It was +for all the world like a circus when the procession goes twice around +the ring before commencing the serious business of the entertainment. + +Dinner was gay tonight (one is obliged to make the best of a bad affair) +and the officers as men of the world were interesting and in unusually +good spirits. + +The Captain, a little facetiously, took up the menu and, drawing a tiny +note-book and pencil from his pocket, proceeded to copy it in French, +soliciting Madame X.'s aid _en passant_. + +A curious fact occurred to me as I sat there looking down both sides of +the table, how much alike they were--it seems as if they must even think +the same thoughts to resemble each other so much. As their heads were +closely cropped, outlines were baldly apparent, low forehead sloping +back to a narrow crown and all set upon a bulwark of neck. They must +surely have been struck in the same mould. Though forceful, none of them +were good-looking except the young one, of whom I have spoken, and his +face in repose was shockingly cruel. They are expecting marching orders +in the morning and are probably eager to ride on to victory (?). They +bade us good night and good-bye by kissing our hands as usual, a click +of spurs, a military bow and very gracious thanks to Madame X. for her +hospitality. + + + + +_August 17th, Monday._ + + +About half-past three in the morning I was wakened from a sound sleep by +a commotion in the court under my window. Impatient horses were pawing +the ground and a voice exactly like a snarling dog was hurling out +orders--I peeped out cautiously and saw that the snarling dog was the +amiable captain who copied the menu last night. + +The officers left at four A. M. Fort Lançin fell today and +Général Léman, commander-in-chief of the army here, was taken prisoner. +Thousands of soldiers have passed as usual. In the afternoon a company +of Prussians arrived, whose captain had mistaken the route, which put +him in an abominable humor, having made his men march fifty miles out of +their way and also risking a court-martial on his own account. He +ordered Monsieur S. to open the garage door, in the hope of lodging his +men there for the night. Unluckily the chauffeur, being absent, had the +key, which plunged his Military Highness into a towering rage and he +placed Monsieur S. at once under arrest between two soldiers, +_baionnette-au-canon_, while the others battered in the door with the +butt of their guns. Not finding sufficient quarters for two hundred men, +he marched Monsieur S. away, as guide, half a mile down the road to a +neighbor's. + +That excitement had hardly quieted down when another batch of officers +arrived at dusk, demanding lodgings for the night. These men were a +rough type, altogether different from the preceding ones. About eight +o'clock as we, the women, were waiting in the library for dinner to be +announced, we heard a tremendous stamping of heavy boots and spurs and a +snarl of angry voices just over our heads. Baronne de H., brave little +woman as she always proved herself to be, flew up the stairs in a flash +and found her brothers at the end of the hall between two orderlies with +fixed bayonets, trying to pacify seven officers who were disputing +angrily and were just about to enter one of the private apartments--in +fact their father's room. She addressed them in a few vehement words--"I +forbid you to enter the room of my father, who has been dead only a +week." Then she added that the other soldiers who had been here were +gentlemen and that she expected them to be. They were cowed at once and +all humility, begging pardon properly. They pleaded fatigue for their +rudeness and said "certainly they expected to be gentlemen, too." Wasn't +that comical? They were ill at ease and rather sullen at dinner: and +such a dinner as we had!--glacial does not express it. The captain of +the band spoke English, French, Russian and German, but he could not +coax anybody into conversation, for we clung to "_Oui_," or "_Non_," and +stopped there. More than that, a kind of rigid fascination fixed our +attention on one of their number--the tallest and lankiest, who sat down +at least two feet from the table and endeavored to serve himself like +that. Every mouthful was fraught with tense anxiety (for us). Happily +they went to bed early, the captain kissing our hands and asking Madame +X. if she were used to that, it being the custom in Germany. + +Hardly had they got under cover and we were alone again, when a hoarse +cry arose in the court--it was blood-curdling to us, as every sound +these days is full of terror and possibilities. But it turned out to be +only the cry of the sentry. There had been promiscuous shooting along +the railroad in the village and all our brave soldiers tumbled out of +bed, fell down the stair-case one after the other, buckling on swords as +they went. It is the greatest wonder to me that we were not all shot on +the spot when we stood there staring up, as one very young lieutenant +descended three steps at a time with a revolver in one wobbly hand which +was shaking like an aspen leaf, and a pair of field glasses in the +other. I think the sudden excitement may have unnerved him and there is +no doubt, this time, that the gods favored the innocent. That was the +last we saw of our guests. + + + + +_August 18th, Tuesday._ + + +This morning one of them came back for some personal things, principally +his watch, which, in the true, novel style, could not be found anywhere. +So the _Herr leutnant_ ordered a thorough search and said, with a grand +air, to the housekeeper that if it could not be found he would be +obliged to take one of the servant's as a forfeit. Fancy! + +I can see the butler's poor, old, bowed legs, now, flying up the +stair-case, with a bayonet stuck in his back to expedite matters. I do +not know if this threat lent an added zest to the search, but +fortunately someone had the happy thought to look under the mattress +(where the officer had put it himself) and there was the ill-fated +timepiece calmly ticking off German minutes. I think I forgot to tell +you that since the invasion we retire at ten instead of eleven o'clock, +having been advised to adopt Celtic time. + +Prussian troops in khaki continue to pass; will they never cease? One's +spine shivers at the sight of the endless, green snake which crawls +along, insinuating its greedy length into the gardens of plenty. This +morning four new officers came to the château; three of them were +nondescript, but the fourth, to all appearances, was an Englishman, pure +blood. He spoke English absolutely without accent and had a perfect +English drawing-room air. It was as funny as an impersonation and as he +had appeared on the scene alone, I believe his brothers-in-arms were +almost suspicious of him. After a little the story came out. He is +really a German, but has lived fifteen years in London. At the début of +the war he had been obliged to take up arms against a sea of troubles, +or relinquish forever his right to go back to Baden, where his parents +live. Naturally he chose the former (also probably thinking that "War" +was a word only) and allowed himself to be bored by circumstances. He +told us some amusing tales of his having been already arrested three +times for an English spy. Everybody here likes him very much and I +welcomed him personally as the nearest approach to an Anglo-Saxon that I +have seen in many months. + +Monsieur J. and several of the representative men of the village, +including _Monsieur le Curé_ (a little, fat, rosy-cheeked man, adored by +his flock), were taken as hostages for twenty-four hours and had to +sleep in the railroad station. It was nervously comical to see Monsieur +J. starting off, his valet following with a mattress on his back and a +box of sandwiches in his hand against the misery of the night. But it is +not so amusing to be the victim of even a threat which at any moment may +take the form of a sudden reality for no reason except to terrorize +honest people who are defending their homes. The enemy's way of +punishing and evading future insurrection among the civilians is to take +people as hostages and shoot them if necessary, or burn the houses. +This they have already done in several quarters in Liége. A few nights +ago several students fired on some German officers in a café and the +latters' revenge was instantaneous and terrible; they just stood +eighteen men up in front of the University and shot them like dogs--then +burned that section for blocks around. + +Austrian artillery was passing today with their great cannon drawn by +automobiles. The wheels of the gun carriages are enormous and the cannon +are the biggest things we have yet seen. + + + + +_August 19th, Wednesday._ + + +Such an odd picking little noise, like a mouse, disturbed us at +breakfast this A. M. Madame X. opened the door and was astonished to see +a German soldier unscrewing the telephone from the wall. Her obvious +surprise moved the man to explain, which was unqualifiedly this--"Madame, +permit me, but we need your telephone for field service." + +I suppose he may as well have it anyway for nothing so modern and useful +as telephones has existed for us since August 3rd. + +A group of very surly officers have "taken over" Madame R.'s château +down in the country. The moment they arrived night before last, the +Colonel ordered her to bring out all her best wine, throwing her his +soiled gloves to wash at the same time. + +The patients at the Convent are beginning to show a little life now, +though their poor, black faces are more grotesque than ever as an eye, +here and there, begins to peep out from a crack in the crusted surface. +They have begun to talk after a fashion, though their poor, dried lips +can hardly accomplish the task. Jean, the big fellow who jumped seven +metres into the ditch from Fort Chaudefontaine when it blew up, died +this morning, the result of a fractured skull. + +French and German aeroplanes alike have been flying over the city, +dropping the most sensational circulars of the victories of their +particular armies. But the news is "_trop beau_"--one cannot believe it +and probably it is only destined to encourage the soldiers. It appears +that the officers tell their men all kinds of extraordinary tales, to +give them heart for the fight, and the poor things believe (hearing +French spoken here) that they are already in France, for yesterday one +of them in a passing train was heard demanding the Eiffel Tower. An +officer admitted to Monsieur S. that Germany prints three +newspapers--one for the officers, one for the soldiers, and one for +imbeciles. I suppose the latter means us. + + + + +_August 22nd, Saturday._ + + +Bread is being rationed out now in the village and we are allowed only +two small pieces at a meal. It seems to me that I never wanted one more +slice so much in my life. The soldiers have cleared out the baker's +supply and he cannot get any more flour. + +Monsieur S. has bought a bicycle and goes into town every morning to +find out about things. Sometimes it seems as if we could hardly wait +until he gets back to lunch for the news. And oh! such terrible things +are happening. Some funny incidents too, intersperse themselves from +time to time. During the recounting of some of these awful tales of +violence and revenge which we are hearing from the little villages the +young footman's knees doubled right up and nearly let him down while he +was serving the table and he is getting greener and greener from day to +day. He becomes absolutely petrified when the officers address him and +whispers out an unintelligible something as he vanishes through a door. + +The horrible carnage at Namur has begun and we already have heard +sickening accounts of it. The story, as we have had it by word of mouth, +is that one of the seven forts capitulated (the city was evacuated), +allowing the enemy to enter in over a tract of land which was literally +sown with this famous, new _Poudre Turpin_ which exploded under the feet +of whole regiments at once, and the forts completed the slaughter. + +Troops, troops, always troops plodding along. Their attitude could not +be called determined for there is not enough mental action in it, though +there does exist an indisputable tenacity which is appalling. How they +lack that infectious _ardeur_, that splendid _élan_ which characterizes +every little _poilu_! But they just plod on like a great machine, +lacking intelligence in its parts, each vital, however, to the +perfectly-fitted whole. + +Madame X. and I felt as if we could not sit still another minute this +afternoon and, safe, or no, we decided to take a walk on the +mountainside. We could hear regiments approaching first by a faint +buzzing in the distance which rounded out into song as it drew near; as +an officer told us, the men often sing in four voices which is quite +beautiful. Then, we became aware of a different noise, a sort of loose +rumble, as if cohesion would presently not exist for the thing, whatever +it was, that caused this new note. But it was not a note, it was a +disturbance which grew and grew in proportions. Madame X. and I scurried +up and down the paths trying to find a vista through the trees that +would disclose this monster which was moving so protestingly along the +road. + +I imagined it would be snorting flame and its eyes smouldering fires, +but instead its eyes were neat little windows with tidy curtains, for +the monster turned out to be three diminutive houses on wheels drawn by +a huge motor. What their end and purpose might be, is imaginable. If it +is for the comfort of the High Command _en campagne_, the great clumsy +procession rivaling the speed of a snail is a heap of trouble for a +little luxury. + + + + +_August 24th, Monday._ + + +Namur is taken by the Germans. Practically nothing remains of the city. +A German major who was brought, wounded, to Liége, said the battle was +too frightful to narrate. He entered the city with one thousand men and +left it with sixty-five. Just outside the forts, where he had been +stationed with two hundred horses, three bombs fell upon them at the +same moment and only seven of the poor beasts remained. His admiration +for the pointing and firing of the Belgian and French cannon was +unlimited. + +Just before lunch this morning, two very ragged-looking individuals +(Belgian civilians) came to the château. They were travel-stained +indeed, just having made the journey on foot from Brussels and in a +calmer era would have had some success in the rôle of common ordinary +tramps. As it was, they excited a little curiosity by the suspicious way +they had of looking about, and our first thought was spies until one of +them, edging toward the outside of the group, made Baronne de H. +understand that he had something to communicate to her. Inquiring if it +were safe, he suddenly leaned down and drew out from the sole of his +shoe, a piece of paper on which was written, "A banker of Brussels sends +greetings--all are well." The little woman burst into a flood of tears +for she realized that it was a message from her husband, one of the +_Garde Civique_ of Brussels. During the three, long, anxious weeks of +devotion to others, I had often remarked and wondered at her courage in +never mentioning her own longing and apprehension for her husband and +three little children. Before we had recovered from the first onslaught +of the army, she must have known, after it left here, that it would +pass their château three kilometres the other side of Brussels and what +would it leave in its wake? Can you imagine her anxiety, when every day +we were hearing frightful stories of children having their hands chopped +off and people's heads being paraded on bayonets? But I never remember +her uttering a single "I wonder," or an "I wish." Does this not bear out +what the illustrious Roman said about the "Belgians," which certainly +did not exclude the women? It is the grandest thing that ever could +be--this response of the women to the Nation's call, for it is not just +passive self-sacrifice, but impassioned co-operation. + +In the afternoon Madame de H. and I went to Liége to arrange her +passport for Brussels. Two of the officers who are here offered to go +with us in order to facilitate an entrance into the "_Kommandantur_," +which is the general headquarters and is in that ancient and beautiful +place of the _Princes-Evêques_, onetime feudal lords of the principality +of Liége. I wanted to rebel openly when I saw that wonderful court, +world-famous for its beauty, which has been turned into a dépôt of +supplies and barracks with horses stabled under those delicate, Gothic +arches, models of purity and beauty. But to what good? Will anything +ever expiate the offense? There are also horses in the theatre and +machine guns in all the upper windows. + +While Madame de H. was waiting to see Count Moltke in his office, I +walked about the court with one of the soldier attendants who came with +us and had an opportunity of peeking through many doors which would +otherwise have been closed to me. My companion, who is a wholesale grain +merchant in peace times, enjoyed his authority immensely and dragged his +sword, half unbuckled, on the ground, which clanked behind us and made +merry music in his ears, I am sure. The whole place was a perfect +beehive though there was little confusion. The soldiers were diligently +counting supplies, feeding horses and sorting Belgian cannon and shells +which had been captured. + +On the road from Angleur to Liége we were obliged to give way to some +troops which were returning from Namur. The auto stopped right in the +middle of a column, which, as we heard, was a conglomeration of the tag +ends of different regiments and I was almost afraid--the men peered in +at us so maliciously. I have never seen such a frightening spectacle of +humanity, for it was the personification of a rogues' gallery with every +kind of cut-throat, brigand and robber mixed up into a grand ensemble, +toiling and perspiring, limping and crawling along in the dust and heat. + +Does battle blot out the soul of a man in one savage conflict? +Obviously, it is before a weary march that one finds exalted faces. But +perhaps they were not desperadoes--only tired and dirty and unshaven. + +It is said, however, that when war was declared, the enemy opened the +doors of all the prisons and that the front ranks of the attacking +forces (which were sure to be lost) were entirely composed of convicts +and prisoners. And also, the officers in the regular army are so hated +by their men that when they started out to conquer the world every +officer was changed to a different regiment. + +This evening we sat on the terrace enjoying the afterglow of the setting +sun and the calmness of the garden, listening to the soldiers singing in +the orchard, next. This singing in the twilight is heartbreaking and +particularly melancholy, as the music is slow and has more consolation +in it than the usual soul-inspiring quality of battle hymns. At +intervals we heard the captain speaking with great force and enthusiasm, +the hurrahs of the men, an occasional "_Vaterland, Vaterland_," and +again and ever, "_Die Wacht am Rhein._" + + + + +_August 26th, Wednesday._ + + +Two new officers (not Prussians) of the _Landstürm_ arrived this +morning--men of fifty to fifty-five years of age. One is a hardware +merchant _en civil_ and has a brown beard and the asthma; the other is a +lawyer, with big, blinking eyes--and they both looked as if they hated +war. The "Englishman" is still here--his department is looking after +supplies at the dépôt. He has borrowed all the English books in the +house and sits reading all day up in the signal box at the station, so +the family have named him "_Monsieur Seegnal Box_," which, with a tiny, +French accent, sounds quite attractive. + +We are so enthusiastic about our patients at the Convent, for they are +all improving and developing personalities now. Every morning at +eight-thirty we rush over there as quickly as we can to see how the poor +children are getting on and who has another eye open. Nature has begun +her restorative work and oh! what a satisfaction it is to see the new +skin stretching out tiny shreds to bridge over the martyred flesh. + +The atmosphere of the ward is gay. 'Most everybody can laugh, at least +with their hearts, for stiffened lips do not all respond yet. The work +has arranged itself in admirable routine, where humanity is not entirely +swallowed up in duty. There are young girls and boys who fetch basins +of water, old women who roll bandages, faithful, sweet-faced matrons who +bind up dreadful wounds, and strong, young men who lift, so tenderly, +pain-racked bodies and who can toss a joke or a word of encouragement +with equal discretion, which never fails to infuse the down-hearted with +their own priceless vitality. Then there is the _Mère Supérieure_, of +thin, æsthetic face, who comes with a gentle word of the "Faith" for +each one; the austere _Soeur Félicité_, who counts the cups and searches +your soul and brings in hot coffee and a steaming ragoût; and the +pretty, young _Soeur Monique_, with her uplifted face, who cannot +conceal a shy admiration for big, blond Henri who rails at everything +and is as lovable as a baby. Then the villagers: in the middle of the +room, Monsieur B. (Secretary and Treasurer, I should say) cuts off gauze +with a calculating eye at one end of a long table and at the other, +rosy-cheeked Monsieur R. (painter of every house and barn in the +village) stands all day long with a spatula in his hand and slaps on the +ointment for dressings. There is a sort of professional twist in the +gesture and his merry, little eyes glance around, not seeking but rather +gathering in approval, and from under his bristling, white moustache +will burst a salute for one, a joke for another, or a reproach for +another. + +Here, there and everywhere he is needed, is Monsieur F., whose great, +dark eyes are acquainted with pain; he is a frail, little person and the +substantial man of the village, a living paradox. Just when Monsieur R. +announces--dramatically waving his spatula--that that is the last ounce +of boric ointment and no more peroxide in the cupboard and we are raving +around and denouncing the pharmacist, Monsieur F. steps up and inquires +what the trouble is, knowing full well the difficulty and also "his +moment," wise man that he is. While we are swamping the situation with +words, he quietly dispatches a boy to his house, who quickly reappears +with huge bottles of this and that. Oh, blessed Monsieur F., who long +since had made a corner in peroxide and everything else we shall need +until after the war. But the despair of the moment, the heat and three, +long hours of unremitting "dressings" effect a faintness of soul and a +"queer" feeling we did not realize was there, until that dear, roly-poly +_Soeur Anastasie_ appears with a bottle of red wine, half concealed +under her cape, and with a motherly, "_Ça vous fera du bien_," (that +will do you good) pours us out a generous glassful. That puts the blue +in the sky again and keeps the shafts of golden sunshine from creating +zigzag patterns in our brain. Oh, Shades of my New England Ancestors! +Would you say, "Better to slip down in a swoon?"--and give everybody a +lot of trouble-- + + + + +_August 27th, Thursday._ + + +Madame de H. and I again went to Liége early this morning about her +passports. The hotels and cafés were just seething humanity, beds +improvised in every corner, and I saw officers paying their hotel bills +with cheques and notes. The poor proprietor blinked and swallowed hard +for a moment and said nothing. The city was literally packed with troops +going in all directions. _Uhlans_, _chasseurs_, artillery and the +infantry, singing and executing that foolish-looking goose-step--it +probably has its advantages, but at eight A. M. in the pouring +rain it did appear ridiculous. + +In the afternoon we took a walk into the country, following the +railroad. The soldiers were working everywhere, putting up temporary +buildings for any emergency. We saw one of those open dining halls--only +three walls with a shed roof where a regiment can step out of a train to +eat while another jumps quickly in and no time lost. We passed the +lovely château of the Marquis de T. who is Minister Plenipotentiary +from Costa Rica. Of course, this is neutral property and flies a +neutral flag, but the place is filled with officers and, according to +the _maitre d'hotel_, the wine cellar is undergoing a thorough +inventory. + + + + +_August 28th, Friday._ + + +This morning there was excitement at the Convent; someone was reading a +three weeks' old journal to the soldiers and for a moment everybody +forgot his particular aches and black heads lifted themselves from their +pillows and gaunt forms swayed to and fro on shaky elbows. The lust of +battle lit up wooden countenances, fire sprang from eyes yet heavily +veiled by crusted lids and a fervent "_bien fait_" or "_vivent les +Belges_," trembled from heretofore silent corners. + +Madame André, who comes to see her boy every day, remarked my looking at +her dress which was all darned and mended in the most unaccountable +places, "O, Mademoiselle," she said. "I suppose you are wondering about +my waist? But wasn't it lucky I was here with André when the troops +passed through our village? The soldiers fired haphazard in the windows +and the wardrobe in which my clothes were hanging caught seven bullets +and the headboard of my bed, four." + +All the afternoon troops were coming back from Namur in evident haste +and apparent rout, for they had such a tired, bedraggled look. About +five o'clock a company with ammunition wagons, Red Cross ambulances and +baggage trucks dashed madly into the orchard among the apple trees, +nearly wrecking themselves and everything else. Immediately after, three +officers came to the house to beg lodging for the night. They were +frightful-looking individuals covered with mud and dirt, with half-grown +beards and one could not tell what uniforms. They asked the most humble +apartment--a corner, the floor--anything, "and, Madame, a little hot +water, _s'il vous plait_." We were sitting on the terrace tonight just +before dinner when down came the three new arrivals, beautiful as the +morning, shaven and shining in their gray-green uniforms, polished boots +and bracelets set with precious stones--officers of the "Emperor's Own," +though these men did not seem like Germans, but were much more the +lighter build and elegant type of the Austrians. + +They were a bit haughty at first, but dinner thawed them out and then +what tales they told us; the most promising imagination could not rival +their flights in the air. They acted like people who walk in their sleep +and had that same vague expression of the eye. But it is not to be +wondered at, coming as they did from a frightful battlefield and +fatigued by a hard march. It must be true that battle intoxicates men +for these latter, being of a sensible age, did say very ridiculous +things. Hitherto the officers who have been here were fairly modest +though always showing an undeniable confidence, while these three openly +bragged. The young lieutenant who sat next to me spoke French fluently +and never stopped talking all the evening. Among countless other things, +he said, "We are being sent back from Namur as Paris is taken" +(ejaculation from me "I cannot believe it") "and they have no more need +of us in that direction," he went on without turning a hair. "So we are +_en route_ for England or Russia, in the morning, to conquer the seven +nations (he included Monaco in the list) who have declared war against +our beloved Vaterland." + +"And, Mademoiselle," he continued, "they fired on our ambulances!" + +"Ah?" I answered, nonchalantly, "the Germans have already done that +here." + +He was a bit taken aback at this rejoinder; then with a prodigiously +sorrowful look he exclaimed in a hushed voice, "_Oui, la guerre est +terrible._" + +The victories they exploited on land and sea were fantastic and the +funny part is, they believed thoroughly all they said. It is strange to +hear serious people fabricate such yarns as they did, with as much +dexterity as a spider spins its web. + + + + +_August 29th, Saturday._ + + +The ambulance was as busy as a beehive this A. M. Except for +one or two, the patients are all feeling better. André, the third on the +left, whose sonorous "_Merci, chère Soeur_" nearly frightened me to +pieces one day, seems to be the wit and authority on all subjects--a +real leader, I should say, and _drôle_! Augustin, four beds from him, is +our difficult child, the only one of the twenty-nine who is spoiled and +fights his dressings, but we must be patient with him for he has been +very sick and that drawn look about the nose and a certain, startled +expression of the eyes, worry me. But the little _Soeur Victoire_ says +comfortingly that he will soon be well, though he does not wish to eat +and his jaws are a little stiff. O, _chère Soeur_, in your sweet faith, +are stiffened jaws such a trivial circumstance? + +Next Augustin is Sylvestre, _le beau_. He was the splendid _pointeur_ of +Fort Chaudefontaine and was the least burned of the men; that is why I +know he is beautiful; also I catch many glimpses of him in the little +mirror in which he is constantly regarding himself, but he is _bon +garçon_, nevertheless--his honest blue eyes attest it. + +At the end of the row is the big Flamand, who was always two feet too +long for his bed. He is sitting up now and that great, black head, with +features swollen three times their normal size, is a sight to frighten +the boldest. If he should roar at me I would drop everything and flee. +But he doesn't; nobody roars; for they are all the finest gentlemen in +the world, even in their trying moments. + +At ten o'clock this evening, right out of the silence, issued sounds of +heavy, rolling carts, and horses' hoofs. Madame de H. and I stole out +into the court to see what it might be and, almost as if by magic, whole +regiments came pouring along in the greatest haste and disorder. A wing +of the servants' quarters hid the approach of the soldiers from us and +the strange, non-resonant quality of the atmosphere tonight deceived us +as to their nearness. In a moment they were upon us--not three feet +away, for some of the troops had taken, not the usual highroad two +hundred feet distant, but a short cut by the narrow path which directly +passes the court yard. Happily we had hidden ourselves behind the +grille, in the foliage, or we might have been shot without ceremony, as +by order of the military governor of the city "every civilian shall be +indoors and lights out at eight P. M." + +We enjoyed the danger a little at first because we did not realize it; +all the same we obliterated ourselves as much as possible, though hardly +daring to move or breathe. Not an arm's length away, their nearness +oppressed us and the waves of heat which reeked from their toiling +bodies sickened us. But there we crouched in our light dresses, easily +seen if one had chanced to look, and separated only by an iron fence +with sparse, fluttering vines from a mass of tired, quarrelsome, +desperate men. Why! any of them might have run us through in a flash as +one would lunge at a white rag for the amusement of his companions. +Indoors the family were frantic, not daring to open a crack of the door +for fear of violent consequences to us. + +The night was full of dull noises; even the clanking chains of the gun +carriages seemed muffled and the thud of horses' hoofs in the mud added +to the air of secrecy which pervaded the scene, while the moonlight +threw out shadows and drew crazy perspectives and showed up silhouettes +of men positively falling from their seats with fatigue. Some one was +twirling a French soldier's cap on a bayonet, we heard smothered yawns, +the words "_Russland_," "_Vaterland_," and finally the infantry +whistling in unison as they limped along. + + + + +_August 30th, Sunday._ + + +At two o'clock in the morning the whole family was aroused by a +thundering rap from the butt of a gun on the big front entrance. The +poor old butler, who has been in service thirty-five years, was aghast +to open the door and find the Burgomaster, in white kid gloves, standing +between two Prussian soldiers, with fixed bayonets. They demanded +Monsieur J. (for the second time) as hostage. What could have happened +among the people, we could only guess. Had they been rash enough to +protest against strength and did they want to share the fate of the +pitiful Visé? + +The forenoon brought us no news; after lunch we walked in the broiling +sun to the little railroad station at Kinklepois, to see Monsieur J. +(he had aged ten years over night) where he was under guard with several +others, including _Monsieur le Vicaire_ of A. and _Monsieur l'Abbé_ of +K. We sat around the table in the Concierge's tiny dining room and +listened to some amusing anecdotes told by the Vicar, while the gentle +old Abbot sent out to the vicarage for a bottle of his good old +Burgundy. To be sure, no one was much in the mood to be amused, but it +lessened the tension of the moment; the least unusual sound from the +street--and it was full of soldiers and horses--brought the tale to a +sudden end and we listened with blanched faces for perhaps--the worst. + + + + +_August 31st, Monday._ + + +Monsieur J. was released as hostage at seven o'clock P. M. and +returned to the fold. This evening, as all was still, we played a little +game of Bridge, as in the old days when life was a pleasant dream. +Suddenly a dozen rifle shots, in quick succession, rang out in the air +and the cards fell from our nerveless fingers as a stray ball rattled +against the iron shutters of our windows. Instinctively we crouched into +sheltered corners and waited; another volley and another followed, until +finally Monsieur S. whispered in a hoarse voice, "À la cave." The +household, including the servants, delighted to be any place where we +were not, made a lightning dash, Indian file, for the cellar. Quite +unperturbed and loath to leave her cozy, warm kitchen, the old, fat cook +was the last to waddle down the stairs, repeating her usual "They cannot +hurt me. I am Dutch." She was the calmest of us all, for those +intermittent shots and the possibility of retrieving lost balls had +raised a tremor of excitement as well as our hasty descent into the +realms of Bacchus, in common words--the wine cellar. By the thin rays of +a candle the scene was comic; there we were, fourteen of us huddled +together in a twelve by twenty foot vault, earthen floor and stone +walls. Expecting at any moment an onslaught of we did not know what, +each one was bracing himself for the blow, in different attitudes of +mind and body. Madame X. was pale, her daughter stolid and ready for the +defensive--the true, fighting blood of the Belgians on fire: the old +butler, attentive to the slightest sound, was shaking his gray head with +ominous pessimism and one of the maids was weeping hysterically and +audibly in the arms of her husband, the young footman. At first we just +stood and looked at each other as periodic volleys resounded now and +again. Then we relaxed as well as we could on dusty cases and rounding +barrels or whatever was at hand. An hour passed before the shooting +ceased and then we discovered that we were cramped and uncomfortable and +cold--chilled through with that deathlike dampness which pervades +subterranean chambers. What misery for those who had to live in them for +days! Another hour elapsed before the danger was really over and we +dared to come out from cover; then we crawled upstairs to bed on our +hands and knees to keep below the level of the window ledges.[2] + +Madame de H. made an attempt to go to Brussels by a military train +which, however, was derailed ten kilometres from here. Some disagreeable +officers took the second automobile for military service, in spite of +the signed permission which Count Moltke has given the family. Did I +tell you that Madame X.'s children are related by marriage to a high +official of the Imperial Court? I do not know at all if this fact +accounts for the extreme courtesy which they have always received from +the soldiers, but at any rate some of their friends have not been so +favored.[3] + +Madame T., who had a charming Villa at S., was one of the unfortunate +ones. She was obliged to entertain the officers of some passing troops +at lunch recently, after which they had coffee in the garden. The +Captain glanced around at the flowers and said, "Madame, very pretty, +very pretty, tomorrow, nothing." That night her villa and several other +neighboring ones were burned to the ground. + +The Germans are constantly forcing the Belgian old men, women and +children to march in front of their attacking armies. What kind of +soldiers can it be that does these things, but brutes and barbarians? + +My revulsion for it all is so great that the words fairly scorch my +fingers as I write them. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] We never heard what really started the commotion, whether it was +premeditated or accidental, but this illustrates what a furor a rifle +shot creates instantly. The nervous tension of both the invader and +invaded is tremendous. + + + + +_September 2nd, Wednesday._ + + +Very early this morning we were awakened by the most remarkable sound--a +co-operative noise I should call it, or anything you like, being a +combination of steamboat, train of cars and sawmill. Looking out of the +window we saw a magnificent Zeppelin sailing along in all its majestic +wonder. + +Miracles happen overnight in the ambulance now, for Health is hastening +back in seven-league-boots and every one of our brave _blessés_ is +turning out to be handsome. Each day a real face emerges from its black +chrysalis and we find it beautiful. The refinery was of the cruelest +type, but the temper of such men stood the test and their souls shine +out undeniably over the scarred flesh. + +Some new companies, with their under officers, have taken up quarters in +the stables and garage. For the last ten days we have had Prussians +there, who were discontented with everything and wanted all the kitchen +utensils and everything within reach, but these new men are Bavarian +_Landstürm_, rather nice old things, who have brought all their own +contrivances, not the least among them being one of the famous rolling +kitchens. This latter is a round boiler, hung on four wheels, and is +about a metre in diameter and a metre in depth. It is divided into three +longitudinal compartments (the fire being underneath), one for soup, one +for meat and one for vegetables. Then, under the driver's seat or +perhaps not right under, is a tiny oven where are baked _kuchen_ or a +steaming pudding. It is a complete affair and when dinner is ready, +they just hitch on a pair of family horses and drive around to the +different companies where rations are dished out, literally. I do not +know if the position of cook is the most enviable one in the army, but +at any rate this chef appears to enjoy it and is content to sit in the +courtyard all day, peeling potatoes and onions and cabbages and cabbages +and onions and potatoes. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] A printed document was exposed afterwards in the village +recommending the Château X. to be respected. + + + + +_September 3rd, Thursday._ + + +"_Monsieur Seegnal Box_" went this morning and everybody was sorry to +see him go, for he was a congenial spirit, and, like us, found nothing +attractive about war. He seemed a protection, too, from the beast that +is ever snarling at the door. + +A young cousin of the family related to us to-day how much at home the +soldiers have felt in his château in the country; so much so, in fact, +that they have already sent off to Germany all his old family portraits +and the best rugs. Here is a bit of psychology for you to unravel. Why +should they want his family portraits? + +I suppose you could not imagine such a thing happening in America. Well, +just try for a moment. + +Fancy somebody's coming in and explaining to you that you cannot use +your own things and that your choice possessions will have a far better +setting in Germany than where they are. I think it would do the world a +lot of good if everyone tried such a mental drill for three minutes a +day. + +A great depression hung over the Convent to-day--the men were quiet, +showing their consideration for the "_camarade_" as they always do. +Constant, who received internal injuries at Fort d'Embourg, is dying and +Augustin is worse. The latter's face has a gray-blue look and his poor +jaws are very stiff. But there is hope! Oh, yes, there is Hope in big +Jean's smile across the ward, as he follows us around with his great, +black eyes. One can find lots of sympathy in a "_Oui, Mademoiselle_," or +a "_Non, Mademoiselle_," (which is all he ever says) even when it has +nothing to do with the question. + +Since the commandant has taken the auto we no longer go out. It is much +too complicated anyway, as one has to show a passport at every bridge +and corner. Every acre of land is infested with soldiers. It is +interesting, however, to see what they do and how they turn everything +to some use. Men are sent from Germany to repair railroads, build +bridges, put up telephones, institute food stations and to kill pigs and +wash the meat in porcelain bath tubs as we saw them do yesterday, +outside a free bath establishment near one of the factories. As we were +looking down on the road tonight, from a hill perhaps two hundred yards +away, we saw distinctly a column of soldiers in dark blue uniforms, +marching across country, and just behind them the ground seemed to +writhe and wriggle in a distressing manner. For a moment we could not +imagine what was happening, when soon a company of men in khaki began to +evolve itself from the landscape. Does that not prove the inestimable +value of earth-colored clothes? For as close as they were to us, we +could distinguish nothing. + +This gray-green which the Germans wear is by far the best tone of khaki +that I have yet seen. + +Soldiers are stripping the factories here of their fine machinery, but +one sort of chuckles in one's boots when he remembers that it was +originally bought in Germany and has not been paid for yet. + +All day long, trains without ceasing were bringing back the wounded. We +do not know exactly where the fighting is, but probably near Charleroi. +A Baron de C. and his wife arrived here at ten P. M. from +Posen, one of the German provinces already taken by the Russians. Crazed +with anxiety, they are going in search of their son, who was wounded at +Namur, and have been three days in a military train--an excruciating +journey! At midnight, the soldiers and the _chef de cuisine_, who has +had his kitchen in the court, departed. Before going they sang softly +some of their songs and then the wagons, one by one, filed out of the +moonlight and were swallowed up in the shadows of the trees. I felt as +if the candle had been blown out for them. + + + + +_September 4th, Friday._ + + +Monsieur J. came home today with bad news, though every day has its bad +news. His cousin Robert had been killed near Gand. The old butler's eyes +were sweet to see when Madame X. turned at table and said to him, +"François, Monsieur Robert is dead." This man of one syllable, according +to his custom, answered simply, quick tears visible, "_Oui, Madame_" +with that gentle upward intonation which says so much. + +The longest sentence he probably ever constructed was uttered +thirty-five years ago when his young master had wished to dismiss him +for some reason and he had answered, "Oh no, Monsieur, we could not +live, either one of us without the other," which settled the question +for all time. And now the master is laid to rest and the servant must +serve the enemy in his house. + +We took a little walk in the woods, this afternoon--as the coast was +clear and no strangers in the house for the first time in three weeks. +We had hardly finished a short promenade when we heard a violent +clanging on the gong to call us back, and when we returned in all haste +to the house found seven soldiers in the library going through all the +drawers and closets in search of firearms. Commencing there, they +searched the whole house from top to bottom, even fumbling in the +bureaus among the dainty lingerie of Madame X. Some of them took an +obvious pleasure in performing their duty, while others looked +uncomfortable and bored. It is true that many of the men hate this war, +whereby whole families of brothers and cousins have to leave their homes +to fight what they call the "Aristocrats' War," who in their arrogance +think to be masters of the whole world. + +Some newspapers, two weeks old, were brought from Brussels in the +evening and we pounced upon them as a starved dog makes for a bone. + + + + +_September 5th, Saturday._ (At the ambulance.) + + +"_Constant, le pauvre Constant!_ What is in your tortured soul, these +three long days and nights, that chains it to earth and tosses your +poor body from one troubled thought to another?" + +I did not think to have my question answered. At eleven o'clock this +morning a child of twelve years, beautiful as an angel with heavenly +blue eyes and a shock of golden hair, dashed breathlessly into the +courtyard of the Convent, almost too exhausted to ask if _Soldat_ +Constant Martin, by any chance, were there. The gentle _Soeur Cecile_ +led him in to the sick man's cot. The boy gazed a moment, bewildered at +the wasted form upon it; then with an agonizing cry of "_mon père_" fell +on his knees by the bedside. The man's eyelids trembled, half opened an +instant to look upon his son, and closed. In ten minutes he was at +peace. + +Since the railroad has been reconstructed the soldiers have been passing +in trains instead of on foot. Today we saw hundreds of older men, +Bavarians and sailors--it looks as if something had miscarried when the +marines have to fight on land. In the opposite direction, thousands of +wounded were going back in ambulance cars. These ambulance trains are +admirable and are often made up of forty and fifty carriages of the +light, swinging, old-fashioned type, of uniform size, the roofs painted +white, with a big, red cross on the top and one on each side. The cots +are arranged one above the other, showing clean, white linen, while the +attendants are spotlessly uniformed in white. In the middle of each +train is a car which might be called the "ugly duckling," for it is a +decidedly clumsy looking affair, full of steam boilers with safety +valves and tubes sticking out at the top, and is, I fancy, a sterilizing +plant. + + + + +_September 6th, Sunday._ + + +Oh, the peace of Sunday in a little village! And Augustin is better, +though he still fights his dressings. It takes the combined effort of +the ward to present duty in such an attractive guise that he will not +realize he is minding, but it is really the sympathetic Roger who can +insinuate comforting comparisons from his own recent acquaintance with +pain and the ever-ready Pierre, who with a "courage, camarade," and one +free hand to help me, actually put the thing through. + +On my way home to lunch I glanced at the clock in the church tower and +saw that it was an hour ahead of time, having been made to coincide with +Teuton pendulums. This is the second time that it has happened, for the +villagers dared to climb up the long stairs and put it back, once, but +the soldiers were so ferocious in their threats that--well, one must +accept their insolence. Crossing the field I passed the farmer who must +have felt considerable perturbation of soul this particular day, for he +looked "worrited" and was mowing grass for his poor, thin cows, in a +blue gingham smock and a bowler hat. The war is not more vital to anyone +on earth than to him, for the soldiers have taken away his wagons and +most of his hay for their bedding and they ruined the grass in the +orchard where they were encamped. + +Soldiers came to the Convent this morning to search for firearms. It +appears that the German military authorities are terrified of an +uprising among the inhabitants, particularly the factory hands, who will +not work for the Prussians and are getting a little restless. One can +readily imagine such an apprehension when from a population of 40,000 +working men in the vicinity, only forty-two firearms were presented upon +requisition. If all the rest are buried in the woods, as many believe, +it will only be the story of another inspired "Cadmus, who sowed +dragons' teeth and there sprang up an army of armed men." + +Madame de H. has left for Brussels. The third auto which was hidden away +was brought out and with Count Moltke's _laisser-passer_ and the +family's chauffeur, she will arrive safely, we hope, though we shall not +rest until the man gets back. + +In Liége this afternoon, in front of the University, we saw squares and +squares which were burned out by the Germans, and also where those +eighteen civilians were shot, following a slight uprising of the people. +Madame X.'s niece, who lives quite near there, heard the screams of the +women, and such scenes of terror seem even yet to paralyze the +population. In the Place de la Cathédrale we saw soldiers pushing people +along with their saw-toothed bayonets to disperse a crowd which was +gaping, stupefied, at some unusual proceeding. + +As we stood there, an automobile, with eight Prussian officers in it, +came banging down the street, loose bolts jingling, and was just +disappearing around a corner when Madame R. exclaimed "Oh, that's our +Reynaud!" + +All the automobiles, as well as everything else, have been confiscated +by the invaders and it is a common occurrence to look up and see one's +own beautiful car bounding along over cobblestones and breaking with its +load of soldiers--the motors are driven so hard that in two weeks' time +they are practically worthless. + +At the beginning of the war, many owners cunningly removed a tiny +necessary part of their machines, but in most cases the same owners were +given just two hours at the point of the bayonet to find those missing +parts, which was not always easy. And the farmers, too, who cut down the +big trees across the roads to impede the enemy's advance, had just the +same amount of time given them to clear the path again. So you see that +one is helpless. + +Rumors come from France that the fortified town of Mauberge still +resists, but that the Germans are at Compiégne, which is so near to +beautiful Paris. It is impossible to believe. Yet we all experienced a +feeling of absolute faintness when that report came, for Compiégne, or +anywhere within one hundred kilometres of it, is too near. But if--_Bon +Dieu_, keep us from thinking! + + + + +_September 8th, Tuesday._ + + +There is a possibility of our going to Brussels. Oh, the joy of it! That +may find me the means, through the American Ambassador, of getting back +to my beloved France. + +The youngest gardener, the little one, Charles, who is only eighteen +years old, has left for "the front." Not with his regiment, for he +hasn't one (this year was to have been his class), but as a private +individual who could not stay at home when his country needed him. His +old mother, with a little catch in her throat, sent him off proudly, her +baby, her _petit Charles_, to serve with his four brothers, already +gone. + +But how can he get away with the eye of the arrogant usurper on every +corner and road? + +A Belgian soldier will play his rôle after his own interpretation. +Instead of going off in his best smock and a tiny bundle on a stick, _le +petit Charles_ bade us a smiling _au revoir_ in his old blue apron and +torn hat. He will wander aimlessly over the hills which he knows so well +and, unsuspected, will creep through the friendly hedges into the very +arms of hospitable Holland and then, "All's well." + +Trains were passing all day loaded with provisions, as well as soldiers +and sailors who were sticking on like caterpillars all over the roofs, +the sides, the steps and almost the wheels. I saw two of them dancing +the tango on the top of one carriage. Then came car after car of prairie +wagons, we call them, with voluminous, white, canvas hoods, loaded with +provisions; after these, countless, giant cannon decorated with +branches, flowers and flags, mounted on open trucks without sides. All +this procession was a weird phenomenon gliding by in the sky like a +mirage, for the road-bed at the rear of the château is very high and is +hidden by intervening shrubs and bushes so that the wheels of the cars +are quite concealed. It reminded me of those Amazon warriors in "_Die +Walküre_" who slid up to Heaven so smoothly on their wooden horses at +the Opéra in Paris. + +Dropping from the poetical plane to common cause and effect, the whole +gave the impression of being well lubricated--like the wheels of Destiny +which turn steadily on with few jerks or hitches. + + + + +_September 9th, Wednesday._ + + +The word is said. We are packing our bags to leave for Brussels +tomorrow. When I went to the Convent this morning, I found all the +soldiers in bed and looking so wretched. Merciful Heaven! What blight +could have fallen on our children over night? But it was a farce. They +had heard that the officers of the regiment, here, were coming to +inspect the wounded with the idea of sending those who are well enough +on to Germany as, of course, they are prisoners. So the moment the +Germans entered the courtyard, all the _blessés_--even those who are +quite well--hopped into bed with their clothes on, pulled the covers up +to their chins and with a wet compress on their heads, looked as ill as +possible. It was comical to see; one can be a soldier and comedian at +the same time--and even the dear Sisters enjoyed it. But I was paralyzed +with fear. They had not thought of another side of the question to which +the very impudence of their ruse might subject them. + +I was very sad to say good-bye to these brave fellows who have been to +all the world such a lesson in bravery and patience during their +suffering. One big, lanky _garçon_--Jean, in fact--was quite undone at +our departure. He refused to be consoled with the promise of postal +cards in some future era and wept and sobbed, but I managed to +understand between the sobs that he was saying, "_Mais, Mademoiselle, je +vous suis habitué._" (But, Mademoiselle, I am used to you.) I do not +know if this was meant for a compliment, but I took it as such and wept +too. + + + + +_September 10th, Thursday._ + + +This morning was spent in finishing packing, which usually is the +biggest part of it, I find. + +There appears to be violent fighting at Malines, Louvain and Tirlemont. +Nevertheless we are setting out from the château, at two o'clock, bag +and baggage. Everybody felt sorry to leave the servants (_Liégeois_) +who have been staunch and comforting friends through all the misery of +these terrifying times. Will an eager Fate close them in? Let us hope +they will absorb the effervescent optimism of the fat old cook who +continually reiterates in her awful French, "They cannot hurt me. I am a +Hollander." + +2 P. M.--Well, off we started. It was a moment I shall never +forget, for it was as if we had taken up something solid and heavy (an +experience, for example) in our two hands and put it behind us. There +were in the party our two autos and Monsieur H. with Signor K., an +Italian consul, in his. Monsieur H. has a passport from the military +Governor, Field Marshal von der Golz, to go anywhere in Belgium, so we +felt very safe to be with him. No ancient stage-coach with a dozen +passengers on the top could have made as precarious a flight as our +machines, packed and jammed full inside and crowned on the roof with an +overhanging cornice of every sort of bundle. You can imagine that there +was an idea at the back of our minds of never returning, perhaps, or of +keeping what we could in immediate possession. + +It was interesting in leaving the city to see the disposition of troops; +we passed through Seraing, where are those tremendous Cockerill +factories, and soon arrived opposite the famous Fort Hollogne which did +such wonderful work in the defense of Liége, August 5th. At present it +flies the German flag and but for one or two sentinels pacing near, one +would never dream that a tremendous fort was there. Like the others, it +is built three stories underground, with just a slight rising of earth +defining the cupolas. Along the road on both sides, for miles and miles, +lay splendid trees which were cut down for cannon range. Just before +arriving at Jauche we met three automobiles with Prussian officers, who +shouted "_Nicht weiter_" and made violent signs which we did not +understand. But why "_nicht weiter_" with the _Herr Feld Marschall's_ +permission in our pocket? We soon learned at the railroad crossing. An +hour before there had been an alarm and the station had received orders +to allow no one to pass, as there was fighting not far beyond in the +direction of Tirlemont. Then and there arose a mighty discussion and the +_esprits_ of many nations (Belgian, Italian, Russian, French and German) +entered into the argument while one meek American looked on at the +sparring. Even the little slip of paper ladened with the name of von der +Golz in much ink, had no weight. Then we tried another route, that lay +right through the heart of a dirty, squalid, little village to +Ramillies, the same Ramillies of Louis XIV.'s time, famous in the +"_Batailles des Flandres_." We arrived there by a sudden turn of the +road which brought us up standing, onto a bridge spanning the railroad. +Below, perhaps two hundred feet distant, was the station, out of which, +upon our sudden apparition, swarmed a hundred soldiers in alarm, quite +as if the surprising toe of a boot had inadvertently kicked over an ant +hill. At Ramillies we were not more successful than at Jauche, for as +the officials explained, if we passed the railroad station we were in +danger of being caught between two battlelines. So, sadly indeed, we +retraced our way and returned in the dark and the pouring rain to a +dismantled house and forlorn hopes. + + + + +_September 12th, Saturday._ + + +We are in the depths of despair today for we hear that they are fighting +at Meaux--Meaux, which nearly is Paris. If I were a French woman I could +not feel more poignantly about it. But we always think that it is not +true, as we have no real means of knowing--all is hearsay. + +A messenger brought news from Monsieur N., "Uncle Maurice," in the +Ardennes. It appears that in August when the German troops went through +Belgium on foot, the regiment of Count Otto von M. passed his villa. +Count Otto is "Uncle M's" nephew--the son of his sister, who married a +"high official of the Imperial Court," of whom I have already spoken. So +it happened that the young officer went to call on his esteemed uncle, +who frankly shut the door in his face. The Count burst into tears and +cried, "Uncle, Uncle, won't you speak to me? It is not my fault. When my +brothers and I received orders to come through Belgium, we begged other +commissions but to no avail." + +Certainly not! who better than the Counts von M. who have hunted from +childhood, thro' every lane and secret path, to lead the armies thro' +Belgium. + +Trains are passing with every known thing therein--first thousands of +soldiers, then wagons of provisions, cannon, boats for pontoon bridges +mounted on wheels ready for unloading, material for building, trucks of +hay, portable houses and in one car were hundreds of tiny wheels +sticking up which we discovered belonged to wheelbarrows. It is a droll +procession, that never ceases before one's eyes. To offset it, we have +taken to playing Patience morning, noon and night, and if this monotony +keeps up much longer we shall certainly become imbeciles. From time to +time, in the trains going back to Germany one sees French prisoners, +easy to tell by their red _képis_, boxed up in cattle cars, peering out +from a narrow slit at the top. From the terrace can be heard the dull +thud of distant cannon; the fighting is at Warrem, thirty kilometres +from here. + + + + +_Monday, September 14th._ + + +Somebody came into possession of a newspaper, the "Figaro" from Paris, +dated September 6th. We were delighted to have it loaned us for an hour, +greasy and dirty as it was, for in these days a newspaper is the most +precious article on earth. It is brought in on a silver tray--then +somebody feverishly reads aloud for the benefit of the others, while the +servants run out to invite the neighbors to come in and listen. Just as +the reader is in the middle of a grand eulogy on glorious victories, +etc., an unknown person raps on the door to reclaim the precious journal +and we all relapse into a general interchange of impressions, ideas, +complaints, inspirations--"They say"; "It appears"; "Why"; "Must"; +"Ought"; "Should"; etc. In a German paper we read to-day, they are +preparing their men for "slight defeats" by saying that, "The French +army is no longer the army of 1870, but one worthy to combat with our +own." That was very condescending and was doubtless inspired by the +formidable battleline from the coast to Nancy, before their noses. + + + + +_September 16th, Wednesday._ + + +Natural laws are demonstrating themselves very plainly these days, for +when we were sitting on the terrace just before lunch to-day, a curious +thing happened--a sound wave, from a cannon shot literally hit our ear +drums. I felt as if somebody had struck mine with a padded club. There +was no noise, you understand, but we all looked up, aware of the impact +at the same moment, so that it could not have been imagination. It must +be that the terrible experiences of the past weeks have developed us to +a highly sensitized degree, for many things are strikingly clear which +were not so before. + +Nearly every afternoon we go up over the hill to a high cliff +overhanging the river which makes a sounding board for those sounds, +which never abate, of a distant battle across the valley. + +Heaven above! how are there men enough left after all these weeks of +killing to continue a battle? At times the reports come as thick and +fast as hail, making one long roar of awfulness, and our hearts sink +like lead at the vision it conjures up. + +And again, how readily and eagerly hope springs up when the shots become +interrupted and the noise fades away a little. + +In this wooded spot where we so often go to find out the real truth of +things with our own ears, one meets nearly all one's friends from the +neighboring villas who have come for the same purpose, morbidly +attracted as we all, no doubt, are by these dreadful signs of a world of +torture. + +We huddle together like sheep lost in the storm, we confide our personal +misfortunes and we recount the barbarous tales we have recently heard, +the story ever interrupted by fresh evidence of the reviving fury of the +never-ending struggle. + +When we arrived home we heard that a company of soldiers had arrested, +as espions, four or five men who, like ourselves, were taking a little +promenade in the wood across the valley. Our liberties are being +curtailed more and more. Thank goodness there is a large garden and a +private wood to wander in. A month ago the order was that every +inhabitant must be in the house and lights out at eight P. M. +Now it is seven o'clock and as the days grow shorter it will soon be six +or five--and perhaps three. The soldiers are in such a blue fear of +being shot that recently in Aerschot all the villagers were put into the +church on bread and water. Some of the men were shot before their wives +and most of the houses burned. And they say, "the heart of the Imperial +Empire bleeds." It is not surprising that it does when one considers +what is happening right here at Liége, where houses are burned and +innocent men shot for murder. Afterward one finds German bullets in +German soldiers, which proves what you will. + +What a story we heard to-day--such a pitiful little story of somebody's +blue-eyed boy who ran out with his toy gun and aimed it at the passing +troops. + +They shot him dead, the little fellow, but he will sleep in a hero's +grave as truly as another, for his loyal wee might. + + + + +_September 18th, Friday._ + + +A memorable day! We went in the auto to Spa. As we drove out of the +court yard we were obliged to let some horsemen pass, who were out for +their morning exercise. I think it is somebody's body guard, for we see +them often at a distance. There are about thirty of them and at close +range they are rather beautiful, that is, their uniforms of spotless +white broadcloth with gold trimmings. _En route_ we passed by Fort +d'Embourg, which still has some of its cupolas, and Fort Chaudefontaine, +which our burned soldiers defended and which is demolished. For miles +around the country has been flattened, one may say, from the operation +of the cannon and looks as if a cyclone had hurried across it. Every bit +of shrubbery has been swept off the soil as if by a blast of magic and +the singed earth has a very shorn-lamb aspect. + +Our route was a veritable _via dolorosa_--destruction on both sides, in +front and behind. Many houses and trees had eight inch shells half +sticking in them which have not exploded and nobody knows when they may. +The churches were without fail demolished more or less and the most +astonishing thing was to see, again and again, the marble statue of the +Christ standing intact on the crumbling remains of an altar. It fills +one with awe and reverence to see this figure repeatedly spared by a +supernatural power from an otherwise pitiless devastation. We passed +through the now famous Louvigné which was entirely burned by the +Prussians on their way to Liége. It was the same old story of the +"civilians firing on the troops," or rather the excuse of the +delinquents to martyr innocent villagers who instinctively took up a +rifle to defend their homes, as any one of us would. And revenge came +quickly. + +As we neared this spot which scarred the face of Nature, we were seized +with silent horror. If, in the smiling sunshine and in the quiet of the +beautiful country, we shivered at the sight of such destruction and the +thought of that dastardly work which marked the destiny of hundreds of +human beings, what must the awful realization have been to the +inhabitants themselves? Fancy the helplessness of them and their +consternation at the approach of a great army bearing down, of men +maddened with the love of conquest, of the wild beast seeking what it +may devour! Imagine the distant rumbling of wheels, drawing nearer and +nearer, the thud of horses' hoofs, the rhythmic tramp of feet, first +wafted on the wind, and finally the frightful dread confirmed by a +sudden explosion from the forts. Then the arrival--the dark--the +noise--the confusion--the terror of the women--the screams of little +children clinging to their mothers--the despair of the old ones, ill and +bedridden--fire everywhere and men torn from the arms of their loved +ones and stood up in a row and shot. What ghastly scenes, illumined +still more by those rockets of flame from the forts which cut across the +plain to stay the brutal invaders! + +I saw a little girl come out from the débris to draw water from a +pump--for what? For whom? There did not seem to be a living creature in +the vicinity, though perhaps some of the poor things who fled out into +the night across the fields for safety, have come back to dig out a +little home under the crumbled stone. One or two houses remained +standing, which seems a miracle, as pétrole-soaked fire-brands were +thrown systematically into every habitation. As we passed, rather +quickly, I counted ninety houses in ruins and about half a mile from the +road, a magnificent château, a victim as well as the meanest hovel. The +façade only was standing, though on approaching directly, the building +seemed intact, except for a curious impression of daylight shining +through the windows. + +Coming back in the twilight the effect of all this misery was +accentuated, the sentinels every few hundred yards were more suspicious +than ever and when we came upon a few isolated "_Hussars de la Mort_" +with the death's head leering out from those elegant fur turbans, I +thought all was finished. Happily the men were more peaceable than their +aspect. + +Spa, the lovely, indolent _ville d'eaux_, which we visited, was filled +with the "military" and bristling like a porcupine with saw-edged +bayonets and pointed helmets. + + + + +_September 22nd, Tuesday._ + + +The doctor has gone to Neufchateau in the Ardennes to bring back the +French and Belgian wounded. I wish I could have gone with him, for we +seem so useless here now that our soldiers are well, and the days are +long, since the wild excitement of a giant army on the wing has cooled +down. "On the wing" is not an idle expression when we remember those +forced marches and how they lashed the poor artillery horses which +galloped and strained in the traces without making much impression on +the wheels. It was rather like that famous chariot race in the play, +"Ben Hur," when the landscape rolled around too fast for the horses. +Certain Imperial Esprits have doubtless already arrived, but without the +baggage--an item somewhat important. + +May the Fates preserve beautiful Paris! There is a dear little French +sister at the Convent (this Sisterhood was transferred from Metz after +the War of 1870) who says that we must pray the Blessed Virgin every day +to "_écraser_ (smash) _les Allemands_," and she says it so fervently +that one does not observe the lack of Christian spirit. + +Very little is passing through the city at present except perhaps this +eternal line of trains, and oh, how we are thirsting for news! Can you +imagine, dear people at home, you who have hundreds of newspapers, how +we are straining every nerve to know the real truth of things as they +are, to pierce through this thick wall, with which an arrogant despotism +has cut us off from the whole world? But we cannot. It is wadded on both +sides with deceptions and our only privilege is to surmise. What poor +things we are, in truth, though born and reared in the common +independence of the age. Everywhere (else) the poorest farmer has his +one old horse to take him to and fro, where he will, and he has his acre +of God's country, where he may muse in the sun or dream with the stars, +while we, conquered by numbers, must walk in a straight line without +loitering and we must go into our houses at seven P. M. and +close the door. Do you think that is amusing? + + + + +_September 24th, Thursday._ + + +We heard five booms of cannon in an hour this morning and bad and +inhuman as it sounds, we were quite pleased--any little sign from an +outside world that one lives, one breathes, to drag us out of this +inertia, this eternal silence! + + + + +_September 28th, Monday._ + + +There was quite a demonstration in Liége yesterday when they brought +back from Neufchateau some Belgian and French wounded. The people all +shouted, "_Vive la France._" Today we have a new military governor, who +has given the order to shoot, without hesitation, any person attempting +such an indiscretion again. + +The scene of operations is gradually swinging back into Belgium and the +stories of atrocities are increasing. The sacking and burning of +Louvain, with its art treasures and its world-famous library of rare +books and old manuscripts, is only another blot on a shield already +stained. In fact, it is said that the general who permitted it is most +discontented with himself for having been so stupid and that he has been +relieved from active service on account of ill health. + +Monsieur Max, the burgomaster of Brussels, has been taken prisoner and +is in confinement at Namur, because he was not able nor willing to meet +the demands of the Prussians, who want gold. We hear that the women of +Germany have been required to give up all their jewelry, except wedding +rings, for fighting money. + + + + +_September 30th, Wednesday._ + + +We went again to Spa in the auto. Passing again through the pitiful +village of Louvigné, we saw, in a meadow, the graves, covered with +wayside flowers, of the farmers who were shot. The soldiers picked out +forty of the villagers, stood them up in a line, then shouted, "Save +yourselves." Thirteen were shot in the back and the rest escaped. What +words to find for this barbarism? But is it barbarism and not rather the +refined cruelty of civilization? Is it not better then to remain a +primitive, with a beautiful faith in the Sun-god? + + + + +_October 1st, Thursday._ + + +The siege of Antwerp has begun. Here is a dialogue between the Kaiser +and his _belle armée_. + +K. "I need Antwerp." + +A. "Your Majesty shall have Antwerp, but we need five hundred thousand +men." + +K. "You shall have them." + +Does this explain the fantastic array of soldiers, sailors, the old, the +young, grandfathers and infants, the simple rank and file and the +elegant regiments of H. M. that are continually trailing on to the +battlefield? + + + + +_September 29th, Tuesday._ + + +The servants are dismantling the house today, putting all the art +treasures in safety--tapestries, silver, portraits, paintings, rugs, +fine china, furniture, dresses, furs, books, linen--in fact everything +of value. All this is to be taken off for safekeeping and sealed +up,--maybe, in the crystal caves of the river nymph, Aréthusa. Madame X. +does not like to imagine the _Haus Fraus_ parading in her sables. + +A man in the city saw some circulars ready for distribution that were +printed by the German War Office, saying that in case of retreat of the +army, the inhabitants of Liége would have six hours to evacuate the +city. + +All that horror over again? Oh! this is a more terrifying thought, even, +than the advance of an army. + +Madame de H. managed to get through to us a letter from Brussels by +messenger. What dreadful things are happening, what curious things! +Three kilometres from her château on the other side of Brussels is an +old feudal castle which has been occupied for the last two years by an +Austrian family. These people were never very neighborly, preferring +their own society evidently and spending all their time and interest in +repairing the dilapidated walls of an unused wing of the château. This +had turned out an endless task, as it appears, continued for weeks and +then suddenly and unaccountably stopped for days, only to be feverishly +recommenced. But of course, people round about, accustomed to the +varying energy of workmen in general were not puzzled at this. At least +this was the explanation given and, in truth, it began to look as if the +old place would live its given quota of days and crumble away still +unfinished. + +Twenty-four hours after Germany declared war on France and had already +crossed the frontier into Belgium, the Austrian family disappeared in +the night, taking with them their household goods. The next day Belgian +authorities seized the property and found a complete arsenal under the +walls with a net-work of tunnels burrowing far into the earth in all +directions. + + + + +_October 3rd, Saturday._ + + +During the last forty-eight hours, hundreds of cattle cars have been +going back to Germany and we were very curious as to their contents. +Unhappily, we have been enlightened. + +Some of the villagers at the station, this morning, looked into one car +and saw that it was full of dead human bodies, tied together in threes +and packed tightly side by side in rows. Is that not too horrible for +words? It is better not to be too inquisitive these days, for there is +horror enough on the surface of things. + +The Germans have already taken some of the forts of Antwerp, although +the country surrounding the outer belt line of forts has been purposely +inundated, which does not, however, prevent the operation of big field +cannon. + +About fourteen of our wounded at the Convent Ambulance were sent to +Germany today as prisoners. We went to see them off and found the poor +things absolutely overwhelmed. Against the fear of cold and +imprisonment, they put on as many clothes as possible--two suits of +underwear, two pairs of socks, two pairs of trousers, coats, shirts, +sweaters and waistcoats--until they looked like stuffed partridges. +Poor, feathered brood, with pinioned wings! At three P. M. our +(usually) gay boys were led out of the court, two by two, like convicts, +a Prussian at the head of the column and a Prussian at the foot. + +Oh, these Belgians are brave and they know how to obey, which may be the +very secret of their greatness. It is glorious to see the respect with +which even grown men accept the advice of their aged parents, for at the +moment of peril to their honor and their country when the old father had +said to his son, "My boy, it is time to lay down the hoe and take up +the sword," he had answered, simply, "_Oui, mon père_," while the women +brought out the sword and buckled it on with a tearless Godspeed. + +That is the way the Belgians went to war and that is the way they will +sustain themselves to the glorious end. + + + + +_October 5th, Monday._ + + +To-day, two months after that horrible battle of Sartilmont, we found a +Belgian soldier's cap lying in the middle of the path in the woods. It +seemed like a human thing and stirred me to the profoundest depths. I +never thought that clothes could take on life and a personality all +alone, but they do. Has its owner been in hiding all these weeks or is +he lying yet unburied among the friendly trees? In these places where +Death has walked so boldly one feels his accompanying presence at every +step. + + + + +_October 8th, Thursday._ + + +Monsieur B., a man of seventy years (Madame X.'s brother-in-law), was +taken as hostage yesterday at Spa. Fortunately for him, he was allowed +to sleep in the hotel, but can you imagine what the anxiety of those +twenty-four hours was? Every voice in the street, every foot-step in the +corridor--! + +From the top of the mountain all day a continual booming was heard, +distantly transmitted through the air. It was so incessant and with such +vivacity, one could easily imagine two armies all mixed up into one. The +Red Cross trains bear witness to tremendous battles somewhere--but +where? We hardly know how to contain ourselves in this absolute +ignorance of what is happening in the world. We rush upon and tear to +bits, like beasts of prey, the least little piece of news that comes +straggling within reach and if, by chance, someone comes into the court, +it is enough for all the family, including the servants, to rush to the +windows in excitement. + +The soldiers who are in the garage had the delicate idea of killing a +cow therein, which they did, and dismantled the animal then and there. +The next day they dressed themselves in Belgian uniforms, stripped from +the dead, and had themselves photographed before the château. We noticed +their laughing and pointing to the attic windows of the house, and we +finally discovered that they had festooned strings of sausages, of their +own recent make, from the window sills, to ripen. + +A Baron de S. spent the night here, and told us of the ravages made by +the passing troops at his château down in the country. They had buried a +Frenchman in one corner of the garden and two Germans in another and +nothing was left but the house. All engravings and paintings were cut +with a sword; silver platters were melted in a lump in the court yard; +meat was cut up on a beautiful salon table; shoe polish was rubbed on +another; pipes in the kitchen and bathroom were cut to flood the rooms; +every glass in the house was broken and all the linen carried off except +the handkerchiefs. + + + + +_October 9th, Friday._ + + +Baron T., another friend of the family, came to lunch. He told us of his +cousin, who was one of the unfortunate victims of the sack of Louvain. +This aged man (seventy years) with a thousand others, was obliged to +walk for twenty-four hours with nothing to eat or drink and arms +stretched up straight over their heads. The poor man, fainting with +fatigue, asked permission of the soldiers to put his hands behind his +neck, but this grace was denied, and after some hours more all the +company was pushed into a cattle train and for eight days taken over the +country, as far as Cologne, and at last released in Brussels, almost +demented. + +When this Monsieur--of whom I speak, found himself free again he made +his way, laboriously enough, to his brother's house in Brussels. + +The _maitre d'hotel_ opened the door and, seeing this haggard, bootless +individual, who was weakened with fatigue and dazed from his recent +horrible experience, did not recognize him, naturally enough, and +refused him admission until the old gentleman got his poor scattered +brains together enough to prove his identity. This is the story as we +have it first-hand. Can it then be possible that the others we heard are +true, too? + + + + +_October 10th, Saturday._ + + +I have been advertised! like a stray dog, and what a feeling of +importance it gives one. A peculiar looking document with the Embassy +seals of Paris and Brussels on it, arrived from the American Consul in +Liége enquiring if such a person as "Me" still exists. + +Well, rather, I should say. Fancy one's coming all the way on foot from +Brussels to find out that! + +Masses of soldiers and cannon passing today and news from Brussels is +bad. The worst must have happened! "Antwerp, the untakable." How is it +possible in a few days, with fifty-two forts in triple line? We were so +depressed we could scarcely eat dinner, when about nine P. M. +came the news, from a man of affairs who is just back from Brussels, +that the rumor is false. We shall sleep tonight after this hope and the +end of the world is not today, anyway. + + + + +_October 11th, Sunday._ + + +We have heard the raging of a distant battle for days and we tremble for +the result. It seems that Antwerp is really taken, that is, "they say" +so, but it is such a mystery to everybody. + +A Dutch army nurse--but in the German Red Cross service--is here for a +few days' furlough, and related to Madame X. some horrible details of +the battlefield in France, whence she has recently come. It is just one +scene of mud and blood--pieces of limbs strewn everywhere and the dead +standing straight against masses of bodies, both living and dead. In +some towns she saw women and children pinioned with a sword through the +breast to the walls of their houses, and in Belgium the women and +children were often obliged to hold the hands of the men whom the +soldiers shot at random, according to their fancy. Here again are tales +that one hears that I cannot assert as facts, though this woman told +them as her own experiences. + +Madame X. received a card from Charles, the young gardener, who is now +safe in France training with the Belgian army near Dunkirque. You are +doubtless wondering how a card arrived here, as we have had no mail +since August 2nd. It was sent to a certain bank in Holland which is not +far from the Belgian frontier and a messenger brought it on foot. + +And I have sent you back a letter, dear people, scribbled at top speed +(without capitals, t's crossed nor i's dotted, probably) by the same +messenger who takes his life in his hands when he passes the guard at +the Dutch frontier again. If letters are found on this person he will +certainly be shot, so whether you ever receive my communication will be +a matter of history. + + + + +_October 13th, Tuesday._ + + +The old concierge of the hunting box at Viel Salm (near Malmédy, +Germany), who has been dying of tuberculosis for twenty years, arrived +here tonight, having walked the whole distance of seventy five +kilometres. This shows the faithfulness of the old servant who thought +he must come to report the sacking of the villa by the German troops +which occurred in the early days of August. + +The poor man could not have hobbled another step, for he was at the end +of his strength and his feet were just two great blisters. He told a +shocking tale of the troops, who entirely pillaged the villa. While he +went to complain of them at the _Kommandantur_ of the place, others came +and what they did not break up, they took off. Pictures, engravings and +mirrors were broken, the leather chairs slit up with a sabre--artistically +done in the shape of a cross--and porcelain smashed in the middle of the +courtyard. You can see by this that pillaging and atrocities began when +the troops were hardly over the frontier. + +In one of the numerous pillaged châteaux around about, an extraordinary +bit of literature, in fact a masterpiece, has been found by the +châtelaine. A tiny scrap of paper sticking out from a book had these +words scribbled on it in German: "I am only a common soldier but I ask +pardon for these atrocities, committed by my superior officers." + + + + +_October 14th, Wednesday._ + + +It is unbelievable the trainloads of soldiers that are passing about +every ten minutes, and the fighting--judging from the wounded--must be +beyond words. The army nurse told of men who have fought five days in +the trenches without relief. They were tumbling over with fatigue, rifle +in hand, and the officers were obliged to go from one to the other, +shaking them into consciousness. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING VIEL SALM AND THE GERMAN FRONTIER] + + + + +_October 16th, Friday._ + + +We went to Viel Salm in the automobile. The destruction at the villa, +which I saw with my own eyes, has not been exaggerated. There was +practically nothing left but the structure itself and that was far from +intact, for nearly all the great plate glass windows were broken by some +_dévot_ of vandalism who had taken the trouble and an ax to split up the +jambs of the doors so that they never could shut again. + +Inside was far worse; every picture, glass and mirror was smashed, each +leather chair had a great cross on it, cut with the sword, the sofas +were ripped up the middle, curtains and portières were wrenched from +their rods, all the dishes were taken except the glass stoppers of the +water-bottles, all the linen, all the blankets, all the clothes except a +few which were carefully cut up into ribbons and the tops of riding +boots which were sawed off for gaiters. In addition to this, eighteen +beds and bedsteads as well were carried off. + +We visited the Baronne de L., whose son, after refusing a demand of +forty thousand francs, was taken as a hostage, with the burgomaster and +others of the village. + +One morning at two o'clock a great ox cart drove up the avenue of pines +to the château and took him off before his mother's eyes. He is now +confined in a convict's cell at Coblenz. + +Baronne de L. has suffered severely at the hands of the invaders. She is +living quite alone in the château with the servants since her son was +taken and the avalanche of troops swept over the frontier at this point. +The house has been full of officers from the "first days" and she thinks +one of them was the "Kronprinz" from his photograph and because his +brother-officers always addressed him as Excellency. After one frightful +day, when the soldiers had literally despoiled the place by tearing +trophies from the wall, appropriating furniture and devastating the +stables, the household quieted down about midnight and everybody was in +bed, when suddenly a thundering of horses' hoofs was heard in the +courtyard and a new detachment of hungry, quarrelsome men piled in, +making a raid on the kitchen and pantries as usual. They were even more +boisterous and brutal than their predecessors and poor Madame de L. +crept fearfully up to the captain's room to solicit his aid and +protection. She knocked and knocked several times before the door +finally burst open and he angrily demanded what she wanted. Just as he +was in the middle of roaring out an oath, he suddenly drew himself up +haughtily, attired as he was in that great voluminous night gown +accredited to the Teutonic people, to salute a superior officer who at +that moment ascended the stair-case. + +Baronne de L. said that in spite of the fearfulness of the moment, it +was one of the most laughable scenes that she ever witnessed. + +On our way home from Viel Salm we saw the wonderful bridge of trees, +three hundred feet long and fifty feet high, at Trois Ponts, which the +Germans built when the tunnel was blown up by the Belgians at the +commencement of the war. It is a marvellous affair in engineering +construction and commands enthusiastic admiration. Except for iron bolts +and rivets, it is made entirely of trunks of huge trees--with the bark +yet on in places, though, when necessary, a surface was planed square +and true to meet its fellow. + +We drove through the village of Francorchamps, which was also burned to +the ground, and a few miles further on met three Prussian officers who +snarled out some frightful invective as we passed. I cannot think of a +reason, except that we were in an automobile while they were obliged to +circulate in a modest, pony phaeton. + + + + +_October 17th, Saturday._ + + +Antwerp is taken! There is no doubt about it now, and it is a sad blow +for Belgium. Antwerp! the pride and strength of the whole empire! But +there is not a person (bar the enemy) who does not expect to get it back +and all the rest of the usurped territory. + +Madame de H. sent letters by a "foot-messenger" from Brussels. She left +here only to plunge into a wild vortex of experiences there. Two days +ago she saw a battle in the air between two aeroplanes and yesterday the +locomotives on the trains had chains of roses around their necks to +celebrate some good news for the enemy. It sounds wild, doesn't it? And +last week--well, one does not dare to think what might have happened at +her home, Château de H., when four different companies of soldiers +pursued each other in quick succession on the road. + +First a regiment of German light infantry passed who stopped just long +enough for some hot coffee and were off again. About half an hour later +a brigade of Belgian bicycle _carabiniers_ appeared and stayed to +"lunch." They were not so _pressés_ and were leisurely laughing and +joking when one of the stable-men rushed panting into the kitchen and +said a company of Uhlans could be seen galloping hard in the distance. + +Then ensued a kaleidoscopic performance which took less time than my +writing it, and they all escaped, safely guided by Baron de H. himself, +down a narrow path hidden by trees behind the stables which led them +eventually right out across the heart of that famous beet-root country. +When the last man was safely hidden from view, one breathed a sigh of +relief which only changed to an exclamation of terror as, turning from +this window to look out of another, one saw a hundred fierce horsemen +dash up, hard on the scent of their prey. + +When Madame de H. (senior) looked down from her room and saw the Uhlans +ride into the court, she went right off her head, literally, and drawing +a tiny pearl-handled revolver from a secret drawer in her desk, started +to shoot from the window. But thanks to the presence of mind and rapid +action of her daughter-in-law, who pushed her unceremoniously into her +dressing-room and locked the door, she was prevented in time, which +without the least doubt saved all their lives. + +It is just such circumstances as these that have given the troops +opportunities and excuses to shoot peace loving citizens and burn down +many a town. + +Madame de H. (junior) then went down stairs and placated the men, who +were very insolent, as well as she could with what was left to eat in +the house. As the latter were deep in this occupation of refreshing +themselves, the sentry espied a troop of Belgian lanciers coming on the +gallop and gave the alarm. + +To horse! and away they went, bridles clinking, lances clashing. Then +commenced a phantom race as they flew over the ground like the wind, the +Belgians following hot in pursuit, until they both disappeared over the +edge of the world. + + + + +_October 19th, Monday._ + + +I went to see the American Consul, to explain that I do exist and to ask +his advice about getting back to France. He did not seem to second my +enthusiasm, which surprised me, and said, "In the first place what would +you go in, and in the second, why should you want to go, with Paris +surrounded by 2,000,000 soldiers?" + +Isn't it human nature to want to get out of prison? + +He has received no mail from America since August 19th and a letter +which came from his confrère, the American Consul at Aix-la-Chapelle, +Germany, took twenty-five days by the German Military Post. + + + + +_October 22nd, Thursday._ + + +I was perfectly enraged this morning when I crossed the bridge and saw +the soldiers changing the street signs into the German language. Now it +is "_nach Brussels_" and "_nach Lüttich_." + +I suppose you will say, "But why be so disturbed about things? It is not +your war." But it is my war. I cannot keep out of it--it's everybody's +war! + +The new soldiers who have been in the stable at the château received +sudden orders to advance. The rest of the company, scattered about in +the vicinity, assembled here and they marched out of the court, a +hundred strong. Poor, old, nice things, these Bavarians; they did not +look very military nor very keen about moving on to the "front." + +In contrast one can tell a Prussian five blocks away by his swing. His +stride is so individually overbearing that it is impossible to mistake. + + + + +_November 5th, Thursday._ + + +Monsieur and Madame S. came back from Brussels today and oh, it was good +to get a little, first-hand, outside news! It appears that Brussels +still has a semblance of her normal activity, as the heel of oppression, +in the presence of different foreign representatives, has not cut in so +deeply there. Madame S. said, one evening when they were walking in the +street she noticed a man following them and when they reached a +particularly dark corner he came quickly up and whispered, "Would you +like to see a 'London Times'? Then come into the shadow across the way." +It is well known that a single copy has already sold for 165 francs and +also there has been quite a traffic in renting sheets of it for twenty +francs the half hour. + +Coming back from Brussels, they drove through Louvain--martyred Louvain! +It was too dreadful to contemplate. First the material destruction of +those wonderful buildings, like an exquisite pattern in lace, torn by a +ruthless sword and eaten by wanton flame; then the misery and +deprivation of the people who were able to resist those hours of agony +and peril. + +Every sort of device was used for shelter and hollow eyes and +terror-stricken faces looked out from the damp cellars under the ruins, +where destitute families of at least half the population had crept to +find a home. + +Now we know why the taking of Antwerp has been kept so modestly in the +background and has never been advertised in Liége like all the other +victories, which were always flaunted in large print. It is because +while the Germans were studiously busy taking the city, fort by fort, +the Belgian army was walking out by the side door, along the coast to +France, so that when a big personage was sent from Germany to make a +grand, triumphal entry into Antwerp, he found an empty city and received +the sword of a general, ill and incapacitated for duty. + +It is said that the Prussian general who accomplished the siege was +decorated amid a grand flourish of trumpets and then retired, since one +of the great motives was the capture of the Belgian army, which is now +safe in France and taking a week-end off somewhere. Is it not fine that +little Belgium has been able to impede the great German army two and one +half months, which has given the other actors in the play time to +change their costumes? Oh, it is fine to be brave! + +Countess de M. came with Monsieur and Madame S. from Brussels and has +her passports all in order to go to France, to her husband who is in the +Belgian army near Calais. She is leaving at once, under the protection +of the Dutch Consul, who is here in Liége for a few days (a circumstance +ordained by the Fates) and who is going to conduct her in his auto over +the frontier to Maestricht, Holland. And the miracle has happened! If I +can get my papers in readiness in two days, she will take me with her. I +am wild with joy, but I feel it is like a dream that one knows cannot +come true. + + + + +_November 6th, Friday._ + + +Just the moment I finished breakfast this morning, I dashed into town, +that is, as fast as an old tramcar could take me, to the American +Consul. In my impatience, I fancy I must have rung his bell several +times, though it was really a long while before the servant opened the +door and showed me in to the library. Then Mr. Z. (a German-sounding +name), the Consul, appeared, unshaven and with the evidence of his +morning meal upon his face--it was yellow. + +But nothing mattered to me and I plunged into the subject of getting a +passport for to-morrow without preliminaries. Perhaps I took the poor +man's breath away, for certainly he was not nearly as enthusiastic as I +about it. In fact, he embarked upon a dissertation pertaining to the +invaders which made me cry out in astonishment, "Why, you surprise me, +you seem to have pro-enemy tendencies." "Well," he said, "they've done +everything they've said they have, haven't they?" + +I asked him if he had seen Louvigné or Visé yet and he said, "No, I +haven't ben up t' Visé yet." + +All this, however, was far from the point in question and I finally got +back to it by informing him of the good fortune I was going to have +to-morrow in getting away to Holland in the Dutch Consul's automobile if +I could get my passport from the Germans. It did not occur to me that +there would be any difficulty about it, so I calmly asked him if he +could get it for me by six o'clock to-night? + +"Oh, no," he replied, "I could not get it before two or three days." + +"But," I protested, aghast, "I am going to-morrow and it is a chance in +a thousand; I may not have another such opportunity during the war. +Could you not make an especial effort to get it for me?" + +"Well," he answered, "I'll do what I can but I won't promise anything. +I'm not agoing to ask any favors of those people," i.e., the Germans. + +"It is not a favor," I replied, "it is your right. For what other reason +is an American Consul if he is not to protect his people, particularly +in wartime?" + +"Oh, my dear young lady," he answered, "you must not think that you are +the only American in Liége." + +"How many are there?" indignantly. + +"Well, three or four," he replied, reluctantly. + +That was really too much! I was in despair. What was to be done? Seeing +my hope of freedom vanishing before my eyes, I clutched at the last +straw and entreated him with what eloquence I could whip into line to +make at least some effort to get me the passport by six o'clock, when I +would come again to his house for it. + +"Oh, no," he said quickly, "I don't get back here until eight o'clock, +but if you happen to pass by 'The Golden Lion' (or some such name) you +might find me there." + +Choking with rage I said to him, "I see that you cannot help me, Mr. Z., +but if you will be good enough to give me your card (he had already +suggested it) to the German passport department, I will go to the +_Kommandantur_ myself and see what I can do; in fact, I am sure I can +accomplish far more than you." He ought to have been affronted at this +but, on the contrary, seemed jolly well pleased and handed me out his +card in a hurry, glad to relieve himself of the obligation of asking any +favors of "those people." + +I then made my way to the _Palais de Justice_. A man accosted me in the +square and told me if I were going for passports it would be of no use, +as there were hundreds and hundreds of people there before me. But I +kept on. With the glorious end in view, viz., to be a free person and to +see the scenes that, in a morbid way, I had begun to feel would never be +my privilege again, I kept on, threading a path through the throngs +until I stood right in front of the guard of the sacred chamber. He was +an enormously fat sentry, with the usual little round cap and fixed +bayonet. I thought he would eat me, he looked so offended, and roared +out, "_Nein, nein, das Zimmer ist voll._" Then was my moment. I pulled +out the little white card and addressed him--not too timidly either, for +hadn't I the great American people behind me? He caught the words, +"American Consul," which drew him up to salute and in the most +lamb-like voice he murmured, "_Ach, ja, Amerikaner_," and let me pass. I +cast one look at the multitude back of me--poor things, who may have +stood there two days already, and I felt despicably mean, as if I were +not playing fair. + +Once inside, I was put through a category of questions, worse than an +"Inkwhich." "Why had I come to Liége?" "How long had I been there?" "Why +did I want to go away?" "Where to?" "How?" etc. Finally my inquisitor +became suspicious, or feigned it, and said, "But what have I to prove +that you are an American?" Then I was furious and I answered, "Monsieur +(I suppose he hated the French appellation), since you have the card of +the American Consul asserting it, in your hand, is not such a question +an indignity to my government?" He answered with a wry smile and said +nothing. + +At 4 P. M. I returned for my passport with half a dozen +photographs to be affixed thereto. I had no difficulty in getting into +the _Bureau des Passeports_ as I still had the Consul's card upon which +Herr Bauer, one of the German secretaries, had scribbled some mysterious +symbols which probably meant "let her pass," or its equivalent. At any +rate, the sentry and I regarded each other superciliously and I skidded +past his saw-toothed bayonet without hurt. + +When I entered the crowded room I saw that I was about fiftieth in the +line and I said to myself that if I waited my turn I should still be +there at midnight. Luckily, an idea came to me, and waving that fateful +little white card in the air, I called out over the heads of everybody, +"Oh, Herr Bauer." A Belgian gentleman standing next me was quick enough +to catch the name and shouted out also, "Herr Bauer." But Herr Bauer was +far too clever for him and said with a mocking smile, "Ah, no, Monsieur, +you will have to wait your turn. Mademoiselle, come this way." + +I detached myself from the crowd and stepped behind the rail, horribly +conscious of unpleasant scrutiny. My face got hotter and hotter and I +could only see a host of uplifted Belgian eyebrows. Even the clerks +looked up and stared, unaccustomed as they evidently were to Herr +Bauer's benignity. And I had to bear all that humiliation because--well, +why? + +Having exposed the facts, I will give you the privilege to form your own +opinion which will be every bit as good as mine, I know. + +11 P. M. My passport signed, sealed and written all over by the +Imperial Government, is in my hand. I shall dream of long journeys, of +bitter struggles and at last--freedom! Will the daylight never come? + + + + +_November 7th, Saturday._ + + +Saturday dawned cold, gray and shivery. _Madame de M._, _Monsieur le +consul hollandais_, and I left the château at eight A. M. I was +heartbroken to part from the dear people with whom I had experienced so +much and I fancied their eyes looked longingly at the departing +automobile. They, too, would have liked to come out into the sunshine of +Freedom--how much! + +From Liége to the frontier sentries stopped us often, but the consul's +much-used passport, framed and glassed in like Napoleon's Abdication or +the Declaration of Independence, was very convincing. Half an hour's +cold drive along the Meuse brought us to Visé. On approaching it, we did +not dream that we were nearing a town and in truth we were not--only the +remains of one, for not a single building was standing. I had thought +that Louvigné with its one lane was desolate and awful, but here were +streets and streets of ashes and crumbled brick--and I seemed to see +again the ruins of ancient Troy in Asia Minor, which are not more +complete. Someone murmured, "Pompeii." But it is not comparable. The +ages have woven about the broken columns of Pompeii a light film of +romance and a bit of tender beauty springs up with the tiny, flowering +weeds which push their way to the sun between many colored tiles. Here, +the tragedy is too new; too crude; too bleeding! + +The only living things I saw were a cat scampering down a deserted +alley, and one man--half-dazed, looking at what was probably his own +ruined home; the only wall to be seen which was, even in part, standing. +It must have been an ironmonger's shop, for some black kettles still +hung on nails against the stone, and iron stoves in all their bleakness +stood up in bold relief on piles of ashes. + +When the Germans came to Visé the commanding officer called the people +together in the market place and harangued them at length, threatening +them with dreadful punishments if they did not do so and so. He felt he +had to, doubtless, as the town and the surrounding country are well +known centers of the firearms industry; the peasants work in their own +homes to a large extent and are very expert in the making of delicate +weapons and also in their use. + +So, when the sturdy Belgians could not digest another single threat, +apparently, somebody fired a shot from the crowd which killed the +officer while he was speaking. Then followed that frightful slaughter +and the firing of the town, the remnants of which we saw to-day. Nobody +on earth will ever know who fired the shot, probably, for the soldiers +hate their officers and already German bullets have been found in German +soldiers. + +9 A. M. Over the frontier! Oh, the joy of it--the indescribable +relief--the wet-eyed thankfulness! Shall I ever forget it? I did not +know until then what depths Tyranny had furrowed into my consciousness. +Here were men and women laughing and talking in the streets and people +daring to drive in their own carriages, and everybody reading +newspapers--I felt as if I would spend my last sou for one. + +The day was spent in wandering aimlessly over the old town. The wind was +bitterly piercing and a fog hung over the canal but I was not altogether +aware of bodily discomfort. My mind, trying to adjust itself to new +conditions, was in a haze, staggering back and forth from the +consciousness of regained freedom to servitude and from barbarism to +freedom again. + +At three P. M. the train left for Flushing, where we were to +take the boat for Folkestone, England. Just before it pulled out of the +station, a friend of Comtesse de M. rushed up to the car window and +said, "Madame, must you go? We have just received a dispatch saying that +a big boat has been sunk today by a mine near Boulogne." But nothing on +earth could have deterred us then. + +All through the country of Holland, Dutch soldiers were "preparing" +everywhere. We arrived at Flushing at two A. M. and went aboard +at once, but not before being well looked over by English commissioners, +who examined our foreheads and wrists for German measles. Shall I ever +get away from that word? + + + + +_November 8th, Sunday._ + + +A long day on the Channel and I was seasick--miserably, hopelessly, +endlessly seasick, but when somebody shouted I managed to lift my head +in time to see a floating mine--just a tiny, black buoy bobbing about, +but I did not mind. I asked the stewardess if she were not afraid, +making the journey every day, and her answer awed me by its conciseness +and its confidence. "Oh, no," she said. "Our Admiralty has arranged a +path for us between the mines." That was a sublime faith, but I should +choose a more winsome path--bordered with marigolds, perhaps, or phlox. + +About four P. M. the gaunt, chalk cliffs of Dover hove into +sight, rising up in their grimness and seeming yet to shadow the awful +tragedy of the previous day, when an auxiliary cruiser had struck a mine +a quarter of a mile from shore and sunk in five minutes. + + + + +_November 9th, Monday._ + + +Folkestone! The busiest town on earth, I should say, and soldiers +everywhere. There were ruddy-looking troops, singing also, and +apparently quite content to be "going over," for an Englishman is always +game; and there were pale ones, just out of hospital, in every kind of +uniform, and bands of refugees and exiles who had not a franc among +them. + +Comtesse de M. went with me to the English Embassy to see if they would +give me a passport to France with her, for in my haste in leaving Liége, +it had not occurred to me that I would need a passport ever again +anywhere. + +It seemed to me that there were millions of people at the door of the +Embassy, but fortunately Madame de M. found an acquaintance who must +have had considerable influence, for he took us around to a secret door +and we were soon in the audience room. Well, of course, there was +nothing to prove that I was an American but our honest word, which was +not enough, so I offered to hand out my German passport, which was +certainly maladroit. + +Fancy, an Englishman viséing a German passport! + +Then Madame de M. pulled out hers and asked them to sign my name on it +as companion to her. The august head looked troubled at this; however, +he took his pen and was just in the act of putting it to paper when his +assistant or rather accomplice interposed and they argued a bit. He took +his pen for the second time and plunging it into the inkwell was just +about to sign when somebody else expostulated and another discussion +ensued. + +For the third time (he pulled himself together as a man who knows what +he is about) he took his pen and would certainly have achieved his +object if the door had not opened at the inexpressible moment to admit +an authoritative-looking person who vetoed the whole proceeding. + +What those moments were to me I shall never be able to describe--that +pen so near the paper! A naked sword three times across my throat would +not have been greater suspense. Marie Antoinette could not have suffered +more. + +Well, the game was up anyway, and as there was no American Consul nearer +than London, I decided to try the amiability of the French Consul which +I found impeccable. + +At the French Embassy again was that rush and struggle for papers, and +there I witnessed a pathetic scene. A Belgian man, of middle age, and +well dressed, came to the consul literally asking alms. "Monsieur," he +said, "to ask you for help is the hardest thing that I shall ever do in +my life, but I have lost everything and I must go to my wife, who is ill +in France, and I have but five francs. Could your Embassy aid me?" + +At five P. M. the boat left Folkestone, containing a +conglomerate parcel of humanity--sailors and soldiers of different +nations and in divers uniforms, singing alternately the "_Marseillaise_" +and "God Save the King"; Red Cross assistants eager to reach the field +of their work; white-haired mothers in search of their wounded sons, +trembling for the message that land would have in store for them and +despairing exiles awaiting at least the welcome sound of their beloved +tongue. Night fell like a soft mantle and we forged on, into the +darkness, chancing what might befall. What impressed me among the people +aboard was the apparent lack of anxiety for personal safety. Past +sufferings and the great future issue were the predominant thoughts. + +The dock at Calais was crowded with anxious friends and Belgian +soldiers. Madame de M. found several acquaintances among the +latter--friends of her husband. After the usual Custom House proceedings +we started on a quest for rooms for the night. A subdued excitement +trembled over the city; the whole population was in the streets; throngs +were seething up and down; hundreds of soldiers were hurrying to and fro +and intense groups of men discussed probabilities, while anxious women +pressed in on the crowd to catch a hopeful word. We heard that the +German army was about to plunge through to Dunkirque and would shell +Calais from there. The civil population was therefore expecting every +moment the order to evacuate the city. + +As we crossed the railroad near the pier, we saw in the half light a +small company of Belgian soldiers limping along, each with a forlorn +bundle on his back. Their aspect was _complètement démoralizé_, and the +young lieutenant with us, moved by his quick sympathy, shouted, "Oh, +say, _camarades_, have you heard of the new victories on the Yser and +the brilliant defense of the Belgians?" The poor, despondent things, +fired at once by the spirit of his enthusiasm, straightened themselves +up and cried, "Oh! Ah! Is it true? _Merci, mon lieutenant, vivent les +Belges!_" + +A few yards further on we passed a group of refugees who were stumbling +aimlessly along in the dark--there were men and women, trying to console +each other, and whimpering children, sick with hunger, clinging to their +mothers' skirts. Their plaintive cry was like a knife through the heart. + +After picking a toilsome way through the crowds we arrived in the +quarter of the big hotels and found there was not a room to be had. Not +at all daunted, we retraced our steps and sought the small hotels--there +were no rooms. Still, with courage--even amusement (the affair was +taking on a spirit of adventure) we attacked the _pensions de +famille_--not a cot; not a corner. Then we stopped in the _Place_ to +review the situation, which began to look dull gray. There were still +the _cabarets_, or we could sit in the street all night. We chose the +_cabarets_ and with newborn hope started on, systematically taking one +street after another, knocking at most dreadful-looking places, even +along the waterfront. A woman's voice from behind barred shutters +usually responded. Every chair, every table, every square inch of floor +was spoken for. Then the warm, brightly-lighted railroad station, +opposite the pier, leaped into our numbed consciousness--why had we not +thought of it before? The military authorities forbade loitering there. + +Out in the dark, once more we looked at each other inquiringly. That was +a curious joke. Fate had never dealt us such a hand of cards before! We +viewed the landscape--half of it was water and the little waves lapping +against the _quai_ were rather mocking. + +Suddenly, dark and smug, a swaying object which we had not observed till +then, took monstrous form before our eyes and in it we recognized an old +friend, the Channel boat _Elfrida_, which lay basking in the velvet +shadows like a dozing cat and gently pulling on her cables. Why not? We +did! Nothing prevented our going aboard but a sleepy guard, who was +quickly consoled with a five-franc piece, and we made ourselves +comfortable for the night on the yellow, velvet cushions in the +captain's salon, behind the wheel-house. + +Who can assert that it has not all been arranged for us? Otherwise, I +fear, our own poor efforts would land us too often in the mud. + + + + +_November 10th, Tuesday._ + + +Left Calais at nine A. M. The sun was pouring its cheerful rays +over the glorious land. It ought to be free--this smiling France! +Wherever the eye rested were soldiers drilling, building, maneuvering +and digging. Every few hundred yards the railroad was intersected by +lines of trenches. These latter appeared to be about seven feet +deep--cut true as a die into the ground and were braced with a lining of +woven reeds, like basket work. The front wall of these trenches was +crenated about every two feet, forming little niches for the soldiers +and protection against flank shots. The poppies and corn flowers blowing +over the edges were holding on for dear life to their tiny inch of soil +and nearly obliterated those brutal gashes in the earth which had +swallowed up their brothers and sisters. An unsuspecting army might well +be lured into such a pleasant bear-trap. + +Train progress was very slow for we had to switch off continually to +allow ammunition trains and troops to pass. All the railroad stations +were packed with soldiers and grieving women, though there was nothing +in the way of heroics in these leave-takings, just grim resolve on the +faces of the men and silent sorrow on the lips of the women. It seemed +as if clasped hands could not release each other and eyes held eyes in a +long farewell. Husbands were tearing themselves from their wives; +white-haired mothers were adding one word more of caution to their +departing sons; and there were young boys, of perhaps the last class, +who, touched at the moment to say _au revoir_, were yet eager to plunge +out into the future. I shall never know how many last good-byes I +witnessed this day. + +Train after train of cattle cars passed us, with a big cannon in the +middle, three horses stabled in one end and three in the other. Along +the road were several regiments of Indian troops--the _Girkhas_. They +were tall, splendidly handsome men of fine features, light, +chocolate-colored skin and brilliant, black eyes. They wore long, khaki +coats, belted in like a Russian blouse, and khaki turbans and they waved +their hands and smiled continually, showing flashing, white teeth. They +were evidently well pleased with the turn of events which had led them +to this wondrous, new world, where was plenty of opportunity for +killing--this reputed trait, however, was quite belied by their amiable +faces. + +About four P. M. (three hours yet to Paris) I was dead with +fatigue and seeing so much. Also I had not had a bite to eat since eight +A. M., having counted on a basket lunch on the road, or at +least a solitary sandwich, but all the convenient station buffets have +been closed up since the war and civilians are tacitly understood to +look after themselves and not to bother the Government by racing +needlessly over the country. But I do not think there were many making +aimless journeys. + +Since noon the cars had been steadily filling up, until the compartments +destined for ten persons were accommodating twenty, not including +bundles, lapdogs, bandboxes and bird-cages--even then there was always +room for one more. And nobody was indignant, but rather complacent and +obliging, for had they not all sons at the front and the same great +grief at heart? The conversation was general as to people and on one +sole topic, the "War," including the strategic achievements of the +French army, "Eux" (they, i.e., the Germans), and the marvellous +qualities of their beloved Général Joffre, affectionately termed +"Grandpère" by the soldiers. + +And so we rolled slowly and more slowly on, packed like sardines, the +removing of one meaning the displacement of all, as when one heedlessly +snatches a potato from the middle of a bushel basket. But very few got +down except the soldiers, the objective point for all being Paris. + +The twilight shadows were welcome, for they swallowed up all the +phantasmagoria of the day and we relapsed into silence. It was one of +those moments when Reality, or the fear of it, battles with our courage +and each one grew thoughtful as he neared the great city, dreading to +meet the spectre he feared. + +The wheels of the cars sang on in a hollow, monotonous tune, the windows +rattled systematically and outraged brakes screeched at every recurrent +jolt. Finally we saw a dim row of lights and a long, thin whistle from +our engine told us that the journey was done. Again was that noticeable +lack of excitement: everyone calmly took his personal belongings and +prepared to get down when the guard, in an unimportant voice, should +call out "_Paree_," which you would not hear if you were not listening. + +After the Customs, I was in a frenzy to get out into the street, to be +welcomed back, as one always is here, and to be cheered and warmed by +the bright lights--the flashing eyes of Paris. But the streets were dim, +the shops and restaurants closed and few people circulating about. How +different it all was! I felt like Rip van Winkle after his twenty-years' +sleep, for at the apartment (I thought I had come to the wrong house) +was a new concierge, young and pretty, replacing the old, white-haired +one. Had we gone back twenty years instead? The rooms were empty--all my +friends had disappeared, the dust was inches thick, the furniture pushed +mostly into the middle of the rooms and some of the beds were gone. +Thickly sprinkled over the floor of my room and on my bed were pieces of +the window glass, broken like all the others in the house, by a German +bomb which fell and exploded in front of the Prince of Monaco's house, +two doors from us--not one hundred and fifty feet away. Half dazed, I +dusted a place large enough for my hat and coat, extracted some clean +linen from the closet and went to bed, sick at heart. + + + + +_November 12th, Thursday._ + + +Paris! after a four days' tiring journey which in happier times takes +only five hours. But it doesn't matter--it is home again. Anywhere is +home which is out from under that yoke of infamous tyranny. I rage in +proportion as the minutes separate me from this odious thing that closes +its iron fingers around the necks of my friends. + +No! It is not to be borne. Let every man, woman and child on the earth +rise up until we have right. Do I not know? Have I not experienced the +mailed fist? And yet, how little in comparison to others; but it is +enough. + +The concierge gave me coffee and rolls and I dressed quickly in order +to get out into the street where I knew the dismal impression of the +indoors would be dispelled by the habitual smile of the enchanted city. +But the day was dull--the summit of the Eiffel Tower was hooded in a +cloud of fog and a cold blast swept over the Place de La Concorde which +froze me to the marrow. I kept on, however, somewhat protected by the +arcades of the rue de Rivoli, expecting to see, at least, familiar faces +in the shop-keepers of that gay, little Rialto--but the doors were all +closed and the blinds down. One place was open--the art shop of the +little, old, white-haired man with the twinkling eyes, who has sold me +marvellous Venus de Milos, etc., times without number. I greeted him +with real feeling and enthusiasm, for here was somebody I knew. He did +not recognize me and stared dully, without answering, as one who is +dazed; he was unshaven and dirty, his usually clear eye was lifeless and +his face was thin and drawn. Could it be that he had not enough to eat, +or was it despair? He must have had nephews and perhaps sons and +grandsons at the front. But do the people who stay at home change like +that? I went on--the Hotel Meurice was closed; the Continentale had a +section open for the Red Cross; the Bristol was closed; the Ritz was +made into an Ambulance; not a living soul on the Place Vendôme. All the +famous hat shops were closed--who would have a reason to buy hats? All +the big dressmakers were closed and every jewelry shop but two in all +that dazzling, brilliant rue de la Paix was closed. There were perhaps a +dozen people on the Boulevards, a single taxicab crawled listlessly out +of a side street, but not an omnibus to be seen. They, like all the +world, had left for the "front" and will go down in history as having +transferred the valiant French army in all haste to Victory on the +Battlefield of the Marne. + +The only thing unchanged was the Opéra, which stood there, in all its +splendor, looking on at the grievous spectacle of Paris, in anguish. +Will she live? Can she die? Is the burden of her woes too great? O, +Beautiful City of Dreams! Some call you very wicked--you, whose brave +smile has endured through all your sorrows. Is that so little? And the +valor of your Sons--was it ever surpassed? Did one of the hundreds, one +of the thousands, one of the millions, hesitate the fraction of an +instant at your call? + +O, Paris! Inimitable Paris! with the death shadow on your lovely +face.... + + + + + + +-----------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 9 interment changed to internment | + | Page 52 officiers changed to officers | + | Page 67 Kommandatur changed to Kommandantur | + | Page 74 wth changed to with | + | Page 93 pertubation changed to perturbation | + | Page 94 stupified changed to stupefied | + | Page 115 gods changed to goods | + | Page 126 Coblentz changed to Coblenz | + +-----------------------------------------------+ + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30264 *** diff --git a/30264-h/30264-h.htm b/30264-h/30264-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ff6795e --- /dev/null +++ b/30264-h/30264-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4160 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Liége on the Line of March, by Glenna Lindsley Bigelow</title> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; + text-indent: 1em; + } + h1 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h1.pg,h4.pg { + text-align: center; font-family: Times-Roman, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h5,h6 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h2 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h3 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h4 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + a {text-decoration: none} /* no lines under links */ + div.centered {text-align: center;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */ + div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */ + + .cen {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} /* centering paragraphs */ + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} /* small caps */ + .noin {text-indent: 0em;} /* no indenting */ + .img {text-align: center; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} /* centering images */ + .tdr {text-align: right;} /* right align cell */ + .tdl {text-align: left;} /* left align cell */ + .tr {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */ + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + color: silver; + background-color: inherit; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers */ + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right; font-size: 90%;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: text-top; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem span.i14 {display: block; margin-left: 30%;} + .poem span.pn { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + color: silver; background-color: inherit; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers in poems */ + + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + border: solid black; + height: 5px; } + pre {font-size: 85%; } + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30264 ***</div> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Liége on the Line of March, by Glenna +Lindsley Bigelow</h1> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/ligeonlineofma00bige"> + http://www.archive.org/details/ligeonlineofma00bige</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> +There is no Table of Contents. A list of +contents by date is provided for the +convenience of the reader. +<br /> +</div> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>LIÉGE</h1> + +<h2>ON THE LINE OF MARCH</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/frontis.jpg" width="55%" alt="GLENNA L. BIGELOW" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">GLENNA L. BIGELOW</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>LIÉGE</h1> + +<h3>ON THE LINE OF MARCH</h3> +<br /> + +<h3>AN AMERICAN GIRL'S EXPERIENCES WHEN<br /> + THE GERMANS CAME THROUGH BELGIUM</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>GLENNA LINDSLEY BIGELOW</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h3>NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY<br /> + LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD<br /> + MCMXVIII</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>Copyright, 1918, by<br /> +<span class="smcap">John Lane Company</span></h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>TO THE KING OF THE BELGIANS</i></h2> +<br /> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><i>Multitudes upon multitudes they throng</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>And thicken: who shall number their array?</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>They bid the peoples tremble and obey:</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Their faces are set forward, all for wrong.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>They trample on the covenant and are strong</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>And terrible. Who shall dare to say them nay?</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>How shall a little nation bar the way</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Where that resistless host is borne along?</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><i>You never thought, O! gallant King, to bow</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>To overmastering force and stand aside.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Safe and secure you might have reigned. But now</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Your Belgium is transfigured, glorified,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>The friend of France and England, who avow</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>An Equal here, and thank the men who died.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i14"><i>H. M.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>London Times, August 14, 1914.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h2>Contents by Date</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="80%">FOREWORD</td> + <td class="tdr" width="20%"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">July 30th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">July 31st, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 1st, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 2nd, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 3rd, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 4th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 5th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 6th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 7th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 8th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 9th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 10th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 11th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 13th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 14th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 15th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 16th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 17th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 18th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 19th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 22nd, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 24th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 26th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 27th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 28th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 29th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 30th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 31st, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 2nd, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 3rd, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 4th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 5th, Saturday. (At the ambulance.)</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 6th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 8th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 9th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 10th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 12th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 14th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 16th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 18th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 22nd, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 24th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 28th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 30th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 1st, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 29th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 3rd, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 5th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 8th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 9th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 10th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 11th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 13th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 14th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 16th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 17th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 19th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 22nd, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 5th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 6th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 7th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 8th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 9th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 10th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 12th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>FOREWORD</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Liége on the Line of March, or An American Girl's Experience When the +Germans Came Through Belgium, is a unique story. No other American +probably was in the exact position of Miss Bigelow who was at the +Château d'Angleur, Liége, Belgium, with the family of Monsieur X. at the +outbreak of the war and experienced with them and the people of their +country those tragic events which, up to the present, have hardly even +been sketched for the world.</p> + +<p>What the public already knows of armies, guns, trenches, etc., has +little to do with the suffering that the people of an invaded country +endures, when the white-hot flame of the enemy invasion sweeps over the +land scorching every flower and leaving in its wake only desolation and +pain and despair. This narrative describes in detail just what might +come to any one of its readers if the Germans were victorious in Europe. +Let him picture to himself his line of action or even his line of +thought if an insolent officer came into his home, took his paintings +from the wall, his rugs from the floor, his private papers from his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +desk and, finally, his sons to—what fate? The most pacific of pacifists +would draw a tight breath at such proceedings. And these are the least +of things that have happened in Belgium.</p> + +<p>But the journal was not written with exhortative design. It is the +simple and truthful story of daily events as they occurred; if, at +times, the words seem brutal, the circumstances were brutal. Why should +one not know them?</p> + +<p>The Château d'Angleur was respected as far as real pillaging and +destroying were concerned for the fact that a cousin of Monsieur X., a +Belgian by birth, is the wife of the Count von M. of Germany, at one +time Grand Chancellor of the Imperial Court and a trusted friend of +Emperor William the Second. As was proven afterwards this relationship, +surprisingly enough, had some influence on the side of clemency.</p> + +<p>Monsieur X. was one of that family of famous Belgian bankers which has +existed for four generations. He was also President of the International +Sleeping Car Company of Europe to which honor he was appointed at the +death of his brother Monsieur Georges X., the originator and founder of +the Company.</p> + +<p>Madame X. is a Russian by birth, the great-granddaughter of Prince ——, +who was at one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>time Grand Chancellor of the Court of Russia, and a +cousin of Princess ——, a lady in waiting to Her Former Majesty the +Czarina of Russia. The daughter of Madame X., Baronne de H., wife of a +Belgian nobleman of Brussels, is a personal friend of Their Majesties, +the King and Queen of Belgium.</p> + +<p>Miss Bigelow, though a neutral subject, was nevertheless a virtual +prisoner of the Germans from August to November, 1914, owing to the lack +of facility in getting away from Belgium. The railroad was taken over +entirely by the German Army; automobiles, horses, carriages, etc., being +long since confiscated and appropriated by the Germans. Considerable +anxiety was felt as to her safety as no communication with the outside +world was possible during those three months of internment. Therefore, +her journal was faithfully kept for the benefit of her family and +depicts the comfortable luxurious life of the days preceding August, +1914, the shock of the Declaration of War, the terrific battle of +Sartilmont, three kilometres from the château, which entailed indirectly +the death of Monsieur X. in the early morning of the following day while +the guns were still booming. It also includes the bombardment of Liége +which lasted twelve days, the care of soldiers burned in the forts, the +capture <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>of the city by the Prussians, their brutal shooting of +civilians, the burning of parts of the town and the taking of citizens +as hostages.</p> + +<p>The passing of the German army with all its accompanying paraphernalia +that went to the front in the first days is described as it was +photographed on the brain of the writer, looking down from her window, +day after day, onto the highroad.</p> + +<p>The journal ends with the attempted withdrawal to Brussels, the final +escape to Holland by the aid of the Dutch Consul of Maestricht, the +journey from Flushing, Holland, to Folkestone, England, to Calais and to +Paris. The last part of this journal will appeal to those who have known +and loved Paris in the old days, and portrays her to the world as the +flower she is, revealing her truth and her worth tho' stripped of that +individual worldliness which was yet a charm.</p> + +<p><i>Note.—All except German names in the Journal are fictitious.</i></p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>LIÉGE</h2> + +<h3>ON THE LINE OF MARCH</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +<h2><a name="LIEGE_ON_THE_LINE_OF_MARCH" id="LIEGE_ON_THE_LINE_OF_MARCH"></a>LIÉGE, ON THE LINE OF MARCH</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2><i>July 30th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>To-day has been warm, very warm and sultry, a day of surprises, +beginning with the sudden disappearance of Monsieur X.'s trusted head +clerk—a German boy who has been in the office for fifteen years and who +knew every phase of the situation. What reason on earth could he have +had for vanishing like that with all his personal belongings, not +leaving one trace behind to show that such a person had ever been? Odd, +but certainly done with studied thoroughness.</p> + +<p>This afternoon we sat at the end of the garden by the little lake, +listless and content to do nothing. The air was ominously still, as I +remember it now, and the sun beat down through a yellow haze. Suddenly, +without the slightest warning, huge drops of rain began to fall. You can +imagine that we scurried up the path as fast as possible, past the old +oak, and reached the terrace just before the very heavens opened in a +flood and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>a great shaft of lightning, like a sword, swept down from the +sky straight to the oak tree, crushing it completely. My hand trembles a +little as I write tonight—it was the suddenness of the onslaught which +unnerved me, I suppose, for it was a curious thing that there were no +signs of approaching storm except the dull yellow light which we did not +notice then.</p> + +<p>There was a small dinner this evening and the table was beautiful as +usual with old silver and candles which shed their warm light about—all +lovely and luxurious. Monsieur R., M.P., did his best to draw out the +political opinions of the party, but conversation, quite contrary to +custom, was fitful. I think every one was a little unstrung by the +afternoon's experience and the air even yet is full of electricity.</p> + +<p>During one of the unwelcome pauses of the dinner a motor came panting up +the drive and "Uncle Henri" burst in, virtually hatless and coatless, +fairly bristling with political news and very much annoyed that +something, anything, had wrecked his normal existence for a moment. But +this something which has happened is terribly serious. The French trains +are not going beyond the frontier to-night, and part of "Uncle Henri's" +agitation was due to this fact as he had been obliged to walk a few +hundred yards to get <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>the Belgian train. In the excitement of such an +unheard of proceeding he had plunged ponderously along in the dark and +mud with his fellow-travellers and incidentally lost his luggage and his +valet, the ineradicably English James. Nobody took in the seriousness of +such a strange tale at first, for Uncle Henri is, before all, <i>très +comédien</i>. But why was he not in Russia as he was expected to be? Very +good reasons indeed, for it appears that Austria and Serbia and Germany +and Russia are about to jump down each other's throats, according to +widespread rumor. France, too, is writhing in suppressed excitement +which one cannot understand, with conditions growing worse every minute. +It would seem rather left-handed for Germany and Russia to reach around +through France to cross swords.</p> + +<p>Timid little Madame N. asked if these things might indicate War. +Everybody scouted the idea and ridiculed the thought of the hard-headed, +common-sense, Western world doing anything so absurd. So we will leave +it to the <i>diplomats</i> to settle the difficulty. I am glad that they can.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>July 31st, Friday.</i></h2> + +<p>Yesterday was only a preliminary to the seething in the tea-pot which +exists as to-day's events <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>show—everybody is bewildered at the +tremendous things that have started and the equally tremendous things +that have stopped. What does it all mean? There is the greatest +excitement aroused by the foreign news in the evening papers, announcing +in glaring headlines a diplomatic rupture between Germany and Russia. So +it's true! Probably your seismic stock market has already foretold +coming disturbance, but for Europe it is a positive bomb. Already here +in Liége not more than half of the daily four hundred and eighty trains +have passed the city, and it is reported that none of these go beyond +the frontier.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 1st, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Today the papers announce the stunning news that Germany has declared +war against Russia. The report must be sufficiently authentic, for, as +if by magic, the Belgian army is already gathering itself together with +an almost superhuman rapidity, proof of which we have had in the masses +of troops that have been passing the château all day. Yesterday, trouble +was a newspaper rumor; today, deadly earnestness. And what excitement +all about! The air is positively charged and the whole community is +agog; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>people with anxious faces accost each other in the street; +farmers neglect their crops to come into town, bank clerks lay down +their pens and shop doors are beginning to close.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 2nd, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The world has suddenly become nothing but people, and the transition +from the peaceful, care-free existence of four days ago is so great that +I cannot write intelligently, today, because so much is happening. +Following on His Majesty King Albert's magnificent discourse [<i>Vive le +roi!</i>], the spirit of a great and glorious decision has set the empire +in motion. The vast machine moves—though some of the bolts creak and +protest a little in their rusty coats and the earth trembles to the +rhythm of tramping feet. Hundreds of soldiers and cannon have been +passing all night, and this morning routes in every direction are +blockaded by detachments from different regiments. There are uniforms of +all types and colors, the ensemble looking like a variegated bouquet +snatched hurriedly by the wayside; the sorting will come later, one +doesn't ask how. The old farm at the end of the garden has been turned +into a barracks, and recruits are being drilled among the apple trees in +the orchard. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>The excitement is intense—one treads carefully fearing to +be the first to prick the bubble. The newspapers are disquieting, as it +appears now that Germany will probably declare war against France, too, +and is contemplating passing through Belgium by Namur or Luxembourg to +the French frontier. That is a rather offensive threat, as, of course, +there is the neutrality of Belgium and one cannot get away with that. We +consider ourselves most lucky to be here rather than in France.</p> + +<p>A detachment of Belgian soldier boys slept in the stables last night. +Monsieur X. sent them his best cigars, and this morning, as soon as they +tumbled out, they made a straight line for the kitchen whence they +scented hot coffee. The good heart of the old, fat cook, who is a native +of Amsterdam, was melted at once and she gave unsparingly until they +flattered and coaxed her into such a state of bewilderment that even +Dutch patience was at last exhausted when she saw them pouring in and +pouring in and boldly attacking her sumptuous pantries <i>en masse</i>.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 3rd, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Preparations for war are going on rapidly; scores of automobiles are +racing past like mad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>things, carrying Governmental messages no doubt +and the Government itself, by its eternal prerogative, is commandeering +for its use everybody's private property—horses, cows, automobiles, +pigs, merchandise, provisions, etc. And how one gives for one's country! +The men, their goods; the women, their sons. The spirit of the people is +magnificent. Huge loads of hay in long processions like caravans are +coming in from the country along with immense droves of cattle. In the +orchard adjoining the château are already domiciled two hundred or more +cows and the discordant melody from this hoarse-throated chorus, +uninterrupted day or night, is driving us to madness. Indoors, we +ourselves are laying in a supply of things in case of necessity and the +kitchen is piled high with bags of flour, coffee, beans, tinned goods, +etc., and in the pasture is a new cow. Beef will probably be the <i>pièce +de resistance</i> for many a day.</p> + +<p>Monsieur X.'s old coiffeur came out from town today. He is French and by +far the most volatile person about the news of the moment that I have +seen. It is like a play to hear him declaim on the situation, but, poor +man, having endured the Siege of Paris for six months in 1870, he +doubtless has recollections. And he makes the most of them as well as of +his dramatic ability, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>describing in an eloquent manner how he fried +rats in a saucepan, which with some spice and plenty of onion all +around, he admitted, were "<i>pas mal du tout</i>." Madame X. herself was in +the "Siege of Paris" in 1870 and is therefore taking thought.</p> + +<p>These details of the equipment and provisioning of the army will be as +interesting to you as they are engaging to us here in the midst of it, +for they are not commonly even included in a rapid conception of "War" +though being in reality the biggest part of it.</p> + +<p>What masses of convoys and munitions! They must constitute that same +impressive "impedimenta" that one used to read about in Cæsar's Wars +which by its unfailing late arrival constantly threw the old Romans into +such a frightful <i>dépit</i>. But happily, in this case, it comes first +instead of last.</p> + +<p>The whole world seems to be changing place like sand on a moving disc +and my mind is losing its grip on what is real—it's a curious feeling. +Madame X. and her family, like everybody else, are extremely anxious, as +one would naturally be with his country, his home and his future in +peril, but I, in my superb (what shall I say?) Americanism or optimism, +am sure it will come out all right: nevertheless I feel confused.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 4th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The situation, already grave, has taken a definite turn. Germany is +going to attack France through Belgium. Completely ignoring the +neutrality of the latter, she demands to "just pass through peaceably," +but being refused permission, so much the worse for those who are in the +road. Personally speaking, I should say we are decidedly in the +road—Aix-la-Chapelle—Liége—Namur. Don't you think the crow would +agree with me?</p> + +<p>We saw a charming spectacle this morning if anything connected with war +can be so called,—a little company of <i>mitrailleuses-à-chien</i>, that is, +small, shrapnel gun carriages drawn by the famous Belgian dogs. It sort +of made my heart crinkle up to see those magnificent animals, detailed +for fatal duty without doubt, pushing on so joyously. Straining in the +traces and really smiling with their great tongues hanging out, they +were performing their work, proud as Punch, and eager to get on.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon we were suddenly startled by the booming of nearby +cannon. I shall never forget the first sound of it! It might have been +the Last Trumpet and we didn't know that it was not. My soul turned sick +and seemed to be tumbling down a fathomless abyss while a pair of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>unprejudiced eyes watched its descent. Please do not think I am not +serious—it is a moment when one meets things face to face and the +inevitable is happening. We hear that the firing is for the purpose of +demolishing houses and churches before the forts, which might in any way +obstruct the range of the guns. Did I explain that Liége is encircled by +twelve forts, built about twenty-eight years ago under the personal +direction of Général Brialmont? They are on the same principle as those +of Namur and Bucharest, and are large affairs of concrete, sunk three +stories under ground and furnished with elaborate electrical apparatus. +Covering and protecting the cannon are automatic, armored cupolas, +rising and falling with the modern, disappearing guns. Here is a tiny, +freehand map which will give you an idea of the country as well as the +situation of Château d'A——, where I am and which is just between the +city and the enceinte of forts. A shell overreaching this latter, from +the enemy's field cannon, would, I should say, tumble right into our +"zone." But we do not even admit of such a possibility in speaking to +each other. Isn't it funny how we continue to deceive ourselves and life +is a sham to the last throw?</p> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/map1.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/map1.jpg" width="85%" alt="Map of Liége with the Twelve Surrounding Forts" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><span class="smcap">Map of Liége with the Twelve Surrounding Forts</span></p> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>Général Brialmont warned the Government when the forts were under +construction, that if it could not maintain an army sufficiently strong +to defend the open country between them, he was building them for the +Germans. That statement revived suddenly, gives rise to an apprehension +hitherto unfelt by the <i>Liégeois</i>, who have absolute faith in the +impregnability of Liége.</p> + +<p>Madame X.'s oldest son, Monsieur S., and his wife, arrived tonight from +France by auto. They would never have been able to get here if Monsieur +S. had not the royal seal on some state papers which he was bringing +from the Belgian Embassy in Paris. Was there ever such a wildly exciting +ride, plunging through two battle lines (French and Belgian) into massed +formations everywhere? Nevertheless Madame S. said she used to fall +asleep from sheer fatigue during the long drives in the blackness of the +night or when they were stopped for hours at a time to identify even a +king's messenger.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 5th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>I wonder what you are thinking of events, at home? You will marvel that +I can write at such length when the very skies seem to be pressing down +upon us. But it is the greatest relaxation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>possible and a kind of +safety valve. It makes me think of some lines of Shakespeare where +different conditions "oft make the wise dumb and teach the fool to +speak." So I write on. The news we get may not be altogether authentic, +as we receive nothing now except by word of mouth. By report it seems +that England, France and Russia are prepared to defend the neutrality of +Belgium with their armies. Liége is now in a state of siege with the +Prussians before the forts. Commerce in the city has ceased completely +with the railroad, telegraph, telephone, post, tramcars, newspapers, +shops and factories. Can you understand what that means? At one time or +another in our lives most of us have been the victim of a social +condition called a "strike"—horribly inconvenient circumstances, when +the mail-man did not come, for instance, or train service was laid off +or the electric light went out for a time. But these instances were all +individual, that is, they happened separately, while here the whole +Universe has shut down together. I could not make you comprehend the +criticalness of our position. I feel as if we were suspended by the +finest thread between heaven and earth, for there is nothing very solid +under our feet and only a sea of ether over our heads. This description +is wholly inadequate to interpret the sensation or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>the uncertainty. Can +you imagine what it would be like? I cannot exactly say I feel "fear"; +perhaps I cannot define fear; but a heaven-sent optimism buoys me up. In +our journeys 'round, having previously experienced cold plunges in the +dark, the fascination of "chance" lets us hope.</p> + +<p>"War!" What other lone factor could bring about at the same moment, such +circumstances, the absolute cessation of every living element of our +existence? I know that you will be amused at my sudden plunging into the +psychological realm, but it all makes me wonder. Oh, our dear +civilization and the convenient things we are used to! A puff of smoke, +a hostile shot and they are gone. And here we are, groping like the +veriest savage for a hole to hide in and something to eat. I assure you, +nothing else occupies us for the moment. How is it that the whole house +of cards falls down together? In all these centuries of Struggle and +Learning and Science and Dissent has nobody found a common leaven for +bread?</p> + +<p>It is not yet decided if we shall go to Brussels considering what is +rather sure to happen. Several days ago large quantities of gasoline +were buried in the garden under the shrubbery in the event of our +leaving quickly by automobile. However, Brussels is an open city and it +is a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>question if we would be as well off there as here in this strongly +fortified place.</p> + +<p>But Dieu! If they do come—? There is the sub-cellar of the château +whose fine arches and solid vaulting two hundred years old, would hold +even if the house were burned down about our ears. But no! To be +suffocated under burning ruins, no, no! We will not think of that!</p> + +<p>A moment of reckless mirth assails me: I want to scream! I feel like the +fair Dido mounting her funeral pyre.</p> + +<p>One other hiding place has been thought of. Up in the woods on the +hill-side is a long tunnel about four feet in diameter which conducts a +tiny mountain stream down to the lake. It is dark and wet. Could we stay +there on our knees in the water for many hours, perhaps days? Heavens! +It is unthinkable. Let us die in the open, if die we must.</p> + +<p>I am writing this morning in my room, which looks out on the highroad +and the hurrying troops. It is not a time that one would choose for +composition, but I want you to get as vivid an impression as possible of +events as they occur, <i>et enfin</i>, I must do something. The booming of +cannon has commenced again, which is sufficiently frequent and of a +certain terrifying decision to assure us that fighting has really +begun.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>This ceased during the early evening and we went to bed in peace. That +is, we went to bed. Madame X.'s oldest son was detailed for sentinel +duty on the little road at the side of the château leading up to the +plateau from where the sound of guns came during the day. Monsieur J., +the other son, with a friend of his, was carrying messages from one fort +to another in his auto, miraculously scooting between the shots.</p> + +<p>About 10 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> we were violently awakened by furious sounds of +shots in the distance which must have been rifle fire and which grew +more and more distinct, gradually becoming incessant like a long, +uninterrupted drum roll—the machine guns, I suppose. These frightful +noises, increased in volume by the minute and coming on and on in our +direction, were shortly right over the hill above us. The bullets rained +like hail and shells shrieked and split the universe from end to end. We +lay in our beds, trembling, while utter terror seized us as the fracas +would subside a little and then roll nearer and nearer in a perfect +deluge of horrible sounds. Suddenly in the middle of it all a terrific +blast rent the air; the forts had entered into this hideous contest! Oh +the joy of it! I hardly breathed between their shots which seemed +centuries apart and in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>reality were only a few minutes, for I thought, +now, surely the struggle must end; no enemy can long withstand their +mighty will. But the battle lasted all night with increasing fury. The +roar and din were beyond words, the concerted effort of four forts, the +giant field cannon, machine guns and rifles. My heart stands still when +I remember the thundering of those forts, the premeditated destruction, +the finality which each boom! bespoke, and the thousands of human beings +up there fighting like madmen. The latter, in the wild confusion of +fire, battle and the blackness of the night, finished by shooting into +each other by mistake as their officers were cut down in their midst.</p> + +<p>About 2 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> we all gathered in Madame X.'s sitting-room. +Suddenly, quite unconscious of any definite purpose, I remember pulling +on the light. Monsieur X., aghast, said, "Mademoiselle, put it out +quickly. They might see it through the dark and aim for it."</p> + +<p>What a night! and what visions we conjured up of the invincible +Prussians, drunk with blood and battle ready for any atrocity, plunging +down the hill into our own garden. The sound of the guns was so near +that Monsieur X. thought the battle must be in the open on his own +property <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>just above the hill. As a matter of fact it was only three +kilometres away, on the plain of Sartilmont.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<h2><i>August 6th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Rain came with the light. That gentle pattering on the sod, after the +tumult of the night, was the sweetest sound I ever heard. It was just as +if Nature had put out Her mother's hand over the earth to soothe its +troubled breast. Was she pleading for that mercy which drops as Her own +gentle tears from Heaven?</p> + +<p>During the morning the road in front of the château was filled with +Belgian troops, bedraggled with mud, trying to regain order. And there +they halted for hours and hours in the rain—an absolute picture of +dejection. Even the horses imbibed the general despair as they stood +there, heads drooping, their manes stirring in the wind. That must be +the hard part of it—waiting for orders; but they did it well, no +impatience nor fretting, just obeying the command, their very immobility +carving them a niche in the landscape. These men had been fighting for +several days and, bowed down as they were with the wet and misery of it +all, made a shocking contrast to fresh troops of cavalry which passed at +the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>time, brandishing long, dramatic looking lances. And Felix, +the second gardener, who is one of these "<i>lanciers</i>," came to say +good-bye in the elegant uniform of his regiment and looking very smart +in white trousers and short blue jacket—in fact, a man transformed.</p> + +<p>I had always seen him in wooden sabots and blue apron coaxing this +flower and that into bloom, but he had never been a great success at it. +When his elder brother died, he had wished, so much, to replace him as +head-gardener, so his master let him try for a little and he had failed, +indifferently. But here was a soldier-man, stout heart and valiant +sword, eager to serve his King. This time he will not fail but will meet +his opportunity more than half way.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> All day Red Cross ambulances and +every kind of vehicle were hurrying by, bringing the wounded from the +battlefield. Madame X.'s family physician stopped in on one of his trips +for a moment's respite from the awfulness up there—his description of +those scenes is too terrible to write about. The carnage was +awful—pieces of bodies scattered about everywhere, the wounded writhing +in their death agony and the dead standing up straight against masses of +dead.</p> + +<p>In the evening, indistinct sounds of a far off <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>battle could be heard as +the struggle moved on to another quarter. Nearer, we heard the trailing +of heavy artillery down the mountain and against our will the thought +formulated itself, "Will that wave of terror roll back to us?" Our ears +have developed an abnormal acuteness, so that almost a pin falling will +make taut nerves scream, though in reality nobody moves—a glance is +enough to both ask and answer a question. A marvelous new +self-possession seems to have come to everybody which bridges over a +natural despair and forms, at least, a skeleton framework by which we +keep each other up.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Not heard of again.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 7th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>More or less booming from the forts all day. As communications of every +kind have been cut off, we cannot know what is happening. But where is +the assistance so direfully needed, promised by both France and England +to poor little Belgium with the great German army moving on Liége? +Everybody has faith, however, in the Allies, and in the streets it is +pathetic to hear people assuring each other, "<i>O, oui, les Français +viennent ce soir</i>" (Oh, yes, the French are coming to-night). There are +many German troops in town already, who somehow have pushed their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>way +in between the firing, but the city will not cede the forts, so the +bombardment may begin at any moment. I cannot define my +impressions—some day I may be able to, but just now I do not know what +they are. Happily the château is on the edge of the city and there is a +certain quiet at present, but in town pandemonium reigns. Men, women and +children are fleeing in all directions with their few most precious +possessions tied up in a bundle. And where are they going to, the poor +things, with all roads in the country choked up, soldiers and trenches +everywhere?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 8th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>This morning we walked through the garden to service in the little +village church. For a short moment a welcome calm stole over us in the +quiet of those walls, but how sinister to hear the eternal boom of +cannon between the words of the Mass. All the bridges of the city are +mined and guarded. The five days given Liége by the Prussians to +surrender are up tonight. What will tomorrow bring forth? The Belgians +have blown up the tunnel at Trois Ponts, near the German frontier, as +well as the railroad in many places, which will impede the enemy's +advance considerably, and great trees have been cut down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>across the +roads in all the country roundabout.</p> + +<p>Mère Gavin came hobbling down the path from the top of the hill this +evening to tell us of the astonishing experience she had this afternoon +when a peasant came to her old hut and offered to buy her cow. Now as +her cow is her most precious possession and her sole support she refused +at once, tho' frightened at her own boldness. The stranger, however, was +rather insistent and asked if she would rent the cow, then, for fifty +francs an hour? Was there ever a queerer offer? Of course fifty francs +was a gold-mine to Mère Gavin, so she accepted, and was fairly overcome +when the man laid down three hundred francs on the table and told her to +keep them for him. Then he drove the cow away over the hills while Mère +G. sat staring stupidly at her gold. After a time he came back (with the +cow) and said, "Old One, three hours after I have gone, you can tell +your people that the red <i>pantalons</i> (French soldiers) will be here in +forty-eight hours." Was that not a clever way for a French Scout to find +out the lie of the land?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 9th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Some of the Prussians have succeeded in penetrating into the city, tho' +the forts have not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>surrendered, and are already establishing martial +rule. Aeroplanes, with the wings turned back, <i>Taubes</i>, have been flying +about all the morning. In the afternoon we went up over the hill to the +plain of Sartilmont, the battlefield of Wednesday night. All along the +road were heaps of uniforms, some quite new, probably taken from the +dead. Those horrid limp things made me shiver with their lifelessness, +and the spirit of death, everywhere, seemed to close us in. Countless +numbers of haversacks were strewn about, doubtless cast away by the +soldiers to disencumber themselves in falling quickly back from one +position to another. In them, generally, was a change of underwear, +light boots, hard biscuit, canned meats and confiture. Already a flock +of human ravens was collected about the piles of débris, sorting out +what was good to take and collecting fragments of bread for a happy +repast. It was sickening to see, when possibly some of those brave, dead +soldiers were lying, yet unburied, in the nearby hedges and ravines. +Arrived at the little village we saw destruction a plenty. The +inhabitants all had terror-stricken countenances and yet in their desire +to please, literally fell over each other in haste to tell and show. +Some of the buildings were entirely demolished, others with doors hacked +up and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>windows broken, while everywhere houses and trees were riddled +with bullets. One old peasant woman told me that she and fifty others +were imprisoned for twenty-four hours by the Germans in a tiny stable, +without food or drink, and for no apparent reason.</p> + +<p>The battlefield on the top of a ridge of hills between the Ourthe and +the Meuse is a large plain, around the edges of which lay scores of +magnificent trees cut down in haste to give unobstructed range. Their +branches had been previously soaked in <i>pétrole</i> and set on fire. The +effect of those prostrate, charred monsters added to the desolation all +around. Across the end of the plain were those famous open trenches of +"two stories," that is, with about a two-foot elevation of earth in the +bottom against the front wall of the ditch, forming a kind of platform +for the soldiers when taking aim.</p> + +<p>These were dug by the soldiers and men from the factories of Liége. In +front of the trenches were constructed those marvellous, barbed wire +fences, about one and one half metres apart and perhaps five rows deep, +with the wire twisted and wound in every conceivable fashion. Thirty +feet in front of this barrier was buried a string of mines, connected +with the trenches by an electric wire, to be exploded at a given +moment. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>Dark as the night was, the enemy found and severed some of +these communications so that most of the mines were rendered +ineffective. We saw the cut wire in several places. What hope can those +poor soldiers have, enemy or no, the advance guard of the besiegers, who +are pushed forward often at the point of the bayonet, armed only with +huge scissors to cut through such an almost impenetrable defense?</p> + +<p>A most touching sight was the graves of thirty Belgians in one end of +these trenches. Does that not seem a terrible irony to be buried in +one's own trenches? A few common, wayside flowers were strewn on the +graves, in front of which was an old prayer-stool and a wooden cross +surmounted with a Belgian <i>képi</i> (military cap). This cap seemed a +living thing almost and reminded me of the red fez so often seen on the +Moslem tombs in the cemeteries of Constantinople, which seemingly +strives to evoke a vital spirit from the frigid marble. Nailed to the +cross was a fragment of those well-known lines of the Immortal Cæsar, +"Of all the peoples of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest." You see, the +old warrior knew that long ago.</p> + +<p>Near by was a small, shrapnel gun carriage, by which stood a toothless, +old man who told, in that excruciating <i>Wallon</i> tongue, a pathetic story +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>of one of the dogs which had probably drawn it. His mate doubtless was +killed in battle, but he returned three days later, lay down beside the +broken wheels and defied anyone to approach.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>Monday, August 10th.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur S. came home to-day laden down with bags of gold like Ali Baba. +How he is going to do away with it so that the ferret eyes of the enemy +will not spy it out, is a problem to me. And I do not want it explained +for I am sure I should look right into the forbidden corner at the wrong +moment and give the secret away.</p> + +<p>Although there are thousands of German soldiers who have come into the +city and who control it, they are like rats in a trap. On account of the +twelve surrounding forts they cannot leave it and for the same reason no +one can come to their aid. So they have mounted machine guns in corner +houses of many streets and it is horrible to see those deadly mouths +gaping out of the windows. In case of an uprising among the civilians +the soldiers' revenge will be to kill the women and children. But no! +that is not possible in these days, from men who are neither savages nor +Turks.</p> + +<p>A heavy cannonading began at 4.30 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span>—it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>literally tore us +from sleep, for it seemed as if the very house were tumbling down about +our ears and the singing and whizzing of those big shells was <i>bizarre</i>, +to put it mildly. One did not know whether to get up or efface one's +self in the blankets. I remember having the utmost confidence in the +headboard of my bed, which was toward the window. But that did not +obliterate the siren whistle of those big shells and the moment of +suspense between the lightning and the thunder. After each deafening +burst I kept reiterating to myself, "Saved again," as one would repeat a +chronological table of something important. About 8.00 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> we +straggled into the breakfast room—all of us rather lifeless and with +very white faces and little appetite for either eating or talking. There +seemed to be only one thing to say, which was, "Did you hear that?" It +was the same sensation again of the thread between heaven and earth. I +wonder if it will break!</p> + +<p>This afternoon we took a little walk into the city along the river, +Madame X., her two sons—Monsieur S. and Monsieur J., her daughter, +Baronne de H., and myself. We passed several Prussian guards on the +bridges and Monsieur S. talked with one of them. It appears that the men +are very disheartened. This man said he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>had started with a company of +seven hundred soldiers and entered Liége with sixty four. That's what it +means to "take cities without difficulty"—and nobody remembers the +seven hundred mothers, or wives, or children that are left. The +burgomaster has received some most sensational news from Brussels, but +it is too ridiculous to be believed.</p> + +<p>Tonight is still and Nature is beautiful in the moonlight. Is it the +calm before the storm? Here in the château we are comfortable with +plenty to eat and faithful servants. In town one is not so lucky as a +cousin of Madame X. is quartering forty soldiers and ten officers at +table who are not—or rather, who are a little argumentative, and we +have heard of some instances where the "host" and "hostess" have had to +sleep in the garret or the cellar or wherever they could, while the best +rooms are appropriated by the <i>militaires</i>. Blankets, etc., are also +being requisitioned from many houses.</p> + +<p>It is reported that Général Léman narrowly escaped being captured +recently when he was lunching in the court of the Café —— in town. His +companions-in-arms suddenly became aware of four men in strange uniform +who were approaching, and gave the alarm. Général Léman succeeded in +getting over the wall of the garden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>while the others engaged the spies +in a hand-to-hand fight and overcame them.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 11th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Invincible Liége! People are still firm in their faith, encouraged by +the peace of the morning. The day was quiet until 6.00 <i>P. M.</i>, when +furious shooting into the valley began. We saw the great shells bursting +in the air and between the clouds of smoke we could distinguish an old +monastery on the other side of the valley which was being shot to pieces +by the enemy's field-cannon. The structure changed shape half a dozen +times before our eyes and the setting sun concentrated, as if purposely, +all its rays on the windows which made them blaze forth through all that +fury like the veritable Hand of God, writing in fire. It seemed almost +like a premonition.</p> + +<p>Pressure from those tremendous guns could remodel mountains, and Nature +herself, sometimes, cannot hold out against the fiendish ingenuity of +man. And the city, itself! Can it hold out?</p> + +<p>In the garden, very near the foot of the mountain, is the old farmhouse, +in one corner of which is a little chapel whose door stands open the +year round. It is of particular interest to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>peasants, being the +last relic of a certain superstitious legend of the countryside. The +people come from miles around, crossing the fields by a little path +which they themselves have beaten down, to kneel before this tiny altar; +and on the last Sunday in May, the annual fête, the priests, leading a +religious procession which starts from the church, say Mass there. This +year, May 31st, 1914, the head gardener, who is the indisputable +authority on floral subjects in the village, borrowed everything from +the conservatory and gardens that he could lay his hands on in the way +of decoration. He arranged the semi-circle in front of the little chapel +very artistically with branches of leaves, palms and hundreds of pansies +which the day before had been uprooted from the terraces of the château +to make room for the red, summer geraniums.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock this Sunday morning the usual fusillade and tolling of +bells announced the departure of the procession from the church. It +passed slowly along by the highroad and presently we heard a chorus of +young voices singing hymns—the girls and boys of the village: the music +was soft and illusive in the distance, developing a sweet crescendo as +they turned into the pasture, fairly plowing their way through a sea of +daisies. Behind them came two little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>acolytes, fair as angels, swinging +their golden incense lamps; then followed six choir boys, chanting the +Mass, like veritable della Robbias, in their red soutanes and exquisite, +white, lace surplices. Next were the clergy, in robes of cloth of gold +and rare Flemish lace, carrying the Host under a purple velvet canopy. +The village people followed on in quiet devoutness and, arrived at the +chapel, placed lighted candles in the sconces at each side of the grille +door. When the Mass was said and the last plaintive notes had died away, +little children came forward and heaped their thousand-colored bouquets +before the altar. It was an impressive ceremony and must, by its +charming simplicity, leave a mark on many a worldly heart.</p> + +<p>Today, August 11th, 1914, at dusk, as the cannon had ceased firing, we +took a little recreation, following the paths on the mountainside; +looking down from a height of perhaps one hundred feet through the +trees, we saw the little chapel gleaming like a beacon in the dark, +dozens of blinking candles pinioned against the black walls. The grille +door was woven with nosegays, making a curtain of flowers which +partially concealed the altar beyond.</p> + +<p>Before it, stretching up supplicating hands, many women knelt, bowed +down with grief and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>despair, and children, awed by recent memories, +stood immovable in their places. Poor, poor people! Some of them in +spite of their unwavering faith must drink the bitter cup so near at +hand.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 13th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>It is true that one gets inured to danger (particularly if one has not +so far been hit) and after a week of the bombardment, we have a distinct +feeling of annoyance at being disturbed at an unearthly hour every +morning by the screeching and bursting of shells.</p> + +<p>About four <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> we were awakened by another terrifying +whizzing and exploding of bombs as if we were in the very midst of a +battlefield. This lasted about three hours and all we could do was wait. +I often wonder if it's as hard for the men to go off to war as it is for +the women to stay. The battle was inconceivably furious this morning. If +you could imagine five hundred of the worst thunderstorms, shaken up +together, that you ever experienced, you would arrive at a mild notion +of the tumult, not counting the apprehension, the danger and that +terrifying voice in the whistling trail of every shell which sings, +"This time I'll get you." At four this afternoon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>Fort of +Chaudefontaine fell, blown up by the Prussians. Between four and six +o'clock the firing ceased.</p> + +<p>It was an evening of ineffable beauty and the garden looked so lovely in +its mantle of roses, the little lake at the foot with its white swans +and the wooded mountain rising up almost from its waters—a picture of +calm and contentment. We were there taking a long breath after the +nightmare of the day, when the young gardener rushed in from the village +with the news that thirty of the soldiers in the fort, wounded and +burned beyond recognition, were being brought into the Sisters' Convent, +which had been turned into a Red Cross Ambulance hospital.</p> + +<p>The shells from the great field pieces of the enemy falling upon the +forts had shattered the cupolas and had caused them to fall in upon the +Belgians who were thus imprisoned and barely escaped suffocation from +the poisonous gases of the exploding shells. The electric wires were cut +immediately so that the poor things who were entrapped three stories +underground groped about in the dark some time before they at last found +the stairs which led them up through shot and flame and gas to the air.</p> + +<p>Gathering some old linen together we fairly flew across the field to the +convent and stopped <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>short, staggered by what we saw. Never on this +earth could one imagine so horrible a sight as those thirty charred +bodies with no suggestion of faces—just a flat, swollen, black surface, +with no eyes, nose nor mouth. Some of the wounded lay on beds, others in +the middle of the floor or wherever there was space, and each was +holding up hands burned to the bone. The room was dimly lighted, a +hushed quiet reigned except for an occasional stifled groan of pain or a +sigh of concern from the villagers or the swish of the black garments of +those ministering angels, the nuns, as they fluttered about among the +suffering; their white coifs, like a halo, contrasting them with that +other Angel, whose black wings, indeed visible, already shadowed his +chosen.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 14th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>One has hoped against hope, but the worst has happened and the people +are despondent. Liége is certainly in the hands of the Prussians. They +have been pouring into the city all day and most of the forts have +either been destroyed by the German field artillery or been blown up by +their defenders rather than surrender. We nursed the soldiers all +day—if last night was horrible I could not find the words to describe +what the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>daylight revealed, or the awful odor of burned flesh when the +wounds were redressed. It was pitiful to see the courage of the poor +men—the Belgians are brave not only on the battle field. With lips too +seared to articulate, they would try to speak and one could occasionally +catch an indistinct "<i>de l'eau</i>," or a half-formed "<i>Merci, chère +Soeur</i>," but never a moan or a groan.</p> + +<p>At night, as we were wearily returning home, the young footman, with +ashen face, met us half-way down the steps and announced that there +would be Prussian officers at dinner who were already quartered in the +château. We were nearly too tired to be impressed at this as one +naturally would, at least, be moved in one sense or another, but we did +inwardly wonder what the keynote might be at table.</p> + +<p>At eight o'clock dinner was served. Madame X.'s daughter and I, after +such a scrubbing and disinfecting, came down the last ones and stepped +into a veritable playworld of the Middle Ages with the most beautiful +setting—a large salon, opening out onto the terrace, with old, +Flemish-wood fire-place and raftered ceiling, Japanese bronzes, rugs +from the Orient, soft lamps and portraits of dear grandmothers, in the +beauty of their youth, smiling out from their golden frames on the +walls. As we came into the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>room from the brightly lighted hall, a +semi-circle of gray-green coats rose right up out of the dimness and we +were blinded by a vision of shining buttons, polished boots, gleaming +swords and a military salute accompanied by clinking spurs. At the end +of the room stood Madame X. and her sons waiting for us. Naturally there +were no presentations and the moment was unique in the extreme—nobody +moved for a second which seemed like a decade and nobody spoke, so all +there remained to do was to acknowledge the salute with a semi-circular +bow.</p> + +<p>Dinner was an odd affair tho' it went off not so badly. Madame X., in +her proud Russian beauty and her admirable control of the conditions, +was superb. I never admired anybody so much, for it is not easy to +entertain at one's board an enemy who has just usurped home and country, +but her extraordinary charm and dignity gave the situation its note and +the "guests" were everything that was agreeable. We talked of +generalities, as well as "War," in four languages (Russian, French, +English and German) with much the same <i>sang-froid</i> as the juggler who +tosses knives and, when the meal was done, thanked Heaven that nobody +had launched a tactless bomb which might have plunged us into a boiling +sea. There was nothing particularly boastful in their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>conversation, +though at times a certain assured reference to "Paris in a fortnight" +crept in, which we found difficult to digest—in fact I was furious. +Paris, indeed! Beautiful Paris! My neighbor at table on the right was a +man of perhaps fifty-eight years, rather gray and grandfatherly, with +such nice, blue eyes. Prefacing all his remarks with a nervous little +cough to fix my attention, he would launch with difficulty one or two +phrases in restricted French followed by a few straggling words in +English and finally finished up with a burst of voluble German. It was a +work of art to understand him, but I arrived panting—at least I had +that sensation, and it is not the first time I have given thanks for a +woman's natural intuition. Then I decided to lead out next—anyway I +wanted to get him started on "War" without precipitating an +international difficulty and I asked him as stupidly as possible +(perhaps I did not need to simulate that) if he liked "War." He +hesitated just a second and I was prepared for the usual self-respecting +denial when he horrified me by answering a simple "Yes." <i>Voilà, le +sentiment prusse!</i></p> + +<p>Afterward when we went into the salon all the officers, commencing with +the superior, came up to Madame X. and kicking their spurs together with +the habitual "<i>Danke, Frau</i>," kissed our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>hands all around. The youngest +soldier among them was a handsome boy of about twenty-two years, who +interested me rather, because he was different—even his boots were +different and he truly had a striking manner, though very gracious. I am +convinced that he was a prince of a reigning house. The atmosphere had a +way of parting in rapid waves when he came in and dropping behind him +like an impervious shield when he went out. Fair, young Achilles! Will a +fatal arrow attain his charméd person?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 15th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We took care of the wounded all day: it is the most heartrending +spectacle to see those poor, black heads lying there on their pillows. +They were so shapeless and immovable, I had almost begun to look upon +them as without life like charred logs, when, after finishing a dressing +this morning, I was startled by a hearty, "<i>Merci, chère Soeur.</i>" Oh, +the joy of it! That brightened the whole scene and flooded me with hope. +Then they have not lost their intelligences, they aren't mere pieces of +wood and one day when their poor flesh has rejuvenated itself, they will +be given back to real life—and their country, again.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>The village people and the Sisters were so ardent in their desire to +help that dressings well covered with ointment sometimes fell from their +eager fingers onto grimy blankets or flopped, butter side down, so to +speak, upon the floor; which did not disconcert anyone but me, whose +modern prophylactic soul rattled and shook with horror as the +recalcitrant bandage was gaily redeemed from its dusty resting-place and +applied as originally intended.</p> + +<p>It seemed as if I must remonstrate, but the dear whole-hearted helper +was so sure that her dressing would cure and the patient was so +overwhelmingly grateful for the trouble she took to pick it up for him, +that I was dumb before their exquisite faith.</p> + +<p>Here was something too big for my stilted aseptic advice and it occurred +to me, suddenly, that perhaps there <i>are</i> many things yet undreamed of +in our philosophy.</p> + +<p>All day long the troops in an endless chain have been passing on the +highroad before the château. The air was full of mingled sounds, as, for +example, the singing of the soldiers in the distance, which sounds like +the droning of bees far away and always heralds an advance of troops; +the rhythmic shuffling of feet, the thud of horses' hoofs, the chugging +of autos which carry the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>superior officers, and the heavy wheels of the +gun carriages with their clanking chains. Their order, equipment and +discipline are admirable to see.</p> + +<p>All their apparel is new, as one of the officers told Monsieur D. at +Spa. Uniforms, boots, belts, saddles, bridles and even buttons—all new +and spic and span for a triumphal entry into Paris. Each man carries two +sets of buttons, one for field service (negligible) and the other, +shining brass ones, for the review down the Champs Elysées.</p> + +<p>All the officers wear a tiny card-board map of Belgium about (3" x 4"), +hung on their coat buttons and every soldier has embossed on his belt +plate "<i>Gott mit Uns.</i>" At dinner the officers were very entertaining; +the ice was somewhat broken, at least, we knew better what piece was +safe clinging to and we managed to exchange some ideas. It is rather odd +how few of these educated men speak French. In fact, it is so odd that +it makes us suspicious and cautious. Monsieur J. attacked the captain +with this question, as a leader, "when he thought the war would be +over?" (This being the second week of it.) His answer was <i>net</i> and +forbade argument—"We shall be 'home' by Christmas, or Easter at the +latest." But he did have the grace to congratulate the Belgian army on +its stout defense of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>Liége, for instead of the two days given the +Germans by their Emperor to capture it, they had been constrained to +take nearly two weeks at it.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 16th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>A warm, beautiful morning. As Madame de H. and I walked through the +garden and the wood to the little convent ambulance, it was difficult +not to contrast smiling Nature with the frightful scenes of which, in a +few minutes, we would be a part. The awful stench of burned flesh met us +half a block away and congealed my courage as I walked, for it permeates +everything. We can even taste it, it clings in our hair when we go home +and we are obliged to hang our nursing clothes out of the window all +night. I felt as if I must run away from it and those terrible +dressings, reeking with purulence, where ears and eyelids and lips come +off and fingers and hands peel like a glove.</p> + +<p>Then I thought of the patience of those brave fellows and the pain and +awfulness of living it. The fortitude and devotion of the village men +and women are beyond praise—they come day after day to help in the +nursing, some spending the night, turn and turn about. Especially the +tenderness of the men for their "<i>camarades</i>" is one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>of the sweetest +things I ever saw, for they are as gentle and capable in their care as +any woman could possibly be.</p> + +<p>Prussian troops continue to pass and it is a wonderfully impressive +sight; infantry in gray-green khaki, singing, always singing their +famous "<i>Wacht am Rhein</i>" and other folk songs: the <i>Uhlans</i>, on +beautiful prancing horses, with their long lances and gray-blue capes +fluttering in the wind; <i>chasseurs</i> in light green; "<i>Hussars de la +Mort</i>" with the death's head emblem in the front of their high fur hats +and endless companies of artillery with their huge field cannon, each +drawn by six magnificent horses. On the gun carriages sit four gunners +back to back, still as statues, with arms folded as if on parade. It was +for all the world like a circus when the procession goes twice around +the ring before commencing the serious business of the entertainment.</p> + +<p>Dinner was gay tonight (one is obliged to make the best of a bad affair) +and the officers as men of the world were interesting and in unusually +good spirits.</p> + +<p>The Captain, a little facetiously, took up the menu and, drawing a tiny +note-book and pencil from his pocket, proceeded to copy it in French, +soliciting Madame X.'s aid <i>en passant</i>.</p> + +<p>A curious fact occurred to me as I sat there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>looking down both sides of +the table, how much alike they were—it seems as if they must even think +the same thoughts to resemble each other so much. As their heads were +closely cropped, outlines were baldly apparent, low forehead sloping +back to a narrow crown and all set upon a bulwark of neck. They must +surely have been struck in the same mould. Though forceful, none of them +were good-looking except the young one, of whom I have spoken, and his +face in repose was shockingly cruel. They are expecting marching orders +in the morning and are probably eager to ride on to victory (?). They +bade us good night and good-bye by kissing our hands as usual, a click +of spurs, a military bow and very gracious thanks to Madame X. for her +hospitality.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 17th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>About half-past three in the morning I was wakened from a sound sleep by +a commotion in the court under my window. Impatient horses were pawing +the ground and a voice exactly like a snarling dog was hurling out +orders—I peeped out cautiously and saw that the snarling dog was the +amiable captain who copied the menu last night.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>The officers left at four <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> Fort Lançin fell today and +Général Léman, commander-in-chief of the army here, was taken prisoner. +Thousands of soldiers have passed as usual. In the afternoon a company +of Prussians arrived, whose captain had mistaken the route, which put +him in an abominable humor, having made his men march fifty miles out of +their way and also risking a court-martial on his own account. He +ordered Monsieur S. to open the garage door, in the hope of lodging his +men there for the night. Unluckily the chauffeur, being absent, had the +key, which plunged his Military Highness into a towering rage and he +placed Monsieur S. at once under arrest between two soldiers, +<i>baionnette-au-canon</i>, while the others battered in the door with the +butt of their guns. Not finding sufficient quarters for two hundred men, +he marched Monsieur S. away, as guide, half a mile down the road to a +neighbor's.</p> + +<p>That excitement had hardly quieted down when another batch of officers +arrived at dusk, demanding lodgings for the night. These men were a +rough type, altogether different from the preceding ones. About eight +o'clock as we, the women, were waiting in the library for dinner to be +announced, we heard a tremendous stamping of heavy boots and spurs and a +snarl of angry voices <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>just over our heads. Baronne de H., brave little +woman as she always proved herself to be, flew up the stairs in a flash +and found her brothers at the end of the hall between two orderlies with +fixed bayonets, trying to pacify seven officers who were disputing +angrily and were just about to enter one of the private apartments—in +fact their father's room. She addressed them in a few vehement words—"I +forbid you to enter the room of my father, who has been dead only a +week." Then she added that the other soldiers who had been here were +gentlemen and that she expected them to be. They were cowed at once and +all humility, begging pardon properly. They pleaded fatigue for their +rudeness and said "certainly they expected to be gentlemen, too." Wasn't +that comical? They were ill at ease and rather sullen at dinner: and +such a dinner as we had!—glacial does not express it. The captain of +the band spoke English, French, Russian and German, but he could not +coax anybody into conversation, for we clung to "<i>Oui</i>," or "<i>Non</i>," and +stopped there. More than that, a kind of rigid fascination fixed our +attention on one of their number—the tallest and lankiest, who sat down +at least two feet from the table and endeavored to serve himself like +that. Every mouthful was fraught with tense anxiety (for us). Happily +they went to bed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>early, the captain kissing our hands and asking Madame +X. if she were used to that, it being the custom in Germany.</p> + +<p>Hardly had they got under cover and we were alone again, when a hoarse +cry arose in the court—it was blood-curdling to us, as every sound +these days is full of terror and possibilities. But it turned out to be +only the cry of the sentry. There had been promiscuous shooting along +the railroad in the village and all our brave soldiers tumbled out of +bed, fell down the stair-case one after the other, buckling on swords as +they went. It is the greatest wonder to me that we were not all shot on +the spot when we stood there staring up, as one very young lieutenant +descended three steps at a time with a revolver in one wobbly hand which +was shaking like an aspen leaf, and a pair of field glasses in the +other. I think the sudden excitement may have unnerved him and there is +no doubt, this time, that the gods favored the innocent. That was the +last we saw of our guests.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 18th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>This morning one of them came back for some personal things, principally +his watch, which, in the true, novel style, could not be found anywhere. +So the <i>Herr leutnant</i> ordered a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>thorough search and said, with a grand +air, to the housekeeper that if it could not be found he would be +obliged to take one of the servant's as a forfeit. Fancy!</p> + +<p>I can see the butler's poor, old, bowed legs, now, flying up the +stair-case, with a bayonet stuck in his back to expedite matters. I do +not know if this threat lent an added zest to the search, but +fortunately someone had the happy thought to look under the mattress +(where the officer had put it himself) and there was the ill-fated +timepiece calmly ticking off German minutes. I think I forgot to tell +you that since the invasion we retire at ten instead of eleven o'clock, +having been advised to adopt Celtic time.</p> + +<p>Prussian troops in khaki continue to pass; will they never cease? One's +spine shivers at the sight of the endless, green snake which crawls +along, insinuating its greedy length into the gardens of plenty. This +morning four new officers came to the château; three of them were +nondescript, but the fourth, to all appearances, was an Englishman, pure +blood. He spoke English absolutely without accent and had a perfect +English drawing-room air. It was as funny as an impersonation and as he +had appeared on the scene alone, I believe his brothers-in-arms were +almost suspicious of him. After a little the story came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>out. He is +really a German, but has lived fifteen years in London. At the début of +the war he had been obliged to take up arms against a sea of troubles, +or relinquish forever his right to go back to Baden, where his parents +live. Naturally he chose the former (also probably thinking that "War" +was a word only) and allowed himself to be bored by circumstances. He +told us some amusing tales of his having been already arrested three +times for an English spy. Everybody here likes him very much and I +welcomed him personally as the nearest approach to an Anglo-Saxon that I +have seen in many months.</p> + +<p>Monsieur J. and several of the representative men of the village, +including <i>Monsieur le Curé</i> (a little, fat, rosy-cheeked man, adored by +his flock), were taken as hostages for twenty-four hours and had to +sleep in the railroad station. It was nervously comical to see Monsieur +J. starting off, his valet following with a mattress on his back and a +box of sandwiches in his hand against the misery of the night. But it is +not so amusing to be the victim of even a threat which at any moment may +take the form of a sudden reality for no reason except to terrorize +honest people who are defending their homes. The enemy's way of +punishing and evading future insurrection among the civilians is to take +people as hostages <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>and shoot them if necessary, or burn the houses. +This they have already done in several quarters in Liége. A few nights +ago several students fired on some German officers in a café and the +latters' revenge was instantaneous and terrible; they just stood +eighteen men up in front of the University and shot them like dogs—then +burned that section for blocks around.</p> + +<p>Austrian artillery was passing today with their great cannon drawn by +automobiles. The wheels of the gun carriages are enormous and the cannon +are the biggest things we have yet seen.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 19th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Such an odd picking little noise, like a mouse, disturbed us at +breakfast this <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> Madame X. opened the door and was +astonished to see a German soldier unscrewing the telephone from the +wall. Her obvious surprise moved the man to explain, which was +unqualifiedly this—"Madame, permit me, but we need your telephone for +field service."</p> + +<p>I suppose he may as well have it anyway for nothing so modern and useful +as telephones has existed for us since August 3rd.</p> + +<p>A group of very surly officers have "taken over" Madame R.'s château +down in the country. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>The moment they arrived night before last, the +Colonel ordered her to bring out all her best wine, throwing her his +soiled gloves to wash at the same time.</p> + +<p>The patients at the Convent are beginning to show a little life now, +though their poor, black faces are more grotesque than ever as an eye, +here and there, begins to peep out from a crack in the crusted surface. +They have begun to talk after a fashion, though their poor, dried lips +can hardly accomplish the task. Jean, the big fellow who jumped seven +metres into the ditch from Fort Chaudefontaine when it blew up, died +this morning, the result of a fractured skull.</p> + +<p>French and German aeroplanes alike have been flying over the city, +dropping the most sensational circulars of the victories of their +particular armies. But the news is "<i>trop beau</i>"—one cannot believe it +and probably it is only destined to encourage the soldiers. It appears +that the officers tell their men all kinds of extraordinary tales, to +give them heart for the fight, and the poor things believe (hearing +French spoken here) that they are already in France, for yesterday one +of them in a passing train was heard demanding the Eiffel Tower. An +officer admitted to Monsieur S. that Germany prints three +newspapers—one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>for the officers, one for the soldiers, and one for +imbeciles. I suppose the latter means us.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 22nd, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Bread is being rationed out now in the village and we are allowed only +two small pieces at a meal. It seems to me that I never wanted one more +slice so much in my life. The soldiers have cleared out the baker's +supply and he cannot get any more flour.</p> + +<p>Monsieur S. has bought a bicycle and goes into town every morning to +find out about things. Sometimes it seems as if we could hardly wait +until he gets back to lunch for the news. And oh! such terrible things +are happening. Some funny incidents too, intersperse themselves from +time to time. During the recounting of some of these awful tales of +violence and revenge which we are hearing from the little villages the +young footman's knees doubled right up and nearly let him down while he +was serving the table and he is getting greener and greener from day to +day. He becomes absolutely petrified when the officers address him and +whispers out an unintelligible something as he vanishes through a door.</p> + +<p>The horrible carnage at Namur has begun and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>we already have heard +sickening accounts of it. The story, as we have had it by word of mouth, +is that one of the seven forts capitulated (the city was evacuated), +allowing the enemy to enter in over a tract of land which was literally +sown with this famous, new <i>Poudre Turpin</i> which exploded under the feet +of whole regiments at once, and the forts completed the slaughter.</p> + +<p>Troops, troops, always troops plodding along. Their attitude could not +be called determined for there is not enough mental action in it, though +there does exist an indisputable tenacity which is appalling. How they +lack that infectious <i>ardeur</i>, that splendid <i>élan</i> which characterizes +every little <i>poilu</i>! But they just plod on like a great machine, +lacking intelligence in its parts, each vital, however, to the +perfectly-fitted whole.</p> + +<p>Madame X. and I felt as if we could not sit still another minute this +afternoon and, safe, or no, we decided to take a walk on the +mountainside. We could hear regiments approaching first by a faint +buzzing in the distance which rounded out into song as it drew near; as +an officer told us, the men often sing in four voices which is quite +beautiful. Then, we became aware of a different noise, a sort of loose +rumble, as if cohesion would presently not exist for the thing, whatever +it was, that caused this new <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>note. But it was not a note, it was a +disturbance which grew and grew in proportions. Madame X. and I scurried +up and down the paths trying to find a vista through the trees that +would disclose this monster which was moving so protestingly along the +road.</p> + +<p>I imagined it would be snorting flame and its eyes smouldering fires, +but instead its eyes were neat little windows with tidy curtains, for +the monster turned out to be three diminutive houses on wheels drawn by +a huge motor. What their end and purpose might be, is imaginable. If it +is for the comfort of the High Command <i>en campagne</i>, the great clumsy +procession rivaling the speed of a snail is a heap of trouble for a +little luxury.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 24th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Namur is taken by the Germans. Practically nothing remains of the city. +A German major who was brought, wounded, to Liége, said the battle was +too frightful to narrate. He entered the city with one thousand men and +left it with sixty-five. Just outside the forts, where he had been +stationed with two hundred horses, three bombs fell upon them at the +same moment and only seven of the poor beasts remained. His <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>admiration +for the pointing and firing of the Belgian and French cannon was +unlimited.</p> + +<p>Just before lunch this morning, two very ragged-looking individuals +(Belgian civilians) came to the château. They were travel-stained +indeed, just having made the journey on foot from Brussels and in a +calmer era would have had some success in the rôle of common ordinary +tramps. As it was, they excited a little curiosity by the suspicious way +they had of looking about, and our first thought was spies until one of +them, edging toward the outside of the group, made Baronne de H. +understand that he had something to communicate to her. Inquiring if it +were safe, he suddenly leaned down and drew out from the sole of his +shoe, a piece of paper on which was written, "A banker of Brussels sends +greetings—all are well." The little woman burst into a flood of tears +for she realized that it was a message from her husband, one of the +<i>Garde Civique</i> of Brussels. During the three, long, anxious weeks of +devotion to others, I had often remarked and wondered at her courage in +never mentioning her own longing and apprehension for her husband and +three little children. Before we had recovered from the first onslaught +of the army, she must have known, after it left here, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>that it would +pass their château three kilometres the other side of Brussels and what +would it leave in its wake? Can you imagine her anxiety, when every day +we were hearing frightful stories of children having their hands chopped +off and people's heads being paraded on bayonets? But I never remember +her uttering a single "I wonder," or an "I wish." Does this not bear out +what the illustrious Roman said about the "Belgians," which certainly +did not exclude the women? It is the grandest thing that ever could +be—this response of the women to the Nation's call, for it is not just +passive self-sacrifice, but impassioned co-operation.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon Madame de H. and I went to Liége to arrange her +passport for Brussels. Two of the officers who are here offered to go +with us in order to facilitate an entrance into the "<i>Kommandantur</i>," +which is the general headquarters and is in that ancient and beautiful +place of the <i>Princes-Evêques</i>, onetime feudal lords of the principality +of Liége. I wanted to rebel openly when I saw that wonderful court, +world-famous for its beauty, which has been turned into a dépôt of +supplies and barracks with horses stabled under those delicate, Gothic +arches, models of purity and beauty. But to what good? Will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>anything +ever expiate the offense? There are also horses in the theatre and +machine guns in all the upper windows.</p> + +<p>While Madame de H. was waiting to see Count Moltke in his office, I +walked about the court with one of the soldier attendants who came with +us and had an opportunity of peeking through many doors which would +otherwise have been closed to me. My companion, who is a wholesale grain +merchant in peace times, enjoyed his authority immensely and dragged his +sword, half unbuckled, on the ground, which clanked behind us and made +merry music in his ears, I am sure. The whole place was a perfect +beehive though there was little confusion. The soldiers were diligently +counting supplies, feeding horses and sorting Belgian cannon and shells +which had been captured.</p> + +<p>On the road from Angleur to Liége we were obliged to give way to some +troops which were returning from Namur. The auto stopped right in the +middle of a column, which, as we heard, was a conglomeration of the tag +ends of different regiments and I was almost afraid—the men peered in +at us so maliciously. I have never seen such a frightening spectacle of +humanity, for it was the personification of a rogues' gallery with every +kind of cut-throat, brigand and robber <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>mixed up into a grand ensemble, +toiling and perspiring, limping and crawling along in the dust and heat.</p> + +<p>Does battle blot out the soul of a man in one savage conflict? +Obviously, it is before a weary march that one finds exalted faces. But +perhaps they were not desperadoes—only tired and dirty and unshaven.</p> + +<p>It is said, however, that when war was declared, the enemy opened the +doors of all the prisons and that the front ranks of the attacking +forces (which were sure to be lost) were entirely composed of convicts +and prisoners. And also, the officers in the regular army are so hated +by their men that when they started out to conquer the world every +officer was changed to a different regiment.</p> + +<p>This evening we sat on the terrace enjoying the afterglow of the setting +sun and the calmness of the garden, listening to the soldiers singing in +the orchard, next. This singing in the twilight is heartbreaking and +particularly melancholy, as the music is slow and has more consolation +in it than the usual soul-inspiring quality of battle hymns. At +intervals we heard the captain speaking with great force and enthusiasm, +the hurrahs of the men, an occasional "<i>Vaterland, Vaterland</i>," and +again and ever, "<i>Die Wacht am Rhein.</i>"</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 26th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Two new officers (not Prussians) of the <i>Landstürm</i> arrived this +morning—men of fifty to fifty-five years of age. One is a hardware +merchant <i>en civil</i> and has a brown beard and the asthma; the other is a +lawyer, with big, blinking eyes—and they both looked as if they hated +war. The "Englishman" is still here—his department is looking after +supplies at the dépôt. He has borrowed all the English books in the +house and sits reading all day up in the signal box at the station, so +the family have named him "<i>Monsieur Seegnal Box</i>," which, with a tiny, +French accent, sounds quite attractive.</p> + +<p>We are so enthusiastic about our patients at the Convent, for they are +all improving and developing personalities now. Every morning at +eight-thirty we rush over there as quickly as we can to see how the poor +children are getting on and who has another eye open. Nature has begun +her restorative work and oh! what a satisfaction it is to see the new +skin stretching out tiny shreds to bridge over the martyred flesh.</p> + +<p>The atmosphere of the ward is gay. 'Most everybody can laugh, at least +with their hearts, for stiffened lips do not all respond yet. The work +has arranged itself in admirable routine, where humanity is not entirely +swallowed up in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>duty. There are young girls and boys who fetch basins +of water, old women who roll bandages, faithful, sweet-faced matrons who +bind up dreadful wounds, and strong, young men who lift, so tenderly, +pain-racked bodies and who can toss a joke or a word of encouragement +with equal discretion, which never fails to infuse the down-hearted with +their own priceless vitality. Then there is the <i>Mère Supérieure</i>, of +thin, æsthetic face, who comes with a gentle word of the "Faith" for +each one; the austere <i>Soeur Félicité</i>, who counts the cups and searches +your soul and brings in hot coffee and a steaming ragoût; and the +pretty, young <i>Soeur Monique</i>, with her uplifted face, who cannot +conceal a shy admiration for big, blond Henri who rails at everything +and is as lovable as a baby. Then the villagers: in the middle of the +room, Monsieur B. (Secretary and Treasurer, I should say) cuts off gauze +with a calculating eye at one end of a long table and at the other, +rosy-cheeked Monsieur R. (painter of every house and barn in the +village) stands all day long with a spatula in his hand and slaps on the +ointment for dressings. There is a sort of professional twist in the +gesture and his merry, little eyes glance around, not seeking but rather +gathering in approval, and from under his bristling, white moustache +will burst a salute for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>one, a joke for another, or a reproach for +another.</p> + +<p>Here, there and everywhere he is needed, is Monsieur F., whose great, +dark eyes are acquainted with pain; he is a frail, little person and the +substantial man of the village, a living paradox. Just when Monsieur R. +announces—dramatically waving his spatula—that that is the last ounce +of boric ointment and no more peroxide in the cupboard and we are raving +around and denouncing the pharmacist, Monsieur F. steps up and inquires +what the trouble is, knowing full well the difficulty and also "his +moment," wise man that he is. While we are swamping the situation with +words, he quietly dispatches a boy to his house, who quickly reappears +with huge bottles of this and that. Oh, blessed Monsieur F., who long +since had made a corner in peroxide and everything else we shall need +until after the war. But the despair of the moment, the heat and three, +long hours of unremitting "dressings" effect a faintness of soul and a +"queer" feeling we did not realize was there, until that dear, roly-poly +<i>Soeur Anastasie</i> appears with a bottle of red wine, half concealed +under her cape, and with a motherly, "<i>Ça vous fera du bien</i>," (that +will do you good) pours us out a generous glassful. That puts the blue +in the sky again and keeps the shafts of golden sunshine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>from creating +zigzag patterns in our brain. Oh, Shades of my New England Ancestors! +Would you say, "Better to slip down in a swoon?"—and give everybody a +lot of trouble—</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 27th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Madame de H. and I again went to Liége early this morning about her +passports. The hotels and cafés were just seething humanity, beds +improvised in every corner, and I saw officers paying their hotel bills +with cheques and notes. The poor proprietor blinked and swallowed hard +for a moment and said nothing. The city was literally packed with troops +going in all directions. <i>Uhlans</i>, <i>chasseurs</i>, artillery and the +infantry, singing and executing that foolish-looking goose-step—it +probably has its advantages, but at eight <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> in the pouring +rain it did appear ridiculous.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon we took a walk into the country, following the +railroad. The soldiers were working everywhere, putting up temporary +buildings for any emergency. We saw one of those open dining halls—only +three walls with a shed roof where a regiment can step out of a train to +eat while another jumps quickly in and no time lost. We passed the +lovely château of the Marquis de T. who is Minister Plenipotentiary +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>from Costa Rica. Of course, this is neutral property and flies a +neutral flag, but the place is filled with officers and, according to +the <i>maitre d'hotel</i>, the wine cellar is undergoing a thorough +inventory.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 28th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>This morning there was excitement at the Convent; someone was reading a +three weeks' old journal to the soldiers and for a moment everybody +forgot his particular aches and black heads lifted themselves from their +pillows and gaunt forms swayed to and fro on shaky elbows. The lust of +battle lit up wooden countenances, fire sprang from eyes yet heavily +veiled by crusted lids and a fervent "<i>bien fait</i>" or "<i>vivent les +Belges</i>," trembled from heretofore silent corners.</p> + +<p>Madame André, who comes to see her boy every day, remarked my looking at +her dress which was all darned and mended in the most unaccountable +places, "O, Mademoiselle," she said. "I suppose you are wondering about +my waist? But wasn't it lucky I was here with André when the troops +passed through our village? The soldiers fired haphazard in the windows +and the wardrobe in which my clothes were hanging <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>caught seven bullets +and the headboard of my bed, four."</p> + +<p>All the afternoon troops were coming back from Namur in evident haste +and apparent rout, for they had such a tired, bedraggled look. About +five o'clock a company with ammunition wagons, Red Cross ambulances and +baggage trucks dashed madly into the orchard among the apple trees, +nearly wrecking themselves and everything else. Immediately after, three +officers came to the house to beg lodging for the night. They were +frightful-looking individuals covered with mud and dirt, with half-grown +beards and one could not tell what uniforms. They asked the most humble +apartment—a corner, the floor—anything, "and, Madame, a little hot +water, <i>s'il vous plait</i>." We were sitting on the terrace tonight just +before dinner when down came the three new arrivals, beautiful as the +morning, shaven and shining in their gray-green uniforms, polished boots +and bracelets set with precious stones—officers of the "Emperor's Own," +though these men did not seem like Germans, but were much more the +lighter build and elegant type of the Austrians.</p> + +<p>They were a bit haughty at first, but dinner thawed them out and then +what tales they told us; the most promising imagination could not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>rival +their flights in the air. They acted like people who walk in their sleep +and had that same vague expression of the eye. But it is not to be +wondered at, coming as they did from a frightful battlefield and +fatigued by a hard march. It must be true that battle intoxicates men +for these latter, being of a sensible age, did say very ridiculous +things. Hitherto the officers who have been here were fairly modest +though always showing an undeniable confidence, while these three openly +bragged. The young lieutenant who sat next to me spoke French fluently +and never stopped talking all the evening. Among countless other things, +he said, "We are being sent back from Namur as Paris is taken" +(ejaculation from me "I cannot believe it") "and they have no more need +of us in that direction," he went on without turning a hair. "So we are +<i>en route</i> for England or Russia, in the morning, to conquer the seven +nations (he included Monaco in the list) who have declared war against +our beloved Vaterland."</p> + +<p>"And, Mademoiselle," he continued, "they fired on our ambulances!"</p> + +<p>"Ah?" I answered, nonchalantly, "the Germans have already done that +here."</p> + +<p>He was a bit taken aback at this rejoinder; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>then with a prodigiously +sorrowful look he exclaimed in a hushed voice, "<i>Oui, la guerre est +terrible.</i>"</p> + +<p>The victories they exploited on land and sea were fantastic and the +funny part is, they believed thoroughly all they said. It is strange to +hear serious people fabricate such yarns as they did, with as much +dexterity as a spider spins its web.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 29th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The ambulance was as busy as a beehive this <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> Except for +one or two, the patients are all feeling better. André, the third on the +left, whose sonorous "<i>Merci, chère Soeur</i>" nearly frightened me to +pieces one day, seems to be the wit and authority on all subjects—a +real leader, I should say, and <i>drôle</i>! Augustin, four beds from him, is +our difficult child, the only one of the twenty-nine who is spoiled and +fights his dressings, but we must be patient with him for he has been +very sick and that drawn look about the nose and a certain, startled +expression of the eyes, worry me. But the little <i>Soeur Victoire</i> says +comfortingly that he will soon be well, though he does not wish to eat +and his jaws are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>a little stiff. O, <i>chère Soeur</i>, in your sweet faith, +are stiffened jaws such a trivial circumstance?</p> + +<p>Next Augustin is Sylvestre, <i>le beau</i>. He was the splendid <i>pointeur</i> of +Fort Chaudefontaine and was the least burned of the men; that is why I +know he is beautiful; also I catch many glimpses of him in the little +mirror in which he is constantly regarding himself, but he is <i>bon +garçon</i>, nevertheless—his honest blue eyes attest it.</p> + +<p>At the end of the row is the big Flamand, who was always two feet too +long for his bed. He is sitting up now and that great, black head, with +features swollen three times their normal size, is a sight to frighten +the boldest. If he should roar at me I would drop everything and flee. +But he doesn't; nobody roars; for they are all the finest gentlemen in +the world, even in their trying moments.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock this evening, right out of the silence, issued sounds of +heavy, rolling carts, and horses' hoofs. Madame de H. and I stole out +into the court to see what it might be and, almost as if by magic, whole +regiments came pouring along in the greatest haste and disorder. A wing +of the servants' quarters hid the approach of the soldiers from us and +the strange, non-resonant quality of the atmosphere tonight deceived us +as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>to their nearness. In a moment they were upon us—not three feet +away, for some of the troops had taken, not the usual highroad two +hundred feet distant, but a short cut by the narrow path which directly +passes the court yard. Happily we had hidden ourselves behind the +grille, in the foliage, or we might have been shot without ceremony, as +by order of the military governor of the city "every civilian shall be +indoors and lights out at eight <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>"</p> + +<p>We enjoyed the danger a little at first because we did not realize it; +all the same we obliterated ourselves as much as possible, though hardly +daring to move or breathe. Not an arm's length away, their nearness +oppressed us and the waves of heat which reeked from their toiling +bodies sickened us. But there we crouched in our light dresses, easily +seen if one had chanced to look, and separated only by an iron fence +with sparse, fluttering vines from a mass of tired, quarrelsome, +desperate men. Why! any of them might have run us through in a flash as +one would lunge at a white rag for the amusement of his companions. +Indoors the family were frantic, not daring to open a crack of the door +for fear of violent consequences to us.</p> + +<p>The night was full of dull noises; even the clanking chains of the gun +carriages seemed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>muffled and the thud of horses' hoofs in the mud added +to the air of secrecy which pervaded the scene, while the moonlight +threw out shadows and drew crazy perspectives and showed up silhouettes +of men positively falling from their seats with fatigue. Some one was +twirling a French soldier's cap on a bayonet, we heard smothered yawns, +the words "<i>Russland</i>," "<i>Vaterland</i>," and finally the infantry +whistling in unison as they limped along.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 30th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>At two o'clock in the morning the whole family was aroused by a +thundering rap from the butt of a gun on the big front entrance. The +poor old butler, who has been in service thirty-five years, was aghast +to open the door and find the Burgomaster, in white kid gloves, standing +between two Prussian soldiers, with fixed bayonets. They demanded +Monsieur J. (for the second time) as hostage. What could have happened +among the people, we could only guess. Had they been rash enough to +protest against strength and did they want to share the fate of the +pitiful Visé?</p> + +<p>The forenoon brought us no news; after lunch we walked in the broiling +sun to the little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>railroad station at Kinklepois, to see Monsieur J. +(he had aged ten years over night) where he was under guard with several +others, including <i>Monsieur le Vicaire</i> of A. and <i>Monsieur l'Abbé</i> of +K. We sat around the table in the Concierge's tiny dining room and +listened to some amusing anecdotes told by the Vicar, while the gentle +old Abbot sent out to the vicarage for a bottle of his good old +Burgundy. To be sure, no one was much in the mood to be amused, but it +lessened the tension of the moment; the least unusual sound from the +street—and it was full of soldiers and horses—brought the tale to a +sudden end and we listened with blanched faces for perhaps—the worst.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 31st, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur J. was released as hostage at seven o'clock <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> and +returned to the fold. This evening, as all was still, we played a little +game of Bridge, as in the old days when life was a pleasant dream. +Suddenly a dozen rifle shots, in quick succession, rang out in the air +and the cards fell from our nerveless fingers as a stray ball rattled +against the iron shutters of our windows. Instinctively we crouched into +sheltered corners and waited; another volley and another followed, until +finally Monsieur S. whispered in a hoarse voice, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>"À la cave." The +household, including the servants, delighted to be any place where we +were not, made a lightning dash, Indian file, for the cellar. Quite +unperturbed and loath to leave her cozy, warm kitchen, the old, fat cook +was the last to waddle down the stairs, repeating her usual "They cannot +hurt me. I am Dutch." She was the calmest of us all, for those +intermittent shots and the possibility of retrieving lost balls had +raised a tremor of excitement as well as our hasty descent into the +realms of Bacchus, in common words—the wine cellar. By the thin rays of +a candle the scene was comic; there we were, fourteen of us huddled +together in a twelve by twenty foot vault, earthen floor and stone +walls. Expecting at any moment an onslaught of we did not know what, +each one was bracing himself for the blow, in different attitudes of +mind and body. Madame X. was pale, her daughter stolid and ready for the +defensive—the true, fighting blood of the Belgians on fire: the old +butler, attentive to the slightest sound, was shaking his gray head with +ominous pessimism and one of the maids was weeping hysterically and +audibly in the arms of her husband, the young footman. At first we just +stood and looked at each other as periodic volleys resounded now and +again. Then we relaxed as well as we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>could on dusty cases and rounding +barrels or whatever was at hand. An hour passed before the shooting +ceased and then we discovered that we were cramped and uncomfortable and +cold—chilled through with that deathlike dampness which pervades +subterranean chambers. What misery for those who had to live in them for +days! Another hour elapsed before the danger was really over and we +dared to come out from cover; then we crawled upstairs to bed on our +hands and knees to keep below the level of the window ledges.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Madame de H. made an attempt to go to Brussels by a military train +which, however, was derailed ten kilometres from here. Some disagreeable +officers took the second automobile for military service, in spite of +the signed permission which Count Moltke has given the family. Did I +tell you that Madame X.'s children are related by marriage to a high +official of the Imperial Court? I do not know at all if this fact +accounts for the extreme courtesy which they have always received from +the soldiers, but at any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>rate some of their friends have not been so +favored.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Madame T., who had a charming Villa at S., was one of the unfortunate +ones. She was obliged to entertain the officers of some passing troops +at lunch recently, after which they had coffee in the garden. The +Captain glanced around at the flowers and said, "Madame, very pretty, +very pretty, tomorrow, nothing." That night her villa and several other +neighboring ones were burned to the ground.</p> + +<p>The Germans are constantly forcing the Belgian old men, women and +children to march in front of their attacking armies. What kind of +soldiers can it be that does these things, but brutes and barbarians?</p> + +<p>My revulsion for it all is so great that the words fairly scorch my +fingers as I write them.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> We never heard what really started the commotion, whether +it was premeditated or accidental, but this illustrates what a furor a +rifle shot creates instantly. The nervous tension of both the invader +and invaded is tremendous.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> A printed document was exposed afterwards in the village +recommending the Château X. to be respected.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 2nd, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Very early this morning we were awakened by the most remarkable sound—a +co-operative noise I should call it, or anything you like, being a +combination of steamboat, train of cars and sawmill. Looking out of the +window we saw a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>magnificent Zeppelin sailing along in all its majestic +wonder.</p> + +<p>Miracles happen overnight in the ambulance now, for Health is hastening +back in seven-league-boots and every one of our brave <i>blessés</i> is +turning out to be handsome. Each day a real face emerges from its black +chrysalis and we find it beautiful. The refinery was of the cruelest +type, but the temper of such men stood the test and their souls shine +out undeniably over the scarred flesh.</p> + +<p>Some new companies, with their under officers, have taken up quarters in +the stables and garage. For the last ten days we have had Prussians +there, who were discontented with everything and wanted all the kitchen +utensils and everything within reach, but these new men are Bavarian +<i>Landstürm</i>, rather nice old things, who have brought all their own +contrivances, not the least among them being one of the famous rolling +kitchens. This latter is a round boiler, hung on four wheels, and is +about a metre in diameter and a metre in depth. It is divided into three +longitudinal compartments (the fire being underneath), one for soup, one +for meat and one for vegetables. Then, under the driver's seat or +perhaps not right under, is a tiny oven where are baked <i>kuchen</i> or a +steaming pudding. It is a complete <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>affair and when dinner is ready, +they just hitch on a pair of family horses and drive around to the +different companies where rations are dished out, literally. I do not +know if the position of cook is the most enviable one in the army, but +at any rate this chef appears to enjoy it and is content to sit in the +courtyard all day, peeling potatoes and onions and cabbages and cabbages +and onions and potatoes.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 3rd, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>"<i>Monsieur Seegnal Box</i>" went this morning and everybody was sorry to +see him go, for he was a congenial spirit, and, like us, found nothing +attractive about war. He seemed a protection, too, from the beast that +is ever snarling at the door.</p> + +<p>A young cousin of the family related to us to-day how much at home the +soldiers have felt in his château in the country; so much so, in fact, +that they have already sent off to Germany all his old family portraits +and the best rugs. Here is a bit of psychology for you to unravel. Why +should they want his family portraits?</p> + +<p>I suppose you could not imagine such a thing happening in America. Well, +just try for a moment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>Fancy somebody's coming in and explaining to you that you cannot use +your own things and that your choice possessions will have a far better +setting in Germany than where they are. I think it would do the world a +lot of good if everyone tried such a mental drill for three minutes a +day.</p> + +<p>A great depression hung over the Convent to-day—the men were quiet, +showing their consideration for the "<i>camarade</i>" as they always do. +Constant, who received internal injuries at Fort d'Embourg, is dying and +Augustin is worse. The latter's face has a gray-blue look and his poor +jaws are very stiff. But there is hope! Oh, yes, there is Hope in big +Jean's smile across the ward, as he follows us around with his great, +black eyes. One can find lots of sympathy in a "<i>Oui, Mademoiselle</i>," or +a "<i>Non, Mademoiselle</i>," (which is all he ever says) even when it has +nothing to do with the question.</p> + +<p>Since the commandant has taken the auto we no longer go out. It is much +too complicated anyway, as one has to show a passport at every bridge +and corner. Every acre of land is infested with soldiers. It is +interesting, however, to see what they do and how they turn everything +to some use. Men are sent from Germany to repair railroads, build +bridges, put up telephones, institute food stations and to kill pigs and +wash <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>the meat in porcelain bath tubs as we saw them do yesterday, +outside a free bath establishment near one of the factories. As we were +looking down on the road tonight, from a hill perhaps two hundred yards +away, we saw distinctly a column of soldiers in dark blue uniforms, +marching across country, and just behind them the ground seemed to +writhe and wriggle in a distressing manner. For a moment we could not +imagine what was happening, when soon a company of men in khaki began to +evolve itself from the landscape. Does that not prove the inestimable +value of earth-colored clothes? For as close as they were to us, we +could distinguish nothing.</p> + +<p>This gray-green which the Germans wear is by far the best tone of khaki +that I have yet seen.</p> + +<p>Soldiers are stripping the factories here of their fine machinery, but +one sort of chuckles in one's boots when he remembers that it was +originally bought in Germany and has not been paid for yet.</p> + +<p>All day long, trains without ceasing were bringing back the wounded. We +do not know exactly where the fighting is, but probably near Charleroi. +A Baron de C. and his wife arrived here at ten <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> from +Posen, one of the German provinces already taken by the Russians. Crazed +with anxiety, they are going in search of their son, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>who was wounded at +Namur, and have been three days in a military train—an excruciating +journey! At midnight, the soldiers and the <i>chef de cuisine</i>, who has +had his kitchen in the court, departed. Before going they sang softly +some of their songs and then the wagons, one by one, filed out of the +moonlight and were swallowed up in the shadows of the trees. I felt as +if the candle had been blown out for them.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 4th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur J. came home today with bad news, though every day has its bad +news. His cousin Robert had been killed near Gand. The old butler's eyes +were sweet to see when Madame X. turned at table and said to him, +"François, Monsieur Robert is dead." This man of one syllable, according +to his custom, answered simply, quick tears visible, "<i>Oui, Madame</i>" +with that gentle upward intonation which says so much.</p> + +<p>The longest sentence he probably ever constructed was uttered +thirty-five years ago when his young master had wished to dismiss him +for some reason and he had answered, "Oh no, Monsieur, we could not +live, either one of us without the other," which settled the question +for all time. And now the master is laid to rest and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>the servant must +serve the enemy in his house.</p> + +<p>We took a little walk in the woods, this afternoon—as the coast was +clear and no strangers in the house for the first time in three weeks. +We had hardly finished a short promenade when we heard a violent +clanging on the gong to call us back, and when we returned in all haste +to the house found seven soldiers in the library going through all the +drawers and closets in search of firearms. Commencing there, they +searched the whole house from top to bottom, even fumbling in the +bureaus among the dainty lingerie of Madame X. Some of them took an +obvious pleasure in performing their duty, while others looked +uncomfortable and bored. It is true that many of the men hate this war, +whereby whole families of brothers and cousins have to leave their homes +to fight what they call the "Aristocrats' War," who in their arrogance +think to be masters of the whole world.</p> + +<p>Some newspapers, two weeks old, were brought from Brussels in the +evening and we pounced upon them as a starved dog makes for a bone.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 5th, Saturday.</i> (At the ambulance.)</h2> + + +<p>"<i>Constant, le pauvre Constant!</i> What is in your tortured soul, these +three long days and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>nights, that chains it to earth and tosses your +poor body from one troubled thought to another?"</p> + +<p>I did not think to have my question answered. At eleven o'clock this +morning a child of twelve years, beautiful as an angel with heavenly +blue eyes and a shock of golden hair, dashed breathlessly into the +courtyard of the Convent, almost too exhausted to ask if <i>Soldat</i> +Constant Martin, by any chance, were there. The gentle <i>Soeur Cecile</i> +led him in to the sick man's cot. The boy gazed a moment, bewildered at +the wasted form upon it; then with an agonizing cry of "<i>mon père</i>" fell +on his knees by the bedside. The man's eyelids trembled, half opened an +instant to look upon his son, and closed. In ten minutes he was at +peace.</p> + +<p>Since the railroad has been reconstructed the soldiers have been passing +in trains instead of on foot. Today we saw hundreds of older men, +Bavarians and sailors—it looks as if something had miscarried when the +marines have to fight on land. In the opposite direction, thousands of +wounded were going back in ambulance cars. These ambulance trains are +admirable and are often made up of forty and fifty carriages of the +light, swinging, old-fashioned type, of uniform size, the roofs painted +white, with a big, red <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>cross on the top and one on each side. The cots +are arranged one above the other, showing clean, white linen, while the +attendants are spotlessly uniformed in white. In the middle of each +train is a car which might be called the "ugly duckling," for it is a +decidedly clumsy looking affair, full of steam boilers with safety +valves and tubes sticking out at the top, and is, I fancy, a sterilizing +plant.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 6th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Oh, the peace of Sunday in a little village! And Augustin is better, +though he still fights his dressings. It takes the combined effort of +the ward to present duty in such an attractive guise that he will not +realize he is minding, but it is really the sympathetic Roger who can +insinuate comforting comparisons from his own recent acquaintance with +pain and the ever-ready Pierre, who with a "courage, camarade," and one +free hand to help me, actually put the thing through.</p> + +<p>On my way home to lunch I glanced at the clock in the church tower and +saw that it was an hour ahead of time, having been made to coincide with +Teuton pendulums. This is the second time that it has happened, for the +villagers dared to climb up the long stairs and put it back, once, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>but +the soldiers were so ferocious in their threats that—well, one must +accept their insolence. Crossing the field I passed the farmer who must +have felt considerable perturbation of soul this particular day, for he +looked "worrited" and was mowing grass for his poor, thin cows, in a +blue gingham smock and a bowler hat. The war is not more vital to anyone +on earth than to him, for the soldiers have taken away his wagons and +most of his hay for their bedding and they ruined the grass in the +orchard where they were encamped.</p> + +<p>Soldiers came to the Convent this morning to search for firearms. It +appears that the German military authorities are terrified of an +uprising among the inhabitants, particularly the factory hands, who will +not work for the Prussians and are getting a little restless. One can +readily imagine such an apprehension when from a population of 40,000 +working men in the vicinity, only forty-two firearms were presented upon +requisition. If all the rest are buried in the woods, as many believe, +it will only be the story of another inspired "Cadmus, who sowed +dragons' teeth and there sprang up an army of armed men."</p> + +<p>Madame de H. has left for Brussels. The third auto which was hidden away +was brought out and with Count Moltke's <i>laisser-passer</i> and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>the +family's chauffeur, she will arrive safely, we hope, though we shall not +rest until the man gets back.</p> + +<p>In Liége this afternoon, in front of the University, we saw squares and +squares which were burned out by the Germans, and also where those +eighteen civilians were shot, following a slight uprising of the people. +Madame X.'s niece, who lives quite near there, heard the screams of the +women, and such scenes of terror seem even yet to paralyze the +population. In the Place de la Cathédrale we saw soldiers pushing people +along with their saw-toothed bayonets to disperse a crowd which was +gaping, stupefied, at some unusual proceeding.</p> + +<p>As we stood there, an automobile, with eight Prussian officers in it, +came banging down the street, loose bolts jingling, and was just +disappearing around a corner when Madame R. exclaimed "Oh, that's our +Reynaud!"</p> + +<p>All the automobiles, as well as everything else, have been confiscated +by the invaders and it is a common occurrence to look up and see one's +own beautiful car bounding along over cobblestones and breaking with its +load of soldiers—the motors are driven so hard that in two weeks' time +they are practically worthless.</p> + +<p>At the beginning of the war, many owners <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>cunningly removed a tiny +necessary part of their machines, but in most cases the same owners were +given just two hours at the point of the bayonet to find those missing +parts, which was not always easy. And the farmers, too, who cut down the +big trees across the roads to impede the enemy's advance, had just the +same amount of time given them to clear the path again. So you see that +one is helpless.</p> + +<p>Rumors come from France that the fortified town of Mauberge still +resists, but that the Germans are at Compiégne, which is so near to +beautiful Paris. It is impossible to believe. Yet we all experienced a +feeling of absolute faintness when that report came, for Compiégne, or +anywhere within one hundred kilometres of it, is too near. But if—<i>Bon +Dieu</i>, keep us from thinking!</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 8th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>There is a possibility of our going to Brussels. Oh, the joy of it! That +may find me the means, through the American Ambassador, of getting back +to my beloved France.</p> + +<p>The youngest gardener, the little one, Charles, who is only eighteen +years old, has left for "the front." Not with his regiment, for he +hasn't <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>one (this year was to have been his class), but as a private +individual who could not stay at home when his country needed him. His +old mother, with a little catch in her throat, sent him off proudly, her +baby, her <i>petit Charles</i>, to serve with his four brothers, already +gone.</p> + +<p>But how can he get away with the eye of the arrogant usurper on every +corner and road?</p> + +<p>A Belgian soldier will play his rôle after his own interpretation. +Instead of going off in his best smock and a tiny bundle on a stick, <i>le +petit Charles</i> bade us a smiling <i>au revoir</i> in his old blue apron and +torn hat. He will wander aimlessly over the hills which he knows so well +and, unsuspected, will creep through the friendly hedges into the very +arms of hospitable Holland and then, "All's well."</p> + +<p>Trains were passing all day loaded with provisions, as well as soldiers +and sailors who were sticking on like caterpillars all over the roofs, +the sides, the steps and almost the wheels. I saw two of them dancing +the tango on the top of one carriage. Then came car after car of prairie +wagons, we call them, with voluminous, white, canvas hoods, loaded with +provisions; after these, countless, giant cannon decorated with +branches, flowers and flags, mounted on open trucks without sides. All +this procession was a weird <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>phenomenon gliding by in the sky like a +mirage, for the road-bed at the rear of the château is very high and is +hidden by intervening shrubs and bushes so that the wheels of the cars +are quite concealed. It reminded me of those Amazon warriors in "<i>Die +Walküre</i>" who slid up to Heaven so smoothly on their wooden horses at +the Opéra in Paris.</p> + +<p>Dropping from the poetical plane to common cause and effect, the whole +gave the impression of being well lubricated—like the wheels of Destiny +which turn steadily on with few jerks or hitches.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 9th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The word is said. We are packing our bags to leave for Brussels +tomorrow. When I went to the Convent this morning, I found all the +soldiers in bed and looking so wretched. Merciful Heaven! What blight +could have fallen on our children over night? But it was a farce. They +had heard that the officers of the regiment, here, were coming to +inspect the wounded with the idea of sending those who are well enough +on to Germany as, of course, they are prisoners. So the moment the +Germans entered the courtyard, all the <i>blessés</i>—even those who are +quite well—hopped into bed with their clothes on, pulled the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>covers up +to their chins and with a wet compress on their heads, looked as ill as +possible. It was comical to see; one can be a soldier and comedian at +the same time—and even the dear Sisters enjoyed it. But I was paralyzed +with fear. They had not thought of another side of the question to which +the very impudence of their ruse might subject them.</p> + +<p>I was very sad to say good-bye to these brave fellows who have been to +all the world such a lesson in bravery and patience during their +suffering. One big, lanky <i>garçon</i>—Jean, in fact—was quite undone at +our departure. He refused to be consoled with the promise of postal +cards in some future era and wept and sobbed, but I managed to +understand between the sobs that he was saying, "<i>Mais, Mademoiselle, je +vous suis habitué.</i>" (But, Mademoiselle, I am used to you.) I do not +know if this was meant for a compliment, but I took it as such and wept +too.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 10th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>This morning was spent in finishing packing, which usually is the +biggest part of it, I find.</p> + +<p>There appears to be violent fighting at Malines, Louvain and Tirlemont. +Nevertheless we are setting out from the château, at two o'clock, bag +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>and baggage. Everybody felt sorry to leave the servants (<i>Liégeois</i>) +who have been staunch and comforting friends through all the misery of +these terrifying times. Will an eager Fate close them in? Let us hope +they will absorb the effervescent optimism of the fat old cook who +continually reiterates in her awful French, "They cannot hurt me. I am a +Hollander."</p> + +<p>2 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>—Well, off we started. It was a moment I shall never +forget, for it was as if we had taken up something solid and heavy (an +experience, for example) in our two hands and put it behind us. There +were in the party our two autos and Monsieur H. with Signor K., an +Italian consul, in his. Monsieur H. has a passport from the military +Governor, Field Marshal von der Golz, to go anywhere in Belgium, so we +felt very safe to be with him. No ancient stage-coach with a dozen +passengers on the top could have made as precarious a flight as our +machines, packed and jammed full inside and crowned on the roof with an +overhanging cornice of every sort of bundle. You can imagine that there +was an idea at the back of our minds of never returning, perhaps, or of +keeping what we could in immediate possession.</p> + +<p>It was interesting in leaving the city to see the disposition of troops; +we passed through Seraing, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>where are those tremendous Cockerill +factories, and soon arrived opposite the famous Fort Hollogne which did +such wonderful work in the defense of Liége, August 5th. At present it +flies the German flag and but for one or two sentinels pacing near, one +would never dream that a tremendous fort was there. Like the others, it +is built three stories underground, with just a slight rising of earth +defining the cupolas. Along the road on both sides, for miles and miles, +lay splendid trees which were cut down for cannon range. Just before +arriving at Jauche we met three automobiles with Prussian officers, who +shouted "<i>Nicht weiter</i>" and made violent signs which we did not +understand. But why "<i>nicht weiter</i>" with the <i>Herr Feld Marschall's</i> +permission in our pocket? We soon learned at the railroad crossing. An +hour before there had been an alarm and the station had received orders +to allow no one to pass, as there was fighting not far beyond in the +direction of Tirlemont. Then and there arose a mighty discussion and the +<i>esprits</i> of many nations (Belgian, Italian, Russian, French and German) +entered into the argument while one meek American looked on at the +sparring. Even the little slip of paper ladened with the name of von der +Golz in much ink, had no weight. Then we tried another route, that lay +right through the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>heart of a dirty, squalid, little village to +Ramillies, the same Ramillies of Louis XIV.'s time, famous in the +"<i>Batailles des Flandres</i>." We arrived there by a sudden turn of the +road which brought us up standing, onto a bridge spanning the railroad. +Below, perhaps two hundred feet distant, was the station, out of which, +upon our sudden apparition, swarmed a hundred soldiers in alarm, quite +as if the surprising toe of a boot had inadvertently kicked over an ant +hill. At Ramillies we were not more successful than at Jauche, for as +the officials explained, if we passed the railroad station we were in +danger of being caught between two battlelines. So, sadly indeed, we +retraced our way and returned in the dark and the pouring rain to a +dismantled house and forlorn hopes.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 12th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We are in the depths of despair today for we hear that they are fighting +at Meaux—Meaux, which nearly is Paris. If I were a French woman I could +not feel more poignantly about it. But we always think that it is not +true, as we have no real means of knowing—all is hearsay.</p> + +<p>A messenger brought news from Monsieur N., "Uncle Maurice," in the +Ardennes. It appears <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>that in August when the German troops went through +Belgium on foot, the regiment of Count Otto von M. passed his villa. +Count Otto is "Uncle M's" nephew—the son of his sister, who married a +"high official of the Imperial Court," of whom I have already spoken. So +it happened that the young officer went to call on his esteemed uncle, +who frankly shut the door in his face. The Count burst into tears and +cried, "Uncle, Uncle, won't you speak to me? It is not my fault. When my +brothers and I received orders to come through Belgium, we begged other +commissions but to no avail."</p> + +<p>Certainly not! who better than the Counts von M. who have hunted from +childhood, thro' every lane and secret path, to lead the armies thro' +Belgium.</p> + +<p>Trains are passing with every known thing therein—first thousands of +soldiers, then wagons of provisions, cannon, boats for pontoon bridges +mounted on wheels ready for unloading, material for building, trucks of +hay, portable houses and in one car were hundreds of tiny wheels +sticking up which we discovered belonged to wheelbarrows. It is a droll +procession, that never ceases before one's eyes. To offset it, we have +taken to playing Patience morning, noon and night, and if this monotony +keeps up much longer we shall <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>certainly become imbeciles. From time to +time, in the trains going back to Germany one sees French prisoners, +easy to tell by their red <i>képis</i>, boxed up in cattle cars, peering out +from a narrow slit at the top. From the terrace can be heard the dull +thud of distant cannon; the fighting is at Warrem, thirty kilometres +from here.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>Monday, September 14th.</i></h2> + + +<p>Somebody came into possession of a newspaper, the "Figaro" from Paris, +dated September 6th. We were delighted to have it loaned us for an hour, +greasy and dirty as it was, for in these days a newspaper is the most +precious article on earth. It is brought in on a silver tray—then +somebody feverishly reads aloud for the benefit of the others, while the +servants run out to invite the neighbors to come in and listen. Just as +the reader is in the middle of a grand eulogy on glorious victories, +etc., an unknown person raps on the door to reclaim the precious journal +and we all relapse into a general interchange of impressions, ideas, +complaints, inspirations—"They say"; "It appears"; "Why"; "Must"; +"Ought"; "Should"; etc. In a German paper we read to-day, they are +preparing their men for "slight defeats" by saying that, "The French +army is no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>longer the army of 1870, but one worthy to combat with our +own." That was very condescending and was doubtless inspired by the +formidable battleline from the coast to Nancy, before their noses.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 16th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Natural laws are demonstrating themselves very plainly these days, for +when we were sitting on the terrace just before lunch to-day, a curious +thing happened—a sound wave, from a cannon shot literally hit our ear +drums. I felt as if somebody had struck mine with a padded club. There +was no noise, you understand, but we all looked up, aware of the impact +at the same moment, so that it could not have been imagination. It must +be that the terrible experiences of the past weeks have developed us to +a highly sensitized degree, for many things are strikingly clear which +were not so before.</p> + +<p>Nearly every afternoon we go up over the hill to a high cliff +overhanging the river which makes a sounding board for those sounds, +which never abate, of a distant battle across the valley.</p> + +<p>Heaven above! how are there men enough left after all these weeks of +killing to continue a battle? At times the reports come as thick and +fast <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>as hail, making one long roar of awfulness, and our hearts sink +like lead at the vision it conjures up.</p> + +<p>And again, how readily and eagerly hope springs up when the shots become +interrupted and the noise fades away a little.</p> + +<p>In this wooded spot where we so often go to find out the real truth of +things with our own ears, one meets nearly all one's friends from the +neighboring villas who have come for the same purpose, morbidly +attracted as we all, no doubt, are by these dreadful signs of a world of +torture.</p> + +<p>We huddle together like sheep lost in the storm, we confide our personal +misfortunes and we recount the barbarous tales we have recently heard, +the story ever interrupted by fresh evidence of the reviving fury of the +never-ending struggle.</p> + +<p>When we arrived home we heard that a company of soldiers had arrested, +as espions, four or five men who, like ourselves, were taking a little +promenade in the wood across the valley. Our liberties are being +curtailed more and more. Thank goodness there is a large garden and a +private wood to wander in. A month ago the order was that every +inhabitant must be in the house and lights out at eight <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> +Now it is seven o'clock and as the days grow shorter it will soon be six +or five—and perhaps three. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>soldiers are in such a blue fear of +being shot that recently in Aerschot all the villagers were put into the +church on bread and water. Some of the men were shot before their wives +and most of the houses burned. And they say, "the heart of the Imperial +Empire bleeds." It is not surprising that it does when one considers +what is happening right here at Liége, where houses are burned and +innocent men shot for murder. Afterward one finds German bullets in +German soldiers, which proves what you will.</p> + +<p>What a story we heard to-day—such a pitiful little story of somebody's +blue-eyed boy who ran out with his toy gun and aimed it at the passing +troops.</p> + +<p>They shot him dead, the little fellow, but he will sleep in a hero's +grave as truly as another, for his loyal wee might.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 18th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>A memorable day! We went in the auto to Spa. As we drove out of the +court yard we were obliged to let some horsemen pass, who were out for +their morning exercise. I think it is somebody's body guard, for we see +them often at a distance. There are about thirty of them and at close +range they are rather beautiful, that is, their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>uniforms of spotless +white broadcloth with gold trimmings. <i>En route</i> we passed by Fort +d'Embourg, which still has some of its cupolas, and Fort Chaudefontaine, +which our burned soldiers defended and which is demolished. For miles +around the country has been flattened, one may say, from the operation +of the cannon and looks as if a cyclone had hurried across it. Every bit +of shrubbery has been swept off the soil as if by a blast of magic and +the singed earth has a very shorn-lamb aspect.</p> + +<p>Our route was a veritable <i>via dolorosa</i>—destruction on both sides, in +front and behind. Many houses and trees had eight inch shells half +sticking in them which have not exploded and nobody knows when they may. +The churches were without fail demolished more or less and the most +astonishing thing was to see, again and again, the marble statue of the +Christ standing intact on the crumbling remains of an altar. It fills +one with awe and reverence to see this figure repeatedly spared by a +supernatural power from an otherwise pitiless devastation. We passed +through the now famous Louvigné which was entirely burned by the +Prussians on their way to Liége. It was the same old story of the +"civilians firing on the troops," or rather the excuse of the +delinquents to martyr innocent villagers who instinctively <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>took up a +rifle to defend their homes, as any one of us would. And revenge came +quickly.</p> + +<p>As we neared this spot which scarred the face of Nature, we were seized +with silent horror. If, in the smiling sunshine and in the quiet of the +beautiful country, we shivered at the sight of such destruction and the +thought of that dastardly work which marked the destiny of hundreds of +human beings, what must the awful realization have been to the +inhabitants themselves? Fancy the helplessness of them and their +consternation at the approach of a great army bearing down, of men +maddened with the love of conquest, of the wild beast seeking what it +may devour! Imagine the distant rumbling of wheels, drawing nearer and +nearer, the thud of horses' hoofs, the rhythmic tramp of feet, first +wafted on the wind, and finally the frightful dread confirmed by a +sudden explosion from the forts. Then the arrival—the dark—the +noise—the confusion—the terror of the women—the screams of little +children clinging to their mothers—the despair of the old ones, ill and +bedridden—fire everywhere and men torn from the arms of their loved +ones and stood up in a row and shot. What ghastly scenes, illumined +still more by those rockets of flame from the forts which cut across the +plain to stay the brutal invaders!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>I saw a little girl come out from the débris to draw water from a +pump—for what? For whom? There did not seem to be a living creature in +the vicinity, though perhaps some of the poor things who fled out into +the night across the fields for safety, have come back to dig out a +little home under the crumbled stone. One or two houses remained +standing, which seems a miracle, as pétrole-soaked fire-brands were +thrown systematically into every habitation. As we passed, rather +quickly, I counted ninety houses in ruins and about half a mile from the +road, a magnificent château, a victim as well as the meanest hovel. The +façade only was standing, though on approaching directly, the building +seemed intact, except for a curious impression of daylight shining +through the windows.</p> + +<p>Coming back in the twilight the effect of all this misery was +accentuated, the sentinels every few hundred yards were more suspicious +than ever and when we came upon a few isolated "<i>Hussars de la Mort</i>" +with the death's head leering out from those elegant fur turbans, I +thought all was finished. Happily the men were more peaceable than their +aspect.</p> + +<p>Spa, the lovely, indolent <i>ville d'eaux</i>, which we visited, was filled +with the "military" and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>bristling like a porcupine with saw-edged +bayonets and pointed helmets.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 22nd, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The doctor has gone to Neufchateau in the Ardennes to bring back the +French and Belgian wounded. I wish I could have gone with him, for we +seem so useless here now that our soldiers are well, and the days are +long, since the wild excitement of a giant army on the wing has cooled +down. "On the wing" is not an idle expression when we remember those +forced marches and how they lashed the poor artillery horses which +galloped and strained in the traces without making much impression on +the wheels. It was rather like that famous chariot race in the play, +"Ben Hur," when the landscape rolled around too fast for the horses. +Certain Imperial Esprits have doubtless already arrived, but without the +baggage—an item somewhat important.</p> + +<p>May the Fates preserve beautiful Paris! There is a dear little French +sister at the Convent (this Sisterhood was transferred from Metz after +the War of 1870) who says that we must pray the Blessed Virgin every day +to "<i>écraser</i> (smash) <i>les Allemands</i>," and she says it so fervently +that one does not observe the lack of Christian spirit.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>Very little is passing through the city at present except perhaps this +eternal line of trains, and oh, how we are thirsting for news! Can you +imagine, dear people at home, you who have hundreds of newspapers, how +we are straining every nerve to know the real truth of things as they +are, to pierce through this thick wall, with which an arrogant despotism +has cut us off from the whole world? But we cannot. It is wadded on both +sides with deceptions and our only privilege is to surmise. What poor +things we are, in truth, though born and reared in the common +independence of the age. Everywhere (else) the poorest farmer has his +one old horse to take him to and fro, where he will, and he has his acre +of God's country, where he may muse in the sun or dream with the stars, +while we, conquered by numbers, must walk in a straight line without +loitering and we must go into our houses at seven <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> and +close the door. Do you think that is amusing?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 24th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We heard five booms of cannon in an hour this morning and bad and +inhuman as it sounds, we were quite pleased—any little sign from an +outside world that one lives, one breathes, to drag us out of this +inertia, this eternal silence!</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 28th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>There was quite a demonstration in Liége yesterday when they brought +back from Neufchateau some Belgian and French wounded. The people all +shouted, "<i>Vive la France.</i>" Today we have a new military governor, who +has given the order to shoot, without hesitation, any person attempting +such an indiscretion again.</p> + +<p>The scene of operations is gradually swinging back into Belgium and the +stories of atrocities are increasing. The sacking and burning of +Louvain, with its art treasures and its world-famous library of rare +books and old manuscripts, is only another blot on a shield already +stained. In fact, it is said that the general who permitted it is most +discontented with himself for having been so stupid and that he has been +relieved from active service on account of ill health.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Max, the burgomaster of Brussels, has been taken prisoner and +is in confinement at Namur, because he was not able nor willing to meet +the demands of the Prussians, who want gold. We hear that the women of +Germany have been required to give up all their jewelry, except wedding +rings, for fighting money.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 30th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We went again to Spa in the auto. Passing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>again through the pitiful +village of Louvigné, we saw, in a meadow, the graves, covered with +wayside flowers, of the farmers who were shot. The soldiers picked out +forty of the villagers, stood them up in a line, then shouted, "Save +yourselves." Thirteen were shot in the back and the rest escaped. What +words to find for this barbarism? But is it barbarism and not rather the +refined cruelty of civilization? Is it not better then to remain a +primitive, with a beautiful faith in the Sun-god?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 1st, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The siege of Antwerp has begun. Here is a dialogue between the Kaiser +and his <i>belle armée</i>.</p> + +<p>K. "I need Antwerp."</p> + +<p>A. "Your Majesty shall have Antwerp, but we need five hundred thousand +men."</p> + +<p>K. "You shall have them."</p> + +<p>Does this explain the fantastic array of soldiers, sailors, the old, the +young, grandfathers and infants, the simple rank and file and the +elegant regiments of H. M. that are continually trailing on to the +battlefield?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 29th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The servants are dismantling the house today, putting all the art +treasures in safety—tapestries, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>silver, portraits, paintings, rugs, +fine china, furniture, dresses, furs, books, linen—in fact everything +of value. All this is to be taken off for safekeeping and sealed +up,—maybe, in the crystal caves of the river nymph, Aréthusa. Madame X. +does not like to imagine the <i>Haus Fraus</i> parading in her sables.</p> + +<p>A man in the city saw some circulars ready for distribution that were +printed by the German War Office, saying that in case of retreat of the +army, the inhabitants of Liége would have six hours to evacuate the +city.</p> + +<p>All that horror over again? Oh! this is a more terrifying thought, even, +than the advance of an army.</p> + +<p>Madame de H. managed to get through to us a letter from Brussels by +messenger. What dreadful things are happening, what curious things! +Three kilometres from her château on the other side of Brussels is an +old feudal castle which has been occupied for the last two years by an +Austrian family. These people were never very neighborly, preferring +their own society evidently and spending all their time and interest in +repairing the dilapidated walls of an unused wing of the château. This +had turned out an endless task, as it appears, continued for weeks and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>then suddenly and unaccountably stopped for days, only to be feverishly +recommenced. But of course, people round about, accustomed to the +varying energy of workmen in general were not puzzled at this. At least +this was the explanation given and, in truth, it began to look as if the +old place would live its given quota of days and crumble away still +unfinished.</p> + +<p>Twenty-four hours after Germany declared war on France and had already +crossed the frontier into Belgium, the Austrian family disappeared in +the night, taking with them their household goods. The next day Belgian +authorities seized the property and found a complete arsenal under the +walls with a net-work of tunnels burrowing far into the earth in all +directions.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 3rd, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>During the last forty-eight hours, hundreds of cattle cars have been +going back to Germany and we were very curious as to their contents. +Unhappily, we have been enlightened.</p> + +<p>Some of the villagers at the station, this morning, looked into one car +and saw that it was full of dead human bodies, tied together in threes +and packed tightly side by side in rows. Is that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>not too horrible for +words? It is better not to be too inquisitive these days, for there is +horror enough on the surface of things.</p> + +<p>The Germans have already taken some of the forts of Antwerp, although +the country surrounding the outer belt line of forts has been purposely +inundated, which does not, however, prevent the operation of big field +cannon.</p> + +<p>About fourteen of our wounded at the Convent Ambulance were sent to +Germany today as prisoners. We went to see them off and found the poor +things absolutely overwhelmed. Against the fear of cold and +imprisonment, they put on as many clothes as possible—two suits of +underwear, two pairs of socks, two pairs of trousers, coats, shirts, +sweaters and waistcoats—until they looked like stuffed partridges. +Poor, feathered brood, with pinioned wings! At three <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> our +(usually) gay boys were led out of the court, two by two, like convicts, +a Prussian at the head of the column and a Prussian at the foot.</p> + +<p>Oh, these Belgians are brave and they know how to obey, which may be the +very secret of their greatness. It is glorious to see the respect with +which even grown men accept the advice of their aged parents, for at the +moment of peril to their honor and their country when the old father had +said to his son, "My boy, it is time to lay down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>the hoe and take up +the sword," he had answered, simply, "<i>Oui, mon père</i>," while the women +brought out the sword and buckled it on with a tearless Godspeed.</p> + +<p>That is the way the Belgians went to war and that is the way they will +sustain themselves to the glorious end.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 5th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>To-day, two months after that horrible battle of Sartilmont, we found a +Belgian soldier's cap lying in the middle of the path in the woods. It +seemed like a human thing and stirred me to the profoundest depths. I +never thought that clothes could take on life and a personality all +alone, but they do. Has its owner been in hiding all these weeks or is +he lying yet unburied among the friendly trees? In these places where +Death has walked so boldly one feels his accompanying presence at every +step.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 8th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur B., a man of seventy years (Madame X.'s brother-in-law), was +taken as hostage yesterday at Spa. Fortunately for him, he was allowed +to sleep in the hotel, but can you imagine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>what the anxiety of those +twenty-four hours was? Every voice in the street, every foot-step in the +corridor—!</p> + +<p>From the top of the mountain all day a continual booming was heard, +distantly transmitted through the air. It was so incessant and with such +vivacity, one could easily imagine two armies all mixed up into one. The +Red Cross trains bear witness to tremendous battles somewhere—but +where? We hardly know how to contain ourselves in this absolute +ignorance of what is happening in the world. We rush upon and tear to +bits, like beasts of prey, the least little piece of news that comes +straggling within reach and if, by chance, someone comes into the court, +it is enough for all the family, including the servants, to rush to the +windows in excitement.</p> + +<p>The soldiers who are in the garage had the delicate idea of killing a +cow therein, which they did, and dismantled the animal then and there. +The next day they dressed themselves in Belgian uniforms, stripped from +the dead, and had themselves photographed before the château. We noticed +their laughing and pointing to the attic windows of the house, and we +finally discovered that they had festooned strings of sausages, of their +own recent make, from the window sills, to ripen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>A Baron de S. spent the night here, and told us of the ravages made by +the passing troops at his château down in the country. They had buried a +Frenchman in one corner of the garden and two Germans in another and +nothing was left but the house. All engravings and paintings were cut +with a sword; silver platters were melted in a lump in the court yard; +meat was cut up on a beautiful salon table; shoe polish was rubbed on +another; pipes in the kitchen and bathroom were cut to flood the rooms; +every glass in the house was broken and all the linen carried off except +the handkerchiefs.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 9th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Baron T., another friend of the family, came to lunch. He told us of his +cousin, who was one of the unfortunate victims of the sack of Louvain. +This aged man (seventy years) with a thousand others, was obliged to +walk for twenty-four hours with nothing to eat or drink and arms +stretched up straight over their heads. The poor man, fainting with +fatigue, asked permission of the soldiers to put his hands behind his +neck, but this grace was denied, and after some hours more all the +company was pushed into a cattle train and for eight days taken over the +country, as far as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>Cologne, and at last released in Brussels, almost +demented.</p> + +<p>When this Monsieur—of whom I speak, found himself free again he made +his way, laboriously enough, to his brother's house in Brussels.</p> + +<p>The <i>maitre d'hotel</i> opened the door and, seeing this haggard, bootless +individual, who was weakened with fatigue and dazed from his recent +horrible experience, did not recognize him, naturally enough, and +refused him admission until the old gentleman got his poor scattered +brains together enough to prove his identity. This is the story as we +have it first-hand. Can it then be possible that the others we heard are +true, too?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 10th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>I have been advertised! like a stray dog, and what a feeling of +importance it gives one. A peculiar looking document with the Embassy +seals of Paris and Brussels on it, arrived from the American Consul in +Liége enquiring if such a person as "Me" still exists.</p> + +<p>Well, rather, I should say. Fancy one's coming all the way on foot from +Brussels to find out that!</p> + +<p>Masses of soldiers and cannon passing today <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>and news from Brussels is +bad. The worst must have happened! "Antwerp, the untakable." How is it +possible in a few days, with fifty-two forts in triple line? We were so +depressed we could scarcely eat dinner, when about nine <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> +came the news, from a man of affairs who is just back from Brussels, +that the rumor is false. We shall sleep tonight after this hope and the +end of the world is not today, anyway.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 11th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We have heard the raging of a distant battle for days and we tremble for +the result. It seems that Antwerp is really taken, that is, "they say" +so, but it is such a mystery to everybody.</p> + +<p>A Dutch army nurse—but in the German Red Cross service—is here for a +few days' furlough, and related to Madame X. some horrible details of +the battlefield in France, whence she has recently come. It is just one +scene of mud and blood—pieces of limbs strewn everywhere and the dead +standing straight against masses of bodies, both living and dead. In +some towns she saw women and children pinioned with a sword through the +breast to the walls of their houses, and in Belgium the women and +children were often obliged to hold the hands of the men whom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>the +soldiers shot at random, according to their fancy. Here again are tales +that one hears that I cannot assert as facts, though this woman told +them as her own experiences.</p> + +<p>Madame X. received a card from Charles, the young gardener, who is now +safe in France training with the Belgian army near Dunkirque. You are +doubtless wondering how a card arrived here, as we have had no mail +since August 2nd. It was sent to a certain bank in Holland which is not +far from the Belgian frontier and a messenger brought it on foot.</p> + +<p>And I have sent you back a letter, dear people, scribbled at top speed +(without capitals, t's crossed nor i's dotted, probably) by the same +messenger who takes his life in his hands when he passes the guard at +the Dutch frontier again. If letters are found on this person he will +certainly be shot, so whether you ever receive my communication will be +a matter of history.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 13th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The old concierge of the hunting box at Viel Salm (near Malmédy, +Germany), who has been dying of tuberculosis for twenty years, arrived +here tonight, having walked the whole distance of seventy five +kilometres. This shows the faithfulness of the old servant who thought +he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>must come to report the sacking of the villa by the German troops +which occurred in the early days of August.</p> + +<p>The poor man could not have hobbled another step, for he was at the end +of his strength and his feet were just two great blisters. He told a +shocking tale of the troops, who entirely pillaged the villa. While he +went to complain of them at the <i>Kommandantur</i> of the place, others came +and what they did not break up, they took off. Pictures, engravings and +mirrors were broken, the leather chairs slit up with a +sabre—artistically done in the shape of a cross—and porcelain smashed +in the middle of the courtyard. You can see by this that pillaging and +atrocities began when the troops were hardly over the frontier.</p> + +<p>In one of the numerous pillaged châteaux around about, an extraordinary +bit of literature, in fact a masterpiece, has been found by the +châtelaine. A tiny scrap of paper sticking out from a book had these +words scribbled on it in German: "I am only a common soldier but I ask +pardon for these atrocities, committed by my superior officers."</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 14th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>It is unbelievable the trainloads of soldiers that are passing about +every ten minutes, and the fighting—judging from the wounded—must be +beyond words. The army nurse told of men who have fought five days in +the trenches without relief. They were tumbling over with fatigue, rifle +in hand, and the officers were obliged to go from one to the other, +shaking them into consciousness.</p> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/map2.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/map2.jpg" width="85%" alt="Map Showing Viel Salm and the German Frontier" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><span class="smcap">Map Showing Viel Salm and the German Frontier</span></p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 16th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We went to Viel Salm in the automobile. The destruction at the villa, +which I saw with my own eyes, has not been exaggerated. There was +practically nothing left but the structure itself and that was far from +intact, for nearly all the great plate glass windows were broken by some +<i>dévot</i> of vandalism who had taken the trouble and an ax to split up the +jambs of the doors so that they never could shut again.</p> + +<p>Inside was far worse; every picture, glass and mirror was smashed, each +leather chair had a great cross on it, cut with the sword, the sofas +were ripped up the middle, curtains and portières were wrenched from +their rods, all the dishes were taken except the glass stoppers of the +water-bottles, all the linen, all the blankets, all the clothes except a +few which were carefully cut up into ribbons and the tops of riding +boots which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>were sawed off for gaiters. In addition to this, eighteen +beds and bedsteads as well were carried off.</p> + +<p>We visited the Baronne de L., whose son, after refusing a demand of +forty thousand francs, was taken as a hostage, with the burgomaster and +others of the village.</p> + +<p>One morning at two o'clock a great ox cart drove up the avenue of pines +to the château and took him off before his mother's eyes. He is now +confined in a convict's cell at Coblenz.</p> + +<p>Baronne de L. has suffered severely at the hands of the invaders. She is +living quite alone in the château with the servants since her son was +taken and the avalanche of troops swept over the frontier at this point. +The house has been full of officers from the "first days" and she thinks +one of them was the "Kronprinz" from his photograph and because his +brother-officers always addressed him as Excellency. After one frightful +day, when the soldiers had literally despoiled the place by tearing +trophies from the wall, appropriating furniture and devastating the +stables, the household quieted down about midnight and everybody was in +bed, when suddenly a thundering of horses' hoofs was heard in the +courtyard and a new detachment of hungry, quarrelsome men piled in, +making a raid on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>kitchen and pantries as usual. They were even more +boisterous and brutal than their predecessors and poor Madame de L. +crept fearfully up to the captain's room to solicit his aid and +protection. She knocked and knocked several times before the door +finally burst open and he angrily demanded what she wanted. Just as he +was in the middle of roaring out an oath, he suddenly drew himself up +haughtily, attired as he was in that great voluminous night gown +accredited to the Teutonic people, to salute a superior officer who at +that moment ascended the stair-case.</p> + +<p>Baronne de L. said that in spite of the fearfulness of the moment, it +was one of the most laughable scenes that she ever witnessed.</p> + +<p>On our way home from Viel Salm we saw the wonderful bridge of trees, +three hundred feet long and fifty feet high, at Trois Ponts, which the +Germans built when the tunnel was blown up by the Belgians at the +commencement of the war. It is a marvellous affair in engineering +construction and commands enthusiastic admiration. Except for iron bolts +and rivets, it is made entirely of trunks of huge trees—with the bark +yet on in places, though, when necessary, a surface was planed square +and true to meet its fellow.</p> + +<p>We drove through the village of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>Francorchamps, which was also burned to +the ground, and a few miles further on met three Prussian officers who +snarled out some frightful invective as we passed. I cannot think of a +reason, except that we were in an automobile while they were obliged to +circulate in a modest, pony phaeton.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 17th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Antwerp is taken! There is no doubt about it now, and it is a sad blow +for Belgium. Antwerp! the pride and strength of the whole empire! But +there is not a person (bar the enemy) who does not expect to get it back +and all the rest of the usurped territory.</p> + +<p>Madame de H. sent letters by a "foot-messenger" from Brussels. She left +here only to plunge into a wild vortex of experiences there. Two days +ago she saw a battle in the air between two aeroplanes and yesterday the +locomotives on the trains had chains of roses around their necks to +celebrate some good news for the enemy. It sounds wild, doesn't it? And +last week—well, one does not dare to think what might have happened at +her home, Château de H., when four different companies of soldiers +pursued each other in quick succession on the road.</p> + +<p>First a regiment of German light infantry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>passed who stopped just long +enough for some hot coffee and were off again. About half an hour later +a brigade of Belgian bicycle <i>carabiniers</i> appeared and stayed to +"lunch." They were not so <i>pressés</i> and were leisurely laughing and +joking when one of the stable-men rushed panting into the kitchen and +said a company of Uhlans could be seen galloping hard in the distance.</p> + +<p>Then ensued a kaleidoscopic performance which took less time than my +writing it, and they all escaped, safely guided by Baron de H. himself, +down a narrow path hidden by trees behind the stables which led them +eventually right out across the heart of that famous beet-root country. +When the last man was safely hidden from view, one breathed a sigh of +relief which only changed to an exclamation of terror as, turning from +this window to look out of another, one saw a hundred fierce horsemen +dash up, hard on the scent of their prey.</p> + +<p>When Madame de H. (senior) looked down from her room and saw the Uhlans +ride into the court, she went right off her head, literally, and drawing +a tiny pearl-handled revolver from a secret drawer in her desk, started +to shoot from the window. But thanks to the presence of mind and rapid +action of her daughter-in-law, who pushed her unceremoniously into her +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>dressing-room and locked the door, she was prevented in time, which +without the least doubt saved all their lives.</p> + +<p>It is just such circumstances as these that have given the troops +opportunities and excuses to shoot peace loving citizens and burn down +many a town.</p> + +<p>Madame de H. (junior) then went down stairs and placated the men, who +were very insolent, as well as she could with what was left to eat in +the house. As the latter were deep in this occupation of refreshing +themselves, the sentry espied a troop of Belgian lanciers coming on the +gallop and gave the alarm.</p> + +<p>To horse! and away they went, bridles clinking, lances clashing. Then +commenced a phantom race as they flew over the ground like the wind, the +Belgians following hot in pursuit, until they both disappeared over the +edge of the world.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 19th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>I went to see the American Consul, to explain that I do exist and to ask +his advice about getting back to France. He did not seem to second my +enthusiasm, which surprised me, and said, "In the first place what would +you go in, and in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>second, why should you want to go, with Paris +surrounded by 2,000,000 soldiers?"</p> + +<p>Isn't it human nature to want to get out of prison?</p> + +<p>He has received no mail from America since August 19th and a letter +which came from his confrère, the American Consul at Aix-la-Chapelle, +Germany, took twenty-five days by the German Military Post.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 22nd, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>I was perfectly enraged this morning when I crossed the bridge and saw +the soldiers changing the street signs into the German language. Now it +is "<i>nach Brussels</i>" and "<i>nach Lüttich</i>."</p> + +<p>I suppose you will say, "But why be so disturbed about things? It is not +your war." But it is my war. I cannot keep out of it—it's everybody's +war!</p> + +<p>The new soldiers who have been in the stable at the château received +sudden orders to advance. The rest of the company, scattered about in +the vicinity, assembled here and they marched out of the court, a +hundred strong. Poor, old, nice things, these Bavarians; they did not +look very military nor very keen about moving on to the "front."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>In contrast one can tell a Prussian five blocks away by his swing. His +stride is so individually overbearing that it is impossible to mistake.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 5th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur and Madame S. came back from Brussels today and oh, it was good +to get a little, first-hand, outside news! It appears that Brussels +still has a semblance of her normal activity, as the heel of oppression, +in the presence of different foreign representatives, has not cut in so +deeply there. Madame S. said, one evening when they were walking in the +street she noticed a man following them and when they reached a +particularly dark corner he came quickly up and whispered, "Would you +like to see a 'London Times'? Then come into the shadow across the way." +It is well known that a single copy has already sold for 165 francs and +also there has been quite a traffic in renting sheets of it for twenty +francs the half hour.</p> + +<p>Coming back from Brussels, they drove through Louvain—martyred Louvain! +It was too dreadful to contemplate. First the material destruction of +those wonderful buildings, like an exquisite pattern in lace, torn by a +ruthless sword and eaten by wanton flame; then the misery and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>deprivation of the people who were able to resist those hours of agony +and peril.</p> + +<p>Every sort of device was used for shelter and hollow eyes and +terror-stricken faces looked out from the damp cellars under the ruins, +where destitute families of at least half the population had crept to +find a home.</p> + +<p>Now we know why the taking of Antwerp has been kept so modestly in the +background and has never been advertised in Liége like all the other +victories, which were always flaunted in large print. It is because +while the Germans were studiously busy taking the city, fort by fort, +the Belgian army was walking out by the side door, along the coast to +France, so that when a big personage was sent from Germany to make a +grand, triumphal entry into Antwerp, he found an empty city and received +the sword of a general, ill and incapacitated for duty.</p> + +<p>It is said that the Prussian general who accomplished the siege was +decorated amid a grand flourish of trumpets and then retired, since one +of the great motives was the capture of the Belgian army, which is now +safe in France and taking a week-end off somewhere. Is it not fine that +little Belgium has been able to impede the great German army two and one +half months, which has given the other actors in the play time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>to +change their costumes? Oh, it is fine to be brave!</p> + +<p>Countess de M. came with Monsieur and Madame S. from Brussels and has +her passports all in order to go to France, to her husband who is in the +Belgian army near Calais. She is leaving at once, under the protection +of the Dutch Consul, who is here in Liége for a few days (a circumstance +ordained by the Fates) and who is going to conduct her in his auto over +the frontier to Maestricht, Holland. And the miracle has happened! If I +can get my papers in readiness in two days, she will take me with her. I +am wild with joy, but I feel it is like a dream that one knows cannot +come true.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 6th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Just the moment I finished breakfast this morning, I dashed into town, +that is, as fast as an old tramcar could take me, to the American +Consul. In my impatience, I fancy I must have rung his bell several +times, though it was really a long while before the servant opened the +door and showed me in to the library. Then Mr. Z. (a German-sounding +name), the Consul, appeared, unshaven and with the evidence of his +morning meal upon his face—it was yellow.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>But nothing mattered to me and I plunged into the subject of getting a +passport for to-morrow without preliminaries. Perhaps I took the poor +man's breath away, for certainly he was not nearly as enthusiastic as I +about it. In fact, he embarked upon a dissertation pertaining to the +invaders which made me cry out in astonishment, "Why, you surprise me, +you seem to have pro-enemy tendencies." "Well," he said, "they've done +everything they've said they have, haven't they?"</p> + +<p>I asked him if he had seen Louvigné or Visé yet and he said, "No, I +haven't ben up t' Visé yet."</p> + +<p>All this, however, was far from the point in question and I finally got +back to it by informing him of the good fortune I was going to have +to-morrow in getting away to Holland in the Dutch Consul's automobile if +I could get my passport from the Germans. It did not occur to me that +there would be any difficulty about it, so I calmly asked him if he +could get it for me by six o'clock to-night?</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," he replied, "I could not get it before two or three days."</p> + +<p>"But," I protested, aghast, "I am going to-morrow and it is a chance in +a thousand; I may not have another such opportunity during the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>war. +Could you not make an especial effort to get it for me?"</p> + +<p>"Well," he answered, "I'll do what I can but I won't promise anything. +I'm not agoing to ask any favors of those people," i.e., the Germans.</p> + +<p>"It is not a favor," I replied, "it is your right. For what other reason +is an American Consul if he is not to protect his people, particularly +in wartime?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear young lady," he answered, "you must not think that you are +the only American in Liége."</p> + +<p>"How many are there?" indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Well, three or four," he replied, reluctantly.</p> + +<p>That was really too much! I was in despair. What was to be done? Seeing +my hope of freedom vanishing before my eyes, I clutched at the last +straw and entreated him with what eloquence I could whip into line to +make at least some effort to get me the passport by six o'clock, when I +would come again to his house for it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," he said quickly, "I don't get back here until eight o'clock, +but if you happen to pass by 'The Golden Lion' (or some such name) you +might find me there."</p> + +<p>Choking with rage I said to him, "I see that you cannot help me, Mr. Z., +but if you will be good enough to give me your card (he had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>already +suggested it) to the German passport department, I will go to the +<i>Kommandantur</i> myself and see what I can do; in fact, I am sure I can +accomplish far more than you." He ought to have been affronted at this +but, on the contrary, seemed jolly well pleased and handed me out his +card in a hurry, glad to relieve himself of the obligation of asking any +favors of "those people."</p> + +<p>I then made my way to the <i>Palais de Justice</i>. A man accosted me in the +square and told me if I were going for passports it would be of no use, +as there were hundreds and hundreds of people there before me. But I +kept on. With the glorious end in view, viz., to be a free person and to +see the scenes that, in a morbid way, I had begun to feel would never be +my privilege again, I kept on, threading a path through the throngs +until I stood right in front of the guard of the sacred chamber. He was +an enormously fat sentry, with the usual little round cap and fixed +bayonet. I thought he would eat me, he looked so offended, and roared +out, "<i>Nein, nein, das Zimmer ist voll.</i>" Then was my moment. I pulled +out the little white card and addressed him—not too timidly either, for +hadn't I the great American people behind me? He caught the words, +"American Consul," which drew him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>up to salute and in the most +lamb-like voice he murmured, "<i>Ach, ja, Amerikaner</i>," and let me pass. I +cast one look at the multitude back of me—poor things, who may have +stood there two days already, and I felt despicably mean, as if I were +not playing fair.</p> + +<p>Once inside, I was put through a category of questions, worse than an +"Inkwhich." "Why had I come to Liége?" "How long had I been there?" "Why +did I want to go away?" "Where to?" "How?" etc. Finally my inquisitor +became suspicious, or feigned it, and said, "But what have I to prove +that you are an American?" Then I was furious and I answered, "Monsieur +(I suppose he hated the French appellation), since you have the card of +the American Consul asserting it, in your hand, is not such a question +an indignity to my government?" He answered with a wry smile and said +nothing.</p> + +<p>At 4 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> I returned for my passport with half a dozen +photographs to be affixed thereto. I had no difficulty in getting into +the <i>Bureau des Passeports</i> as I still had the Consul's card upon which +Herr Bauer, one of the German secretaries, had scribbled some mysterious +symbols which probably meant "let her pass," or its equivalent. At any +rate, the sentry and I regarded each other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>superciliously and I skidded +past his saw-toothed bayonet without hurt.</p> + +<p>When I entered the crowded room I saw that I was about fiftieth in the +line and I said to myself that if I waited my turn I should still be +there at midnight. Luckily, an idea came to me, and waving that fateful +little white card in the air, I called out over the heads of everybody, +"Oh, Herr Bauer." A Belgian gentleman standing next me was quick enough +to catch the name and shouted out also, "Herr Bauer." But Herr Bauer was +far too clever for him and said with a mocking smile, "Ah, no, Monsieur, +you will have to wait your turn. Mademoiselle, come this way."</p> + +<p>I detached myself from the crowd and stepped behind the rail, horribly +conscious of unpleasant scrutiny. My face got hotter and hotter and I +could only see a host of uplifted Belgian eyebrows. Even the clerks +looked up and stared, unaccustomed as they evidently were to Herr +Bauer's benignity. And I had to bear all that humiliation because—well, +why?</p> + +<p>Having exposed the facts, I will give you the privilege to form your own +opinion which will be every bit as good as mine, I know.</p> + +<p>11 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> My passport signed, sealed and written all over by the +Imperial Government, is in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>my hand. I shall dream of long journeys, of +bitter struggles and at last—freedom! Will the daylight never come?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 7th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Saturday dawned cold, gray and shivery. <i>Madame de M.</i>, <i>Monsieur le +consul hollandais</i>, and I left the château at eight <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> I was +heartbroken to part from the dear people with whom I had experienced so +much and I fancied their eyes looked longingly at the departing +automobile. They, too, would have liked to come out into the sunshine of +Freedom—how much!</p> + +<p>From Liége to the frontier sentries stopped us often, but the consul's +much-used passport, framed and glassed in like Napoleon's Abdication or +the Declaration of Independence, was very convincing. Half an hour's +cold drive along the Meuse brought us to Visé. On approaching it, we did +not dream that we were nearing a town and in truth we were not—only the +remains of one, for not a single building was standing. I had thought +that Louvigné with its one lane was desolate and awful, but here were +streets and streets of ashes and crumbled brick—and I seemed to see +again the ruins of ancient Troy in Asia Minor, which are not more +complete. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>Someone murmured, "Pompeii." But it is not comparable. The +ages have woven about the broken columns of Pompeii a light film of +romance and a bit of tender beauty springs up with the tiny, flowering +weeds which push their way to the sun between many colored tiles. Here, +the tragedy is too new; too crude; too bleeding!</p> + +<p>The only living things I saw were a cat scampering down a deserted +alley, and one man—half-dazed, looking at what was probably his own +ruined home; the only wall to be seen which was, even in part, standing. +It must have been an ironmonger's shop, for some black kettles still +hung on nails against the stone, and iron stoves in all their bleakness +stood up in bold relief on piles of ashes.</p> + +<p>When the Germans came to Visé the commanding officer called the people +together in the market place and harangued them at length, threatening +them with dreadful punishments if they did not do so and so. He felt he +had to, doubtless, as the town and the surrounding country are well +known centers of the firearms industry; the peasants work in their own +homes to a large extent and are very expert in the making of delicate +weapons and also in their use.</p> + +<p>So, when the sturdy Belgians could not digest another single threat, +apparently, somebody fired <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>a shot from the crowd which killed the +officer while he was speaking. Then followed that frightful slaughter +and the firing of the town, the remnants of which we saw to-day. Nobody +on earth will ever know who fired the shot, probably, for the soldiers +hate their officers and already German bullets have been found in German +soldiers.</p> + +<p>9 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> Over the frontier! Oh, the joy of it—the indescribable +relief—the wet-eyed thankfulness! Shall I ever forget it? I did not +know until then what depths Tyranny had furrowed into my consciousness. +Here were men and women laughing and talking in the streets and people +daring to drive in their own carriages, and everybody reading +newspapers—I felt as if I would spend my last sou for one.</p> + +<p>The day was spent in wandering aimlessly over the old town. The wind was +bitterly piercing and a fog hung over the canal but I was not altogether +aware of bodily discomfort. My mind, trying to adjust itself to new +conditions, was in a haze, staggering back and forth from the +consciousness of regained freedom to servitude and from barbarism to +freedom again.</p> + +<p>At three <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> the train left for Flushing, where we were to +take the boat for Folkestone, England. Just before it pulled out of the +station, a friend <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>of Comtesse de M. rushed up to the car window and +said, "Madame, must you go? We have just received a dispatch saying that +a big boat has been sunk today by a mine near Boulogne." But nothing on +earth could have deterred us then.</p> + +<p>All through the country of Holland, Dutch soldiers were "preparing" +everywhere. We arrived at Flushing at two <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> and went aboard +at once, but not before being well looked over by English commissioners, +who examined our foreheads and wrists for German measles. Shall I ever +get away from that word?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 8th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>A long day on the Channel and I was seasick—miserably, hopelessly, +endlessly seasick, but when somebody shouted I managed to lift my head +in time to see a floating mine—just a tiny, black buoy bobbing about, +but I did not mind. I asked the stewardess if she were not afraid, +making the journey every day, and her answer awed me by its conciseness +and its confidence. "Oh, no," she said. "Our Admiralty has arranged a +path for us between the mines." That was a sublime faith, but I should +choose a more winsome path—bordered with marigolds, perhaps, or phlox.</p> + +<p>About four <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> the gaunt, chalk cliffs of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>Dover hove into +sight, rising up in their grimness and seeming yet to shadow the awful +tragedy of the previous day, when an auxiliary cruiser had struck a mine +a quarter of a mile from shore and sunk in five minutes.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 9th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Folkestone! The busiest town on earth, I should say, and soldiers +everywhere. There were ruddy-looking troops, singing also, and +apparently quite content to be "going over," for an Englishman is always +game; and there were pale ones, just out of hospital, in every kind of +uniform, and bands of refugees and exiles who had not a franc among +them.</p> + +<p>Comtesse de M. went with me to the English Embassy to see if they would +give me a passport to France with her, for in my haste in leaving Liége, +it had not occurred to me that I would need a passport ever again +anywhere.</p> + +<p>It seemed to me that there were millions of people at the door of the +Embassy, but fortunately Madame de M. found an acquaintance who must +have had considerable influence, for he took us around to a secret door +and we were soon in the audience room. Well, of course, there was +nothing to prove that I was an American but our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>honest word, which was +not enough, so I offered to hand out my German passport, which was +certainly maladroit.</p> + +<p>Fancy, an Englishman viséing a German passport!</p> + +<p>Then Madame de M. pulled out hers and asked them to sign my name on it +as companion to her. The august head looked troubled at this; however, +he took his pen and was just in the act of putting it to paper when his +assistant or rather accomplice interposed and they argued a bit. He took +his pen for the second time and plunging it into the inkwell was just +about to sign when somebody else expostulated and another discussion +ensued.</p> + +<p>For the third time (he pulled himself together as a man who knows what +he is about) he took his pen and would certainly have achieved his +object if the door had not opened at the inexpressible moment to admit +an authoritative-looking person who vetoed the whole proceeding.</p> + +<p>What those moments were to me I shall never be able to describe—that +pen so near the paper! A naked sword three times across my throat would +not have been greater suspense. Marie Antoinette could not have suffered +more.</p> + +<p>Well, the game was up anyway, and as there was no American Consul nearer +than London, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>decided to try the amiability of the French Consul which +I found impeccable.</p> + +<p>At the French Embassy again was that rush and struggle for papers, and +there I witnessed a pathetic scene. A Belgian man, of middle age, and +well dressed, came to the consul literally asking alms. "Monsieur," he +said, "to ask you for help is the hardest thing that I shall ever do in +my life, but I have lost everything and I must go to my wife, who is ill +in France, and I have but five francs. Could your Embassy aid me?"</p> + +<p>At five <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> the boat left Folkestone, containing a +conglomerate parcel of humanity—sailors and soldiers of different +nations and in divers uniforms, singing alternately the "<i>Marseillaise</i>" +and "God Save the King"; Red Cross assistants eager to reach the field +of their work; white-haired mothers in search of their wounded sons, +trembling for the message that land would have in store for them and +despairing exiles awaiting at least the welcome sound of their beloved +tongue. Night fell like a soft mantle and we forged on, into the +darkness, chancing what might befall. What impressed me among the people +aboard was the apparent lack of anxiety for personal safety. Past +sufferings and the great future issue were the predominant thoughts.</p> + +<p>The dock at Calais was crowded with anxious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>friends and Belgian +soldiers. Madame de M. found several acquaintances among the +latter—friends of her husband. After the usual Custom House proceedings +we started on a quest for rooms for the night. A subdued excitement +trembled over the city; the whole population was in the streets; throngs +were seething up and down; hundreds of soldiers were hurrying to and fro +and intense groups of men discussed probabilities, while anxious women +pressed in on the crowd to catch a hopeful word. We heard that the +German army was about to plunge through to Dunkirque and would shell +Calais from there. The civil population was therefore expecting every +moment the order to evacuate the city.</p> + +<p>As we crossed the railroad near the pier, we saw in the half light a +small company of Belgian soldiers limping along, each with a forlorn +bundle on his back. Their aspect was <i>complètement démoralizé</i>, and the +young lieutenant with us, moved by his quick sympathy, shouted, "Oh, +say, <i>camarades</i>, have you heard of the new victories on the Yser and +the brilliant defense of the Belgians?" The poor, despondent things, +fired at once by the spirit of his enthusiasm, straightened themselves +up and cried, "Oh! Ah! Is it true? <i>Merci, mon lieutenant, vivent les +Belges!</i>"</p> + +<p>A few yards further on we passed a group of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>refugees who were stumbling +aimlessly along in the dark—there were men and women, trying to console +each other, and whimpering children, sick with hunger, clinging to their +mothers' skirts. Their plaintive cry was like a knife through the heart.</p> + +<p>After picking a toilsome way through the crowds we arrived in the +quarter of the big hotels and found there was not a room to be had. Not +at all daunted, we retraced our steps and sought the small hotels—there +were no rooms. Still, with courage—even amusement (the affair was +taking on a spirit of adventure) we attacked the <i>pensions de +famille</i>—not a cot; not a corner. Then we stopped in the <i>Place</i> to +review the situation, which began to look dull gray. There were still +the <i>cabarets</i>, or we could sit in the street all night. We chose the +<i>cabarets</i> and with newborn hope started on, systematically taking one +street after another, knocking at most dreadful-looking places, even +along the waterfront. A woman's voice from behind barred shutters +usually responded. Every chair, every table, every square inch of floor +was spoken for. Then the warm, brightly-lighted railroad station, +opposite the pier, leaped into our numbed consciousness—why had we not +thought of it before? The military authorities forbade loitering there.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>Out in the dark, once more we looked at each other inquiringly. That was +a curious joke. Fate had never dealt us such a hand of cards before! We +viewed the landscape—half of it was water and the little waves lapping +against the <i>quai</i> were rather mocking.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, dark and smug, a swaying object which we had not observed till +then, took monstrous form before our eyes and in it we recognized an old +friend, the Channel boat <i>Elfrida</i>, which lay basking in the velvet +shadows like a dozing cat and gently pulling on her cables. Why not? We +did! Nothing prevented our going aboard but a sleepy guard, who was +quickly consoled with a five-franc piece, and we made ourselves +comfortable for the night on the yellow, velvet cushions in the +captain's salon, behind the wheel-house.</p> + +<p>Who can assert that it has not all been arranged for us? Otherwise, I +fear, our own poor efforts would land us too often in the mud.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 10th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Left Calais at nine <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> The sun was pouring its cheerful rays +over the glorious land. It ought to be free—this smiling France! +Wherever the eye rested were soldiers drilling, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>building, maneuvering +and digging. Every few hundred yards the railroad was intersected by +lines of trenches. These latter appeared to be about seven feet +deep—cut true as a die into the ground and were braced with a lining of +woven reeds, like basket work. The front wall of these trenches was +crenated about every two feet, forming little niches for the soldiers +and protection against flank shots. The poppies and corn flowers blowing +over the edges were holding on for dear life to their tiny inch of soil +and nearly obliterated those brutal gashes in the earth which had +swallowed up their brothers and sisters. An unsuspecting army might well +be lured into such a pleasant bear-trap.</p> + +<p>Train progress was very slow for we had to switch off continually to +allow ammunition trains and troops to pass. All the railroad stations +were packed with soldiers and grieving women, though there was nothing +in the way of heroics in these leave-takings, just grim resolve on the +faces of the men and silent sorrow on the lips of the women. It seemed +as if clasped hands could not release each other and eyes held eyes in a +long farewell. Husbands were tearing themselves from their wives; +white-haired mothers were adding one word more of caution to their +departing sons; and there were young boys, of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>perhaps the last class, +who, touched at the moment to say <i>au revoir</i>, were yet eager to plunge +out into the future. I shall never know how many last good-byes I +witnessed this day.</p> + +<p>Train after train of cattle cars passed us, with a big cannon in the +middle, three horses stabled in one end and three in the other. Along +the road were several regiments of Indian troops—the <i>Girkhas</i>. They +were tall, splendidly handsome men of fine features, light, +chocolate-colored skin and brilliant, black eyes. They wore long, khaki +coats, belted in like a Russian blouse, and khaki turbans and they waved +their hands and smiled continually, showing flashing, white teeth. They +were evidently well pleased with the turn of events which had led them +to this wondrous, new world, where was plenty of opportunity for +killing—this reputed trait, however, was quite belied by their amiable +faces.</p> + +<p>About four <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> (three hours yet to Paris) I was dead with +fatigue and seeing so much. Also I had not had a bite to eat since eight +<span class="smcap">A. M.</span>, having counted on a basket lunch on the road, or at +least a solitary sandwich, but all the convenient station buffets have +been closed up since the war and civilians are tacitly understood to +look after themselves and not to bother the Government by racing +needlessly over the country. But I do not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>think there were many making +aimless journeys.</p> + +<p>Since noon the cars had been steadily filling up, until the compartments +destined for ten persons were accommodating twenty, not including +bundles, lapdogs, bandboxes and bird-cages—even then there was always +room for one more. And nobody was indignant, but rather complacent and +obliging, for had they not all sons at the front and the same great +grief at heart? The conversation was general as to people and on one +sole topic, the "War," including the strategic achievements of the +French army, "Eux" (they, i.e., the Germans), and the marvellous +qualities of their beloved Général Joffre, affectionately termed +"Grandpère" by the soldiers.</p> + +<p>And so we rolled slowly and more slowly on, packed like sardines, the +removing of one meaning the displacement of all, as when one heedlessly +snatches a potato from the middle of a bushel basket. But very few got +down except the soldiers, the objective point for all being Paris.</p> + +<p>The twilight shadows were welcome, for they swallowed up all the +phantasmagoria of the day and we relapsed into silence. It was one of +those moments when Reality, or the fear of it, battles with our courage +and each one grew thoughtful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>as he neared the great city, dreading to +meet the spectre he feared.</p> + +<p>The wheels of the cars sang on in a hollow, monotonous tune, the windows +rattled systematically and outraged brakes screeched at every recurrent +jolt. Finally we saw a dim row of lights and a long, thin whistle from +our engine told us that the journey was done. Again was that noticeable +lack of excitement: everyone calmly took his personal belongings and +prepared to get down when the guard, in an unimportant voice, should +call out "<i>Paree</i>," which you would not hear if you were not listening.</p> + +<p>After the Customs, I was in a frenzy to get out into the street, to be +welcomed back, as one always is here, and to be cheered and warmed by +the bright lights—the flashing eyes of Paris. But the streets were dim, +the shops and restaurants closed and few people circulating about. How +different it all was! I felt like Rip van Winkle after his twenty-years' +sleep, for at the apartment (I thought I had come to the wrong house) +was a new concierge, young and pretty, replacing the old, white-haired +one. Had we gone back twenty years instead? The rooms were empty—all my +friends had disappeared, the dust was inches thick, the furniture pushed +mostly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>into the middle of the rooms and some of the beds were gone. +Thickly sprinkled over the floor of my room and on my bed were pieces of +the window glass, broken like all the others in the house, by a German +bomb which fell and exploded in front of the Prince of Monaco's house, +two doors from us—not one hundred and fifty feet away. Half dazed, I +dusted a place large enough for my hat and coat, extracted some clean +linen from the closet and went to bed, sick at heart.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 12th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Paris! after a four days' tiring journey which in happier times takes +only five hours. But it doesn't matter—it is home again. Anywhere is +home which is out from under that yoke of infamous tyranny. I rage in +proportion as the minutes separate me from this odious thing that closes +its iron fingers around the necks of my friends.</p> + +<p>No! It is not to be borne. Let every man, woman and child on the earth +rise up until we have right. Do I not know? Have I not experienced the +mailed fist? And yet, how little in comparison to others; but it is +enough.</p> + +<p>The concierge gave me coffee and rolls and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>I dressed quickly in order +to get out into the street where I knew the dismal impression of the +indoors would be dispelled by the habitual smile of the enchanted city. +But the day was dull—the summit of the Eiffel Tower was hooded in a +cloud of fog and a cold blast swept over the Place de La Concorde which +froze me to the marrow. I kept on, however, somewhat protected by the +arcades of the rue de Rivoli, expecting to see, at least, familiar faces +in the shop-keepers of that gay, little Rialto—but the doors were all +closed and the blinds down. One place was open—the art shop of the +little, old, white-haired man with the twinkling eyes, who has sold me +marvellous Venus de Milos, etc., times without number. I greeted him +with real feeling and enthusiasm, for here was somebody I knew. He did +not recognize me and stared dully, without answering, as one who is +dazed; he was unshaven and dirty, his usually clear eye was lifeless and +his face was thin and drawn. Could it be that he had not enough to eat, +or was it despair? He must have had nephews and perhaps sons and +grandsons at the front. But do the people who stay at home change like +that? I went on—the Hotel Meurice was closed; the Continentale had a +section open for the Red Cross; the Bristol was closed; the Ritz was +made into an Ambulance; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>not a living soul on the Place Vendôme. All the +famous hat shops were closed—who would have a reason to buy hats? All +the big dressmakers were closed and every jewelry shop but two in all +that dazzling, brilliant rue de la Paix was closed. There were perhaps a +dozen people on the Boulevards, a single taxicab crawled listlessly out +of a side street, but not an omnibus to be seen. They, like all the +world, had left for the "front" and will go down in history as having +transferred the valiant French army in all haste to Victory on the +Battlefield of the Marne.</p> + +<p>The only thing unchanged was the Opéra, which stood there, in all its +splendor, looking on at the grievous spectacle of Paris, in anguish. +Will she live? Can she die? Is the burden of her woes too great? O, +Beautiful City of Dreams! Some call you very wicked—you, whose brave +smile has endured through all your sorrows. Is that so little? And the +valor of your Sons—was it ever surpassed? Did one of the hundreds, one +of the thousands, one of the millions, hesitate the fraction of an +instant at your call?</p> + +<p>O, Paris! Inimitable Paris! with the death shadow on your lovely +face....</p> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen">Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> + +Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in +the original document has been preserved.<br /> +<br /> +Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br /> +<br /> +Page 9 interment changed to internment<br /> +Page 52 officiers changed to officers<br /> +Page 67 Kommandatur changed to Kommandantur<br /> +Page 74 wth changed to with<br /> +Page 93 pertubation changed to perturbation<br /> +Page 94 stupified changed to stupefied<br /> +Page 115 gods changed to goods<br /> +Page 126 Coblentz changed to Coblenz<br /> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30264 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/30264-h/images/frontis.jpg b/30264-h/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d2fc4b --- /dev/null +++ b/30264-h/images/frontis.jpg diff --git a/30264-h/images/map1.jpg b/30264-h/images/map1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8ccf78 --- /dev/null +++ b/30264-h/images/map1.jpg diff --git a/30264-h/images/map2.jpg b/30264-h/images/map2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..77e4d98 --- /dev/null +++ b/30264-h/images/map2.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6fd467 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #30264 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30264) diff --git a/old/30264-8.txt b/old/30264-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..357690d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3916 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Liége on the Line of March, by Glenna +Lindsley Bigelow + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Liége on the Line of March + An American Girl's Experiences When the Germans Came Through Belgium + + +Author: Glenna Lindsley Bigelow + + + +Release Date: October 15, 2009 [eBook #30264] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIéGE ON THE LINE OF MARCH*** + + +E-text prepared by Barbara Kosker and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from digital material +generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 30264-h.htm or 30264-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30264/30264-h/30264-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30264/30264-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/ligeonlineofma00bige + + + + + +LIÉGE +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + +[Illustration: GLENNA L. BIGELOW] + + +LIÉGE +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + +An American Girl's Experiences When the Germans Came Through Belgium + +by + +GLENNA LINDSLEY BIGELOW + + + + + + + +New York: John Lane Company +London: John Lane, The Bodley Head +MCMXVIII + +Copyright, 1918, by +John Lane Company + + + + +_TO THE KING OF THE BELGIANS_ + + + _Multitudes upon multitudes they throng + And thicken: who shall number their array? + They bid the peoples tremble and obey: + Their faces are set forward, all for wrong. + They trample on the covenant and are strong + And terrible. Who shall dare to say them nay? + How shall a little nation bar the way + Where that resistless host is borne along?_ + + _You never thought, O! gallant King, to bow + To overmastering force and stand aside. + Safe and secure you might have reigned. But now + Your Belgium is transfigured, glorified, + The friend of France and England, who avow + An Equal here, and thank the men who died._ + + _H. M._ + _London Times, August 14, 1914._ + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Liége on the Line of March, or An American Girl's Experience When the +Germans Came Through Belgium, is a unique story. No other American +probably was in the exact position of Miss Bigelow who was at the +Château d'Angleur, Liége, Belgium, with the family of Monsieur X. at the +outbreak of the war and experienced with them and the people of their +country those tragic events which, up to the present, have hardly even +been sketched for the world. + +What the public already knows of armies, guns, trenches, etc., has +little to do with the suffering that the people of an invaded country +endures, when the white-hot flame of the enemy invasion sweeps over the +land scorching every flower and leaving in its wake only desolation and +pain and despair. This narrative describes in detail just what might +come to any one of its readers if the Germans were victorious in Europe. +Let him picture to himself his line of action or even his line of +thought if an insolent officer came into his home, took his paintings +from the wall, his rugs from the floor, his private papers from his +desk and, finally, his sons to--what fate? The most pacific of pacifists +would draw a tight breath at such proceedings. And these are the least +of things that have happened in Belgium. + +But the journal was not written with exhortative design. It is the +simple and truthful story of daily events as they occurred; if, at +times, the words seem brutal, the circumstances were brutal. Why should +one not know them? + +The Château d'Angleur was respected as far as real pillaging and +destroying were concerned for the fact that a cousin of Monsieur X., a +Belgian by birth, is the wife of the Count von M. of Germany, at one +time Grand Chancellor of the Imperial Court and a trusted friend of +Emperor William the Second. As was proven afterwards this relationship, +surprisingly enough, had some influence on the side of clemency. + +Monsieur X. was one of that family of famous Belgian bankers which has +existed for four generations. He was also President of the International +Sleeping Car Company of Europe to which honor he was appointed at the +death of his brother Monsieur Georges X., the originator and founder of +the Company. + +Madame X. is a Russian by birth, the great-granddaughter of Prince ----, +who was at one time Grand Chancellor of the Court of Russia, and a +cousin of Princess ----, a lady in waiting to Her Former Majesty the +Czarina of Russia. The daughter of Madame X., Baronne de H., wife of a +Belgian nobleman of Brussels, is a personal friend of Their Majesties, +the King and Queen of Belgium. + +Miss Bigelow, though a neutral subject, was nevertheless a virtual +prisoner of the Germans from August to November, 1914, owing to the lack +of facility in getting away from Belgium. The railroad was taken over +entirely by the German Army; automobiles, horses, carriages, etc., being +long since confiscated and appropriated by the Germans. Considerable +anxiety was felt as to her safety as no communication with the outside +world was possible during those three months of internment. Therefore, +her journal was faithfully kept for the benefit of her family and +depicts the comfortable luxurious life of the days preceding August, +1914, the shock of the Declaration of War, the terrific battle of +Sartilmont, three kilometres from the château, which entailed indirectly +the death of Monsieur X. in the early morning of the following day while +the guns were still booming. It also includes the bombardment of Liége +which lasted twelve days, the care of soldiers burned in the forts, the +capture of the city by the Prussians, their brutal shooting of +civilians, the burning of parts of the town and the taking of citizens +as hostages. + +The passing of the German army with all its accompanying paraphernalia +that went to the front in the first days is described as it was +photographed on the brain of the writer, looking down from her window, +day after day, onto the highroad. + +The journal ends with the attempted withdrawal to Brussels, the final +escape to Holland by the aid of the Dutch Consul of Maestricht, the +journey from Flushing, Holland, to Folkestone, England, to Calais and to +Paris. The last part of this journal will appeal to those who have known +and loved Paris in the old days, and portrays her to the world as the +flower she is, revealing her truth and her worth tho' stripped of that +individual worldliness which was yet a charm. + +_Note.--All except German names in the Journal are fictitious._ + + + + +LIÉGE + +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + + + +LIÉGE, ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + + + +_July 30th, Thursday._ + + +To-day has been warm, very warm and sultry, a day of surprises, +beginning with the sudden disappearance of Monsieur X.'s trusted head +clerk--a German boy who has been in the office for fifteen years and who +knew every phase of the situation. What reason on earth could he have +had for vanishing like that with all his personal belongings, not +leaving one trace behind to show that such a person had ever been? Odd, +but certainly done with studied thoroughness. + +This afternoon we sat at the end of the garden by the little lake, +listless and content to do nothing. The air was ominously still, as I +remember it now, and the sun beat down through a yellow haze. Suddenly, +without the slightest warning, huge drops of rain began to fall. You can +imagine that we scurried up the path as fast as possible, past the old +oak, and reached the terrace just before the very heavens opened in a +flood and a great shaft of lightning, like a sword, swept down from the +sky straight to the oak tree, crushing it completely. My hand trembles a +little as I write tonight--it was the suddenness of the onslaught which +unnerved me, I suppose, for it was a curious thing that there were no +signs of approaching storm except the dull yellow light which we did not +notice then. + +There was a small dinner this evening and the table was beautiful as +usual with old silver and candles which shed their warm light about--all +lovely and luxurious. Monsieur R., M.P., did his best to draw out the +political opinions of the party, but conversation, quite contrary to +custom, was fitful. I think every one was a little unstrung by the +afternoon's experience and the air even yet is full of electricity. + +During one of the unwelcome pauses of the dinner a motor came panting up +the drive and "Uncle Henri" burst in, virtually hatless and coatless, +fairly bristling with political news and very much annoyed that +something, anything, had wrecked his normal existence for a moment. But +this something which has happened is terribly serious. The French trains +are not going beyond the frontier to-night, and part of "Uncle Henri's" +agitation was due to this fact as he had been obliged to walk a few +hundred yards to get the Belgian train. In the excitement of such an +unheard of proceeding he had plunged ponderously along in the dark and +mud with his fellow-travellers and incidentally lost his luggage and his +valet, the ineradicably English James. Nobody took in the seriousness of +such a strange tale at first, for Uncle Henri is, before all, _très +comédien_. But why was he not in Russia as he was expected to be? Very +good reasons indeed, for it appears that Austria and Serbia and Germany +and Russia are about to jump down each other's throats, according to +widespread rumor. France, too, is writhing in suppressed excitement +which one cannot understand, with conditions growing worse every minute. +It would seem rather left-handed for Germany and Russia to reach around +through France to cross swords. + +Timid little Madame N. asked if these things might indicate War. +Everybody scouted the idea and ridiculed the thought of the hard-headed, +common-sense, Western world doing anything so absurd. So we will leave +it to the _diplomats_ to settle the difficulty. I am glad that they can. + + + + +_July 31st, Friday._ + + +Yesterday was only a preliminary to the seething in the tea-pot which +exists as to-day's events show--everybody is bewildered at the +tremendous things that have started and the equally tremendous things +that have stopped. What does it all mean? There is the greatest +excitement aroused by the foreign news in the evening papers, announcing +in glaring headlines a diplomatic rupture between Germany and Russia. So +it's true! Probably your seismic stock market has already foretold +coming disturbance, but for Europe it is a positive bomb. Already here +in Liége not more than half of the daily four hundred and eighty trains +have passed the city, and it is reported that none of these go beyond +the frontier. + + + + +_August 1st, Saturday._ + + +Today the papers announce the stunning news that Germany has declared +war against Russia. The report must be sufficiently authentic, for, as +if by magic, the Belgian army is already gathering itself together with +an almost superhuman rapidity, proof of which we have had in the masses +of troops that have been passing the château all day. Yesterday, trouble +was a newspaper rumor; today, deadly earnestness. And what excitement +all about! The air is positively charged and the whole community is +agog; people with anxious faces accost each other in the street; +farmers neglect their crops to come into town, bank clerks lay down +their pens and shop doors are beginning to close. + + + + +_August 2nd, Sunday._ + + +The world has suddenly become nothing but people, and the transition +from the peaceful, care-free existence of four days ago is so great that +I cannot write intelligently, today, because so much is happening. +Following on His Majesty King Albert's magnificent discourse [_Vive le +roi!_], the spirit of a great and glorious decision has set the empire +in motion. The vast machine moves--though some of the bolts creak and +protest a little in their rusty coats and the earth trembles to the +rhythm of tramping feet. Hundreds of soldiers and cannon have been +passing all night, and this morning routes in every direction are +blockaded by detachments from different regiments. There are uniforms of +all types and colors, the ensemble looking like a variegated bouquet +snatched hurriedly by the wayside; the sorting will come later, one +doesn't ask how. The old farm at the end of the garden has been turned +into a barracks, and recruits are being drilled among the apple trees in +the orchard. The excitement is intense--one treads carefully fearing to +be the first to prick the bubble. The newspapers are disquieting, as it +appears now that Germany will probably declare war against France, too, +and is contemplating passing through Belgium by Namur or Luxembourg to +the French frontier. That is a rather offensive threat, as, of course, +there is the neutrality of Belgium and one cannot get away with that. We +consider ourselves most lucky to be here rather than in France. + +A detachment of Belgian soldier boys slept in the stables last night. +Monsieur X. sent them his best cigars, and this morning, as soon as they +tumbled out, they made a straight line for the kitchen whence they +scented hot coffee. The good heart of the old, fat cook, who is a native +of Amsterdam, was melted at once and she gave unsparingly until they +flattered and coaxed her into such a state of bewilderment that even +Dutch patience was at last exhausted when she saw them pouring in and +pouring in and boldly attacking her sumptuous pantries _en masse_. + + + + +_August 3rd, Monday._ + + +Preparations for war are going on rapidly; scores of automobiles are +racing past like mad things, carrying Governmental messages no doubt +and the Government itself, by its eternal prerogative, is commandeering +for its use everybody's private property--horses, cows, automobiles, +pigs, merchandise, provisions, etc. And how one gives for one's country! +The men, their goods; the women, their sons. The spirit of the people is +magnificent. Huge loads of hay in long processions like caravans are +coming in from the country along with immense droves of cattle. In the +orchard adjoining the château are already domiciled two hundred or more +cows and the discordant melody from this hoarse-throated chorus, +uninterrupted day or night, is driving us to madness. Indoors, we +ourselves are laying in a supply of things in case of necessity and the +kitchen is piled high with bags of flour, coffee, beans, tinned goods, +etc., and in the pasture is a new cow. Beef will probably be the _pièce +de resistance_ for many a day. + +Monsieur X.'s old coiffeur came out from town today. He is French and by +far the most volatile person about the news of the moment that I have +seen. It is like a play to hear him declaim on the situation, but, poor +man, having endured the Siege of Paris for six months in 1870, he +doubtless has recollections. And he makes the most of them as well as of +his dramatic ability, describing in an eloquent manner how he fried +rats in a saucepan, which with some spice and plenty of onion all +around, he admitted, were "_pas mal du tout_." Madame X. herself was in +the "Siege of Paris" in 1870 and is therefore taking thought. + +These details of the equipment and provisioning of the army will be as +interesting to you as they are engaging to us here in the midst of it, +for they are not commonly even included in a rapid conception of "War" +though being in reality the biggest part of it. + +What masses of convoys and munitions! They must constitute that same +impressive "impedimenta" that one used to read about in Cæsar's Wars +which by its unfailing late arrival constantly threw the old Romans into +such a frightful _dépit_. But happily, in this case, it comes first +instead of last. + +The whole world seems to be changing place like sand on a moving disc +and my mind is losing its grip on what is real--it's a curious feeling. +Madame X. and her family, like everybody else, are extremely anxious, as +one would naturally be with his country, his home and his future in +peril, but I, in my superb (what shall I say?) Americanism or optimism, +am sure it will come out all right: nevertheless I feel confused. + + + + +_August 4th, Tuesday._ + + +The situation, already grave, has taken a definite turn. Germany is +going to attack France through Belgium. Completely ignoring the +neutrality of the latter, she demands to "just pass through peaceably," +but being refused permission, so much the worse for those who are in the +road. Personally speaking, I should say we are decidedly in the +road--Aix-la-Chapelle--Liége--Namur. Don't you think the crow would +agree with me? + +We saw a charming spectacle this morning if anything connected with war +can be so called,--a little company of _mitrailleuses-à-chien_, that is, +small, shrapnel gun carriages drawn by the famous Belgian dogs. It sort +of made my heart crinkle up to see those magnificent animals, detailed +for fatal duty without doubt, pushing on so joyously. Straining in the +traces and really smiling with their great tongues hanging out, they +were performing their work, proud as Punch, and eager to get on. + +In the afternoon we were suddenly startled by the booming of nearby +cannon. I shall never forget the first sound of it! It might have been +the Last Trumpet and we didn't know that it was not. My soul turned sick +and seemed to be tumbling down a fathomless abyss while a pair of +unprejudiced eyes watched its descent. Please do not think I am not +serious--it is a moment when one meets things face to face and the +inevitable is happening. We hear that the firing is for the purpose of +demolishing houses and churches before the forts, which might in any way +obstruct the range of the guns. Did I explain that Liége is encircled by +twelve forts, built about twenty-eight years ago under the personal +direction of Général Brialmont? They are on the same principle as those +of Namur and Bucharest, and are large affairs of concrete, sunk three +stories under ground and furnished with elaborate electrical apparatus. +Covering and protecting the cannon are automatic, armored cupolas, +rising and falling with the modern, disappearing guns. Here is a tiny, +freehand map which will give you an idea of the country as well as the +situation of Château d'A----, where I am and which is just between the +city and the enceinte of forts. A shell overreaching this latter, from +the enemy's field cannon, would, I should say, tumble right into our +"zone." But we do not even admit of such a possibility in speaking to +each other. Isn't it funny how we continue to deceive ourselves and life +is a sham to the last throw? + +[Illustration: MAP OF LIÉGE WITH THE TWELVE SURROUNDING FORTS] + +Général Brialmont warned the Government when the forts were under +construction, that if it could not maintain an army sufficiently strong +to defend the open country between them, he was building them for the +Germans. That statement revived suddenly, gives rise to an apprehension +hitherto unfelt by the _Liégeois_, who have absolute faith in the +impregnability of Liége. + +Madame X.'s oldest son, Monsieur S., and his wife, arrived tonight from +France by auto. They would never have been able to get here if Monsieur +S. had not the royal seal on some state papers which he was bringing +from the Belgian Embassy in Paris. Was there ever such a wildly exciting +ride, plunging through two battle lines (French and Belgian) into massed +formations everywhere? Nevertheless Madame S. said she used to fall +asleep from sheer fatigue during the long drives in the blackness of the +night or when they were stopped for hours at a time to identify even a +king's messenger. + + + + +_August 5th, Wednesday._ + + +I wonder what you are thinking of events, at home? You will marvel that +I can write at such length when the very skies seem to be pressing down +upon us. But it is the greatest relaxation possible and a kind of +safety valve. It makes me think of some lines of Shakespeare where +different conditions "oft make the wise dumb and teach the fool to +speak." So I write on. The news we get may not be altogether authentic, +as we receive nothing now except by word of mouth. By report it seems +that England, France and Russia are prepared to defend the neutrality of +Belgium with their armies. Liége is now in a state of siege with the +Prussians before the forts. Commerce in the city has ceased completely +with the railroad, telegraph, telephone, post, tramcars, newspapers, +shops and factories. Can you understand what that means? At one time or +another in our lives most of us have been the victim of a social +condition called a "strike"--horribly inconvenient circumstances, when +the mail-man did not come, for instance, or train service was laid off +or the electric light went out for a time. But these instances were all +individual, that is, they happened separately, while here the whole +Universe has shut down together. I could not make you comprehend the +criticalness of our position. I feel as if we were suspended by the +finest thread between heaven and earth, for there is nothing very solid +under our feet and only a sea of ether over our heads. This description +is wholly inadequate to interpret the sensation or the uncertainty. Can +you imagine what it would be like? I cannot exactly say I feel "fear"; +perhaps I cannot define fear; but a heaven-sent optimism buoys me up. In +our journeys 'round, having previously experienced cold plunges in the +dark, the fascination of "chance" lets us hope. + +"War!" What other lone factor could bring about at the same moment, such +circumstances, the absolute cessation of every living element of our +existence? I know that you will be amused at my sudden plunging into the +psychological realm, but it all makes me wonder. Oh, our dear +civilization and the convenient things we are used to! A puff of smoke, +a hostile shot and they are gone. And here we are, groping like the +veriest savage for a hole to hide in and something to eat. I assure you, +nothing else occupies us for the moment. How is it that the whole house +of cards falls down together? In all these centuries of Struggle and +Learning and Science and Dissent has nobody found a common leaven for +bread? + +It is not yet decided if we shall go to Brussels considering what is +rather sure to happen. Several days ago large quantities of gasoline +were buried in the garden under the shrubbery in the event of our +leaving quickly by automobile. However, Brussels is an open city and it +is a question if we would be as well off there as here in this strongly +fortified place. + +But Dieu! If they do come--? There is the sub-cellar of the château +whose fine arches and solid vaulting two hundred years old, would hold +even if the house were burned down about our ears. But no! To be +suffocated under burning ruins, no, no! We will not think of that! + +A moment of reckless mirth assails me: I want to scream! I feel like the +fair Dido mounting her funeral pyre. + +One other hiding place has been thought of. Up in the woods on the +hill-side is a long tunnel about four feet in diameter which conducts a +tiny mountain stream down to the lake. It is dark and wet. Could we stay +there on our knees in the water for many hours, perhaps days? Heavens! +It is unthinkable. Let us die in the open, if die we must. + +I am writing this morning in my room, which looks out on the highroad +and the hurrying troops. It is not a time that one would choose for +composition, but I want you to get as vivid an impression as possible of +events as they occur, _et enfin_, I must do something. The booming of +cannon has commenced again, which is sufficiently frequent and of a +certain terrifying decision to assure us that fighting has really +begun. + +This ceased during the early evening and we went to bed in peace. That +is, we went to bed. Madame X.'s oldest son was detailed for sentinel +duty on the little road at the side of the château leading up to the +plateau from where the sound of guns came during the day. Monsieur J., +the other son, with a friend of his, was carrying messages from one fort +to another in his auto, miraculously scooting between the shots. + +About 10 P. M. we were violently awakened by furious sounds of +shots in the distance which must have been rifle fire and which grew +more and more distinct, gradually becoming incessant like a long, +uninterrupted drum roll--the machine guns, I suppose. These frightful +noises, increased in volume by the minute and coming on and on in our +direction, were shortly right over the hill above us. The bullets rained +like hail and shells shrieked and split the universe from end to end. We +lay in our beds, trembling, while utter terror seized us as the fracas +would subside a little and then roll nearer and nearer in a perfect +deluge of horrible sounds. Suddenly in the middle of it all a terrific +blast rent the air; the forts had entered into this hideous contest! Oh +the joy of it! I hardly breathed between their shots which seemed +centuries apart and in reality were only a few minutes, for I thought, +now, surely the struggle must end; no enemy can long withstand their +mighty will. But the battle lasted all night with increasing fury. The +roar and din were beyond words, the concerted effort of four forts, the +giant field cannon, machine guns and rifles. My heart stands still when +I remember the thundering of those forts, the premeditated destruction, +the finality which each boom! bespoke, and the thousands of human beings +up there fighting like madmen. The latter, in the wild confusion of +fire, battle and the blackness of the night, finished by shooting into +each other by mistake as their officers were cut down in their midst. + +About 2 A. M. we all gathered in Madame X.'s sitting-room. +Suddenly, quite unconscious of any definite purpose, I remember pulling +on the light. Monsieur X., aghast, said, "Mademoiselle, put it out +quickly. They might see it through the dark and aim for it." + +What a night! and what visions we conjured up of the invincible +Prussians, drunk with blood and battle ready for any atrocity, plunging +down the hill into our own garden. The sound of the guns was so near +that Monsieur X. thought the battle must be in the open on his own +property just above the hill. As a matter of fact it was only three +kilometres away, on the plain of Sartilmont. + + + + +_August 6th, Thursday._ + + +Rain came with the light. That gentle pattering on the sod, after the +tumult of the night, was the sweetest sound I ever heard. It was just as +if Nature had put out Her mother's hand over the earth to soothe its +troubled breast. Was she pleading for that mercy which drops as Her own +gentle tears from Heaven? + +During the morning the road in front of the château was filled with +Belgian troops, bedraggled with mud, trying to regain order. And there +they halted for hours and hours in the rain--an absolute picture of +dejection. Even the horses imbibed the general despair as they stood +there, heads drooping, their manes stirring in the wind. That must be +the hard part of it--waiting for orders; but they did it well, no +impatience nor fretting, just obeying the command, their very immobility +carving them a niche in the landscape. These men had been fighting for +several days and, bowed down as they were with the wet and misery of it +all, made a shocking contrast to fresh troops of cavalry which passed at +the same time, brandishing long, dramatic looking lances. And Felix, +the second gardener, who is one of these "_lanciers_," came to say +good-bye in the elegant uniform of his regiment and looking very smart +in white trousers and short blue jacket--in fact, a man transformed. + +I had always seen him in wooden sabots and blue apron coaxing this +flower and that into bloom, but he had never been a great success at it. +When his elder brother died, he had wished, so much, to replace him as +head-gardener, so his master let him try for a little and he had failed, +indifferently. But here was a soldier-man, stout heart and valiant +sword, eager to serve his King. This time he will not fail but will meet +his opportunity more than half way.[1] All day Red Cross ambulances and +every kind of vehicle were hurrying by, bringing the wounded from the +battlefield. Madame X.'s family physician stopped in on one of his trips +for a moment's respite from the awfulness up there--his description of +those scenes is too terrible to write about. The carnage was +awful--pieces of bodies scattered about everywhere, the wounded writhing +in their death agony and the dead standing up straight against masses of +dead. + +In the evening, indistinct sounds of a far off battle could be heard as +the struggle moved on to another quarter. Nearer, we heard the trailing +of heavy artillery down the mountain and against our will the thought +formulated itself, "Will that wave of terror roll back to us?" Our ears +have developed an abnormal acuteness, so that almost a pin falling will +make taut nerves scream, though in reality nobody moves--a glance is +enough to both ask and answer a question. A marvelous new +self-possession seems to have come to everybody which bridges over a +natural despair and forms, at least, a skeleton framework by which we +keep each other up. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Not heard of again. + + + + +_August 7th, Friday._ + + +More or less booming from the forts all day. As communications of every +kind have been cut off, we cannot know what is happening. But where is +the assistance so direfully needed, promised by both France and England +to poor little Belgium with the great German army moving on Liége? +Everybody has faith, however, in the Allies, and in the streets it is +pathetic to hear people assuring each other, "_O, oui, les Français +viennent ce soir_" (Oh, yes, the French are coming to-night). There are +many German troops in town already, who somehow have pushed their way +in between the firing, but the city will not cede the forts, so the +bombardment may begin at any moment. I cannot define my +impressions--some day I may be able to, but just now I do not know what +they are. Happily the château is on the edge of the city and there is a +certain quiet at present, but in town pandemonium reigns. Men, women and +children are fleeing in all directions with their few most precious +possessions tied up in a bundle. And where are they going to, the poor +things, with all roads in the country choked up, soldiers and trenches +everywhere? + + + + +_August 8th, Saturday._ + + +This morning we walked through the garden to service in the little +village church. For a short moment a welcome calm stole over us in the +quiet of those walls, but how sinister to hear the eternal boom of +cannon between the words of the Mass. All the bridges of the city are +mined and guarded. The five days given Liége by the Prussians to +surrender are up tonight. What will tomorrow bring forth? The Belgians +have blown up the tunnel at Trois Ponts, near the German frontier, as +well as the railroad in many places, which will impede the enemy's +advance considerably, and great trees have been cut down across the +roads in all the country roundabout. + +Mère Gavin came hobbling down the path from the top of the hill this +evening to tell us of the astonishing experience she had this afternoon +when a peasant came to her old hut and offered to buy her cow. Now as +her cow is her most precious possession and her sole support she refused +at once, tho' frightened at her own boldness. The stranger, however, was +rather insistent and asked if she would rent the cow, then, for fifty +francs an hour? Was there ever a queerer offer? Of course fifty francs +was a gold-mine to Mère Gavin, so she accepted, and was fairly overcome +when the man laid down three hundred francs on the table and told her to +keep them for him. Then he drove the cow away over the hills while Mère +G. sat staring stupidly at her gold. After a time he came back (with the +cow) and said, "Old One, three hours after I have gone, you can tell +your people that the red _pantalons_ (French soldiers) will be here in +forty-eight hours." Was that not a clever way for a French Scout to find +out the lie of the land? + + + + +_August 9th, Sunday._ + + +Some of the Prussians have succeeded in penetrating into the city, tho' +the forts have not surrendered, and are already establishing martial +rule. Aeroplanes, with the wings turned back, _Taubes_, have been flying +about all the morning. In the afternoon we went up over the hill to the +plain of Sartilmont, the battlefield of Wednesday night. All along the +road were heaps of uniforms, some quite new, probably taken from the +dead. Those horrid limp things made me shiver with their lifelessness, +and the spirit of death, everywhere, seemed to close us in. Countless +numbers of haversacks were strewn about, doubtless cast away by the +soldiers to disencumber themselves in falling quickly back from one +position to another. In them, generally, was a change of underwear, +light boots, hard biscuit, canned meats and confiture. Already a flock +of human ravens was collected about the piles of débris, sorting out +what was good to take and collecting fragments of bread for a happy +repast. It was sickening to see, when possibly some of those brave, dead +soldiers were lying, yet unburied, in the nearby hedges and ravines. +Arrived at the little village we saw destruction a plenty. The +inhabitants all had terror-stricken countenances and yet in their desire +to please, literally fell over each other in haste to tell and show. +Some of the buildings were entirely demolished, others with doors hacked +up and windows broken, while everywhere houses and trees were riddled +with bullets. One old peasant woman told me that she and fifty others +were imprisoned for twenty-four hours by the Germans in a tiny stable, +without food or drink, and for no apparent reason. + +The battlefield on the top of a ridge of hills between the Ourthe and +the Meuse is a large plain, around the edges of which lay scores of +magnificent trees cut down in haste to give unobstructed range. Their +branches had been previously soaked in _pétrole_ and set on fire. The +effect of those prostrate, charred monsters added to the desolation all +around. Across the end of the plain were those famous open trenches of +"two stories," that is, with about a two-foot elevation of earth in the +bottom against the front wall of the ditch, forming a kind of platform +for the soldiers when taking aim. + +These were dug by the soldiers and men from the factories of Liége. In +front of the trenches were constructed those marvellous, barbed wire +fences, about one and one half metres apart and perhaps five rows deep, +with the wire twisted and wound in every conceivable fashion. Thirty +feet in front of this barrier was buried a string of mines, connected +with the trenches by an electric wire, to be exploded at a given +moment. Dark as the night was, the enemy found and severed some of +these communications so that most of the mines were rendered +ineffective. We saw the cut wire in several places. What hope can those +poor soldiers have, enemy or no, the advance guard of the besiegers, who +are pushed forward often at the point of the bayonet, armed only with +huge scissors to cut through such an almost impenetrable defense? + +A most touching sight was the graves of thirty Belgians in one end of +these trenches. Does that not seem a terrible irony to be buried in +one's own trenches? A few common, wayside flowers were strewn on the +graves, in front of which was an old prayer-stool and a wooden cross +surmounted with a Belgian _képi_ (military cap). This cap seemed a +living thing almost and reminded me of the red fez so often seen on the +Moslem tombs in the cemeteries of Constantinople, which seemingly +strives to evoke a vital spirit from the frigid marble. Nailed to the +cross was a fragment of those well-known lines of the Immortal Cæsar, +"Of all the peoples of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest." You see, the +old warrior knew that long ago. + +Near by was a small, shrapnel gun carriage, by which stood a toothless, +old man who told, in that excruciating _Wallon_ tongue, a pathetic story +of one of the dogs which had probably drawn it. His mate doubtless was +killed in battle, but he returned three days later, lay down beside the +broken wheels and defied anyone to approach. + + + + +_Monday, August 10th._ + + +Monsieur S. came home to-day laden down with bags of gold like Ali Baba. +How he is going to do away with it so that the ferret eyes of the enemy +will not spy it out, is a problem to me. And I do not want it explained +for I am sure I should look right into the forbidden corner at the wrong +moment and give the secret away. + +Although there are thousands of German soldiers who have come into the +city and who control it, they are like rats in a trap. On account of the +twelve surrounding forts they cannot leave it and for the same reason no +one can come to their aid. So they have mounted machine guns in corner +houses of many streets and it is horrible to see those deadly mouths +gaping out of the windows. In case of an uprising among the civilians +the soldiers' revenge will be to kill the women and children. But no! +that is not possible in these days, from men who are neither savages nor +Turks. + +A heavy cannonading began at 4.30 A. M.--it literally tore us +from sleep, for it seemed as if the very house were tumbling down about +our ears and the singing and whizzing of those big shells was _bizarre_, +to put it mildly. One did not know whether to get up or efface one's +self in the blankets. I remember having the utmost confidence in the +headboard of my bed, which was toward the window. But that did not +obliterate the siren whistle of those big shells and the moment of +suspense between the lightning and the thunder. After each deafening +burst I kept reiterating to myself, "Saved again," as one would repeat a +chronological table of something important. About 8.00 A. M. we +straggled into the breakfast room--all of us rather lifeless and with +very white faces and little appetite for either eating or talking. There +seemed to be only one thing to say, which was, "Did you hear that?" It +was the same sensation again of the thread between heaven and earth. I +wonder if it will break! + +This afternoon we took a little walk into the city along the river, +Madame X., her two sons--Monsieur S. and Monsieur J., her daughter, +Baronne de H., and myself. We passed several Prussian guards on the +bridges and Monsieur S. talked with one of them. It appears that the men +are very disheartened. This man said he had started with a company of +seven hundred soldiers and entered Liége with sixty four. That's what it +means to "take cities without difficulty"--and nobody remembers the +seven hundred mothers, or wives, or children that are left. The +burgomaster has received some most sensational news from Brussels, but +it is too ridiculous to be believed. + +Tonight is still and Nature is beautiful in the moonlight. Is it the +calm before the storm? Here in the château we are comfortable with +plenty to eat and faithful servants. In town one is not so lucky as a +cousin of Madame X. is quartering forty soldiers and ten officers at +table who are not--or rather, who are a little argumentative, and we +have heard of some instances where the "host" and "hostess" have had to +sleep in the garret or the cellar or wherever they could, while the best +rooms are appropriated by the _militaires_. Blankets, etc., are also +being requisitioned from many houses. + +It is reported that Général Léman narrowly escaped being captured +recently when he was lunching in the court of the Café ---- in town. His +companions-in-arms suddenly became aware of four men in strange uniform +who were approaching, and gave the alarm. Général Léman succeeded in +getting over the wall of the garden while the others engaged the spies +in a hand-to-hand fight and overcame them. + + + + +_August 11th, Tuesday._ + + +Invincible Liége! People are still firm in their faith, encouraged by +the peace of the morning. The day was quiet until 6.00 _P. M._, when +furious shooting into the valley began. We saw the great shells bursting +in the air and between the clouds of smoke we could distinguish an old +monastery on the other side of the valley which was being shot to pieces +by the enemy's field-cannon. The structure changed shape half a dozen +times before our eyes and the setting sun concentrated, as if purposely, +all its rays on the windows which made them blaze forth through all that +fury like the veritable Hand of God, writing in fire. It seemed almost +like a premonition. + +Pressure from those tremendous guns could remodel mountains, and Nature +herself, sometimes, cannot hold out against the fiendish ingenuity of +man. And the city, itself! Can it hold out? + +In the garden, very near the foot of the mountain, is the old farmhouse, +in one corner of which is a little chapel whose door stands open the +year round. It is of particular interest to the peasants, being the +last relic of a certain superstitious legend of the countryside. The +people come from miles around, crossing the fields by a little path +which they themselves have beaten down, to kneel before this tiny altar; +and on the last Sunday in May, the annual fête, the priests, leading a +religious procession which starts from the church, say Mass there. This +year, May 31st, 1914, the head gardener, who is the indisputable +authority on floral subjects in the village, borrowed everything from +the conservatory and gardens that he could lay his hands on in the way +of decoration. He arranged the semi-circle in front of the little chapel +very artistically with branches of leaves, palms and hundreds of pansies +which the day before had been uprooted from the terraces of the château +to make room for the red, summer geraniums. + +At ten o'clock this Sunday morning the usual fusillade and tolling of +bells announced the departure of the procession from the church. It +passed slowly along by the highroad and presently we heard a chorus of +young voices singing hymns--the girls and boys of the village: the music +was soft and illusive in the distance, developing a sweet crescendo as +they turned into the pasture, fairly plowing their way through a sea of +daisies. Behind them came two little acolytes, fair as angels, swinging +their golden incense lamps; then followed six choir boys, chanting the +Mass, like veritable della Robbias, in their red soutanes and exquisite, +white, lace surplices. Next were the clergy, in robes of cloth of gold +and rare Flemish lace, carrying the Host under a purple velvet canopy. +The village people followed on in quiet devoutness and, arrived at the +chapel, placed lighted candles in the sconces at each side of the grille +door. When the Mass was said and the last plaintive notes had died away, +little children came forward and heaped their thousand-colored bouquets +before the altar. It was an impressive ceremony and must, by its +charming simplicity, leave a mark on many a worldly heart. + +Today, August 11th, 1914, at dusk, as the cannon had ceased firing, we +took a little recreation, following the paths on the mountainside; +looking down from a height of perhaps one hundred feet through the +trees, we saw the little chapel gleaming like a beacon in the dark, +dozens of blinking candles pinioned against the black walls. The grille +door was woven with nosegays, making a curtain of flowers which +partially concealed the altar beyond. + +Before it, stretching up supplicating hands, many women knelt, bowed +down with grief and despair, and children, awed by recent memories, +stood immovable in their places. Poor, poor people! Some of them in +spite of their unwavering faith must drink the bitter cup so near at +hand. + + + + +_August 13th, Thursday._ + + +It is true that one gets inured to danger (particularly if one has not +so far been hit) and after a week of the bombardment, we have a distinct +feeling of annoyance at being disturbed at an unearthly hour every +morning by the screeching and bursting of shells. + +About four A. M. we were awakened by another terrifying +whizzing and exploding of bombs as if we were in the very midst of a +battlefield. This lasted about three hours and all we could do was wait. +I often wonder if it's as hard for the men to go off to war as it is for +the women to stay. The battle was inconceivably furious this morning. If +you could imagine five hundred of the worst thunderstorms, shaken up +together, that you ever experienced, you would arrive at a mild notion +of the tumult, not counting the apprehension, the danger and that +terrifying voice in the whistling trail of every shell which sings, +"This time I'll get you." At four this afternoon the Fort of +Chaudefontaine fell, blown up by the Prussians. Between four and six +o'clock the firing ceased. + +It was an evening of ineffable beauty and the garden looked so lovely in +its mantle of roses, the little lake at the foot with its white swans +and the wooded mountain rising up almost from its waters--a picture of +calm and contentment. We were there taking a long breath after the +nightmare of the day, when the young gardener rushed in from the village +with the news that thirty of the soldiers in the fort, wounded and +burned beyond recognition, were being brought into the Sisters' Convent, +which had been turned into a Red Cross Ambulance hospital. + +The shells from the great field pieces of the enemy falling upon the +forts had shattered the cupolas and had caused them to fall in upon the +Belgians who were thus imprisoned and barely escaped suffocation from +the poisonous gases of the exploding shells. The electric wires were cut +immediately so that the poor things who were entrapped three stories +underground groped about in the dark some time before they at last found +the stairs which led them up through shot and flame and gas to the air. + +Gathering some old linen together we fairly flew across the field to the +convent and stopped short, staggered by what we saw. Never on this +earth could one imagine so horrible a sight as those thirty charred +bodies with no suggestion of faces--just a flat, swollen, black surface, +with no eyes, nose nor mouth. Some of the wounded lay on beds, others in +the middle of the floor or wherever there was space, and each was +holding up hands burned to the bone. The room was dimly lighted, a +hushed quiet reigned except for an occasional stifled groan of pain or a +sigh of concern from the villagers or the swish of the black garments of +those ministering angels, the nuns, as they fluttered about among the +suffering; their white coifs, like a halo, contrasting them with that +other Angel, whose black wings, indeed visible, already shadowed his +chosen. + + + + +_August 14th, Friday._ + + +One has hoped against hope, but the worst has happened and the people +are despondent. Liége is certainly in the hands of the Prussians. They +have been pouring into the city all day and most of the forts have +either been destroyed by the German field artillery or been blown up by +their defenders rather than surrender. We nursed the soldiers all +day--if last night was horrible I could not find the words to describe +what the daylight revealed, or the awful odor of burned flesh when the +wounds were redressed. It was pitiful to see the courage of the poor +men--the Belgians are brave not only on the battle field. With lips too +seared to articulate, they would try to speak and one could occasionally +catch an indistinct "_de l'eau_," or a half-formed "_Merci, chère +Soeur_," but never a moan or a groan. + +At night, as we were wearily returning home, the young footman, with +ashen face, met us half-way down the steps and announced that there +would be Prussian officers at dinner who were already quartered in the +château. We were nearly too tired to be impressed at this as one +naturally would, at least, be moved in one sense or another, but we did +inwardly wonder what the keynote might be at table. + +At eight o'clock dinner was served. Madame X.'s daughter and I, after +such a scrubbing and disinfecting, came down the last ones and stepped +into a veritable playworld of the Middle Ages with the most beautiful +setting--a large salon, opening out onto the terrace, with old, +Flemish-wood fire-place and raftered ceiling, Japanese bronzes, rugs +from the Orient, soft lamps and portraits of dear grandmothers, in the +beauty of their youth, smiling out from their golden frames on the +walls. As we came into the room from the brightly lighted hall, a +semi-circle of gray-green coats rose right up out of the dimness and we +were blinded by a vision of shining buttons, polished boots, gleaming +swords and a military salute accompanied by clinking spurs. At the end +of the room stood Madame X. and her sons waiting for us. Naturally there +were no presentations and the moment was unique in the extreme--nobody +moved for a second which seemed like a decade and nobody spoke, so all +there remained to do was to acknowledge the salute with a semi-circular +bow. + +Dinner was an odd affair tho' it went off not so badly. Madame X., in +her proud Russian beauty and her admirable control of the conditions, +was superb. I never admired anybody so much, for it is not easy to +entertain at one's board an enemy who has just usurped home and country, +but her extraordinary charm and dignity gave the situation its note and +the "guests" were everything that was agreeable. We talked of +generalities, as well as "War," in four languages (Russian, French, +English and German) with much the same _sang-froid_ as the juggler who +tosses knives and, when the meal was done, thanked Heaven that nobody +had launched a tactless bomb which might have plunged us into a boiling +sea. There was nothing particularly boastful in their conversation, +though at times a certain assured reference to "Paris in a fortnight" +crept in, which we found difficult to digest--in fact I was furious. +Paris, indeed! Beautiful Paris! My neighbor at table on the right was a +man of perhaps fifty-eight years, rather gray and grandfatherly, with +such nice, blue eyes. Prefacing all his remarks with a nervous little +cough to fix my attention, he would launch with difficulty one or two +phrases in restricted French followed by a few straggling words in +English and finally finished up with a burst of voluble German. It was a +work of art to understand him, but I arrived panting--at least I had +that sensation, and it is not the first time I have given thanks for a +woman's natural intuition. Then I decided to lead out next--anyway I +wanted to get him started on "War" without precipitating an +international difficulty and I asked him as stupidly as possible +(perhaps I did not need to simulate that) if he liked "War." He +hesitated just a second and I was prepared for the usual self-respecting +denial when he horrified me by answering a simple "Yes." _Voilà, le +sentiment prusse!_ + +Afterward when we went into the salon all the officers, commencing with +the superior, came up to Madame X. and kicking their spurs together with +the habitual "_Danke, Frau_," kissed our hands all around. The youngest +soldier among them was a handsome boy of about twenty-two years, who +interested me rather, because he was different--even his boots were +different and he truly had a striking manner, though very gracious. I am +convinced that he was a prince of a reigning house. The atmosphere had a +way of parting in rapid waves when he came in and dropping behind him +like an impervious shield when he went out. Fair, young Achilles! Will a +fatal arrow attain his charméd person? + + + + +_August 15th, Saturday._ + + +We took care of the wounded all day: it is the most heartrending +spectacle to see those poor, black heads lying there on their pillows. +They were so shapeless and immovable, I had almost begun to look upon +them as without life like charred logs, when, after finishing a dressing +this morning, I was startled by a hearty, "_Merci, chère Soeur._" Oh, +the joy of it! That brightened the whole scene and flooded me with hope. +Then they have not lost their intelligences, they aren't mere pieces of +wood and one day when their poor flesh has rejuvenated itself, they will +be given back to real life--and their country, again. + +The village people and the Sisters were so ardent in their desire to +help that dressings well covered with ointment sometimes fell from their +eager fingers onto grimy blankets or flopped, butter side down, so to +speak, upon the floor; which did not disconcert anyone but me, whose +modern prophylactic soul rattled and shook with horror as the +recalcitrant bandage was gaily redeemed from its dusty resting-place and +applied as originally intended. + +It seemed as if I must remonstrate, but the dear whole-hearted helper +was so sure that her dressing would cure and the patient was so +overwhelmingly grateful for the trouble she took to pick it up for him, +that I was dumb before their exquisite faith. + +Here was something too big for my stilted aseptic advice and it occurred +to me, suddenly, that perhaps there _are_ many things yet undreamed of +in our philosophy. + +All day long the troops in an endless chain have been passing on the +highroad before the château. The air was full of mingled sounds, as, for +example, the singing of the soldiers in the distance, which sounds like +the droning of bees far away and always heralds an advance of troops; +the rhythmic shuffling of feet, the thud of horses' hoofs, the chugging +of autos which carry the superior officers, and the heavy wheels of the +gun carriages with their clanking chains. Their order, equipment and +discipline are admirable to see. + +All their apparel is new, as one of the officers told Monsieur D. at +Spa. Uniforms, boots, belts, saddles, bridles and even buttons--all new +and spic and span for a triumphal entry into Paris. Each man carries two +sets of buttons, one for field service (negligible) and the other, +shining brass ones, for the review down the Champs Elysées. + +All the officers wear a tiny card-board map of Belgium about (3" x 4"), +hung on their coat buttons and every soldier has embossed on his belt +plate "_Gott mit Uns._" At dinner the officers were very entertaining; +the ice was somewhat broken, at least, we knew better what piece was +safe clinging to and we managed to exchange some ideas. It is rather odd +how few of these educated men speak French. In fact, it is so odd that +it makes us suspicious and cautious. Monsieur J. attacked the captain +with this question, as a leader, "when he thought the war would be +over?" (This being the second week of it.) His answer was _net_ and +forbade argument--"We shall be 'home' by Christmas, or Easter at the +latest." But he did have the grace to congratulate the Belgian army on +its stout defense of Liége, for instead of the two days given the +Germans by their Emperor to capture it, they had been constrained to +take nearly two weeks at it. + + + + +_August 16th, Sunday._ + + +A warm, beautiful morning. As Madame de H. and I walked through the +garden and the wood to the little convent ambulance, it was difficult +not to contrast smiling Nature with the frightful scenes of which, in a +few minutes, we would be a part. The awful stench of burned flesh met us +half a block away and congealed my courage as I walked, for it permeates +everything. We can even taste it, it clings in our hair when we go home +and we are obliged to hang our nursing clothes out of the window all +night. I felt as if I must run away from it and those terrible +dressings, reeking with purulence, where ears and eyelids and lips come +off and fingers and hands peel like a glove. + +Then I thought of the patience of those brave fellows and the pain and +awfulness of living it. The fortitude and devotion of the village men +and women are beyond praise--they come day after day to help in the +nursing, some spending the night, turn and turn about. Especially the +tenderness of the men for their "_camarades_" is one of the sweetest +things I ever saw, for they are as gentle and capable in their care as +any woman could possibly be. + +Prussian troops continue to pass and it is a wonderfully impressive +sight; infantry in gray-green khaki, singing, always singing their +famous "_Wacht am Rhein_" and other folk songs: the _Uhlans_, on +beautiful prancing horses, with their long lances and gray-blue capes +fluttering in the wind; _chasseurs_ in light green; "_Hussars de la +Mort_" with the death's head emblem in the front of their high fur hats +and endless companies of artillery with their huge field cannon, each +drawn by six magnificent horses. On the gun carriages sit four gunners +back to back, still as statues, with arms folded as if on parade. It was +for all the world like a circus when the procession goes twice around +the ring before commencing the serious business of the entertainment. + +Dinner was gay tonight (one is obliged to make the best of a bad affair) +and the officers as men of the world were interesting and in unusually +good spirits. + +The Captain, a little facetiously, took up the menu and, drawing a tiny +note-book and pencil from his pocket, proceeded to copy it in French, +soliciting Madame X.'s aid _en passant_. + +A curious fact occurred to me as I sat there looking down both sides of +the table, how much alike they were--it seems as if they must even think +the same thoughts to resemble each other so much. As their heads were +closely cropped, outlines were baldly apparent, low forehead sloping +back to a narrow crown and all set upon a bulwark of neck. They must +surely have been struck in the same mould. Though forceful, none of them +were good-looking except the young one, of whom I have spoken, and his +face in repose was shockingly cruel. They are expecting marching orders +in the morning and are probably eager to ride on to victory (?). They +bade us good night and good-bye by kissing our hands as usual, a click +of spurs, a military bow and very gracious thanks to Madame X. for her +hospitality. + + + + +_August 17th, Monday._ + + +About half-past three in the morning I was wakened from a sound sleep by +a commotion in the court under my window. Impatient horses were pawing +the ground and a voice exactly like a snarling dog was hurling out +orders--I peeped out cautiously and saw that the snarling dog was the +amiable captain who copied the menu last night. + +The officers left at four A. M. Fort Lançin fell today and +Général Léman, commander-in-chief of the army here, was taken prisoner. +Thousands of soldiers have passed as usual. In the afternoon a company +of Prussians arrived, whose captain had mistaken the route, which put +him in an abominable humor, having made his men march fifty miles out of +their way and also risking a court-martial on his own account. He +ordered Monsieur S. to open the garage door, in the hope of lodging his +men there for the night. Unluckily the chauffeur, being absent, had the +key, which plunged his Military Highness into a towering rage and he +placed Monsieur S. at once under arrest between two soldiers, +_baionnette-au-canon_, while the others battered in the door with the +butt of their guns. Not finding sufficient quarters for two hundred men, +he marched Monsieur S. away, as guide, half a mile down the road to a +neighbor's. + +That excitement had hardly quieted down when another batch of officers +arrived at dusk, demanding lodgings for the night. These men were a +rough type, altogether different from the preceding ones. About eight +o'clock as we, the women, were waiting in the library for dinner to be +announced, we heard a tremendous stamping of heavy boots and spurs and a +snarl of angry voices just over our heads. Baronne de H., brave little +woman as she always proved herself to be, flew up the stairs in a flash +and found her brothers at the end of the hall between two orderlies with +fixed bayonets, trying to pacify seven officers who were disputing +angrily and were just about to enter one of the private apartments--in +fact their father's room. She addressed them in a few vehement words--"I +forbid you to enter the room of my father, who has been dead only a +week." Then she added that the other soldiers who had been here were +gentlemen and that she expected them to be. They were cowed at once and +all humility, begging pardon properly. They pleaded fatigue for their +rudeness and said "certainly they expected to be gentlemen, too." Wasn't +that comical? They were ill at ease and rather sullen at dinner: and +such a dinner as we had!--glacial does not express it. The captain of +the band spoke English, French, Russian and German, but he could not +coax anybody into conversation, for we clung to "_Oui_," or "_Non_," and +stopped there. More than that, a kind of rigid fascination fixed our +attention on one of their number--the tallest and lankiest, who sat down +at least two feet from the table and endeavored to serve himself like +that. Every mouthful was fraught with tense anxiety (for us). Happily +they went to bed early, the captain kissing our hands and asking Madame +X. if she were used to that, it being the custom in Germany. + +Hardly had they got under cover and we were alone again, when a hoarse +cry arose in the court--it was blood-curdling to us, as every sound +these days is full of terror and possibilities. But it turned out to be +only the cry of the sentry. There had been promiscuous shooting along +the railroad in the village and all our brave soldiers tumbled out of +bed, fell down the stair-case one after the other, buckling on swords as +they went. It is the greatest wonder to me that we were not all shot on +the spot when we stood there staring up, as one very young lieutenant +descended three steps at a time with a revolver in one wobbly hand which +was shaking like an aspen leaf, and a pair of field glasses in the +other. I think the sudden excitement may have unnerved him and there is +no doubt, this time, that the gods favored the innocent. That was the +last we saw of our guests. + + + + +_August 18th, Tuesday._ + + +This morning one of them came back for some personal things, principally +his watch, which, in the true, novel style, could not be found anywhere. +So the _Herr leutnant_ ordered a thorough search and said, with a grand +air, to the housekeeper that if it could not be found he would be +obliged to take one of the servant's as a forfeit. Fancy! + +I can see the butler's poor, old, bowed legs, now, flying up the +stair-case, with a bayonet stuck in his back to expedite matters. I do +not know if this threat lent an added zest to the search, but +fortunately someone had the happy thought to look under the mattress +(where the officer had put it himself) and there was the ill-fated +timepiece calmly ticking off German minutes. I think I forgot to tell +you that since the invasion we retire at ten instead of eleven o'clock, +having been advised to adopt Celtic time. + +Prussian troops in khaki continue to pass; will they never cease? One's +spine shivers at the sight of the endless, green snake which crawls +along, insinuating its greedy length into the gardens of plenty. This +morning four new officers came to the château; three of them were +nondescript, but the fourth, to all appearances, was an Englishman, pure +blood. He spoke English absolutely without accent and had a perfect +English drawing-room air. It was as funny as an impersonation and as he +had appeared on the scene alone, I believe his brothers-in-arms were +almost suspicious of him. After a little the story came out. He is +really a German, but has lived fifteen years in London. At the début of +the war he had been obliged to take up arms against a sea of troubles, +or relinquish forever his right to go back to Baden, where his parents +live. Naturally he chose the former (also probably thinking that "War" +was a word only) and allowed himself to be bored by circumstances. He +told us some amusing tales of his having been already arrested three +times for an English spy. Everybody here likes him very much and I +welcomed him personally as the nearest approach to an Anglo-Saxon that I +have seen in many months. + +Monsieur J. and several of the representative men of the village, +including _Monsieur le Curé_ (a little, fat, rosy-cheeked man, adored by +his flock), were taken as hostages for twenty-four hours and had to +sleep in the railroad station. It was nervously comical to see Monsieur +J. starting off, his valet following with a mattress on his back and a +box of sandwiches in his hand against the misery of the night. But it is +not so amusing to be the victim of even a threat which at any moment may +take the form of a sudden reality for no reason except to terrorize +honest people who are defending their homes. The enemy's way of +punishing and evading future insurrection among the civilians is to take +people as hostages and shoot them if necessary, or burn the houses. +This they have already done in several quarters in Liége. A few nights +ago several students fired on some German officers in a café and the +latters' revenge was instantaneous and terrible; they just stood +eighteen men up in front of the University and shot them like dogs--then +burned that section for blocks around. + +Austrian artillery was passing today with their great cannon drawn by +automobiles. The wheels of the gun carriages are enormous and the cannon +are the biggest things we have yet seen. + + + + +_August 19th, Wednesday._ + + +Such an odd picking little noise, like a mouse, disturbed us at +breakfast this A. M. Madame X. opened the door and was astonished to see +a German soldier unscrewing the telephone from the wall. Her obvious +surprise moved the man to explain, which was unqualifiedly this--"Madame, +permit me, but we need your telephone for field service." + +I suppose he may as well have it anyway for nothing so modern and useful +as telephones has existed for us since August 3rd. + +A group of very surly officers have "taken over" Madame R.'s château +down in the country. The moment they arrived night before last, the +Colonel ordered her to bring out all her best wine, throwing her his +soiled gloves to wash at the same time. + +The patients at the Convent are beginning to show a little life now, +though their poor, black faces are more grotesque than ever as an eye, +here and there, begins to peep out from a crack in the crusted surface. +They have begun to talk after a fashion, though their poor, dried lips +can hardly accomplish the task. Jean, the big fellow who jumped seven +metres into the ditch from Fort Chaudefontaine when it blew up, died +this morning, the result of a fractured skull. + +French and German aeroplanes alike have been flying over the city, +dropping the most sensational circulars of the victories of their +particular armies. But the news is "_trop beau_"--one cannot believe it +and probably it is only destined to encourage the soldiers. It appears +that the officers tell their men all kinds of extraordinary tales, to +give them heart for the fight, and the poor things believe (hearing +French spoken here) that they are already in France, for yesterday one +of them in a passing train was heard demanding the Eiffel Tower. An +officer admitted to Monsieur S. that Germany prints three +newspapers--one for the officers, one for the soldiers, and one for +imbeciles. I suppose the latter means us. + + + + +_August 22nd, Saturday._ + + +Bread is being rationed out now in the village and we are allowed only +two small pieces at a meal. It seems to me that I never wanted one more +slice so much in my life. The soldiers have cleared out the baker's +supply and he cannot get any more flour. + +Monsieur S. has bought a bicycle and goes into town every morning to +find out about things. Sometimes it seems as if we could hardly wait +until he gets back to lunch for the news. And oh! such terrible things +are happening. Some funny incidents too, intersperse themselves from +time to time. During the recounting of some of these awful tales of +violence and revenge which we are hearing from the little villages the +young footman's knees doubled right up and nearly let him down while he +was serving the table and he is getting greener and greener from day to +day. He becomes absolutely petrified when the officers address him and +whispers out an unintelligible something as he vanishes through a door. + +The horrible carnage at Namur has begun and we already have heard +sickening accounts of it. The story, as we have had it by word of mouth, +is that one of the seven forts capitulated (the city was evacuated), +allowing the enemy to enter in over a tract of land which was literally +sown with this famous, new _Poudre Turpin_ which exploded under the feet +of whole regiments at once, and the forts completed the slaughter. + +Troops, troops, always troops plodding along. Their attitude could not +be called determined for there is not enough mental action in it, though +there does exist an indisputable tenacity which is appalling. How they +lack that infectious _ardeur_, that splendid _élan_ which characterizes +every little _poilu_! But they just plod on like a great machine, +lacking intelligence in its parts, each vital, however, to the +perfectly-fitted whole. + +Madame X. and I felt as if we could not sit still another minute this +afternoon and, safe, or no, we decided to take a walk on the +mountainside. We could hear regiments approaching first by a faint +buzzing in the distance which rounded out into song as it drew near; as +an officer told us, the men often sing in four voices which is quite +beautiful. Then, we became aware of a different noise, a sort of loose +rumble, as if cohesion would presently not exist for the thing, whatever +it was, that caused this new note. But it was not a note, it was a +disturbance which grew and grew in proportions. Madame X. and I scurried +up and down the paths trying to find a vista through the trees that +would disclose this monster which was moving so protestingly along the +road. + +I imagined it would be snorting flame and its eyes smouldering fires, +but instead its eyes were neat little windows with tidy curtains, for +the monster turned out to be three diminutive houses on wheels drawn by +a huge motor. What their end and purpose might be, is imaginable. If it +is for the comfort of the High Command _en campagne_, the great clumsy +procession rivaling the speed of a snail is a heap of trouble for a +little luxury. + + + + +_August 24th, Monday._ + + +Namur is taken by the Germans. Practically nothing remains of the city. +A German major who was brought, wounded, to Liége, said the battle was +too frightful to narrate. He entered the city with one thousand men and +left it with sixty-five. Just outside the forts, where he had been +stationed with two hundred horses, three bombs fell upon them at the +same moment and only seven of the poor beasts remained. His admiration +for the pointing and firing of the Belgian and French cannon was +unlimited. + +Just before lunch this morning, two very ragged-looking individuals +(Belgian civilians) came to the château. They were travel-stained +indeed, just having made the journey on foot from Brussels and in a +calmer era would have had some success in the rôle of common ordinary +tramps. As it was, they excited a little curiosity by the suspicious way +they had of looking about, and our first thought was spies until one of +them, edging toward the outside of the group, made Baronne de H. +understand that he had something to communicate to her. Inquiring if it +were safe, he suddenly leaned down and drew out from the sole of his +shoe, a piece of paper on which was written, "A banker of Brussels sends +greetings--all are well." The little woman burst into a flood of tears +for she realized that it was a message from her husband, one of the +_Garde Civique_ of Brussels. During the three, long, anxious weeks of +devotion to others, I had often remarked and wondered at her courage in +never mentioning her own longing and apprehension for her husband and +three little children. Before we had recovered from the first onslaught +of the army, she must have known, after it left here, that it would +pass their château three kilometres the other side of Brussels and what +would it leave in its wake? Can you imagine her anxiety, when every day +we were hearing frightful stories of children having their hands chopped +off and people's heads being paraded on bayonets? But I never remember +her uttering a single "I wonder," or an "I wish." Does this not bear out +what the illustrious Roman said about the "Belgians," which certainly +did not exclude the women? It is the grandest thing that ever could +be--this response of the women to the Nation's call, for it is not just +passive self-sacrifice, but impassioned co-operation. + +In the afternoon Madame de H. and I went to Liége to arrange her +passport for Brussels. Two of the officers who are here offered to go +with us in order to facilitate an entrance into the "_Kommandantur_," +which is the general headquarters and is in that ancient and beautiful +place of the _Princes-Evêques_, onetime feudal lords of the principality +of Liége. I wanted to rebel openly when I saw that wonderful court, +world-famous for its beauty, which has been turned into a dépôt of +supplies and barracks with horses stabled under those delicate, Gothic +arches, models of purity and beauty. But to what good? Will anything +ever expiate the offense? There are also horses in the theatre and +machine guns in all the upper windows. + +While Madame de H. was waiting to see Count Moltke in his office, I +walked about the court with one of the soldier attendants who came with +us and had an opportunity of peeking through many doors which would +otherwise have been closed to me. My companion, who is a wholesale grain +merchant in peace times, enjoyed his authority immensely and dragged his +sword, half unbuckled, on the ground, which clanked behind us and made +merry music in his ears, I am sure. The whole place was a perfect +beehive though there was little confusion. The soldiers were diligently +counting supplies, feeding horses and sorting Belgian cannon and shells +which had been captured. + +On the road from Angleur to Liége we were obliged to give way to some +troops which were returning from Namur. The auto stopped right in the +middle of a column, which, as we heard, was a conglomeration of the tag +ends of different regiments and I was almost afraid--the men peered in +at us so maliciously. I have never seen such a frightening spectacle of +humanity, for it was the personification of a rogues' gallery with every +kind of cut-throat, brigand and robber mixed up into a grand ensemble, +toiling and perspiring, limping and crawling along in the dust and heat. + +Does battle blot out the soul of a man in one savage conflict? +Obviously, it is before a weary march that one finds exalted faces. But +perhaps they were not desperadoes--only tired and dirty and unshaven. + +It is said, however, that when war was declared, the enemy opened the +doors of all the prisons and that the front ranks of the attacking +forces (which were sure to be lost) were entirely composed of convicts +and prisoners. And also, the officers in the regular army are so hated +by their men that when they started out to conquer the world every +officer was changed to a different regiment. + +This evening we sat on the terrace enjoying the afterglow of the setting +sun and the calmness of the garden, listening to the soldiers singing in +the orchard, next. This singing in the twilight is heartbreaking and +particularly melancholy, as the music is slow and has more consolation +in it than the usual soul-inspiring quality of battle hymns. At +intervals we heard the captain speaking with great force and enthusiasm, +the hurrahs of the men, an occasional "_Vaterland, Vaterland_," and +again and ever, "_Die Wacht am Rhein._" + + + + +_August 26th, Wednesday._ + + +Two new officers (not Prussians) of the _Landstürm_ arrived this +morning--men of fifty to fifty-five years of age. One is a hardware +merchant _en civil_ and has a brown beard and the asthma; the other is a +lawyer, with big, blinking eyes--and they both looked as if they hated +war. The "Englishman" is still here--his department is looking after +supplies at the dépôt. He has borrowed all the English books in the +house and sits reading all day up in the signal box at the station, so +the family have named him "_Monsieur Seegnal Box_," which, with a tiny, +French accent, sounds quite attractive. + +We are so enthusiastic about our patients at the Convent, for they are +all improving and developing personalities now. Every morning at +eight-thirty we rush over there as quickly as we can to see how the poor +children are getting on and who has another eye open. Nature has begun +her restorative work and oh! what a satisfaction it is to see the new +skin stretching out tiny shreds to bridge over the martyred flesh. + +The atmosphere of the ward is gay. 'Most everybody can laugh, at least +with their hearts, for stiffened lips do not all respond yet. The work +has arranged itself in admirable routine, where humanity is not entirely +swallowed up in duty. There are young girls and boys who fetch basins +of water, old women who roll bandages, faithful, sweet-faced matrons who +bind up dreadful wounds, and strong, young men who lift, so tenderly, +pain-racked bodies and who can toss a joke or a word of encouragement +with equal discretion, which never fails to infuse the down-hearted with +their own priceless vitality. Then there is the _Mère Supérieure_, of +thin, æsthetic face, who comes with a gentle word of the "Faith" for +each one; the austere _Soeur Félicité_, who counts the cups and searches +your soul and brings in hot coffee and a steaming ragoût; and the +pretty, young _Soeur Monique_, with her uplifted face, who cannot +conceal a shy admiration for big, blond Henri who rails at everything +and is as lovable as a baby. Then the villagers: in the middle of the +room, Monsieur B. (Secretary and Treasurer, I should say) cuts off gauze +with a calculating eye at one end of a long table and at the other, +rosy-cheeked Monsieur R. (painter of every house and barn in the +village) stands all day long with a spatula in his hand and slaps on the +ointment for dressings. There is a sort of professional twist in the +gesture and his merry, little eyes glance around, not seeking but rather +gathering in approval, and from under his bristling, white moustache +will burst a salute for one, a joke for another, or a reproach for +another. + +Here, there and everywhere he is needed, is Monsieur F., whose great, +dark eyes are acquainted with pain; he is a frail, little person and the +substantial man of the village, a living paradox. Just when Monsieur R. +announces--dramatically waving his spatula--that that is the last ounce +of boric ointment and no more peroxide in the cupboard and we are raving +around and denouncing the pharmacist, Monsieur F. steps up and inquires +what the trouble is, knowing full well the difficulty and also "his +moment," wise man that he is. While we are swamping the situation with +words, he quietly dispatches a boy to his house, who quickly reappears +with huge bottles of this and that. Oh, blessed Monsieur F., who long +since had made a corner in peroxide and everything else we shall need +until after the war. But the despair of the moment, the heat and three, +long hours of unremitting "dressings" effect a faintness of soul and a +"queer" feeling we did not realize was there, until that dear, roly-poly +_Soeur Anastasie_ appears with a bottle of red wine, half concealed +under her cape, and with a motherly, "_Ça vous fera du bien_," (that +will do you good) pours us out a generous glassful. That puts the blue +in the sky again and keeps the shafts of golden sunshine from creating +zigzag patterns in our brain. Oh, Shades of my New England Ancestors! +Would you say, "Better to slip down in a swoon?"--and give everybody a +lot of trouble-- + + + + +_August 27th, Thursday._ + + +Madame de H. and I again went to Liége early this morning about her +passports. The hotels and cafés were just seething humanity, beds +improvised in every corner, and I saw officers paying their hotel bills +with cheques and notes. The poor proprietor blinked and swallowed hard +for a moment and said nothing. The city was literally packed with troops +going in all directions. _Uhlans_, _chasseurs_, artillery and the +infantry, singing and executing that foolish-looking goose-step--it +probably has its advantages, but at eight A. M. in the pouring +rain it did appear ridiculous. + +In the afternoon we took a walk into the country, following the +railroad. The soldiers were working everywhere, putting up temporary +buildings for any emergency. We saw one of those open dining halls--only +three walls with a shed roof where a regiment can step out of a train to +eat while another jumps quickly in and no time lost. We passed the +lovely château of the Marquis de T. who is Minister Plenipotentiary +from Costa Rica. Of course, this is neutral property and flies a +neutral flag, but the place is filled with officers and, according to +the _maitre d'hotel_, the wine cellar is undergoing a thorough +inventory. + + + + +_August 28th, Friday._ + + +This morning there was excitement at the Convent; someone was reading a +three weeks' old journal to the soldiers and for a moment everybody +forgot his particular aches and black heads lifted themselves from their +pillows and gaunt forms swayed to and fro on shaky elbows. The lust of +battle lit up wooden countenances, fire sprang from eyes yet heavily +veiled by crusted lids and a fervent "_bien fait_" or "_vivent les +Belges_," trembled from heretofore silent corners. + +Madame André, who comes to see her boy every day, remarked my looking at +her dress which was all darned and mended in the most unaccountable +places, "O, Mademoiselle," she said. "I suppose you are wondering about +my waist? But wasn't it lucky I was here with André when the troops +passed through our village? The soldiers fired haphazard in the windows +and the wardrobe in which my clothes were hanging caught seven bullets +and the headboard of my bed, four." + +All the afternoon troops were coming back from Namur in evident haste +and apparent rout, for they had such a tired, bedraggled look. About +five o'clock a company with ammunition wagons, Red Cross ambulances and +baggage trucks dashed madly into the orchard among the apple trees, +nearly wrecking themselves and everything else. Immediately after, three +officers came to the house to beg lodging for the night. They were +frightful-looking individuals covered with mud and dirt, with half-grown +beards and one could not tell what uniforms. They asked the most humble +apartment--a corner, the floor--anything, "and, Madame, a little hot +water, _s'il vous plait_." We were sitting on the terrace tonight just +before dinner when down came the three new arrivals, beautiful as the +morning, shaven and shining in their gray-green uniforms, polished boots +and bracelets set with precious stones--officers of the "Emperor's Own," +though these men did not seem like Germans, but were much more the +lighter build and elegant type of the Austrians. + +They were a bit haughty at first, but dinner thawed them out and then +what tales they told us; the most promising imagination could not rival +their flights in the air. They acted like people who walk in their sleep +and had that same vague expression of the eye. But it is not to be +wondered at, coming as they did from a frightful battlefield and +fatigued by a hard march. It must be true that battle intoxicates men +for these latter, being of a sensible age, did say very ridiculous +things. Hitherto the officers who have been here were fairly modest +though always showing an undeniable confidence, while these three openly +bragged. The young lieutenant who sat next to me spoke French fluently +and never stopped talking all the evening. Among countless other things, +he said, "We are being sent back from Namur as Paris is taken" +(ejaculation from me "I cannot believe it") "and they have no more need +of us in that direction," he went on without turning a hair. "So we are +_en route_ for England or Russia, in the morning, to conquer the seven +nations (he included Monaco in the list) who have declared war against +our beloved Vaterland." + +"And, Mademoiselle," he continued, "they fired on our ambulances!" + +"Ah?" I answered, nonchalantly, "the Germans have already done that +here." + +He was a bit taken aback at this rejoinder; then with a prodigiously +sorrowful look he exclaimed in a hushed voice, "_Oui, la guerre est +terrible._" + +The victories they exploited on land and sea were fantastic and the +funny part is, they believed thoroughly all they said. It is strange to +hear serious people fabricate such yarns as they did, with as much +dexterity as a spider spins its web. + + + + +_August 29th, Saturday._ + + +The ambulance was as busy as a beehive this A. M. Except for +one or two, the patients are all feeling better. André, the third on the +left, whose sonorous "_Merci, chère Soeur_" nearly frightened me to +pieces one day, seems to be the wit and authority on all subjects--a +real leader, I should say, and _drôle_! Augustin, four beds from him, is +our difficult child, the only one of the twenty-nine who is spoiled and +fights his dressings, but we must be patient with him for he has been +very sick and that drawn look about the nose and a certain, startled +expression of the eyes, worry me. But the little _Soeur Victoire_ says +comfortingly that he will soon be well, though he does not wish to eat +and his jaws are a little stiff. O, _chère Soeur_, in your sweet faith, +are stiffened jaws such a trivial circumstance? + +Next Augustin is Sylvestre, _le beau_. He was the splendid _pointeur_ of +Fort Chaudefontaine and was the least burned of the men; that is why I +know he is beautiful; also I catch many glimpses of him in the little +mirror in which he is constantly regarding himself, but he is _bon +garçon_, nevertheless--his honest blue eyes attest it. + +At the end of the row is the big Flamand, who was always two feet too +long for his bed. He is sitting up now and that great, black head, with +features swollen three times their normal size, is a sight to frighten +the boldest. If he should roar at me I would drop everything and flee. +But he doesn't; nobody roars; for they are all the finest gentlemen in +the world, even in their trying moments. + +At ten o'clock this evening, right out of the silence, issued sounds of +heavy, rolling carts, and horses' hoofs. Madame de H. and I stole out +into the court to see what it might be and, almost as if by magic, whole +regiments came pouring along in the greatest haste and disorder. A wing +of the servants' quarters hid the approach of the soldiers from us and +the strange, non-resonant quality of the atmosphere tonight deceived us +as to their nearness. In a moment they were upon us--not three feet +away, for some of the troops had taken, not the usual highroad two +hundred feet distant, but a short cut by the narrow path which directly +passes the court yard. Happily we had hidden ourselves behind the +grille, in the foliage, or we might have been shot without ceremony, as +by order of the military governor of the city "every civilian shall be +indoors and lights out at eight P. M." + +We enjoyed the danger a little at first because we did not realize it; +all the same we obliterated ourselves as much as possible, though hardly +daring to move or breathe. Not an arm's length away, their nearness +oppressed us and the waves of heat which reeked from their toiling +bodies sickened us. But there we crouched in our light dresses, easily +seen if one had chanced to look, and separated only by an iron fence +with sparse, fluttering vines from a mass of tired, quarrelsome, +desperate men. Why! any of them might have run us through in a flash as +one would lunge at a white rag for the amusement of his companions. +Indoors the family were frantic, not daring to open a crack of the door +for fear of violent consequences to us. + +The night was full of dull noises; even the clanking chains of the gun +carriages seemed muffled and the thud of horses' hoofs in the mud added +to the air of secrecy which pervaded the scene, while the moonlight +threw out shadows and drew crazy perspectives and showed up silhouettes +of men positively falling from their seats with fatigue. Some one was +twirling a French soldier's cap on a bayonet, we heard smothered yawns, +the words "_Russland_," "_Vaterland_," and finally the infantry +whistling in unison as they limped along. + + + + +_August 30th, Sunday._ + + +At two o'clock in the morning the whole family was aroused by a +thundering rap from the butt of a gun on the big front entrance. The +poor old butler, who has been in service thirty-five years, was aghast +to open the door and find the Burgomaster, in white kid gloves, standing +between two Prussian soldiers, with fixed bayonets. They demanded +Monsieur J. (for the second time) as hostage. What could have happened +among the people, we could only guess. Had they been rash enough to +protest against strength and did they want to share the fate of the +pitiful Visé? + +The forenoon brought us no news; after lunch we walked in the broiling +sun to the little railroad station at Kinklepois, to see Monsieur J. +(he had aged ten years over night) where he was under guard with several +others, including _Monsieur le Vicaire_ of A. and _Monsieur l'Abbé_ of +K. We sat around the table in the Concierge's tiny dining room and +listened to some amusing anecdotes told by the Vicar, while the gentle +old Abbot sent out to the vicarage for a bottle of his good old +Burgundy. To be sure, no one was much in the mood to be amused, but it +lessened the tension of the moment; the least unusual sound from the +street--and it was full of soldiers and horses--brought the tale to a +sudden end and we listened with blanched faces for perhaps--the worst. + + + + +_August 31st, Monday._ + + +Monsieur J. was released as hostage at seven o'clock P. M. and +returned to the fold. This evening, as all was still, we played a little +game of Bridge, as in the old days when life was a pleasant dream. +Suddenly a dozen rifle shots, in quick succession, rang out in the air +and the cards fell from our nerveless fingers as a stray ball rattled +against the iron shutters of our windows. Instinctively we crouched into +sheltered corners and waited; another volley and another followed, until +finally Monsieur S. whispered in a hoarse voice, "À la cave." The +household, including the servants, delighted to be any place where we +were not, made a lightning dash, Indian file, for the cellar. Quite +unperturbed and loath to leave her cozy, warm kitchen, the old, fat cook +was the last to waddle down the stairs, repeating her usual "They cannot +hurt me. I am Dutch." She was the calmest of us all, for those +intermittent shots and the possibility of retrieving lost balls had +raised a tremor of excitement as well as our hasty descent into the +realms of Bacchus, in common words--the wine cellar. By the thin rays of +a candle the scene was comic; there we were, fourteen of us huddled +together in a twelve by twenty foot vault, earthen floor and stone +walls. Expecting at any moment an onslaught of we did not know what, +each one was bracing himself for the blow, in different attitudes of +mind and body. Madame X. was pale, her daughter stolid and ready for the +defensive--the true, fighting blood of the Belgians on fire: the old +butler, attentive to the slightest sound, was shaking his gray head with +ominous pessimism and one of the maids was weeping hysterically and +audibly in the arms of her husband, the young footman. At first we just +stood and looked at each other as periodic volleys resounded now and +again. Then we relaxed as well as we could on dusty cases and rounding +barrels or whatever was at hand. An hour passed before the shooting +ceased and then we discovered that we were cramped and uncomfortable and +cold--chilled through with that deathlike dampness which pervades +subterranean chambers. What misery for those who had to live in them for +days! Another hour elapsed before the danger was really over and we +dared to come out from cover; then we crawled upstairs to bed on our +hands and knees to keep below the level of the window ledges.[2] + +Madame de H. made an attempt to go to Brussels by a military train +which, however, was derailed ten kilometres from here. Some disagreeable +officers took the second automobile for military service, in spite of +the signed permission which Count Moltke has given the family. Did I +tell you that Madame X.'s children are related by marriage to a high +official of the Imperial Court? I do not know at all if this fact +accounts for the extreme courtesy which they have always received from +the soldiers, but at any rate some of their friends have not been so +favored.[3] + +Madame T., who had a charming Villa at S., was one of the unfortunate +ones. She was obliged to entertain the officers of some passing troops +at lunch recently, after which they had coffee in the garden. The +Captain glanced around at the flowers and said, "Madame, very pretty, +very pretty, tomorrow, nothing." That night her villa and several other +neighboring ones were burned to the ground. + +The Germans are constantly forcing the Belgian old men, women and +children to march in front of their attacking armies. What kind of +soldiers can it be that does these things, but brutes and barbarians? + +My revulsion for it all is so great that the words fairly scorch my +fingers as I write them. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] We never heard what really started the commotion, whether it was +premeditated or accidental, but this illustrates what a furor a rifle +shot creates instantly. The nervous tension of both the invader and +invaded is tremendous. + + + + +_September 2nd, Wednesday._ + + +Very early this morning we were awakened by the most remarkable sound--a +co-operative noise I should call it, or anything you like, being a +combination of steamboat, train of cars and sawmill. Looking out of the +window we saw a magnificent Zeppelin sailing along in all its majestic +wonder. + +Miracles happen overnight in the ambulance now, for Health is hastening +back in seven-league-boots and every one of our brave _blessés_ is +turning out to be handsome. Each day a real face emerges from its black +chrysalis and we find it beautiful. The refinery was of the cruelest +type, but the temper of such men stood the test and their souls shine +out undeniably over the scarred flesh. + +Some new companies, with their under officers, have taken up quarters in +the stables and garage. For the last ten days we have had Prussians +there, who were discontented with everything and wanted all the kitchen +utensils and everything within reach, but these new men are Bavarian +_Landstürm_, rather nice old things, who have brought all their own +contrivances, not the least among them being one of the famous rolling +kitchens. This latter is a round boiler, hung on four wheels, and is +about a metre in diameter and a metre in depth. It is divided into three +longitudinal compartments (the fire being underneath), one for soup, one +for meat and one for vegetables. Then, under the driver's seat or +perhaps not right under, is a tiny oven where are baked _kuchen_ or a +steaming pudding. It is a complete affair and when dinner is ready, +they just hitch on a pair of family horses and drive around to the +different companies where rations are dished out, literally. I do not +know if the position of cook is the most enviable one in the army, but +at any rate this chef appears to enjoy it and is content to sit in the +courtyard all day, peeling potatoes and onions and cabbages and cabbages +and onions and potatoes. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] A printed document was exposed afterwards in the village +recommending the Château X. to be respected. + + + + +_September 3rd, Thursday._ + + +"_Monsieur Seegnal Box_" went this morning and everybody was sorry to +see him go, for he was a congenial spirit, and, like us, found nothing +attractive about war. He seemed a protection, too, from the beast that +is ever snarling at the door. + +A young cousin of the family related to us to-day how much at home the +soldiers have felt in his château in the country; so much so, in fact, +that they have already sent off to Germany all his old family portraits +and the best rugs. Here is a bit of psychology for you to unravel. Why +should they want his family portraits? + +I suppose you could not imagine such a thing happening in America. Well, +just try for a moment. + +Fancy somebody's coming in and explaining to you that you cannot use +your own things and that your choice possessions will have a far better +setting in Germany than where they are. I think it would do the world a +lot of good if everyone tried such a mental drill for three minutes a +day. + +A great depression hung over the Convent to-day--the men were quiet, +showing their consideration for the "_camarade_" as they always do. +Constant, who received internal injuries at Fort d'Embourg, is dying and +Augustin is worse. The latter's face has a gray-blue look and his poor +jaws are very stiff. But there is hope! Oh, yes, there is Hope in big +Jean's smile across the ward, as he follows us around with his great, +black eyes. One can find lots of sympathy in a "_Oui, Mademoiselle_," or +a "_Non, Mademoiselle_," (which is all he ever says) even when it has +nothing to do with the question. + +Since the commandant has taken the auto we no longer go out. It is much +too complicated anyway, as one has to show a passport at every bridge +and corner. Every acre of land is infested with soldiers. It is +interesting, however, to see what they do and how they turn everything +to some use. Men are sent from Germany to repair railroads, build +bridges, put up telephones, institute food stations and to kill pigs and +wash the meat in porcelain bath tubs as we saw them do yesterday, +outside a free bath establishment near one of the factories. As we were +looking down on the road tonight, from a hill perhaps two hundred yards +away, we saw distinctly a column of soldiers in dark blue uniforms, +marching across country, and just behind them the ground seemed to +writhe and wriggle in a distressing manner. For a moment we could not +imagine what was happening, when soon a company of men in khaki began to +evolve itself from the landscape. Does that not prove the inestimable +value of earth-colored clothes? For as close as they were to us, we +could distinguish nothing. + +This gray-green which the Germans wear is by far the best tone of khaki +that I have yet seen. + +Soldiers are stripping the factories here of their fine machinery, but +one sort of chuckles in one's boots when he remembers that it was +originally bought in Germany and has not been paid for yet. + +All day long, trains without ceasing were bringing back the wounded. We +do not know exactly where the fighting is, but probably near Charleroi. +A Baron de C. and his wife arrived here at ten P. M. from +Posen, one of the German provinces already taken by the Russians. Crazed +with anxiety, they are going in search of their son, who was wounded at +Namur, and have been three days in a military train--an excruciating +journey! At midnight, the soldiers and the _chef de cuisine_, who has +had his kitchen in the court, departed. Before going they sang softly +some of their songs and then the wagons, one by one, filed out of the +moonlight and were swallowed up in the shadows of the trees. I felt as +if the candle had been blown out for them. + + + + +_September 4th, Friday._ + + +Monsieur J. came home today with bad news, though every day has its bad +news. His cousin Robert had been killed near Gand. The old butler's eyes +were sweet to see when Madame X. turned at table and said to him, +"François, Monsieur Robert is dead." This man of one syllable, according +to his custom, answered simply, quick tears visible, "_Oui, Madame_" +with that gentle upward intonation which says so much. + +The longest sentence he probably ever constructed was uttered +thirty-five years ago when his young master had wished to dismiss him +for some reason and he had answered, "Oh no, Monsieur, we could not +live, either one of us without the other," which settled the question +for all time. And now the master is laid to rest and the servant must +serve the enemy in his house. + +We took a little walk in the woods, this afternoon--as the coast was +clear and no strangers in the house for the first time in three weeks. +We had hardly finished a short promenade when we heard a violent +clanging on the gong to call us back, and when we returned in all haste +to the house found seven soldiers in the library going through all the +drawers and closets in search of firearms. Commencing there, they +searched the whole house from top to bottom, even fumbling in the +bureaus among the dainty lingerie of Madame X. Some of them took an +obvious pleasure in performing their duty, while others looked +uncomfortable and bored. It is true that many of the men hate this war, +whereby whole families of brothers and cousins have to leave their homes +to fight what they call the "Aristocrats' War," who in their arrogance +think to be masters of the whole world. + +Some newspapers, two weeks old, were brought from Brussels in the +evening and we pounced upon them as a starved dog makes for a bone. + + + + +_September 5th, Saturday._ (At the ambulance.) + + +"_Constant, le pauvre Constant!_ What is in your tortured soul, these +three long days and nights, that chains it to earth and tosses your +poor body from one troubled thought to another?" + +I did not think to have my question answered. At eleven o'clock this +morning a child of twelve years, beautiful as an angel with heavenly +blue eyes and a shock of golden hair, dashed breathlessly into the +courtyard of the Convent, almost too exhausted to ask if _Soldat_ +Constant Martin, by any chance, were there. The gentle _Soeur Cecile_ +led him in to the sick man's cot. The boy gazed a moment, bewildered at +the wasted form upon it; then with an agonizing cry of "_mon père_" fell +on his knees by the bedside. The man's eyelids trembled, half opened an +instant to look upon his son, and closed. In ten minutes he was at +peace. + +Since the railroad has been reconstructed the soldiers have been passing +in trains instead of on foot. Today we saw hundreds of older men, +Bavarians and sailors--it looks as if something had miscarried when the +marines have to fight on land. In the opposite direction, thousands of +wounded were going back in ambulance cars. These ambulance trains are +admirable and are often made up of forty and fifty carriages of the +light, swinging, old-fashioned type, of uniform size, the roofs painted +white, with a big, red cross on the top and one on each side. The cots +are arranged one above the other, showing clean, white linen, while the +attendants are spotlessly uniformed in white. In the middle of each +train is a car which might be called the "ugly duckling," for it is a +decidedly clumsy looking affair, full of steam boilers with safety +valves and tubes sticking out at the top, and is, I fancy, a sterilizing +plant. + + + + +_September 6th, Sunday._ + + +Oh, the peace of Sunday in a little village! And Augustin is better, +though he still fights his dressings. It takes the combined effort of +the ward to present duty in such an attractive guise that he will not +realize he is minding, but it is really the sympathetic Roger who can +insinuate comforting comparisons from his own recent acquaintance with +pain and the ever-ready Pierre, who with a "courage, camarade," and one +free hand to help me, actually put the thing through. + +On my way home to lunch I glanced at the clock in the church tower and +saw that it was an hour ahead of time, having been made to coincide with +Teuton pendulums. This is the second time that it has happened, for the +villagers dared to climb up the long stairs and put it back, once, but +the soldiers were so ferocious in their threats that--well, one must +accept their insolence. Crossing the field I passed the farmer who must +have felt considerable perturbation of soul this particular day, for he +looked "worrited" and was mowing grass for his poor, thin cows, in a +blue gingham smock and a bowler hat. The war is not more vital to anyone +on earth than to him, for the soldiers have taken away his wagons and +most of his hay for their bedding and they ruined the grass in the +orchard where they were encamped. + +Soldiers came to the Convent this morning to search for firearms. It +appears that the German military authorities are terrified of an +uprising among the inhabitants, particularly the factory hands, who will +not work for the Prussians and are getting a little restless. One can +readily imagine such an apprehension when from a population of 40,000 +working men in the vicinity, only forty-two firearms were presented upon +requisition. If all the rest are buried in the woods, as many believe, +it will only be the story of another inspired "Cadmus, who sowed +dragons' teeth and there sprang up an army of armed men." + +Madame de H. has left for Brussels. The third auto which was hidden away +was brought out and with Count Moltke's _laisser-passer_ and the +family's chauffeur, she will arrive safely, we hope, though we shall not +rest until the man gets back. + +In Liége this afternoon, in front of the University, we saw squares and +squares which were burned out by the Germans, and also where those +eighteen civilians were shot, following a slight uprising of the people. +Madame X.'s niece, who lives quite near there, heard the screams of the +women, and such scenes of terror seem even yet to paralyze the +population. In the Place de la Cathédrale we saw soldiers pushing people +along with their saw-toothed bayonets to disperse a crowd which was +gaping, stupefied, at some unusual proceeding. + +As we stood there, an automobile, with eight Prussian officers in it, +came banging down the street, loose bolts jingling, and was just +disappearing around a corner when Madame R. exclaimed "Oh, that's our +Reynaud!" + +All the automobiles, as well as everything else, have been confiscated +by the invaders and it is a common occurrence to look up and see one's +own beautiful car bounding along over cobblestones and breaking with its +load of soldiers--the motors are driven so hard that in two weeks' time +they are practically worthless. + +At the beginning of the war, many owners cunningly removed a tiny +necessary part of their machines, but in most cases the same owners were +given just two hours at the point of the bayonet to find those missing +parts, which was not always easy. And the farmers, too, who cut down the +big trees across the roads to impede the enemy's advance, had just the +same amount of time given them to clear the path again. So you see that +one is helpless. + +Rumors come from France that the fortified town of Mauberge still +resists, but that the Germans are at Compiégne, which is so near to +beautiful Paris. It is impossible to believe. Yet we all experienced a +feeling of absolute faintness when that report came, for Compiégne, or +anywhere within one hundred kilometres of it, is too near. But if--_Bon +Dieu_, keep us from thinking! + + + + +_September 8th, Tuesday._ + + +There is a possibility of our going to Brussels. Oh, the joy of it! That +may find me the means, through the American Ambassador, of getting back +to my beloved France. + +The youngest gardener, the little one, Charles, who is only eighteen +years old, has left for "the front." Not with his regiment, for he +hasn't one (this year was to have been his class), but as a private +individual who could not stay at home when his country needed him. His +old mother, with a little catch in her throat, sent him off proudly, her +baby, her _petit Charles_, to serve with his four brothers, already +gone. + +But how can he get away with the eye of the arrogant usurper on every +corner and road? + +A Belgian soldier will play his rôle after his own interpretation. +Instead of going off in his best smock and a tiny bundle on a stick, _le +petit Charles_ bade us a smiling _au revoir_ in his old blue apron and +torn hat. He will wander aimlessly over the hills which he knows so well +and, unsuspected, will creep through the friendly hedges into the very +arms of hospitable Holland and then, "All's well." + +Trains were passing all day loaded with provisions, as well as soldiers +and sailors who were sticking on like caterpillars all over the roofs, +the sides, the steps and almost the wheels. I saw two of them dancing +the tango on the top of one carriage. Then came car after car of prairie +wagons, we call them, with voluminous, white, canvas hoods, loaded with +provisions; after these, countless, giant cannon decorated with +branches, flowers and flags, mounted on open trucks without sides. All +this procession was a weird phenomenon gliding by in the sky like a +mirage, for the road-bed at the rear of the château is very high and is +hidden by intervening shrubs and bushes so that the wheels of the cars +are quite concealed. It reminded me of those Amazon warriors in "_Die +Walküre_" who slid up to Heaven so smoothly on their wooden horses at +the Opéra in Paris. + +Dropping from the poetical plane to common cause and effect, the whole +gave the impression of being well lubricated--like the wheels of Destiny +which turn steadily on with few jerks or hitches. + + + + +_September 9th, Wednesday._ + + +The word is said. We are packing our bags to leave for Brussels +tomorrow. When I went to the Convent this morning, I found all the +soldiers in bed and looking so wretched. Merciful Heaven! What blight +could have fallen on our children over night? But it was a farce. They +had heard that the officers of the regiment, here, were coming to +inspect the wounded with the idea of sending those who are well enough +on to Germany as, of course, they are prisoners. So the moment the +Germans entered the courtyard, all the _blessés_--even those who are +quite well--hopped into bed with their clothes on, pulled the covers up +to their chins and with a wet compress on their heads, looked as ill as +possible. It was comical to see; one can be a soldier and comedian at +the same time--and even the dear Sisters enjoyed it. But I was paralyzed +with fear. They had not thought of another side of the question to which +the very impudence of their ruse might subject them. + +I was very sad to say good-bye to these brave fellows who have been to +all the world such a lesson in bravery and patience during their +suffering. One big, lanky _garçon_--Jean, in fact--was quite undone at +our departure. He refused to be consoled with the promise of postal +cards in some future era and wept and sobbed, but I managed to +understand between the sobs that he was saying, "_Mais, Mademoiselle, je +vous suis habitué._" (But, Mademoiselle, I am used to you.) I do not +know if this was meant for a compliment, but I took it as such and wept +too. + + + + +_September 10th, Thursday._ + + +This morning was spent in finishing packing, which usually is the +biggest part of it, I find. + +There appears to be violent fighting at Malines, Louvain and Tirlemont. +Nevertheless we are setting out from the château, at two o'clock, bag +and baggage. Everybody felt sorry to leave the servants (_Liégeois_) +who have been staunch and comforting friends through all the misery of +these terrifying times. Will an eager Fate close them in? Let us hope +they will absorb the effervescent optimism of the fat old cook who +continually reiterates in her awful French, "They cannot hurt me. I am a +Hollander." + +2 P. M.--Well, off we started. It was a moment I shall never +forget, for it was as if we had taken up something solid and heavy (an +experience, for example) in our two hands and put it behind us. There +were in the party our two autos and Monsieur H. with Signor K., an +Italian consul, in his. Monsieur H. has a passport from the military +Governor, Field Marshal von der Golz, to go anywhere in Belgium, so we +felt very safe to be with him. No ancient stage-coach with a dozen +passengers on the top could have made as precarious a flight as our +machines, packed and jammed full inside and crowned on the roof with an +overhanging cornice of every sort of bundle. You can imagine that there +was an idea at the back of our minds of never returning, perhaps, or of +keeping what we could in immediate possession. + +It was interesting in leaving the city to see the disposition of troops; +we passed through Seraing, where are those tremendous Cockerill +factories, and soon arrived opposite the famous Fort Hollogne which did +such wonderful work in the defense of Liége, August 5th. At present it +flies the German flag and but for one or two sentinels pacing near, one +would never dream that a tremendous fort was there. Like the others, it +is built three stories underground, with just a slight rising of earth +defining the cupolas. Along the road on both sides, for miles and miles, +lay splendid trees which were cut down for cannon range. Just before +arriving at Jauche we met three automobiles with Prussian officers, who +shouted "_Nicht weiter_" and made violent signs which we did not +understand. But why "_nicht weiter_" with the _Herr Feld Marschall's_ +permission in our pocket? We soon learned at the railroad crossing. An +hour before there had been an alarm and the station had received orders +to allow no one to pass, as there was fighting not far beyond in the +direction of Tirlemont. Then and there arose a mighty discussion and the +_esprits_ of many nations (Belgian, Italian, Russian, French and German) +entered into the argument while one meek American looked on at the +sparring. Even the little slip of paper ladened with the name of von der +Golz in much ink, had no weight. Then we tried another route, that lay +right through the heart of a dirty, squalid, little village to +Ramillies, the same Ramillies of Louis XIV.'s time, famous in the +"_Batailles des Flandres_." We arrived there by a sudden turn of the +road which brought us up standing, onto a bridge spanning the railroad. +Below, perhaps two hundred feet distant, was the station, out of which, +upon our sudden apparition, swarmed a hundred soldiers in alarm, quite +as if the surprising toe of a boot had inadvertently kicked over an ant +hill. At Ramillies we were not more successful than at Jauche, for as +the officials explained, if we passed the railroad station we were in +danger of being caught between two battlelines. So, sadly indeed, we +retraced our way and returned in the dark and the pouring rain to a +dismantled house and forlorn hopes. + + + + +_September 12th, Saturday._ + + +We are in the depths of despair today for we hear that they are fighting +at Meaux--Meaux, which nearly is Paris. If I were a French woman I could +not feel more poignantly about it. But we always think that it is not +true, as we have no real means of knowing--all is hearsay. + +A messenger brought news from Monsieur N., "Uncle Maurice," in the +Ardennes. It appears that in August when the German troops went through +Belgium on foot, the regiment of Count Otto von M. passed his villa. +Count Otto is "Uncle M's" nephew--the son of his sister, who married a +"high official of the Imperial Court," of whom I have already spoken. So +it happened that the young officer went to call on his esteemed uncle, +who frankly shut the door in his face. The Count burst into tears and +cried, "Uncle, Uncle, won't you speak to me? It is not my fault. When my +brothers and I received orders to come through Belgium, we begged other +commissions but to no avail." + +Certainly not! who better than the Counts von M. who have hunted from +childhood, thro' every lane and secret path, to lead the armies thro' +Belgium. + +Trains are passing with every known thing therein--first thousands of +soldiers, then wagons of provisions, cannon, boats for pontoon bridges +mounted on wheels ready for unloading, material for building, trucks of +hay, portable houses and in one car were hundreds of tiny wheels +sticking up which we discovered belonged to wheelbarrows. It is a droll +procession, that never ceases before one's eyes. To offset it, we have +taken to playing Patience morning, noon and night, and if this monotony +keeps up much longer we shall certainly become imbeciles. From time to +time, in the trains going back to Germany one sees French prisoners, +easy to tell by their red _képis_, boxed up in cattle cars, peering out +from a narrow slit at the top. From the terrace can be heard the dull +thud of distant cannon; the fighting is at Warrem, thirty kilometres +from here. + + + + +_Monday, September 14th._ + + +Somebody came into possession of a newspaper, the "Figaro" from Paris, +dated September 6th. We were delighted to have it loaned us for an hour, +greasy and dirty as it was, for in these days a newspaper is the most +precious article on earth. It is brought in on a silver tray--then +somebody feverishly reads aloud for the benefit of the others, while the +servants run out to invite the neighbors to come in and listen. Just as +the reader is in the middle of a grand eulogy on glorious victories, +etc., an unknown person raps on the door to reclaim the precious journal +and we all relapse into a general interchange of impressions, ideas, +complaints, inspirations--"They say"; "It appears"; "Why"; "Must"; +"Ought"; "Should"; etc. In a German paper we read to-day, they are +preparing their men for "slight defeats" by saying that, "The French +army is no longer the army of 1870, but one worthy to combat with our +own." That was very condescending and was doubtless inspired by the +formidable battleline from the coast to Nancy, before their noses. + + + + +_September 16th, Wednesday._ + + +Natural laws are demonstrating themselves very plainly these days, for +when we were sitting on the terrace just before lunch to-day, a curious +thing happened--a sound wave, from a cannon shot literally hit our ear +drums. I felt as if somebody had struck mine with a padded club. There +was no noise, you understand, but we all looked up, aware of the impact +at the same moment, so that it could not have been imagination. It must +be that the terrible experiences of the past weeks have developed us to +a highly sensitized degree, for many things are strikingly clear which +were not so before. + +Nearly every afternoon we go up over the hill to a high cliff +overhanging the river which makes a sounding board for those sounds, +which never abate, of a distant battle across the valley. + +Heaven above! how are there men enough left after all these weeks of +killing to continue a battle? At times the reports come as thick and +fast as hail, making one long roar of awfulness, and our hearts sink +like lead at the vision it conjures up. + +And again, how readily and eagerly hope springs up when the shots become +interrupted and the noise fades away a little. + +In this wooded spot where we so often go to find out the real truth of +things with our own ears, one meets nearly all one's friends from the +neighboring villas who have come for the same purpose, morbidly +attracted as we all, no doubt, are by these dreadful signs of a world of +torture. + +We huddle together like sheep lost in the storm, we confide our personal +misfortunes and we recount the barbarous tales we have recently heard, +the story ever interrupted by fresh evidence of the reviving fury of the +never-ending struggle. + +When we arrived home we heard that a company of soldiers had arrested, +as espions, four or five men who, like ourselves, were taking a little +promenade in the wood across the valley. Our liberties are being +curtailed more and more. Thank goodness there is a large garden and a +private wood to wander in. A month ago the order was that every +inhabitant must be in the house and lights out at eight P. M. +Now it is seven o'clock and as the days grow shorter it will soon be six +or five--and perhaps three. The soldiers are in such a blue fear of +being shot that recently in Aerschot all the villagers were put into the +church on bread and water. Some of the men were shot before their wives +and most of the houses burned. And they say, "the heart of the Imperial +Empire bleeds." It is not surprising that it does when one considers +what is happening right here at Liége, where houses are burned and +innocent men shot for murder. Afterward one finds German bullets in +German soldiers, which proves what you will. + +What a story we heard to-day--such a pitiful little story of somebody's +blue-eyed boy who ran out with his toy gun and aimed it at the passing +troops. + +They shot him dead, the little fellow, but he will sleep in a hero's +grave as truly as another, for his loyal wee might. + + + + +_September 18th, Friday._ + + +A memorable day! We went in the auto to Spa. As we drove out of the +court yard we were obliged to let some horsemen pass, who were out for +their morning exercise. I think it is somebody's body guard, for we see +them often at a distance. There are about thirty of them and at close +range they are rather beautiful, that is, their uniforms of spotless +white broadcloth with gold trimmings. _En route_ we passed by Fort +d'Embourg, which still has some of its cupolas, and Fort Chaudefontaine, +which our burned soldiers defended and which is demolished. For miles +around the country has been flattened, one may say, from the operation +of the cannon and looks as if a cyclone had hurried across it. Every bit +of shrubbery has been swept off the soil as if by a blast of magic and +the singed earth has a very shorn-lamb aspect. + +Our route was a veritable _via dolorosa_--destruction on both sides, in +front and behind. Many houses and trees had eight inch shells half +sticking in them which have not exploded and nobody knows when they may. +The churches were without fail demolished more or less and the most +astonishing thing was to see, again and again, the marble statue of the +Christ standing intact on the crumbling remains of an altar. It fills +one with awe and reverence to see this figure repeatedly spared by a +supernatural power from an otherwise pitiless devastation. We passed +through the now famous Louvigné which was entirely burned by the +Prussians on their way to Liége. It was the same old story of the +"civilians firing on the troops," or rather the excuse of the +delinquents to martyr innocent villagers who instinctively took up a +rifle to defend their homes, as any one of us would. And revenge came +quickly. + +As we neared this spot which scarred the face of Nature, we were seized +with silent horror. If, in the smiling sunshine and in the quiet of the +beautiful country, we shivered at the sight of such destruction and the +thought of that dastardly work which marked the destiny of hundreds of +human beings, what must the awful realization have been to the +inhabitants themselves? Fancy the helplessness of them and their +consternation at the approach of a great army bearing down, of men +maddened with the love of conquest, of the wild beast seeking what it +may devour! Imagine the distant rumbling of wheels, drawing nearer and +nearer, the thud of horses' hoofs, the rhythmic tramp of feet, first +wafted on the wind, and finally the frightful dread confirmed by a +sudden explosion from the forts. Then the arrival--the dark--the +noise--the confusion--the terror of the women--the screams of little +children clinging to their mothers--the despair of the old ones, ill and +bedridden--fire everywhere and men torn from the arms of their loved +ones and stood up in a row and shot. What ghastly scenes, illumined +still more by those rockets of flame from the forts which cut across the +plain to stay the brutal invaders! + +I saw a little girl come out from the débris to draw water from a +pump--for what? For whom? There did not seem to be a living creature in +the vicinity, though perhaps some of the poor things who fled out into +the night across the fields for safety, have come back to dig out a +little home under the crumbled stone. One or two houses remained +standing, which seems a miracle, as pétrole-soaked fire-brands were +thrown systematically into every habitation. As we passed, rather +quickly, I counted ninety houses in ruins and about half a mile from the +road, a magnificent château, a victim as well as the meanest hovel. The +façade only was standing, though on approaching directly, the building +seemed intact, except for a curious impression of daylight shining +through the windows. + +Coming back in the twilight the effect of all this misery was +accentuated, the sentinels every few hundred yards were more suspicious +than ever and when we came upon a few isolated "_Hussars de la Mort_" +with the death's head leering out from those elegant fur turbans, I +thought all was finished. Happily the men were more peaceable than their +aspect. + +Spa, the lovely, indolent _ville d'eaux_, which we visited, was filled +with the "military" and bristling like a porcupine with saw-edged +bayonets and pointed helmets. + + + + +_September 22nd, Tuesday._ + + +The doctor has gone to Neufchateau in the Ardennes to bring back the +French and Belgian wounded. I wish I could have gone with him, for we +seem so useless here now that our soldiers are well, and the days are +long, since the wild excitement of a giant army on the wing has cooled +down. "On the wing" is not an idle expression when we remember those +forced marches and how they lashed the poor artillery horses which +galloped and strained in the traces without making much impression on +the wheels. It was rather like that famous chariot race in the play, +"Ben Hur," when the landscape rolled around too fast for the horses. +Certain Imperial Esprits have doubtless already arrived, but without the +baggage--an item somewhat important. + +May the Fates preserve beautiful Paris! There is a dear little French +sister at the Convent (this Sisterhood was transferred from Metz after +the War of 1870) who says that we must pray the Blessed Virgin every day +to "_écraser_ (smash) _les Allemands_," and she says it so fervently +that one does not observe the lack of Christian spirit. + +Very little is passing through the city at present except perhaps this +eternal line of trains, and oh, how we are thirsting for news! Can you +imagine, dear people at home, you who have hundreds of newspapers, how +we are straining every nerve to know the real truth of things as they +are, to pierce through this thick wall, with which an arrogant despotism +has cut us off from the whole world? But we cannot. It is wadded on both +sides with deceptions and our only privilege is to surmise. What poor +things we are, in truth, though born and reared in the common +independence of the age. Everywhere (else) the poorest farmer has his +one old horse to take him to and fro, where he will, and he has his acre +of God's country, where he may muse in the sun or dream with the stars, +while we, conquered by numbers, must walk in a straight line without +loitering and we must go into our houses at seven P. M. and +close the door. Do you think that is amusing? + + + + +_September 24th, Thursday._ + + +We heard five booms of cannon in an hour this morning and bad and +inhuman as it sounds, we were quite pleased--any little sign from an +outside world that one lives, one breathes, to drag us out of this +inertia, this eternal silence! + + + + +_September 28th, Monday._ + + +There was quite a demonstration in Liége yesterday when they brought +back from Neufchateau some Belgian and French wounded. The people all +shouted, "_Vive la France._" Today we have a new military governor, who +has given the order to shoot, without hesitation, any person attempting +such an indiscretion again. + +The scene of operations is gradually swinging back into Belgium and the +stories of atrocities are increasing. The sacking and burning of +Louvain, with its art treasures and its world-famous library of rare +books and old manuscripts, is only another blot on a shield already +stained. In fact, it is said that the general who permitted it is most +discontented with himself for having been so stupid and that he has been +relieved from active service on account of ill health. + +Monsieur Max, the burgomaster of Brussels, has been taken prisoner and +is in confinement at Namur, because he was not able nor willing to meet +the demands of the Prussians, who want gold. We hear that the women of +Germany have been required to give up all their jewelry, except wedding +rings, for fighting money. + + + + +_September 30th, Wednesday._ + + +We went again to Spa in the auto. Passing again through the pitiful +village of Louvigné, we saw, in a meadow, the graves, covered with +wayside flowers, of the farmers who were shot. The soldiers picked out +forty of the villagers, stood them up in a line, then shouted, "Save +yourselves." Thirteen were shot in the back and the rest escaped. What +words to find for this barbarism? But is it barbarism and not rather the +refined cruelty of civilization? Is it not better then to remain a +primitive, with a beautiful faith in the Sun-god? + + + + +_October 1st, Thursday._ + + +The siege of Antwerp has begun. Here is a dialogue between the Kaiser +and his _belle armée_. + +K. "I need Antwerp." + +A. "Your Majesty shall have Antwerp, but we need five hundred thousand +men." + +K. "You shall have them." + +Does this explain the fantastic array of soldiers, sailors, the old, the +young, grandfathers and infants, the simple rank and file and the +elegant regiments of H. M. that are continually trailing on to the +battlefield? + + + + +_September 29th, Tuesday._ + + +The servants are dismantling the house today, putting all the art +treasures in safety--tapestries, silver, portraits, paintings, rugs, +fine china, furniture, dresses, furs, books, linen--in fact everything +of value. All this is to be taken off for safekeeping and sealed +up,--maybe, in the crystal caves of the river nymph, Aréthusa. Madame X. +does not like to imagine the _Haus Fraus_ parading in her sables. + +A man in the city saw some circulars ready for distribution that were +printed by the German War Office, saying that in case of retreat of the +army, the inhabitants of Liége would have six hours to evacuate the +city. + +All that horror over again? Oh! this is a more terrifying thought, even, +than the advance of an army. + +Madame de H. managed to get through to us a letter from Brussels by +messenger. What dreadful things are happening, what curious things! +Three kilometres from her château on the other side of Brussels is an +old feudal castle which has been occupied for the last two years by an +Austrian family. These people were never very neighborly, preferring +their own society evidently and spending all their time and interest in +repairing the dilapidated walls of an unused wing of the château. This +had turned out an endless task, as it appears, continued for weeks and +then suddenly and unaccountably stopped for days, only to be feverishly +recommenced. But of course, people round about, accustomed to the +varying energy of workmen in general were not puzzled at this. At least +this was the explanation given and, in truth, it began to look as if the +old place would live its given quota of days and crumble away still +unfinished. + +Twenty-four hours after Germany declared war on France and had already +crossed the frontier into Belgium, the Austrian family disappeared in +the night, taking with them their household goods. The next day Belgian +authorities seized the property and found a complete arsenal under the +walls with a net-work of tunnels burrowing far into the earth in all +directions. + + + + +_October 3rd, Saturday._ + + +During the last forty-eight hours, hundreds of cattle cars have been +going back to Germany and we were very curious as to their contents. +Unhappily, we have been enlightened. + +Some of the villagers at the station, this morning, looked into one car +and saw that it was full of dead human bodies, tied together in threes +and packed tightly side by side in rows. Is that not too horrible for +words? It is better not to be too inquisitive these days, for there is +horror enough on the surface of things. + +The Germans have already taken some of the forts of Antwerp, although +the country surrounding the outer belt line of forts has been purposely +inundated, which does not, however, prevent the operation of big field +cannon. + +About fourteen of our wounded at the Convent Ambulance were sent to +Germany today as prisoners. We went to see them off and found the poor +things absolutely overwhelmed. Against the fear of cold and +imprisonment, they put on as many clothes as possible--two suits of +underwear, two pairs of socks, two pairs of trousers, coats, shirts, +sweaters and waistcoats--until they looked like stuffed partridges. +Poor, feathered brood, with pinioned wings! At three P. M. our +(usually) gay boys were led out of the court, two by two, like convicts, +a Prussian at the head of the column and a Prussian at the foot. + +Oh, these Belgians are brave and they know how to obey, which may be the +very secret of their greatness. It is glorious to see the respect with +which even grown men accept the advice of their aged parents, for at the +moment of peril to their honor and their country when the old father had +said to his son, "My boy, it is time to lay down the hoe and take up +the sword," he had answered, simply, "_Oui, mon père_," while the women +brought out the sword and buckled it on with a tearless Godspeed. + +That is the way the Belgians went to war and that is the way they will +sustain themselves to the glorious end. + + + + +_October 5th, Monday._ + + +To-day, two months after that horrible battle of Sartilmont, we found a +Belgian soldier's cap lying in the middle of the path in the woods. It +seemed like a human thing and stirred me to the profoundest depths. I +never thought that clothes could take on life and a personality all +alone, but they do. Has its owner been in hiding all these weeks or is +he lying yet unburied among the friendly trees? In these places where +Death has walked so boldly one feels his accompanying presence at every +step. + + + + +_October 8th, Thursday._ + + +Monsieur B., a man of seventy years (Madame X.'s brother-in-law), was +taken as hostage yesterday at Spa. Fortunately for him, he was allowed +to sleep in the hotel, but can you imagine what the anxiety of those +twenty-four hours was? Every voice in the street, every foot-step in the +corridor--! + +From the top of the mountain all day a continual booming was heard, +distantly transmitted through the air. It was so incessant and with such +vivacity, one could easily imagine two armies all mixed up into one. The +Red Cross trains bear witness to tremendous battles somewhere--but +where? We hardly know how to contain ourselves in this absolute +ignorance of what is happening in the world. We rush upon and tear to +bits, like beasts of prey, the least little piece of news that comes +straggling within reach and if, by chance, someone comes into the court, +it is enough for all the family, including the servants, to rush to the +windows in excitement. + +The soldiers who are in the garage had the delicate idea of killing a +cow therein, which they did, and dismantled the animal then and there. +The next day they dressed themselves in Belgian uniforms, stripped from +the dead, and had themselves photographed before the château. We noticed +their laughing and pointing to the attic windows of the house, and we +finally discovered that they had festooned strings of sausages, of their +own recent make, from the window sills, to ripen. + +A Baron de S. spent the night here, and told us of the ravages made by +the passing troops at his château down in the country. They had buried a +Frenchman in one corner of the garden and two Germans in another and +nothing was left but the house. All engravings and paintings were cut +with a sword; silver platters were melted in a lump in the court yard; +meat was cut up on a beautiful salon table; shoe polish was rubbed on +another; pipes in the kitchen and bathroom were cut to flood the rooms; +every glass in the house was broken and all the linen carried off except +the handkerchiefs. + + + + +_October 9th, Friday._ + + +Baron T., another friend of the family, came to lunch. He told us of his +cousin, who was one of the unfortunate victims of the sack of Louvain. +This aged man (seventy years) with a thousand others, was obliged to +walk for twenty-four hours with nothing to eat or drink and arms +stretched up straight over their heads. The poor man, fainting with +fatigue, asked permission of the soldiers to put his hands behind his +neck, but this grace was denied, and after some hours more all the +company was pushed into a cattle train and for eight days taken over the +country, as far as Cologne, and at last released in Brussels, almost +demented. + +When this Monsieur--of whom I speak, found himself free again he made +his way, laboriously enough, to his brother's house in Brussels. + +The _maitre d'hotel_ opened the door and, seeing this haggard, bootless +individual, who was weakened with fatigue and dazed from his recent +horrible experience, did not recognize him, naturally enough, and +refused him admission until the old gentleman got his poor scattered +brains together enough to prove his identity. This is the story as we +have it first-hand. Can it then be possible that the others we heard are +true, too? + + + + +_October 10th, Saturday._ + + +I have been advertised! like a stray dog, and what a feeling of +importance it gives one. A peculiar looking document with the Embassy +seals of Paris and Brussels on it, arrived from the American Consul in +Liége enquiring if such a person as "Me" still exists. + +Well, rather, I should say. Fancy one's coming all the way on foot from +Brussels to find out that! + +Masses of soldiers and cannon passing today and news from Brussels is +bad. The worst must have happened! "Antwerp, the untakable." How is it +possible in a few days, with fifty-two forts in triple line? We were so +depressed we could scarcely eat dinner, when about nine P. M. +came the news, from a man of affairs who is just back from Brussels, +that the rumor is false. We shall sleep tonight after this hope and the +end of the world is not today, anyway. + + + + +_October 11th, Sunday._ + + +We have heard the raging of a distant battle for days and we tremble for +the result. It seems that Antwerp is really taken, that is, "they say" +so, but it is such a mystery to everybody. + +A Dutch army nurse--but in the German Red Cross service--is here for a +few days' furlough, and related to Madame X. some horrible details of +the battlefield in France, whence she has recently come. It is just one +scene of mud and blood--pieces of limbs strewn everywhere and the dead +standing straight against masses of bodies, both living and dead. In +some towns she saw women and children pinioned with a sword through the +breast to the walls of their houses, and in Belgium the women and +children were often obliged to hold the hands of the men whom the +soldiers shot at random, according to their fancy. Here again are tales +that one hears that I cannot assert as facts, though this woman told +them as her own experiences. + +Madame X. received a card from Charles, the young gardener, who is now +safe in France training with the Belgian army near Dunkirque. You are +doubtless wondering how a card arrived here, as we have had no mail +since August 2nd. It was sent to a certain bank in Holland which is not +far from the Belgian frontier and a messenger brought it on foot. + +And I have sent you back a letter, dear people, scribbled at top speed +(without capitals, t's crossed nor i's dotted, probably) by the same +messenger who takes his life in his hands when he passes the guard at +the Dutch frontier again. If letters are found on this person he will +certainly be shot, so whether you ever receive my communication will be +a matter of history. + + + + +_October 13th, Tuesday._ + + +The old concierge of the hunting box at Viel Salm (near Malmédy, +Germany), who has been dying of tuberculosis for twenty years, arrived +here tonight, having walked the whole distance of seventy five +kilometres. This shows the faithfulness of the old servant who thought +he must come to report the sacking of the villa by the German troops +which occurred in the early days of August. + +The poor man could not have hobbled another step, for he was at the end +of his strength and his feet were just two great blisters. He told a +shocking tale of the troops, who entirely pillaged the villa. While he +went to complain of them at the _Kommandantur_ of the place, others came +and what they did not break up, they took off. Pictures, engravings and +mirrors were broken, the leather chairs slit up with a sabre--artistically +done in the shape of a cross--and porcelain smashed in the middle of the +courtyard. You can see by this that pillaging and atrocities began when +the troops were hardly over the frontier. + +In one of the numerous pillaged châteaux around about, an extraordinary +bit of literature, in fact a masterpiece, has been found by the +châtelaine. A tiny scrap of paper sticking out from a book had these +words scribbled on it in German: "I am only a common soldier but I ask +pardon for these atrocities, committed by my superior officers." + + + + +_October 14th, Wednesday._ + + +It is unbelievable the trainloads of soldiers that are passing about +every ten minutes, and the fighting--judging from the wounded--must be +beyond words. The army nurse told of men who have fought five days in +the trenches without relief. They were tumbling over with fatigue, rifle +in hand, and the officers were obliged to go from one to the other, +shaking them into consciousness. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING VIEL SALM AND THE GERMAN FRONTIER] + + + + +_October 16th, Friday._ + + +We went to Viel Salm in the automobile. The destruction at the villa, +which I saw with my own eyes, has not been exaggerated. There was +practically nothing left but the structure itself and that was far from +intact, for nearly all the great plate glass windows were broken by some +_dévot_ of vandalism who had taken the trouble and an ax to split up the +jambs of the doors so that they never could shut again. + +Inside was far worse; every picture, glass and mirror was smashed, each +leather chair had a great cross on it, cut with the sword, the sofas +were ripped up the middle, curtains and portières were wrenched from +their rods, all the dishes were taken except the glass stoppers of the +water-bottles, all the linen, all the blankets, all the clothes except a +few which were carefully cut up into ribbons and the tops of riding +boots which were sawed off for gaiters. In addition to this, eighteen +beds and bedsteads as well were carried off. + +We visited the Baronne de L., whose son, after refusing a demand of +forty thousand francs, was taken as a hostage, with the burgomaster and +others of the village. + +One morning at two o'clock a great ox cart drove up the avenue of pines +to the château and took him off before his mother's eyes. He is now +confined in a convict's cell at Coblenz. + +Baronne de L. has suffered severely at the hands of the invaders. She is +living quite alone in the château with the servants since her son was +taken and the avalanche of troops swept over the frontier at this point. +The house has been full of officers from the "first days" and she thinks +one of them was the "Kronprinz" from his photograph and because his +brother-officers always addressed him as Excellency. After one frightful +day, when the soldiers had literally despoiled the place by tearing +trophies from the wall, appropriating furniture and devastating the +stables, the household quieted down about midnight and everybody was in +bed, when suddenly a thundering of horses' hoofs was heard in the +courtyard and a new detachment of hungry, quarrelsome men piled in, +making a raid on the kitchen and pantries as usual. They were even more +boisterous and brutal than their predecessors and poor Madame de L. +crept fearfully up to the captain's room to solicit his aid and +protection. She knocked and knocked several times before the door +finally burst open and he angrily demanded what she wanted. Just as he +was in the middle of roaring out an oath, he suddenly drew himself up +haughtily, attired as he was in that great voluminous night gown +accredited to the Teutonic people, to salute a superior officer who at +that moment ascended the stair-case. + +Baronne de L. said that in spite of the fearfulness of the moment, it +was one of the most laughable scenes that she ever witnessed. + +On our way home from Viel Salm we saw the wonderful bridge of trees, +three hundred feet long and fifty feet high, at Trois Ponts, which the +Germans built when the tunnel was blown up by the Belgians at the +commencement of the war. It is a marvellous affair in engineering +construction and commands enthusiastic admiration. Except for iron bolts +and rivets, it is made entirely of trunks of huge trees--with the bark +yet on in places, though, when necessary, a surface was planed square +and true to meet its fellow. + +We drove through the village of Francorchamps, which was also burned to +the ground, and a few miles further on met three Prussian officers who +snarled out some frightful invective as we passed. I cannot think of a +reason, except that we were in an automobile while they were obliged to +circulate in a modest, pony phaeton. + + + + +_October 17th, Saturday._ + + +Antwerp is taken! There is no doubt about it now, and it is a sad blow +for Belgium. Antwerp! the pride and strength of the whole empire! But +there is not a person (bar the enemy) who does not expect to get it back +and all the rest of the usurped territory. + +Madame de H. sent letters by a "foot-messenger" from Brussels. She left +here only to plunge into a wild vortex of experiences there. Two days +ago she saw a battle in the air between two aeroplanes and yesterday the +locomotives on the trains had chains of roses around their necks to +celebrate some good news for the enemy. It sounds wild, doesn't it? And +last week--well, one does not dare to think what might have happened at +her home, Château de H., when four different companies of soldiers +pursued each other in quick succession on the road. + +First a regiment of German light infantry passed who stopped just long +enough for some hot coffee and were off again. About half an hour later +a brigade of Belgian bicycle _carabiniers_ appeared and stayed to +"lunch." They were not so _pressés_ and were leisurely laughing and +joking when one of the stable-men rushed panting into the kitchen and +said a company of Uhlans could be seen galloping hard in the distance. + +Then ensued a kaleidoscopic performance which took less time than my +writing it, and they all escaped, safely guided by Baron de H. himself, +down a narrow path hidden by trees behind the stables which led them +eventually right out across the heart of that famous beet-root country. +When the last man was safely hidden from view, one breathed a sigh of +relief which only changed to an exclamation of terror as, turning from +this window to look out of another, one saw a hundred fierce horsemen +dash up, hard on the scent of their prey. + +When Madame de H. (senior) looked down from her room and saw the Uhlans +ride into the court, she went right off her head, literally, and drawing +a tiny pearl-handled revolver from a secret drawer in her desk, started +to shoot from the window. But thanks to the presence of mind and rapid +action of her daughter-in-law, who pushed her unceremoniously into her +dressing-room and locked the door, she was prevented in time, which +without the least doubt saved all their lives. + +It is just such circumstances as these that have given the troops +opportunities and excuses to shoot peace loving citizens and burn down +many a town. + +Madame de H. (junior) then went down stairs and placated the men, who +were very insolent, as well as she could with what was left to eat in +the house. As the latter were deep in this occupation of refreshing +themselves, the sentry espied a troop of Belgian lanciers coming on the +gallop and gave the alarm. + +To horse! and away they went, bridles clinking, lances clashing. Then +commenced a phantom race as they flew over the ground like the wind, the +Belgians following hot in pursuit, until they both disappeared over the +edge of the world. + + + + +_October 19th, Monday._ + + +I went to see the American Consul, to explain that I do exist and to ask +his advice about getting back to France. He did not seem to second my +enthusiasm, which surprised me, and said, "In the first place what would +you go in, and in the second, why should you want to go, with Paris +surrounded by 2,000,000 soldiers?" + +Isn't it human nature to want to get out of prison? + +He has received no mail from America since August 19th and a letter +which came from his confrère, the American Consul at Aix-la-Chapelle, +Germany, took twenty-five days by the German Military Post. + + + + +_October 22nd, Thursday._ + + +I was perfectly enraged this morning when I crossed the bridge and saw +the soldiers changing the street signs into the German language. Now it +is "_nach Brussels_" and "_nach Lüttich_." + +I suppose you will say, "But why be so disturbed about things? It is not +your war." But it is my war. I cannot keep out of it--it's everybody's +war! + +The new soldiers who have been in the stable at the château received +sudden orders to advance. The rest of the company, scattered about in +the vicinity, assembled here and they marched out of the court, a +hundred strong. Poor, old, nice things, these Bavarians; they did not +look very military nor very keen about moving on to the "front." + +In contrast one can tell a Prussian five blocks away by his swing. His +stride is so individually overbearing that it is impossible to mistake. + + + + +_November 5th, Thursday._ + + +Monsieur and Madame S. came back from Brussels today and oh, it was good +to get a little, first-hand, outside news! It appears that Brussels +still has a semblance of her normal activity, as the heel of oppression, +in the presence of different foreign representatives, has not cut in so +deeply there. Madame S. said, one evening when they were walking in the +street she noticed a man following them and when they reached a +particularly dark corner he came quickly up and whispered, "Would you +like to see a 'London Times'? Then come into the shadow across the way." +It is well known that a single copy has already sold for 165 francs and +also there has been quite a traffic in renting sheets of it for twenty +francs the half hour. + +Coming back from Brussels, they drove through Louvain--martyred Louvain! +It was too dreadful to contemplate. First the material destruction of +those wonderful buildings, like an exquisite pattern in lace, torn by a +ruthless sword and eaten by wanton flame; then the misery and +deprivation of the people who were able to resist those hours of agony +and peril. + +Every sort of device was used for shelter and hollow eyes and +terror-stricken faces looked out from the damp cellars under the ruins, +where destitute families of at least half the population had crept to +find a home. + +Now we know why the taking of Antwerp has been kept so modestly in the +background and has never been advertised in Liége like all the other +victories, which were always flaunted in large print. It is because +while the Germans were studiously busy taking the city, fort by fort, +the Belgian army was walking out by the side door, along the coast to +France, so that when a big personage was sent from Germany to make a +grand, triumphal entry into Antwerp, he found an empty city and received +the sword of a general, ill and incapacitated for duty. + +It is said that the Prussian general who accomplished the siege was +decorated amid a grand flourish of trumpets and then retired, since one +of the great motives was the capture of the Belgian army, which is now +safe in France and taking a week-end off somewhere. Is it not fine that +little Belgium has been able to impede the great German army two and one +half months, which has given the other actors in the play time to +change their costumes? Oh, it is fine to be brave! + +Countess de M. came with Monsieur and Madame S. from Brussels and has +her passports all in order to go to France, to her husband who is in the +Belgian army near Calais. She is leaving at once, under the protection +of the Dutch Consul, who is here in Liége for a few days (a circumstance +ordained by the Fates) and who is going to conduct her in his auto over +the frontier to Maestricht, Holland. And the miracle has happened! If I +can get my papers in readiness in two days, she will take me with her. I +am wild with joy, but I feel it is like a dream that one knows cannot +come true. + + + + +_November 6th, Friday._ + + +Just the moment I finished breakfast this morning, I dashed into town, +that is, as fast as an old tramcar could take me, to the American +Consul. In my impatience, I fancy I must have rung his bell several +times, though it was really a long while before the servant opened the +door and showed me in to the library. Then Mr. Z. (a German-sounding +name), the Consul, appeared, unshaven and with the evidence of his +morning meal upon his face--it was yellow. + +But nothing mattered to me and I plunged into the subject of getting a +passport for to-morrow without preliminaries. Perhaps I took the poor +man's breath away, for certainly he was not nearly as enthusiastic as I +about it. In fact, he embarked upon a dissertation pertaining to the +invaders which made me cry out in astonishment, "Why, you surprise me, +you seem to have pro-enemy tendencies." "Well," he said, "they've done +everything they've said they have, haven't they?" + +I asked him if he had seen Louvigné or Visé yet and he said, "No, I +haven't ben up t' Visé yet." + +All this, however, was far from the point in question and I finally got +back to it by informing him of the good fortune I was going to have +to-morrow in getting away to Holland in the Dutch Consul's automobile if +I could get my passport from the Germans. It did not occur to me that +there would be any difficulty about it, so I calmly asked him if he +could get it for me by six o'clock to-night? + +"Oh, no," he replied, "I could not get it before two or three days." + +"But," I protested, aghast, "I am going to-morrow and it is a chance in +a thousand; I may not have another such opportunity during the war. +Could you not make an especial effort to get it for me?" + +"Well," he answered, "I'll do what I can but I won't promise anything. +I'm not agoing to ask any favors of those people," i.e., the Germans. + +"It is not a favor," I replied, "it is your right. For what other reason +is an American Consul if he is not to protect his people, particularly +in wartime?" + +"Oh, my dear young lady," he answered, "you must not think that you are +the only American in Liége." + +"How many are there?" indignantly. + +"Well, three or four," he replied, reluctantly. + +That was really too much! I was in despair. What was to be done? Seeing +my hope of freedom vanishing before my eyes, I clutched at the last +straw and entreated him with what eloquence I could whip into line to +make at least some effort to get me the passport by six o'clock, when I +would come again to his house for it. + +"Oh, no," he said quickly, "I don't get back here until eight o'clock, +but if you happen to pass by 'The Golden Lion' (or some such name) you +might find me there." + +Choking with rage I said to him, "I see that you cannot help me, Mr. Z., +but if you will be good enough to give me your card (he had already +suggested it) to the German passport department, I will go to the +_Kommandantur_ myself and see what I can do; in fact, I am sure I can +accomplish far more than you." He ought to have been affronted at this +but, on the contrary, seemed jolly well pleased and handed me out his +card in a hurry, glad to relieve himself of the obligation of asking any +favors of "those people." + +I then made my way to the _Palais de Justice_. A man accosted me in the +square and told me if I were going for passports it would be of no use, +as there were hundreds and hundreds of people there before me. But I +kept on. With the glorious end in view, viz., to be a free person and to +see the scenes that, in a morbid way, I had begun to feel would never be +my privilege again, I kept on, threading a path through the throngs +until I stood right in front of the guard of the sacred chamber. He was +an enormously fat sentry, with the usual little round cap and fixed +bayonet. I thought he would eat me, he looked so offended, and roared +out, "_Nein, nein, das Zimmer ist voll._" Then was my moment. I pulled +out the little white card and addressed him--not too timidly either, for +hadn't I the great American people behind me? He caught the words, +"American Consul," which drew him up to salute and in the most +lamb-like voice he murmured, "_Ach, ja, Amerikaner_," and let me pass. I +cast one look at the multitude back of me--poor things, who may have +stood there two days already, and I felt despicably mean, as if I were +not playing fair. + +Once inside, I was put through a category of questions, worse than an +"Inkwhich." "Why had I come to Liége?" "How long had I been there?" "Why +did I want to go away?" "Where to?" "How?" etc. Finally my inquisitor +became suspicious, or feigned it, and said, "But what have I to prove +that you are an American?" Then I was furious and I answered, "Monsieur +(I suppose he hated the French appellation), since you have the card of +the American Consul asserting it, in your hand, is not such a question +an indignity to my government?" He answered with a wry smile and said +nothing. + +At 4 P. M. I returned for my passport with half a dozen +photographs to be affixed thereto. I had no difficulty in getting into +the _Bureau des Passeports_ as I still had the Consul's card upon which +Herr Bauer, one of the German secretaries, had scribbled some mysterious +symbols which probably meant "let her pass," or its equivalent. At any +rate, the sentry and I regarded each other superciliously and I skidded +past his saw-toothed bayonet without hurt. + +When I entered the crowded room I saw that I was about fiftieth in the +line and I said to myself that if I waited my turn I should still be +there at midnight. Luckily, an idea came to me, and waving that fateful +little white card in the air, I called out over the heads of everybody, +"Oh, Herr Bauer." A Belgian gentleman standing next me was quick enough +to catch the name and shouted out also, "Herr Bauer." But Herr Bauer was +far too clever for him and said with a mocking smile, "Ah, no, Monsieur, +you will have to wait your turn. Mademoiselle, come this way." + +I detached myself from the crowd and stepped behind the rail, horribly +conscious of unpleasant scrutiny. My face got hotter and hotter and I +could only see a host of uplifted Belgian eyebrows. Even the clerks +looked up and stared, unaccustomed as they evidently were to Herr +Bauer's benignity. And I had to bear all that humiliation because--well, +why? + +Having exposed the facts, I will give you the privilege to form your own +opinion which will be every bit as good as mine, I know. + +11 P. M. My passport signed, sealed and written all over by the +Imperial Government, is in my hand. I shall dream of long journeys, of +bitter struggles and at last--freedom! Will the daylight never come? + + + + +_November 7th, Saturday._ + + +Saturday dawned cold, gray and shivery. _Madame de M._, _Monsieur le +consul hollandais_, and I left the château at eight A. M. I was +heartbroken to part from the dear people with whom I had experienced so +much and I fancied their eyes looked longingly at the departing +automobile. They, too, would have liked to come out into the sunshine of +Freedom--how much! + +From Liége to the frontier sentries stopped us often, but the consul's +much-used passport, framed and glassed in like Napoleon's Abdication or +the Declaration of Independence, was very convincing. Half an hour's +cold drive along the Meuse brought us to Visé. On approaching it, we did +not dream that we were nearing a town and in truth we were not--only the +remains of one, for not a single building was standing. I had thought +that Louvigné with its one lane was desolate and awful, but here were +streets and streets of ashes and crumbled brick--and I seemed to see +again the ruins of ancient Troy in Asia Minor, which are not more +complete. Someone murmured, "Pompeii." But it is not comparable. The +ages have woven about the broken columns of Pompeii a light film of +romance and a bit of tender beauty springs up with the tiny, flowering +weeds which push their way to the sun between many colored tiles. Here, +the tragedy is too new; too crude; too bleeding! + +The only living things I saw were a cat scampering down a deserted +alley, and one man--half-dazed, looking at what was probably his own +ruined home; the only wall to be seen which was, even in part, standing. +It must have been an ironmonger's shop, for some black kettles still +hung on nails against the stone, and iron stoves in all their bleakness +stood up in bold relief on piles of ashes. + +When the Germans came to Visé the commanding officer called the people +together in the market place and harangued them at length, threatening +them with dreadful punishments if they did not do so and so. He felt he +had to, doubtless, as the town and the surrounding country are well +known centers of the firearms industry; the peasants work in their own +homes to a large extent and are very expert in the making of delicate +weapons and also in their use. + +So, when the sturdy Belgians could not digest another single threat, +apparently, somebody fired a shot from the crowd which killed the +officer while he was speaking. Then followed that frightful slaughter +and the firing of the town, the remnants of which we saw to-day. Nobody +on earth will ever know who fired the shot, probably, for the soldiers +hate their officers and already German bullets have been found in German +soldiers. + +9 A. M. Over the frontier! Oh, the joy of it--the indescribable +relief--the wet-eyed thankfulness! Shall I ever forget it? I did not +know until then what depths Tyranny had furrowed into my consciousness. +Here were men and women laughing and talking in the streets and people +daring to drive in their own carriages, and everybody reading +newspapers--I felt as if I would spend my last sou for one. + +The day was spent in wandering aimlessly over the old town. The wind was +bitterly piercing and a fog hung over the canal but I was not altogether +aware of bodily discomfort. My mind, trying to adjust itself to new +conditions, was in a haze, staggering back and forth from the +consciousness of regained freedom to servitude and from barbarism to +freedom again. + +At three P. M. the train left for Flushing, where we were to +take the boat for Folkestone, England. Just before it pulled out of the +station, a friend of Comtesse de M. rushed up to the car window and +said, "Madame, must you go? We have just received a dispatch saying that +a big boat has been sunk today by a mine near Boulogne." But nothing on +earth could have deterred us then. + +All through the country of Holland, Dutch soldiers were "preparing" +everywhere. We arrived at Flushing at two A. M. and went aboard +at once, but not before being well looked over by English commissioners, +who examined our foreheads and wrists for German measles. Shall I ever +get away from that word? + + + + +_November 8th, Sunday._ + + +A long day on the Channel and I was seasick--miserably, hopelessly, +endlessly seasick, but when somebody shouted I managed to lift my head +in time to see a floating mine--just a tiny, black buoy bobbing about, +but I did not mind. I asked the stewardess if she were not afraid, +making the journey every day, and her answer awed me by its conciseness +and its confidence. "Oh, no," she said. "Our Admiralty has arranged a +path for us between the mines." That was a sublime faith, but I should +choose a more winsome path--bordered with marigolds, perhaps, or phlox. + +About four P. M. the gaunt, chalk cliffs of Dover hove into +sight, rising up in their grimness and seeming yet to shadow the awful +tragedy of the previous day, when an auxiliary cruiser had struck a mine +a quarter of a mile from shore and sunk in five minutes. + + + + +_November 9th, Monday._ + + +Folkestone! The busiest town on earth, I should say, and soldiers +everywhere. There were ruddy-looking troops, singing also, and +apparently quite content to be "going over," for an Englishman is always +game; and there were pale ones, just out of hospital, in every kind of +uniform, and bands of refugees and exiles who had not a franc among +them. + +Comtesse de M. went with me to the English Embassy to see if they would +give me a passport to France with her, for in my haste in leaving Liége, +it had not occurred to me that I would need a passport ever again +anywhere. + +It seemed to me that there were millions of people at the door of the +Embassy, but fortunately Madame de M. found an acquaintance who must +have had considerable influence, for he took us around to a secret door +and we were soon in the audience room. Well, of course, there was +nothing to prove that I was an American but our honest word, which was +not enough, so I offered to hand out my German passport, which was +certainly maladroit. + +Fancy, an Englishman viséing a German passport! + +Then Madame de M. pulled out hers and asked them to sign my name on it +as companion to her. The august head looked troubled at this; however, +he took his pen and was just in the act of putting it to paper when his +assistant or rather accomplice interposed and they argued a bit. He took +his pen for the second time and plunging it into the inkwell was just +about to sign when somebody else expostulated and another discussion +ensued. + +For the third time (he pulled himself together as a man who knows what +he is about) he took his pen and would certainly have achieved his +object if the door had not opened at the inexpressible moment to admit +an authoritative-looking person who vetoed the whole proceeding. + +What those moments were to me I shall never be able to describe--that +pen so near the paper! A naked sword three times across my throat would +not have been greater suspense. Marie Antoinette could not have suffered +more. + +Well, the game was up anyway, and as there was no American Consul nearer +than London, I decided to try the amiability of the French Consul which +I found impeccable. + +At the French Embassy again was that rush and struggle for papers, and +there I witnessed a pathetic scene. A Belgian man, of middle age, and +well dressed, came to the consul literally asking alms. "Monsieur," he +said, "to ask you for help is the hardest thing that I shall ever do in +my life, but I have lost everything and I must go to my wife, who is ill +in France, and I have but five francs. Could your Embassy aid me?" + +At five P. M. the boat left Folkestone, containing a +conglomerate parcel of humanity--sailors and soldiers of different +nations and in divers uniforms, singing alternately the "_Marseillaise_" +and "God Save the King"; Red Cross assistants eager to reach the field +of their work; white-haired mothers in search of their wounded sons, +trembling for the message that land would have in store for them and +despairing exiles awaiting at least the welcome sound of their beloved +tongue. Night fell like a soft mantle and we forged on, into the +darkness, chancing what might befall. What impressed me among the people +aboard was the apparent lack of anxiety for personal safety. Past +sufferings and the great future issue were the predominant thoughts. + +The dock at Calais was crowded with anxious friends and Belgian +soldiers. Madame de M. found several acquaintances among the +latter--friends of her husband. After the usual Custom House proceedings +we started on a quest for rooms for the night. A subdued excitement +trembled over the city; the whole population was in the streets; throngs +were seething up and down; hundreds of soldiers were hurrying to and fro +and intense groups of men discussed probabilities, while anxious women +pressed in on the crowd to catch a hopeful word. We heard that the +German army was about to plunge through to Dunkirque and would shell +Calais from there. The civil population was therefore expecting every +moment the order to evacuate the city. + +As we crossed the railroad near the pier, we saw in the half light a +small company of Belgian soldiers limping along, each with a forlorn +bundle on his back. Their aspect was _complètement démoralizé_, and the +young lieutenant with us, moved by his quick sympathy, shouted, "Oh, +say, _camarades_, have you heard of the new victories on the Yser and +the brilliant defense of the Belgians?" The poor, despondent things, +fired at once by the spirit of his enthusiasm, straightened themselves +up and cried, "Oh! Ah! Is it true? _Merci, mon lieutenant, vivent les +Belges!_" + +A few yards further on we passed a group of refugees who were stumbling +aimlessly along in the dark--there were men and women, trying to console +each other, and whimpering children, sick with hunger, clinging to their +mothers' skirts. Their plaintive cry was like a knife through the heart. + +After picking a toilsome way through the crowds we arrived in the +quarter of the big hotels and found there was not a room to be had. Not +at all daunted, we retraced our steps and sought the small hotels--there +were no rooms. Still, with courage--even amusement (the affair was +taking on a spirit of adventure) we attacked the _pensions de +famille_--not a cot; not a corner. Then we stopped in the _Place_ to +review the situation, which began to look dull gray. There were still +the _cabarets_, or we could sit in the street all night. We chose the +_cabarets_ and with newborn hope started on, systematically taking one +street after another, knocking at most dreadful-looking places, even +along the waterfront. A woman's voice from behind barred shutters +usually responded. Every chair, every table, every square inch of floor +was spoken for. Then the warm, brightly-lighted railroad station, +opposite the pier, leaped into our numbed consciousness--why had we not +thought of it before? The military authorities forbade loitering there. + +Out in the dark, once more we looked at each other inquiringly. That was +a curious joke. Fate had never dealt us such a hand of cards before! We +viewed the landscape--half of it was water and the little waves lapping +against the _quai_ were rather mocking. + +Suddenly, dark and smug, a swaying object which we had not observed till +then, took monstrous form before our eyes and in it we recognized an old +friend, the Channel boat _Elfrida_, which lay basking in the velvet +shadows like a dozing cat and gently pulling on her cables. Why not? We +did! Nothing prevented our going aboard but a sleepy guard, who was +quickly consoled with a five-franc piece, and we made ourselves +comfortable for the night on the yellow, velvet cushions in the +captain's salon, behind the wheel-house. + +Who can assert that it has not all been arranged for us? Otherwise, I +fear, our own poor efforts would land us too often in the mud. + + + + +_November 10th, Tuesday._ + + +Left Calais at nine A. M. The sun was pouring its cheerful rays +over the glorious land. It ought to be free--this smiling France! +Wherever the eye rested were soldiers drilling, building, maneuvering +and digging. Every few hundred yards the railroad was intersected by +lines of trenches. These latter appeared to be about seven feet +deep--cut true as a die into the ground and were braced with a lining of +woven reeds, like basket work. The front wall of these trenches was +crenated about every two feet, forming little niches for the soldiers +and protection against flank shots. The poppies and corn flowers blowing +over the edges were holding on for dear life to their tiny inch of soil +and nearly obliterated those brutal gashes in the earth which had +swallowed up their brothers and sisters. An unsuspecting army might well +be lured into such a pleasant bear-trap. + +Train progress was very slow for we had to switch off continually to +allow ammunition trains and troops to pass. All the railroad stations +were packed with soldiers and grieving women, though there was nothing +in the way of heroics in these leave-takings, just grim resolve on the +faces of the men and silent sorrow on the lips of the women. It seemed +as if clasped hands could not release each other and eyes held eyes in a +long farewell. Husbands were tearing themselves from their wives; +white-haired mothers were adding one word more of caution to their +departing sons; and there were young boys, of perhaps the last class, +who, touched at the moment to say _au revoir_, were yet eager to plunge +out into the future. I shall never know how many last good-byes I +witnessed this day. + +Train after train of cattle cars passed us, with a big cannon in the +middle, three horses stabled in one end and three in the other. Along +the road were several regiments of Indian troops--the _Girkhas_. They +were tall, splendidly handsome men of fine features, light, +chocolate-colored skin and brilliant, black eyes. They wore long, khaki +coats, belted in like a Russian blouse, and khaki turbans and they waved +their hands and smiled continually, showing flashing, white teeth. They +were evidently well pleased with the turn of events which had led them +to this wondrous, new world, where was plenty of opportunity for +killing--this reputed trait, however, was quite belied by their amiable +faces. + +About four P. M. (three hours yet to Paris) I was dead with +fatigue and seeing so much. Also I had not had a bite to eat since eight +A. M., having counted on a basket lunch on the road, or at +least a solitary sandwich, but all the convenient station buffets have +been closed up since the war and civilians are tacitly understood to +look after themselves and not to bother the Government by racing +needlessly over the country. But I do not think there were many making +aimless journeys. + +Since noon the cars had been steadily filling up, until the compartments +destined for ten persons were accommodating twenty, not including +bundles, lapdogs, bandboxes and bird-cages--even then there was always +room for one more. And nobody was indignant, but rather complacent and +obliging, for had they not all sons at the front and the same great +grief at heart? The conversation was general as to people and on one +sole topic, the "War," including the strategic achievements of the +French army, "Eux" (they, i.e., the Germans), and the marvellous +qualities of their beloved Général Joffre, affectionately termed +"Grandpère" by the soldiers. + +And so we rolled slowly and more slowly on, packed like sardines, the +removing of one meaning the displacement of all, as when one heedlessly +snatches a potato from the middle of a bushel basket. But very few got +down except the soldiers, the objective point for all being Paris. + +The twilight shadows were welcome, for they swallowed up all the +phantasmagoria of the day and we relapsed into silence. It was one of +those moments when Reality, or the fear of it, battles with our courage +and each one grew thoughtful as he neared the great city, dreading to +meet the spectre he feared. + +The wheels of the cars sang on in a hollow, monotonous tune, the windows +rattled systematically and outraged brakes screeched at every recurrent +jolt. Finally we saw a dim row of lights and a long, thin whistle from +our engine told us that the journey was done. Again was that noticeable +lack of excitement: everyone calmly took his personal belongings and +prepared to get down when the guard, in an unimportant voice, should +call out "_Paree_," which you would not hear if you were not listening. + +After the Customs, I was in a frenzy to get out into the street, to be +welcomed back, as one always is here, and to be cheered and warmed by +the bright lights--the flashing eyes of Paris. But the streets were dim, +the shops and restaurants closed and few people circulating about. How +different it all was! I felt like Rip van Winkle after his twenty-years' +sleep, for at the apartment (I thought I had come to the wrong house) +was a new concierge, young and pretty, replacing the old, white-haired +one. Had we gone back twenty years instead? The rooms were empty--all my +friends had disappeared, the dust was inches thick, the furniture pushed +mostly into the middle of the rooms and some of the beds were gone. +Thickly sprinkled over the floor of my room and on my bed were pieces of +the window glass, broken like all the others in the house, by a German +bomb which fell and exploded in front of the Prince of Monaco's house, +two doors from us--not one hundred and fifty feet away. Half dazed, I +dusted a place large enough for my hat and coat, extracted some clean +linen from the closet and went to bed, sick at heart. + + + + +_November 12th, Thursday._ + + +Paris! after a four days' tiring journey which in happier times takes +only five hours. But it doesn't matter--it is home again. Anywhere is +home which is out from under that yoke of infamous tyranny. I rage in +proportion as the minutes separate me from this odious thing that closes +its iron fingers around the necks of my friends. + +No! It is not to be borne. Let every man, woman and child on the earth +rise up until we have right. Do I not know? Have I not experienced the +mailed fist? And yet, how little in comparison to others; but it is +enough. + +The concierge gave me coffee and rolls and I dressed quickly in order +to get out into the street where I knew the dismal impression of the +indoors would be dispelled by the habitual smile of the enchanted city. +But the day was dull--the summit of the Eiffel Tower was hooded in a +cloud of fog and a cold blast swept over the Place de La Concorde which +froze me to the marrow. I kept on, however, somewhat protected by the +arcades of the rue de Rivoli, expecting to see, at least, familiar faces +in the shop-keepers of that gay, little Rialto--but the doors were all +closed and the blinds down. One place was open--the art shop of the +little, old, white-haired man with the twinkling eyes, who has sold me +marvellous Venus de Milos, etc., times without number. I greeted him +with real feeling and enthusiasm, for here was somebody I knew. He did +not recognize me and stared dully, without answering, as one who is +dazed; he was unshaven and dirty, his usually clear eye was lifeless and +his face was thin and drawn. Could it be that he had not enough to eat, +or was it despair? He must have had nephews and perhaps sons and +grandsons at the front. But do the people who stay at home change like +that? I went on--the Hotel Meurice was closed; the Continentale had a +section open for the Red Cross; the Bristol was closed; the Ritz was +made into an Ambulance; not a living soul on the Place Vendôme. All the +famous hat shops were closed--who would have a reason to buy hats? All +the big dressmakers were closed and every jewelry shop but two in all +that dazzling, brilliant rue de la Paix was closed. There were perhaps a +dozen people on the Boulevards, a single taxicab crawled listlessly out +of a side street, but not an omnibus to be seen. They, like all the +world, had left for the "front" and will go down in history as having +transferred the valiant French army in all haste to Victory on the +Battlefield of the Marne. + +The only thing unchanged was the Opéra, which stood there, in all its +splendor, looking on at the grievous spectacle of Paris, in anguish. +Will she live? Can she die? Is the burden of her woes too great? O, +Beautiful City of Dreams! Some call you very wicked--you, whose brave +smile has endured through all your sorrows. Is that so little? And the +valor of your Sons--was it ever surpassed? Did one of the hundreds, one +of the thousands, one of the millions, hesitate the fraction of an +instant at your call? + +O, Paris! Inimitable Paris! with the death shadow on your lovely +face.... + + + + + + +-----------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 9 interment changed to internment | + | Page 52 officiers changed to officers | + | Page 67 Kommandatur changed to Kommandantur | + | Page 74 wth changed to with | + | Page 93 pertubation changed to perturbation | + | Page 94 stupified changed to stupefied | + | Page 115 gods changed to goods | + | Page 126 Coblentz changed to Coblenz | + +-----------------------------------------------+ + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIéGE ON THE LINE OF MARCH*** + + +******* This file should be named 30264-8.txt or 30264-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/2/6/30264 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/30264-8.zip b/old/30264-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..85c9025 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264-8.zip diff --git a/old/30264-h.zip b/old/30264-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..48c7e4c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264-h.zip diff --git a/old/30264-h/30264-h.htm b/old/30264-h/30264-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e999fb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264-h/30264-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4567 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Liége on the Line of March, by Glenna Lindsley Bigelow</title> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; + text-indent: 1em; + } + h1 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h1.pg,h4.pg { + text-align: center; font-family: Times-Roman, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h5,h6 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h2 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h3 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h4 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + a {text-decoration: none} /* no lines under links */ + div.centered {text-align: center;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */ + div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */ + + .cen {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} /* centering paragraphs */ + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} /* small caps */ + .noin {text-indent: 0em;} /* no indenting */ + .img {text-align: center; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} /* centering images */ + .tdr {text-align: right;} /* right align cell */ + .tdl {text-align: left;} /* left align cell */ + .tr {margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */ + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + color: silver; + background-color: inherit; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers */ + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right; font-size: 90%;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: text-top; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem span.i14 {display: block; margin-left: 30%;} + .poem span.pn { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + color: silver; background-color: inherit; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers in poems */ + + + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + border: solid black; + height: 5px; } + pre {font-size: 85%; } + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Liége on the Line of March, by Glenna +Lindsley Bigelow</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Liége on the Line of March</p> +<p> An American Girl's Experiences When the Germans Came Through Belgium</p> +<p>Author: Glenna Lindsley Bigelow</p> +<p>Release Date: October 15, 2009 [eBook #30264]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIéGE ON THE LINE OF MARCH***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4 class="pg">E-text prepared by Barbara Kosker<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net/c/">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> + from digital material generously made available by<br /> + Internet Archive/American Libraries<br /> + (<a href="http://www.archive.org/details/americana">http://www.archive.org/details/americana</a>)</h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;" cellpadding="10"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/ligeonlineofma00bige"> + http://www.archive.org/details/ligeonlineofma00bige</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> +There is no Table of Contents. A list of +contents by date is provided for the +convenience of the reader. +<br /> +</div> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>LIÉGE</h1> + +<h2>ON THE LINE OF MARCH</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/frontis.jpg" width="55%" alt="GLENNA L. BIGELOW" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">GLENNA L. BIGELOW</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h1>LIÉGE</h1> + +<h3>ON THE LINE OF MARCH</h3> +<br /> + +<h3>AN AMERICAN GIRL'S EXPERIENCES WHEN<br /> + THE GERMANS CAME THROUGH BELGIUM</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h2>GLENNA LINDSLEY BIGELOW</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h3>NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY<br /> + LONDON: JOHN LANE, THE BODLEY HEAD<br /> + MCMXVIII</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h4>Copyright, 1918, by<br /> +<span class="smcap">John Lane Company</span></h4> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>TO THE KING OF THE BELGIANS</i></h2> +<br /> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><i>Multitudes upon multitudes they throng</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>And thicken: who shall number their array?</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>They bid the peoples tremble and obey:</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Their faces are set forward, all for wrong.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>They trample on the covenant and are strong</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>And terrible. Who shall dare to say them nay?</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>How shall a little nation bar the way</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Where that resistless host is borne along?</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4"><i>You never thought, O! gallant King, to bow</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>To overmastering force and stand aside.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Safe and secure you might have reigned. But now</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>Your Belgium is transfigured, glorified,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>The friend of France and England, who avow</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>An Equal here, and thank the men who died.</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i14"><i>H. M.</i><br /></span> +<span class="i4"><i>London Times, August 14, 1914.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<h2>Contents by Date</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="60%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="80%">FOREWORD</td> + <td class="tdr" width="20%"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">July 30th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_13">13</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">July 31st, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 1st, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 2nd, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 3rd, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_18">18</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 4th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 5th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 6th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 7th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 8th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 9th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 10th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_38">38</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 11th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 13th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 14th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 15th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 16th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 17th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_55">55</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 18th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 19th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 22nd, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 24th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_65">65</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 26th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 27th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 28th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 29th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 30th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">August 31st, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 2nd, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 3rd, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 4th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_89">89</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 5th, Saturday. (At the ambulance.)</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_90">90</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 6th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 8th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 9th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_97">97</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 10th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 12th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 14th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 16th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_104">104</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 18th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 22nd, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 24th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_111">111</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 28th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 30th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 1st, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">September 29th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 3rd, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 5th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 8th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 9th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_119">119</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 10th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 11th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_121">121</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 13th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 14th, Wednesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 16th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_125">125</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 17th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 19th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_130">130</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">October 22nd, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_131">131</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 5th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_132">132</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 6th, Friday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_134">134</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 7th, Saturday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_140">140</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 8th, Sunday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 9th, Monday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_144">144</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 10th, Tuesday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_149">149</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">November 12th, Thursday.</td> + <td class="tdr"><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>FOREWORD</h2> +<br /> + +<p>Liége on the Line of March, or An American Girl's Experience When the +Germans Came Through Belgium, is a unique story. No other American +probably was in the exact position of Miss Bigelow who was at the +Château d'Angleur, Liége, Belgium, with the family of Monsieur X. at the +outbreak of the war and experienced with them and the people of their +country those tragic events which, up to the present, have hardly even +been sketched for the world.</p> + +<p>What the public already knows of armies, guns, trenches, etc., has +little to do with the suffering that the people of an invaded country +endures, when the white-hot flame of the enemy invasion sweeps over the +land scorching every flower and leaving in its wake only desolation and +pain and despair. This narrative describes in detail just what might +come to any one of its readers if the Germans were victorious in Europe. +Let him picture to himself his line of action or even his line of +thought if an insolent officer came into his home, took his paintings +from the wall, his rugs from the floor, his private papers from his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +desk and, finally, his sons to—what fate? The most pacific of pacifists +would draw a tight breath at such proceedings. And these are the least +of things that have happened in Belgium.</p> + +<p>But the journal was not written with exhortative design. It is the +simple and truthful story of daily events as they occurred; if, at +times, the words seem brutal, the circumstances were brutal. Why should +one not know them?</p> + +<p>The Château d'Angleur was respected as far as real pillaging and +destroying were concerned for the fact that a cousin of Monsieur X., a +Belgian by birth, is the wife of the Count von M. of Germany, at one +time Grand Chancellor of the Imperial Court and a trusted friend of +Emperor William the Second. As was proven afterwards this relationship, +surprisingly enough, had some influence on the side of clemency.</p> + +<p>Monsieur X. was one of that family of famous Belgian bankers which has +existed for four generations. He was also President of the International +Sleeping Car Company of Europe to which honor he was appointed at the +death of his brother Monsieur Georges X., the originator and founder of +the Company.</p> + +<p>Madame X. is a Russian by birth, the great-granddaughter of Prince ——, +who was at one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>time Grand Chancellor of the Court of Russia, and a +cousin of Princess ——, a lady in waiting to Her Former Majesty the +Czarina of Russia. The daughter of Madame X., Baronne de H., wife of a +Belgian nobleman of Brussels, is a personal friend of Their Majesties, +the King and Queen of Belgium.</p> + +<p>Miss Bigelow, though a neutral subject, was nevertheless a virtual +prisoner of the Germans from August to November, 1914, owing to the lack +of facility in getting away from Belgium. The railroad was taken over +entirely by the German Army; automobiles, horses, carriages, etc., being +long since confiscated and appropriated by the Germans. Considerable +anxiety was felt as to her safety as no communication with the outside +world was possible during those three months of internment. Therefore, +her journal was faithfully kept for the benefit of her family and +depicts the comfortable luxurious life of the days preceding August, +1914, the shock of the Declaration of War, the terrific battle of +Sartilmont, three kilometres from the château, which entailed indirectly +the death of Monsieur X. in the early morning of the following day while +the guns were still booming. It also includes the bombardment of Liége +which lasted twelve days, the care of soldiers burned in the forts, the +capture <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>of the city by the Prussians, their brutal shooting of +civilians, the burning of parts of the town and the taking of citizens +as hostages.</p> + +<p>The passing of the German army with all its accompanying paraphernalia +that went to the front in the first days is described as it was +photographed on the brain of the writer, looking down from her window, +day after day, onto the highroad.</p> + +<p>The journal ends with the attempted withdrawal to Brussels, the final +escape to Holland by the aid of the Dutch Consul of Maestricht, the +journey from Flushing, Holland, to Folkestone, England, to Calais and to +Paris. The last part of this journal will appeal to those who have known +and loved Paris in the old days, and portrays her to the world as the +flower she is, revealing her truth and her worth tho' stripped of that +individual worldliness which was yet a charm.</p> + +<p><i>Note.—All except German names in the Journal are fictitious.</i></p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2>LIÉGE</h2> + +<h3>ON THE LINE OF MARCH</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +<h2><a name="LIEGE_ON_THE_LINE_OF_MARCH" id="LIEGE_ON_THE_LINE_OF_MARCH"></a>LIÉGE, ON THE LINE OF MARCH</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2><i>July 30th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>To-day has been warm, very warm and sultry, a day of surprises, +beginning with the sudden disappearance of Monsieur X.'s trusted head +clerk—a German boy who has been in the office for fifteen years and who +knew every phase of the situation. What reason on earth could he have +had for vanishing like that with all his personal belongings, not +leaving one trace behind to show that such a person had ever been? Odd, +but certainly done with studied thoroughness.</p> + +<p>This afternoon we sat at the end of the garden by the little lake, +listless and content to do nothing. The air was ominously still, as I +remember it now, and the sun beat down through a yellow haze. Suddenly, +without the slightest warning, huge drops of rain began to fall. You can +imagine that we scurried up the path as fast as possible, past the old +oak, and reached the terrace just before the very heavens opened in a +flood and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>a great shaft of lightning, like a sword, swept down from the +sky straight to the oak tree, crushing it completely. My hand trembles a +little as I write tonight—it was the suddenness of the onslaught which +unnerved me, I suppose, for it was a curious thing that there were no +signs of approaching storm except the dull yellow light which we did not +notice then.</p> + +<p>There was a small dinner this evening and the table was beautiful as +usual with old silver and candles which shed their warm light about—all +lovely and luxurious. Monsieur R., M.P., did his best to draw out the +political opinions of the party, but conversation, quite contrary to +custom, was fitful. I think every one was a little unstrung by the +afternoon's experience and the air even yet is full of electricity.</p> + +<p>During one of the unwelcome pauses of the dinner a motor came panting up +the drive and "Uncle Henri" burst in, virtually hatless and coatless, +fairly bristling with political news and very much annoyed that +something, anything, had wrecked his normal existence for a moment. But +this something which has happened is terribly serious. The French trains +are not going beyond the frontier to-night, and part of "Uncle Henri's" +agitation was due to this fact as he had been obliged to walk a few +hundred yards to get <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>the Belgian train. In the excitement of such an +unheard of proceeding he had plunged ponderously along in the dark and +mud with his fellow-travellers and incidentally lost his luggage and his +valet, the ineradicably English James. Nobody took in the seriousness of +such a strange tale at first, for Uncle Henri is, before all, <i>très +comédien</i>. But why was he not in Russia as he was expected to be? Very +good reasons indeed, for it appears that Austria and Serbia and Germany +and Russia are about to jump down each other's throats, according to +widespread rumor. France, too, is writhing in suppressed excitement +which one cannot understand, with conditions growing worse every minute. +It would seem rather left-handed for Germany and Russia to reach around +through France to cross swords.</p> + +<p>Timid little Madame N. asked if these things might indicate War. +Everybody scouted the idea and ridiculed the thought of the hard-headed, +common-sense, Western world doing anything so absurd. So we will leave +it to the <i>diplomats</i> to settle the difficulty. I am glad that they can.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>July 31st, Friday.</i></h2> + +<p>Yesterday was only a preliminary to the seething in the tea-pot which +exists as to-day's events <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>show—everybody is bewildered at the +tremendous things that have started and the equally tremendous things +that have stopped. What does it all mean? There is the greatest +excitement aroused by the foreign news in the evening papers, announcing +in glaring headlines a diplomatic rupture between Germany and Russia. So +it's true! Probably your seismic stock market has already foretold +coming disturbance, but for Europe it is a positive bomb. Already here +in Liége not more than half of the daily four hundred and eighty trains +have passed the city, and it is reported that none of these go beyond +the frontier.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 1st, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Today the papers announce the stunning news that Germany has declared +war against Russia. The report must be sufficiently authentic, for, as +if by magic, the Belgian army is already gathering itself together with +an almost superhuman rapidity, proof of which we have had in the masses +of troops that have been passing the château all day. Yesterday, trouble +was a newspaper rumor; today, deadly earnestness. And what excitement +all about! The air is positively charged and the whole community is +agog; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>people with anxious faces accost each other in the street; +farmers neglect their crops to come into town, bank clerks lay down +their pens and shop doors are beginning to close.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 2nd, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The world has suddenly become nothing but people, and the transition +from the peaceful, care-free existence of four days ago is so great that +I cannot write intelligently, today, because so much is happening. +Following on His Majesty King Albert's magnificent discourse [<i>Vive le +roi!</i>], the spirit of a great and glorious decision has set the empire +in motion. The vast machine moves—though some of the bolts creak and +protest a little in their rusty coats and the earth trembles to the +rhythm of tramping feet. Hundreds of soldiers and cannon have been +passing all night, and this morning routes in every direction are +blockaded by detachments from different regiments. There are uniforms of +all types and colors, the ensemble looking like a variegated bouquet +snatched hurriedly by the wayside; the sorting will come later, one +doesn't ask how. The old farm at the end of the garden has been turned +into a barracks, and recruits are being drilled among the apple trees in +the orchard. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>The excitement is intense—one treads carefully fearing to +be the first to prick the bubble. The newspapers are disquieting, as it +appears now that Germany will probably declare war against France, too, +and is contemplating passing through Belgium by Namur or Luxembourg to +the French frontier. That is a rather offensive threat, as, of course, +there is the neutrality of Belgium and one cannot get away with that. We +consider ourselves most lucky to be here rather than in France.</p> + +<p>A detachment of Belgian soldier boys slept in the stables last night. +Monsieur X. sent them his best cigars, and this morning, as soon as they +tumbled out, they made a straight line for the kitchen whence they +scented hot coffee. The good heart of the old, fat cook, who is a native +of Amsterdam, was melted at once and she gave unsparingly until they +flattered and coaxed her into such a state of bewilderment that even +Dutch patience was at last exhausted when she saw them pouring in and +pouring in and boldly attacking her sumptuous pantries <i>en masse</i>.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 3rd, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Preparations for war are going on rapidly; scores of automobiles are +racing past like mad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>things, carrying Governmental messages no doubt +and the Government itself, by its eternal prerogative, is commandeering +for its use everybody's private property—horses, cows, automobiles, +pigs, merchandise, provisions, etc. And how one gives for one's country! +The men, their goods; the women, their sons. The spirit of the people is +magnificent. Huge loads of hay in long processions like caravans are +coming in from the country along with immense droves of cattle. In the +orchard adjoining the château are already domiciled two hundred or more +cows and the discordant melody from this hoarse-throated chorus, +uninterrupted day or night, is driving us to madness. Indoors, we +ourselves are laying in a supply of things in case of necessity and the +kitchen is piled high with bags of flour, coffee, beans, tinned goods, +etc., and in the pasture is a new cow. Beef will probably be the <i>pièce +de resistance</i> for many a day.</p> + +<p>Monsieur X.'s old coiffeur came out from town today. He is French and by +far the most volatile person about the news of the moment that I have +seen. It is like a play to hear him declaim on the situation, but, poor +man, having endured the Siege of Paris for six months in 1870, he +doubtless has recollections. And he makes the most of them as well as of +his dramatic ability, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>describing in an eloquent manner how he fried +rats in a saucepan, which with some spice and plenty of onion all +around, he admitted, were "<i>pas mal du tout</i>." Madame X. herself was in +the "Siege of Paris" in 1870 and is therefore taking thought.</p> + +<p>These details of the equipment and provisioning of the army will be as +interesting to you as they are engaging to us here in the midst of it, +for they are not commonly even included in a rapid conception of "War" +though being in reality the biggest part of it.</p> + +<p>What masses of convoys and munitions! They must constitute that same +impressive "impedimenta" that one used to read about in Cæsar's Wars +which by its unfailing late arrival constantly threw the old Romans into +such a frightful <i>dépit</i>. But happily, in this case, it comes first +instead of last.</p> + +<p>The whole world seems to be changing place like sand on a moving disc +and my mind is losing its grip on what is real—it's a curious feeling. +Madame X. and her family, like everybody else, are extremely anxious, as +one would naturally be with his country, his home and his future in +peril, but I, in my superb (what shall I say?) Americanism or optimism, +am sure it will come out all right: nevertheless I feel confused.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 4th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The situation, already grave, has taken a definite turn. Germany is +going to attack France through Belgium. Completely ignoring the +neutrality of the latter, she demands to "just pass through peaceably," +but being refused permission, so much the worse for those who are in the +road. Personally speaking, I should say we are decidedly in the +road—Aix-la-Chapelle—Liége—Namur. Don't you think the crow would +agree with me?</p> + +<p>We saw a charming spectacle this morning if anything connected with war +can be so called,—a little company of <i>mitrailleuses-à-chien</i>, that is, +small, shrapnel gun carriages drawn by the famous Belgian dogs. It sort +of made my heart crinkle up to see those magnificent animals, detailed +for fatal duty without doubt, pushing on so joyously. Straining in the +traces and really smiling with their great tongues hanging out, they +were performing their work, proud as Punch, and eager to get on.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon we were suddenly startled by the booming of nearby +cannon. I shall never forget the first sound of it! It might have been +the Last Trumpet and we didn't know that it was not. My soul turned sick +and seemed to be tumbling down a fathomless abyss while a pair of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>unprejudiced eyes watched its descent. Please do not think I am not +serious—it is a moment when one meets things face to face and the +inevitable is happening. We hear that the firing is for the purpose of +demolishing houses and churches before the forts, which might in any way +obstruct the range of the guns. Did I explain that Liége is encircled by +twelve forts, built about twenty-eight years ago under the personal +direction of Général Brialmont? They are on the same principle as those +of Namur and Bucharest, and are large affairs of concrete, sunk three +stories under ground and furnished with elaborate electrical apparatus. +Covering and protecting the cannon are automatic, armored cupolas, +rising and falling with the modern, disappearing guns. Here is a tiny, +freehand map which will give you an idea of the country as well as the +situation of Château d'A——, where I am and which is just between the +city and the enceinte of forts. A shell overreaching this latter, from +the enemy's field cannon, would, I should say, tumble right into our +"zone." But we do not even admit of such a possibility in speaking to +each other. Isn't it funny how we continue to deceive ourselves and life +is a sham to the last throw?</p> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/map1.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/map1.jpg" width="85%" alt="Map of Liége with the Twelve Surrounding Forts" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><span class="smcap">Map of Liége with the Twelve Surrounding Forts</span></p> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>Général Brialmont warned the Government when the forts were under +construction, that if it could not maintain an army sufficiently strong +to defend the open country between them, he was building them for the +Germans. That statement revived suddenly, gives rise to an apprehension +hitherto unfelt by the <i>Liégeois</i>, who have absolute faith in the +impregnability of Liége.</p> + +<p>Madame X.'s oldest son, Monsieur S., and his wife, arrived tonight from +France by auto. They would never have been able to get here if Monsieur +S. had not the royal seal on some state papers which he was bringing +from the Belgian Embassy in Paris. Was there ever such a wildly exciting +ride, plunging through two battle lines (French and Belgian) into massed +formations everywhere? Nevertheless Madame S. said she used to fall +asleep from sheer fatigue during the long drives in the blackness of the +night or when they were stopped for hours at a time to identify even a +king's messenger.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 5th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>I wonder what you are thinking of events, at home? You will marvel that +I can write at such length when the very skies seem to be pressing down +upon us. But it is the greatest relaxation <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>possible and a kind of +safety valve. It makes me think of some lines of Shakespeare where +different conditions "oft make the wise dumb and teach the fool to +speak." So I write on. The news we get may not be altogether authentic, +as we receive nothing now except by word of mouth. By report it seems +that England, France and Russia are prepared to defend the neutrality of +Belgium with their armies. Liége is now in a state of siege with the +Prussians before the forts. Commerce in the city has ceased completely +with the railroad, telegraph, telephone, post, tramcars, newspapers, +shops and factories. Can you understand what that means? At one time or +another in our lives most of us have been the victim of a social +condition called a "strike"—horribly inconvenient circumstances, when +the mail-man did not come, for instance, or train service was laid off +or the electric light went out for a time. But these instances were all +individual, that is, they happened separately, while here the whole +Universe has shut down together. I could not make you comprehend the +criticalness of our position. I feel as if we were suspended by the +finest thread between heaven and earth, for there is nothing very solid +under our feet and only a sea of ether over our heads. This description +is wholly inadequate to interpret the sensation or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>the uncertainty. Can +you imagine what it would be like? I cannot exactly say I feel "fear"; +perhaps I cannot define fear; but a heaven-sent optimism buoys me up. In +our journeys 'round, having previously experienced cold plunges in the +dark, the fascination of "chance" lets us hope.</p> + +<p>"War!" What other lone factor could bring about at the same moment, such +circumstances, the absolute cessation of every living element of our +existence? I know that you will be amused at my sudden plunging into the +psychological realm, but it all makes me wonder. Oh, our dear +civilization and the convenient things we are used to! A puff of smoke, +a hostile shot and they are gone. And here we are, groping like the +veriest savage for a hole to hide in and something to eat. I assure you, +nothing else occupies us for the moment. How is it that the whole house +of cards falls down together? In all these centuries of Struggle and +Learning and Science and Dissent has nobody found a common leaven for +bread?</p> + +<p>It is not yet decided if we shall go to Brussels considering what is +rather sure to happen. Several days ago large quantities of gasoline +were buried in the garden under the shrubbery in the event of our +leaving quickly by automobile. However, Brussels is an open city and it +is a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>question if we would be as well off there as here in this strongly +fortified place.</p> + +<p>But Dieu! If they do come—? There is the sub-cellar of the château +whose fine arches and solid vaulting two hundred years old, would hold +even if the house were burned down about our ears. But no! To be +suffocated under burning ruins, no, no! We will not think of that!</p> + +<p>A moment of reckless mirth assails me: I want to scream! I feel like the +fair Dido mounting her funeral pyre.</p> + +<p>One other hiding place has been thought of. Up in the woods on the +hill-side is a long tunnel about four feet in diameter which conducts a +tiny mountain stream down to the lake. It is dark and wet. Could we stay +there on our knees in the water for many hours, perhaps days? Heavens! +It is unthinkable. Let us die in the open, if die we must.</p> + +<p>I am writing this morning in my room, which looks out on the highroad +and the hurrying troops. It is not a time that one would choose for +composition, but I want you to get as vivid an impression as possible of +events as they occur, <i>et enfin</i>, I must do something. The booming of +cannon has commenced again, which is sufficiently frequent and of a +certain terrifying decision to assure us that fighting has really +begun.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>This ceased during the early evening and we went to bed in peace. That +is, we went to bed. Madame X.'s oldest son was detailed for sentinel +duty on the little road at the side of the château leading up to the +plateau from where the sound of guns came during the day. Monsieur J., +the other son, with a friend of his, was carrying messages from one fort +to another in his auto, miraculously scooting between the shots.</p> + +<p>About 10 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> we were violently awakened by furious sounds of +shots in the distance which must have been rifle fire and which grew +more and more distinct, gradually becoming incessant like a long, +uninterrupted drum roll—the machine guns, I suppose. These frightful +noises, increased in volume by the minute and coming on and on in our +direction, were shortly right over the hill above us. The bullets rained +like hail and shells shrieked and split the universe from end to end. We +lay in our beds, trembling, while utter terror seized us as the fracas +would subside a little and then roll nearer and nearer in a perfect +deluge of horrible sounds. Suddenly in the middle of it all a terrific +blast rent the air; the forts had entered into this hideous contest! Oh +the joy of it! I hardly breathed between their shots which seemed +centuries apart and in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>reality were only a few minutes, for I thought, +now, surely the struggle must end; no enemy can long withstand their +mighty will. But the battle lasted all night with increasing fury. The +roar and din were beyond words, the concerted effort of four forts, the +giant field cannon, machine guns and rifles. My heart stands still when +I remember the thundering of those forts, the premeditated destruction, +the finality which each boom! bespoke, and the thousands of human beings +up there fighting like madmen. The latter, in the wild confusion of +fire, battle and the blackness of the night, finished by shooting into +each other by mistake as their officers were cut down in their midst.</p> + +<p>About 2 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> we all gathered in Madame X.'s sitting-room. +Suddenly, quite unconscious of any definite purpose, I remember pulling +on the light. Monsieur X., aghast, said, "Mademoiselle, put it out +quickly. They might see it through the dark and aim for it."</p> + +<p>What a night! and what visions we conjured up of the invincible +Prussians, drunk with blood and battle ready for any atrocity, plunging +down the hill into our own garden. The sound of the guns was so near +that Monsieur X. thought the battle must be in the open on his own +property <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>just above the hill. As a matter of fact it was only three +kilometres away, on the plain of Sartilmont.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<h2><i>August 6th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Rain came with the light. That gentle pattering on the sod, after the +tumult of the night, was the sweetest sound I ever heard. It was just as +if Nature had put out Her mother's hand over the earth to soothe its +troubled breast. Was she pleading for that mercy which drops as Her own +gentle tears from Heaven?</p> + +<p>During the morning the road in front of the château was filled with +Belgian troops, bedraggled with mud, trying to regain order. And there +they halted for hours and hours in the rain—an absolute picture of +dejection. Even the horses imbibed the general despair as they stood +there, heads drooping, their manes stirring in the wind. That must be +the hard part of it—waiting for orders; but they did it well, no +impatience nor fretting, just obeying the command, their very immobility +carving them a niche in the landscape. These men had been fighting for +several days and, bowed down as they were with the wet and misery of it +all, made a shocking contrast to fresh troops of cavalry which passed at +the same <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>time, brandishing long, dramatic looking lances. And Felix, +the second gardener, who is one of these "<i>lanciers</i>," came to say +good-bye in the elegant uniform of his regiment and looking very smart +in white trousers and short blue jacket—in fact, a man transformed.</p> + +<p>I had always seen him in wooden sabots and blue apron coaxing this +flower and that into bloom, but he had never been a great success at it. +When his elder brother died, he had wished, so much, to replace him as +head-gardener, so his master let him try for a little and he had failed, +indifferently. But here was a soldier-man, stout heart and valiant +sword, eager to serve his King. This time he will not fail but will meet +his opportunity more than half way.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> All day Red Cross ambulances and +every kind of vehicle were hurrying by, bringing the wounded from the +battlefield. Madame X.'s family physician stopped in on one of his trips +for a moment's respite from the awfulness up there—his description of +those scenes is too terrible to write about. The carnage was +awful—pieces of bodies scattered about everywhere, the wounded writhing +in their death agony and the dead standing up straight against masses of +dead.</p> + +<p>In the evening, indistinct sounds of a far off <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>battle could be heard as +the struggle moved on to another quarter. Nearer, we heard the trailing +of heavy artillery down the mountain and against our will the thought +formulated itself, "Will that wave of terror roll back to us?" Our ears +have developed an abnormal acuteness, so that almost a pin falling will +make taut nerves scream, though in reality nobody moves—a glance is +enough to both ask and answer a question. A marvelous new +self-possession seems to have come to everybody which bridges over a +natural despair and forms, at least, a skeleton framework by which we +keep each other up.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTE:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Not heard of again.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 7th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>More or less booming from the forts all day. As communications of every +kind have been cut off, we cannot know what is happening. But where is +the assistance so direfully needed, promised by both France and England +to poor little Belgium with the great German army moving on Liége? +Everybody has faith, however, in the Allies, and in the streets it is +pathetic to hear people assuring each other, "<i>O, oui, les Français +viennent ce soir</i>" (Oh, yes, the French are coming to-night). There are +many German troops in town already, who somehow have pushed their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>way +in between the firing, but the city will not cede the forts, so the +bombardment may begin at any moment. I cannot define my +impressions—some day I may be able to, but just now I do not know what +they are. Happily the château is on the edge of the city and there is a +certain quiet at present, but in town pandemonium reigns. Men, women and +children are fleeing in all directions with their few most precious +possessions tied up in a bundle. And where are they going to, the poor +things, with all roads in the country choked up, soldiers and trenches +everywhere?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 8th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>This morning we walked through the garden to service in the little +village church. For a short moment a welcome calm stole over us in the +quiet of those walls, but how sinister to hear the eternal boom of +cannon between the words of the Mass. All the bridges of the city are +mined and guarded. The five days given Liége by the Prussians to +surrender are up tonight. What will tomorrow bring forth? The Belgians +have blown up the tunnel at Trois Ponts, near the German frontier, as +well as the railroad in many places, which will impede the enemy's +advance considerably, and great trees have been cut down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>across the +roads in all the country roundabout.</p> + +<p>Mère Gavin came hobbling down the path from the top of the hill this +evening to tell us of the astonishing experience she had this afternoon +when a peasant came to her old hut and offered to buy her cow. Now as +her cow is her most precious possession and her sole support she refused +at once, tho' frightened at her own boldness. The stranger, however, was +rather insistent and asked if she would rent the cow, then, for fifty +francs an hour? Was there ever a queerer offer? Of course fifty francs +was a gold-mine to Mère Gavin, so she accepted, and was fairly overcome +when the man laid down three hundred francs on the table and told her to +keep them for him. Then he drove the cow away over the hills while Mère +G. sat staring stupidly at her gold. After a time he came back (with the +cow) and said, "Old One, three hours after I have gone, you can tell +your people that the red <i>pantalons</i> (French soldiers) will be here in +forty-eight hours." Was that not a clever way for a French Scout to find +out the lie of the land?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 9th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Some of the Prussians have succeeded in penetrating into the city, tho' +the forts have not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>surrendered, and are already establishing martial +rule. Aeroplanes, with the wings turned back, <i>Taubes</i>, have been flying +about all the morning. In the afternoon we went up over the hill to the +plain of Sartilmont, the battlefield of Wednesday night. All along the +road were heaps of uniforms, some quite new, probably taken from the +dead. Those horrid limp things made me shiver with their lifelessness, +and the spirit of death, everywhere, seemed to close us in. Countless +numbers of haversacks were strewn about, doubtless cast away by the +soldiers to disencumber themselves in falling quickly back from one +position to another. In them, generally, was a change of underwear, +light boots, hard biscuit, canned meats and confiture. Already a flock +of human ravens was collected about the piles of débris, sorting out +what was good to take and collecting fragments of bread for a happy +repast. It was sickening to see, when possibly some of those brave, dead +soldiers were lying, yet unburied, in the nearby hedges and ravines. +Arrived at the little village we saw destruction a plenty. The +inhabitants all had terror-stricken countenances and yet in their desire +to please, literally fell over each other in haste to tell and show. +Some of the buildings were entirely demolished, others with doors hacked +up and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>windows broken, while everywhere houses and trees were riddled +with bullets. One old peasant woman told me that she and fifty others +were imprisoned for twenty-four hours by the Germans in a tiny stable, +without food or drink, and for no apparent reason.</p> + +<p>The battlefield on the top of a ridge of hills between the Ourthe and +the Meuse is a large plain, around the edges of which lay scores of +magnificent trees cut down in haste to give unobstructed range. Their +branches had been previously soaked in <i>pétrole</i> and set on fire. The +effect of those prostrate, charred monsters added to the desolation all +around. Across the end of the plain were those famous open trenches of +"two stories," that is, with about a two-foot elevation of earth in the +bottom against the front wall of the ditch, forming a kind of platform +for the soldiers when taking aim.</p> + +<p>These were dug by the soldiers and men from the factories of Liége. In +front of the trenches were constructed those marvellous, barbed wire +fences, about one and one half metres apart and perhaps five rows deep, +with the wire twisted and wound in every conceivable fashion. Thirty +feet in front of this barrier was buried a string of mines, connected +with the trenches by an electric wire, to be exploded at a given +moment. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>Dark as the night was, the enemy found and severed some of +these communications so that most of the mines were rendered +ineffective. We saw the cut wire in several places. What hope can those +poor soldiers have, enemy or no, the advance guard of the besiegers, who +are pushed forward often at the point of the bayonet, armed only with +huge scissors to cut through such an almost impenetrable defense?</p> + +<p>A most touching sight was the graves of thirty Belgians in one end of +these trenches. Does that not seem a terrible irony to be buried in +one's own trenches? A few common, wayside flowers were strewn on the +graves, in front of which was an old prayer-stool and a wooden cross +surmounted with a Belgian <i>képi</i> (military cap). This cap seemed a +living thing almost and reminded me of the red fez so often seen on the +Moslem tombs in the cemeteries of Constantinople, which seemingly +strives to evoke a vital spirit from the frigid marble. Nailed to the +cross was a fragment of those well-known lines of the Immortal Cæsar, +"Of all the peoples of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest." You see, the +old warrior knew that long ago.</p> + +<p>Near by was a small, shrapnel gun carriage, by which stood a toothless, +old man who told, in that excruciating <i>Wallon</i> tongue, a pathetic story +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>of one of the dogs which had probably drawn it. His mate doubtless was +killed in battle, but he returned three days later, lay down beside the +broken wheels and defied anyone to approach.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>Monday, August 10th.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur S. came home to-day laden down with bags of gold like Ali Baba. +How he is going to do away with it so that the ferret eyes of the enemy +will not spy it out, is a problem to me. And I do not want it explained +for I am sure I should look right into the forbidden corner at the wrong +moment and give the secret away.</p> + +<p>Although there are thousands of German soldiers who have come into the +city and who control it, they are like rats in a trap. On account of the +twelve surrounding forts they cannot leave it and for the same reason no +one can come to their aid. So they have mounted machine guns in corner +houses of many streets and it is horrible to see those deadly mouths +gaping out of the windows. In case of an uprising among the civilians +the soldiers' revenge will be to kill the women and children. But no! +that is not possible in these days, from men who are neither savages nor +Turks.</p> + +<p>A heavy cannonading began at 4.30 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span>—it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span>literally tore us +from sleep, for it seemed as if the very house were tumbling down about +our ears and the singing and whizzing of those big shells was <i>bizarre</i>, +to put it mildly. One did not know whether to get up or efface one's +self in the blankets. I remember having the utmost confidence in the +headboard of my bed, which was toward the window. But that did not +obliterate the siren whistle of those big shells and the moment of +suspense between the lightning and the thunder. After each deafening +burst I kept reiterating to myself, "Saved again," as one would repeat a +chronological table of something important. About 8.00 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> we +straggled into the breakfast room—all of us rather lifeless and with +very white faces and little appetite for either eating or talking. There +seemed to be only one thing to say, which was, "Did you hear that?" It +was the same sensation again of the thread between heaven and earth. I +wonder if it will break!</p> + +<p>This afternoon we took a little walk into the city along the river, +Madame X., her two sons—Monsieur S. and Monsieur J., her daughter, +Baronne de H., and myself. We passed several Prussian guards on the +bridges and Monsieur S. talked with one of them. It appears that the men +are very disheartened. This man said he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>had started with a company of +seven hundred soldiers and entered Liége with sixty four. That's what it +means to "take cities without difficulty"—and nobody remembers the +seven hundred mothers, or wives, or children that are left. The +burgomaster has received some most sensational news from Brussels, but +it is too ridiculous to be believed.</p> + +<p>Tonight is still and Nature is beautiful in the moonlight. Is it the +calm before the storm? Here in the château we are comfortable with +plenty to eat and faithful servants. In town one is not so lucky as a +cousin of Madame X. is quartering forty soldiers and ten officers at +table who are not—or rather, who are a little argumentative, and we +have heard of some instances where the "host" and "hostess" have had to +sleep in the garret or the cellar or wherever they could, while the best +rooms are appropriated by the <i>militaires</i>. Blankets, etc., are also +being requisitioned from many houses.</p> + +<p>It is reported that Général Léman narrowly escaped being captured +recently when he was lunching in the court of the Café —— in town. His +companions-in-arms suddenly became aware of four men in strange uniform +who were approaching, and gave the alarm. Général Léman succeeded in +getting over the wall of the garden <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>while the others engaged the spies +in a hand-to-hand fight and overcame them.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 11th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Invincible Liége! People are still firm in their faith, encouraged by +the peace of the morning. The day was quiet until 6.00 <i>P. M.</i>, when +furious shooting into the valley began. We saw the great shells bursting +in the air and between the clouds of smoke we could distinguish an old +monastery on the other side of the valley which was being shot to pieces +by the enemy's field-cannon. The structure changed shape half a dozen +times before our eyes and the setting sun concentrated, as if purposely, +all its rays on the windows which made them blaze forth through all that +fury like the veritable Hand of God, writing in fire. It seemed almost +like a premonition.</p> + +<p>Pressure from those tremendous guns could remodel mountains, and Nature +herself, sometimes, cannot hold out against the fiendish ingenuity of +man. And the city, itself! Can it hold out?</p> + +<p>In the garden, very near the foot of the mountain, is the old farmhouse, +in one corner of which is a little chapel whose door stands open the +year round. It is of particular interest to the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>peasants, being the +last relic of a certain superstitious legend of the countryside. The +people come from miles around, crossing the fields by a little path +which they themselves have beaten down, to kneel before this tiny altar; +and on the last Sunday in May, the annual fête, the priests, leading a +religious procession which starts from the church, say Mass there. This +year, May 31st, 1914, the head gardener, who is the indisputable +authority on floral subjects in the village, borrowed everything from +the conservatory and gardens that he could lay his hands on in the way +of decoration. He arranged the semi-circle in front of the little chapel +very artistically with branches of leaves, palms and hundreds of pansies +which the day before had been uprooted from the terraces of the château +to make room for the red, summer geraniums.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock this Sunday morning the usual fusillade and tolling of +bells announced the departure of the procession from the church. It +passed slowly along by the highroad and presently we heard a chorus of +young voices singing hymns—the girls and boys of the village: the music +was soft and illusive in the distance, developing a sweet crescendo as +they turned into the pasture, fairly plowing their way through a sea of +daisies. Behind them came two little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>acolytes, fair as angels, swinging +their golden incense lamps; then followed six choir boys, chanting the +Mass, like veritable della Robbias, in their red soutanes and exquisite, +white, lace surplices. Next were the clergy, in robes of cloth of gold +and rare Flemish lace, carrying the Host under a purple velvet canopy. +The village people followed on in quiet devoutness and, arrived at the +chapel, placed lighted candles in the sconces at each side of the grille +door. When the Mass was said and the last plaintive notes had died away, +little children came forward and heaped their thousand-colored bouquets +before the altar. It was an impressive ceremony and must, by its +charming simplicity, leave a mark on many a worldly heart.</p> + +<p>Today, August 11th, 1914, at dusk, as the cannon had ceased firing, we +took a little recreation, following the paths on the mountainside; +looking down from a height of perhaps one hundred feet through the +trees, we saw the little chapel gleaming like a beacon in the dark, +dozens of blinking candles pinioned against the black walls. The grille +door was woven with nosegays, making a curtain of flowers which +partially concealed the altar beyond.</p> + +<p>Before it, stretching up supplicating hands, many women knelt, bowed +down with grief and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>despair, and children, awed by recent memories, +stood immovable in their places. Poor, poor people! Some of them in +spite of their unwavering faith must drink the bitter cup so near at +hand.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 13th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>It is true that one gets inured to danger (particularly if one has not +so far been hit) and after a week of the bombardment, we have a distinct +feeling of annoyance at being disturbed at an unearthly hour every +morning by the screeching and bursting of shells.</p> + +<p>About four <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> we were awakened by another terrifying +whizzing and exploding of bombs as if we were in the very midst of a +battlefield. This lasted about three hours and all we could do was wait. +I often wonder if it's as hard for the men to go off to war as it is for +the women to stay. The battle was inconceivably furious this morning. If +you could imagine five hundred of the worst thunderstorms, shaken up +together, that you ever experienced, you would arrive at a mild notion +of the tumult, not counting the apprehension, the danger and that +terrifying voice in the whistling trail of every shell which sings, +"This time I'll get you." At four this afternoon the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>Fort of +Chaudefontaine fell, blown up by the Prussians. Between four and six +o'clock the firing ceased.</p> + +<p>It was an evening of ineffable beauty and the garden looked so lovely in +its mantle of roses, the little lake at the foot with its white swans +and the wooded mountain rising up almost from its waters—a picture of +calm and contentment. We were there taking a long breath after the +nightmare of the day, when the young gardener rushed in from the village +with the news that thirty of the soldiers in the fort, wounded and +burned beyond recognition, were being brought into the Sisters' Convent, +which had been turned into a Red Cross Ambulance hospital.</p> + +<p>The shells from the great field pieces of the enemy falling upon the +forts had shattered the cupolas and had caused them to fall in upon the +Belgians who were thus imprisoned and barely escaped suffocation from +the poisonous gases of the exploding shells. The electric wires were cut +immediately so that the poor things who were entrapped three stories +underground groped about in the dark some time before they at last found +the stairs which led them up through shot and flame and gas to the air.</p> + +<p>Gathering some old linen together we fairly flew across the field to the +convent and stopped <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>short, staggered by what we saw. Never on this +earth could one imagine so horrible a sight as those thirty charred +bodies with no suggestion of faces—just a flat, swollen, black surface, +with no eyes, nose nor mouth. Some of the wounded lay on beds, others in +the middle of the floor or wherever there was space, and each was +holding up hands burned to the bone. The room was dimly lighted, a +hushed quiet reigned except for an occasional stifled groan of pain or a +sigh of concern from the villagers or the swish of the black garments of +those ministering angels, the nuns, as they fluttered about among the +suffering; their white coifs, like a halo, contrasting them with that +other Angel, whose black wings, indeed visible, already shadowed his +chosen.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 14th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>One has hoped against hope, but the worst has happened and the people +are despondent. Liége is certainly in the hands of the Prussians. They +have been pouring into the city all day and most of the forts have +either been destroyed by the German field artillery or been blown up by +their defenders rather than surrender. We nursed the soldiers all +day—if last night was horrible I could not find the words to describe +what the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>daylight revealed, or the awful odor of burned flesh when the +wounds were redressed. It was pitiful to see the courage of the poor +men—the Belgians are brave not only on the battle field. With lips too +seared to articulate, they would try to speak and one could occasionally +catch an indistinct "<i>de l'eau</i>," or a half-formed "<i>Merci, chère +Soeur</i>," but never a moan or a groan.</p> + +<p>At night, as we were wearily returning home, the young footman, with +ashen face, met us half-way down the steps and announced that there +would be Prussian officers at dinner who were already quartered in the +château. We were nearly too tired to be impressed at this as one +naturally would, at least, be moved in one sense or another, but we did +inwardly wonder what the keynote might be at table.</p> + +<p>At eight o'clock dinner was served. Madame X.'s daughter and I, after +such a scrubbing and disinfecting, came down the last ones and stepped +into a veritable playworld of the Middle Ages with the most beautiful +setting—a large salon, opening out onto the terrace, with old, +Flemish-wood fire-place and raftered ceiling, Japanese bronzes, rugs +from the Orient, soft lamps and portraits of dear grandmothers, in the +beauty of their youth, smiling out from their golden frames on the +walls. As we came into the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>room from the brightly lighted hall, a +semi-circle of gray-green coats rose right up out of the dimness and we +were blinded by a vision of shining buttons, polished boots, gleaming +swords and a military salute accompanied by clinking spurs. At the end +of the room stood Madame X. and her sons waiting for us. Naturally there +were no presentations and the moment was unique in the extreme—nobody +moved for a second which seemed like a decade and nobody spoke, so all +there remained to do was to acknowledge the salute with a semi-circular +bow.</p> + +<p>Dinner was an odd affair tho' it went off not so badly. Madame X., in +her proud Russian beauty and her admirable control of the conditions, +was superb. I never admired anybody so much, for it is not easy to +entertain at one's board an enemy who has just usurped home and country, +but her extraordinary charm and dignity gave the situation its note and +the "guests" were everything that was agreeable. We talked of +generalities, as well as "War," in four languages (Russian, French, +English and German) with much the same <i>sang-froid</i> as the juggler who +tosses knives and, when the meal was done, thanked Heaven that nobody +had launched a tactless bomb which might have plunged us into a boiling +sea. There was nothing particularly boastful in their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>conversation, +though at times a certain assured reference to "Paris in a fortnight" +crept in, which we found difficult to digest—in fact I was furious. +Paris, indeed! Beautiful Paris! My neighbor at table on the right was a +man of perhaps fifty-eight years, rather gray and grandfatherly, with +such nice, blue eyes. Prefacing all his remarks with a nervous little +cough to fix my attention, he would launch with difficulty one or two +phrases in restricted French followed by a few straggling words in +English and finally finished up with a burst of voluble German. It was a +work of art to understand him, but I arrived panting—at least I had +that sensation, and it is not the first time I have given thanks for a +woman's natural intuition. Then I decided to lead out next—anyway I +wanted to get him started on "War" without precipitating an +international difficulty and I asked him as stupidly as possible +(perhaps I did not need to simulate that) if he liked "War." He +hesitated just a second and I was prepared for the usual self-respecting +denial when he horrified me by answering a simple "Yes." <i>Voilà, le +sentiment prusse!</i></p> + +<p>Afterward when we went into the salon all the officers, commencing with +the superior, came up to Madame X. and kicking their spurs together with +the habitual "<i>Danke, Frau</i>," kissed our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>hands all around. The youngest +soldier among them was a handsome boy of about twenty-two years, who +interested me rather, because he was different—even his boots were +different and he truly had a striking manner, though very gracious. I am +convinced that he was a prince of a reigning house. The atmosphere had a +way of parting in rapid waves when he came in and dropping behind him +like an impervious shield when he went out. Fair, young Achilles! Will a +fatal arrow attain his charméd person?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 15th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We took care of the wounded all day: it is the most heartrending +spectacle to see those poor, black heads lying there on their pillows. +They were so shapeless and immovable, I had almost begun to look upon +them as without life like charred logs, when, after finishing a dressing +this morning, I was startled by a hearty, "<i>Merci, chère Soeur.</i>" Oh, +the joy of it! That brightened the whole scene and flooded me with hope. +Then they have not lost their intelligences, they aren't mere pieces of +wood and one day when their poor flesh has rejuvenated itself, they will +be given back to real life—and their country, again.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>The village people and the Sisters were so ardent in their desire to +help that dressings well covered with ointment sometimes fell from their +eager fingers onto grimy blankets or flopped, butter side down, so to +speak, upon the floor; which did not disconcert anyone but me, whose +modern prophylactic soul rattled and shook with horror as the +recalcitrant bandage was gaily redeemed from its dusty resting-place and +applied as originally intended.</p> + +<p>It seemed as if I must remonstrate, but the dear whole-hearted helper +was so sure that her dressing would cure and the patient was so +overwhelmingly grateful for the trouble she took to pick it up for him, +that I was dumb before their exquisite faith.</p> + +<p>Here was something too big for my stilted aseptic advice and it occurred +to me, suddenly, that perhaps there <i>are</i> many things yet undreamed of +in our philosophy.</p> + +<p>All day long the troops in an endless chain have been passing on the +highroad before the château. The air was full of mingled sounds, as, for +example, the singing of the soldiers in the distance, which sounds like +the droning of bees far away and always heralds an advance of troops; +the rhythmic shuffling of feet, the thud of horses' hoofs, the chugging +of autos which carry the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>superior officers, and the heavy wheels of the +gun carriages with their clanking chains. Their order, equipment and +discipline are admirable to see.</p> + +<p>All their apparel is new, as one of the officers told Monsieur D. at +Spa. Uniforms, boots, belts, saddles, bridles and even buttons—all new +and spic and span for a triumphal entry into Paris. Each man carries two +sets of buttons, one for field service (negligible) and the other, +shining brass ones, for the review down the Champs Elysées.</p> + +<p>All the officers wear a tiny card-board map of Belgium about (3" x 4"), +hung on their coat buttons and every soldier has embossed on his belt +plate "<i>Gott mit Uns.</i>" At dinner the officers were very entertaining; +the ice was somewhat broken, at least, we knew better what piece was +safe clinging to and we managed to exchange some ideas. It is rather odd +how few of these educated men speak French. In fact, it is so odd that +it makes us suspicious and cautious. Monsieur J. attacked the captain +with this question, as a leader, "when he thought the war would be +over?" (This being the second week of it.) His answer was <i>net</i> and +forbade argument—"We shall be 'home' by Christmas, or Easter at the +latest." But he did have the grace to congratulate the Belgian army on +its stout defense of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>Liége, for instead of the two days given the +Germans by their Emperor to capture it, they had been constrained to +take nearly two weeks at it.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 16th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>A warm, beautiful morning. As Madame de H. and I walked through the +garden and the wood to the little convent ambulance, it was difficult +not to contrast smiling Nature with the frightful scenes of which, in a +few minutes, we would be a part. The awful stench of burned flesh met us +half a block away and congealed my courage as I walked, for it permeates +everything. We can even taste it, it clings in our hair when we go home +and we are obliged to hang our nursing clothes out of the window all +night. I felt as if I must run away from it and those terrible +dressings, reeking with purulence, where ears and eyelids and lips come +off and fingers and hands peel like a glove.</p> + +<p>Then I thought of the patience of those brave fellows and the pain and +awfulness of living it. The fortitude and devotion of the village men +and women are beyond praise—they come day after day to help in the +nursing, some spending the night, turn and turn about. Especially the +tenderness of the men for their "<i>camarades</i>" is one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>of the sweetest +things I ever saw, for they are as gentle and capable in their care as +any woman could possibly be.</p> + +<p>Prussian troops continue to pass and it is a wonderfully impressive +sight; infantry in gray-green khaki, singing, always singing their +famous "<i>Wacht am Rhein</i>" and other folk songs: the <i>Uhlans</i>, on +beautiful prancing horses, with their long lances and gray-blue capes +fluttering in the wind; <i>chasseurs</i> in light green; "<i>Hussars de la +Mort</i>" with the death's head emblem in the front of their high fur hats +and endless companies of artillery with their huge field cannon, each +drawn by six magnificent horses. On the gun carriages sit four gunners +back to back, still as statues, with arms folded as if on parade. It was +for all the world like a circus when the procession goes twice around +the ring before commencing the serious business of the entertainment.</p> + +<p>Dinner was gay tonight (one is obliged to make the best of a bad affair) +and the officers as men of the world were interesting and in unusually +good spirits.</p> + +<p>The Captain, a little facetiously, took up the menu and, drawing a tiny +note-book and pencil from his pocket, proceeded to copy it in French, +soliciting Madame X.'s aid <i>en passant</i>.</p> + +<p>A curious fact occurred to me as I sat there <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>looking down both sides of +the table, how much alike they were—it seems as if they must even think +the same thoughts to resemble each other so much. As their heads were +closely cropped, outlines were baldly apparent, low forehead sloping +back to a narrow crown and all set upon a bulwark of neck. They must +surely have been struck in the same mould. Though forceful, none of them +were good-looking except the young one, of whom I have spoken, and his +face in repose was shockingly cruel. They are expecting marching orders +in the morning and are probably eager to ride on to victory (?). They +bade us good night and good-bye by kissing our hands as usual, a click +of spurs, a military bow and very gracious thanks to Madame X. for her +hospitality.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 17th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>About half-past three in the morning I was wakened from a sound sleep by +a commotion in the court under my window. Impatient horses were pawing +the ground and a voice exactly like a snarling dog was hurling out +orders—I peeped out cautiously and saw that the snarling dog was the +amiable captain who copied the menu last night.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>The officers left at four <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> Fort Lançin fell today and +Général Léman, commander-in-chief of the army here, was taken prisoner. +Thousands of soldiers have passed as usual. In the afternoon a company +of Prussians arrived, whose captain had mistaken the route, which put +him in an abominable humor, having made his men march fifty miles out of +their way and also risking a court-martial on his own account. He +ordered Monsieur S. to open the garage door, in the hope of lodging his +men there for the night. Unluckily the chauffeur, being absent, had the +key, which plunged his Military Highness into a towering rage and he +placed Monsieur S. at once under arrest between two soldiers, +<i>baionnette-au-canon</i>, while the others battered in the door with the +butt of their guns. Not finding sufficient quarters for two hundred men, +he marched Monsieur S. away, as guide, half a mile down the road to a +neighbor's.</p> + +<p>That excitement had hardly quieted down when another batch of officers +arrived at dusk, demanding lodgings for the night. These men were a +rough type, altogether different from the preceding ones. About eight +o'clock as we, the women, were waiting in the library for dinner to be +announced, we heard a tremendous stamping of heavy boots and spurs and a +snarl of angry voices <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>just over our heads. Baronne de H., brave little +woman as she always proved herself to be, flew up the stairs in a flash +and found her brothers at the end of the hall between two orderlies with +fixed bayonets, trying to pacify seven officers who were disputing +angrily and were just about to enter one of the private apartments—in +fact their father's room. She addressed them in a few vehement words—"I +forbid you to enter the room of my father, who has been dead only a +week." Then she added that the other soldiers who had been here were +gentlemen and that she expected them to be. They were cowed at once and +all humility, begging pardon properly. They pleaded fatigue for their +rudeness and said "certainly they expected to be gentlemen, too." Wasn't +that comical? They were ill at ease and rather sullen at dinner: and +such a dinner as we had!—glacial does not express it. The captain of +the band spoke English, French, Russian and German, but he could not +coax anybody into conversation, for we clung to "<i>Oui</i>," or "<i>Non</i>," and +stopped there. More than that, a kind of rigid fascination fixed our +attention on one of their number—the tallest and lankiest, who sat down +at least two feet from the table and endeavored to serve himself like +that. Every mouthful was fraught with tense anxiety (for us). Happily +they went to bed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>early, the captain kissing our hands and asking Madame +X. if she were used to that, it being the custom in Germany.</p> + +<p>Hardly had they got under cover and we were alone again, when a hoarse +cry arose in the court—it was blood-curdling to us, as every sound +these days is full of terror and possibilities. But it turned out to be +only the cry of the sentry. There had been promiscuous shooting along +the railroad in the village and all our brave soldiers tumbled out of +bed, fell down the stair-case one after the other, buckling on swords as +they went. It is the greatest wonder to me that we were not all shot on +the spot when we stood there staring up, as one very young lieutenant +descended three steps at a time with a revolver in one wobbly hand which +was shaking like an aspen leaf, and a pair of field glasses in the +other. I think the sudden excitement may have unnerved him and there is +no doubt, this time, that the gods favored the innocent. That was the +last we saw of our guests.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 18th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>This morning one of them came back for some personal things, principally +his watch, which, in the true, novel style, could not be found anywhere. +So the <i>Herr leutnant</i> ordered a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>thorough search and said, with a grand +air, to the housekeeper that if it could not be found he would be +obliged to take one of the servant's as a forfeit. Fancy!</p> + +<p>I can see the butler's poor, old, bowed legs, now, flying up the +stair-case, with a bayonet stuck in his back to expedite matters. I do +not know if this threat lent an added zest to the search, but +fortunately someone had the happy thought to look under the mattress +(where the officer had put it himself) and there was the ill-fated +timepiece calmly ticking off German minutes. I think I forgot to tell +you that since the invasion we retire at ten instead of eleven o'clock, +having been advised to adopt Celtic time.</p> + +<p>Prussian troops in khaki continue to pass; will they never cease? One's +spine shivers at the sight of the endless, green snake which crawls +along, insinuating its greedy length into the gardens of plenty. This +morning four new officers came to the château; three of them were +nondescript, but the fourth, to all appearances, was an Englishman, pure +blood. He spoke English absolutely without accent and had a perfect +English drawing-room air. It was as funny as an impersonation and as he +had appeared on the scene alone, I believe his brothers-in-arms were +almost suspicious of him. After a little the story came <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>out. He is +really a German, but has lived fifteen years in London. At the début of +the war he had been obliged to take up arms against a sea of troubles, +or relinquish forever his right to go back to Baden, where his parents +live. Naturally he chose the former (also probably thinking that "War" +was a word only) and allowed himself to be bored by circumstances. He +told us some amusing tales of his having been already arrested three +times for an English spy. Everybody here likes him very much and I +welcomed him personally as the nearest approach to an Anglo-Saxon that I +have seen in many months.</p> + +<p>Monsieur J. and several of the representative men of the village, +including <i>Monsieur le Curé</i> (a little, fat, rosy-cheeked man, adored by +his flock), were taken as hostages for twenty-four hours and had to +sleep in the railroad station. It was nervously comical to see Monsieur +J. starting off, his valet following with a mattress on his back and a +box of sandwiches in his hand against the misery of the night. But it is +not so amusing to be the victim of even a threat which at any moment may +take the form of a sudden reality for no reason except to terrorize +honest people who are defending their homes. The enemy's way of +punishing and evading future insurrection among the civilians is to take +people as hostages <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>and shoot them if necessary, or burn the houses. +This they have already done in several quarters in Liége. A few nights +ago several students fired on some German officers in a café and the +latters' revenge was instantaneous and terrible; they just stood +eighteen men up in front of the University and shot them like dogs—then +burned that section for blocks around.</p> + +<p>Austrian artillery was passing today with their great cannon drawn by +automobiles. The wheels of the gun carriages are enormous and the cannon +are the biggest things we have yet seen.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 19th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Such an odd picking little noise, like a mouse, disturbed us at +breakfast this <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> Madame X. opened the door and was +astonished to see a German soldier unscrewing the telephone from the +wall. Her obvious surprise moved the man to explain, which was +unqualifiedly this—"Madame, permit me, but we need your telephone for +field service."</p> + +<p>I suppose he may as well have it anyway for nothing so modern and useful +as telephones has existed for us since August 3rd.</p> + +<p>A group of very surly officers have "taken over" Madame R.'s château +down in the country. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>The moment they arrived night before last, the +Colonel ordered her to bring out all her best wine, throwing her his +soiled gloves to wash at the same time.</p> + +<p>The patients at the Convent are beginning to show a little life now, +though their poor, black faces are more grotesque than ever as an eye, +here and there, begins to peep out from a crack in the crusted surface. +They have begun to talk after a fashion, though their poor, dried lips +can hardly accomplish the task. Jean, the big fellow who jumped seven +metres into the ditch from Fort Chaudefontaine when it blew up, died +this morning, the result of a fractured skull.</p> + +<p>French and German aeroplanes alike have been flying over the city, +dropping the most sensational circulars of the victories of their +particular armies. But the news is "<i>trop beau</i>"—one cannot believe it +and probably it is only destined to encourage the soldiers. It appears +that the officers tell their men all kinds of extraordinary tales, to +give them heart for the fight, and the poor things believe (hearing +French spoken here) that they are already in France, for yesterday one +of them in a passing train was heard demanding the Eiffel Tower. An +officer admitted to Monsieur S. that Germany prints three +newspapers—one <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>for the officers, one for the soldiers, and one for +imbeciles. I suppose the latter means us.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 22nd, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Bread is being rationed out now in the village and we are allowed only +two small pieces at a meal. It seems to me that I never wanted one more +slice so much in my life. The soldiers have cleared out the baker's +supply and he cannot get any more flour.</p> + +<p>Monsieur S. has bought a bicycle and goes into town every morning to +find out about things. Sometimes it seems as if we could hardly wait +until he gets back to lunch for the news. And oh! such terrible things +are happening. Some funny incidents too, intersperse themselves from +time to time. During the recounting of some of these awful tales of +violence and revenge which we are hearing from the little villages the +young footman's knees doubled right up and nearly let him down while he +was serving the table and he is getting greener and greener from day to +day. He becomes absolutely petrified when the officers address him and +whispers out an unintelligible something as he vanishes through a door.</p> + +<p>The horrible carnage at Namur has begun and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>we already have heard +sickening accounts of it. The story, as we have had it by word of mouth, +is that one of the seven forts capitulated (the city was evacuated), +allowing the enemy to enter in over a tract of land which was literally +sown with this famous, new <i>Poudre Turpin</i> which exploded under the feet +of whole regiments at once, and the forts completed the slaughter.</p> + +<p>Troops, troops, always troops plodding along. Their attitude could not +be called determined for there is not enough mental action in it, though +there does exist an indisputable tenacity which is appalling. How they +lack that infectious <i>ardeur</i>, that splendid <i>élan</i> which characterizes +every little <i>poilu</i>! But they just plod on like a great machine, +lacking intelligence in its parts, each vital, however, to the +perfectly-fitted whole.</p> + +<p>Madame X. and I felt as if we could not sit still another minute this +afternoon and, safe, or no, we decided to take a walk on the +mountainside. We could hear regiments approaching first by a faint +buzzing in the distance which rounded out into song as it drew near; as +an officer told us, the men often sing in four voices which is quite +beautiful. Then, we became aware of a different noise, a sort of loose +rumble, as if cohesion would presently not exist for the thing, whatever +it was, that caused this new <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>note. But it was not a note, it was a +disturbance which grew and grew in proportions. Madame X. and I scurried +up and down the paths trying to find a vista through the trees that +would disclose this monster which was moving so protestingly along the +road.</p> + +<p>I imagined it would be snorting flame and its eyes smouldering fires, +but instead its eyes were neat little windows with tidy curtains, for +the monster turned out to be three diminutive houses on wheels drawn by +a huge motor. What their end and purpose might be, is imaginable. If it +is for the comfort of the High Command <i>en campagne</i>, the great clumsy +procession rivaling the speed of a snail is a heap of trouble for a +little luxury.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 24th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Namur is taken by the Germans. Practically nothing remains of the city. +A German major who was brought, wounded, to Liége, said the battle was +too frightful to narrate. He entered the city with one thousand men and +left it with sixty-five. Just outside the forts, where he had been +stationed with two hundred horses, three bombs fell upon them at the +same moment and only seven of the poor beasts remained. His <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>admiration +for the pointing and firing of the Belgian and French cannon was +unlimited.</p> + +<p>Just before lunch this morning, two very ragged-looking individuals +(Belgian civilians) came to the château. They were travel-stained +indeed, just having made the journey on foot from Brussels and in a +calmer era would have had some success in the rôle of common ordinary +tramps. As it was, they excited a little curiosity by the suspicious way +they had of looking about, and our first thought was spies until one of +them, edging toward the outside of the group, made Baronne de H. +understand that he had something to communicate to her. Inquiring if it +were safe, he suddenly leaned down and drew out from the sole of his +shoe, a piece of paper on which was written, "A banker of Brussels sends +greetings—all are well." The little woman burst into a flood of tears +for she realized that it was a message from her husband, one of the +<i>Garde Civique</i> of Brussels. During the three, long, anxious weeks of +devotion to others, I had often remarked and wondered at her courage in +never mentioning her own longing and apprehension for her husband and +three little children. Before we had recovered from the first onslaught +of the army, she must have known, after it left here, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>that it would +pass their château three kilometres the other side of Brussels and what +would it leave in its wake? Can you imagine her anxiety, when every day +we were hearing frightful stories of children having their hands chopped +off and people's heads being paraded on bayonets? But I never remember +her uttering a single "I wonder," or an "I wish." Does this not bear out +what the illustrious Roman said about the "Belgians," which certainly +did not exclude the women? It is the grandest thing that ever could +be—this response of the women to the Nation's call, for it is not just +passive self-sacrifice, but impassioned co-operation.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon Madame de H. and I went to Liége to arrange her +passport for Brussels. Two of the officers who are here offered to go +with us in order to facilitate an entrance into the "<i>Kommandantur</i>," +which is the general headquarters and is in that ancient and beautiful +place of the <i>Princes-Evêques</i>, onetime feudal lords of the principality +of Liége. I wanted to rebel openly when I saw that wonderful court, +world-famous for its beauty, which has been turned into a dépôt of +supplies and barracks with horses stabled under those delicate, Gothic +arches, models of purity and beauty. But to what good? Will <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>anything +ever expiate the offense? There are also horses in the theatre and +machine guns in all the upper windows.</p> + +<p>While Madame de H. was waiting to see Count Moltke in his office, I +walked about the court with one of the soldier attendants who came with +us and had an opportunity of peeking through many doors which would +otherwise have been closed to me. My companion, who is a wholesale grain +merchant in peace times, enjoyed his authority immensely and dragged his +sword, half unbuckled, on the ground, which clanked behind us and made +merry music in his ears, I am sure. The whole place was a perfect +beehive though there was little confusion. The soldiers were diligently +counting supplies, feeding horses and sorting Belgian cannon and shells +which had been captured.</p> + +<p>On the road from Angleur to Liége we were obliged to give way to some +troops which were returning from Namur. The auto stopped right in the +middle of a column, which, as we heard, was a conglomeration of the tag +ends of different regiments and I was almost afraid—the men peered in +at us so maliciously. I have never seen such a frightening spectacle of +humanity, for it was the personification of a rogues' gallery with every +kind of cut-throat, brigand and robber <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>mixed up into a grand ensemble, +toiling and perspiring, limping and crawling along in the dust and heat.</p> + +<p>Does battle blot out the soul of a man in one savage conflict? +Obviously, it is before a weary march that one finds exalted faces. But +perhaps they were not desperadoes—only tired and dirty and unshaven.</p> + +<p>It is said, however, that when war was declared, the enemy opened the +doors of all the prisons and that the front ranks of the attacking +forces (which were sure to be lost) were entirely composed of convicts +and prisoners. And also, the officers in the regular army are so hated +by their men that when they started out to conquer the world every +officer was changed to a different regiment.</p> + +<p>This evening we sat on the terrace enjoying the afterglow of the setting +sun and the calmness of the garden, listening to the soldiers singing in +the orchard, next. This singing in the twilight is heartbreaking and +particularly melancholy, as the music is slow and has more consolation +in it than the usual soul-inspiring quality of battle hymns. At +intervals we heard the captain speaking with great force and enthusiasm, +the hurrahs of the men, an occasional "<i>Vaterland, Vaterland</i>," and +again and ever, "<i>Die Wacht am Rhein.</i>"</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 26th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Two new officers (not Prussians) of the <i>Landstürm</i> arrived this +morning—men of fifty to fifty-five years of age. One is a hardware +merchant <i>en civil</i> and has a brown beard and the asthma; the other is a +lawyer, with big, blinking eyes—and they both looked as if they hated +war. The "Englishman" is still here—his department is looking after +supplies at the dépôt. He has borrowed all the English books in the +house and sits reading all day up in the signal box at the station, so +the family have named him "<i>Monsieur Seegnal Box</i>," which, with a tiny, +French accent, sounds quite attractive.</p> + +<p>We are so enthusiastic about our patients at the Convent, for they are +all improving and developing personalities now. Every morning at +eight-thirty we rush over there as quickly as we can to see how the poor +children are getting on and who has another eye open. Nature has begun +her restorative work and oh! what a satisfaction it is to see the new +skin stretching out tiny shreds to bridge over the martyred flesh.</p> + +<p>The atmosphere of the ward is gay. 'Most everybody can laugh, at least +with their hearts, for stiffened lips do not all respond yet. The work +has arranged itself in admirable routine, where humanity is not entirely +swallowed up in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>duty. There are young girls and boys who fetch basins +of water, old women who roll bandages, faithful, sweet-faced matrons who +bind up dreadful wounds, and strong, young men who lift, so tenderly, +pain-racked bodies and who can toss a joke or a word of encouragement +with equal discretion, which never fails to infuse the down-hearted with +their own priceless vitality. Then there is the <i>Mère Supérieure</i>, of +thin, æsthetic face, who comes with a gentle word of the "Faith" for +each one; the austere <i>Soeur Félicité</i>, who counts the cups and searches +your soul and brings in hot coffee and a steaming ragoût; and the +pretty, young <i>Soeur Monique</i>, with her uplifted face, who cannot +conceal a shy admiration for big, blond Henri who rails at everything +and is as lovable as a baby. Then the villagers: in the middle of the +room, Monsieur B. (Secretary and Treasurer, I should say) cuts off gauze +with a calculating eye at one end of a long table and at the other, +rosy-cheeked Monsieur R. (painter of every house and barn in the +village) stands all day long with a spatula in his hand and slaps on the +ointment for dressings. There is a sort of professional twist in the +gesture and his merry, little eyes glance around, not seeking but rather +gathering in approval, and from under his bristling, white moustache +will burst a salute for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>one, a joke for another, or a reproach for +another.</p> + +<p>Here, there and everywhere he is needed, is Monsieur F., whose great, +dark eyes are acquainted with pain; he is a frail, little person and the +substantial man of the village, a living paradox. Just when Monsieur R. +announces—dramatically waving his spatula—that that is the last ounce +of boric ointment and no more peroxide in the cupboard and we are raving +around and denouncing the pharmacist, Monsieur F. steps up and inquires +what the trouble is, knowing full well the difficulty and also "his +moment," wise man that he is. While we are swamping the situation with +words, he quietly dispatches a boy to his house, who quickly reappears +with huge bottles of this and that. Oh, blessed Monsieur F., who long +since had made a corner in peroxide and everything else we shall need +until after the war. But the despair of the moment, the heat and three, +long hours of unremitting "dressings" effect a faintness of soul and a +"queer" feeling we did not realize was there, until that dear, roly-poly +<i>Soeur Anastasie</i> appears with a bottle of red wine, half concealed +under her cape, and with a motherly, "<i>Ça vous fera du bien</i>," (that +will do you good) pours us out a generous glassful. That puts the blue +in the sky again and keeps the shafts of golden sunshine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>from creating +zigzag patterns in our brain. Oh, Shades of my New England Ancestors! +Would you say, "Better to slip down in a swoon?"—and give everybody a +lot of trouble—</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 27th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Madame de H. and I again went to Liége early this morning about her +passports. The hotels and cafés were just seething humanity, beds +improvised in every corner, and I saw officers paying their hotel bills +with cheques and notes. The poor proprietor blinked and swallowed hard +for a moment and said nothing. The city was literally packed with troops +going in all directions. <i>Uhlans</i>, <i>chasseurs</i>, artillery and the +infantry, singing and executing that foolish-looking goose-step—it +probably has its advantages, but at eight <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> in the pouring +rain it did appear ridiculous.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon we took a walk into the country, following the +railroad. The soldiers were working everywhere, putting up temporary +buildings for any emergency. We saw one of those open dining halls—only +three walls with a shed roof where a regiment can step out of a train to +eat while another jumps quickly in and no time lost. We passed the +lovely château of the Marquis de T. who is Minister Plenipotentiary +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>from Costa Rica. Of course, this is neutral property and flies a +neutral flag, but the place is filled with officers and, according to +the <i>maitre d'hotel</i>, the wine cellar is undergoing a thorough +inventory.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 28th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>This morning there was excitement at the Convent; someone was reading a +three weeks' old journal to the soldiers and for a moment everybody +forgot his particular aches and black heads lifted themselves from their +pillows and gaunt forms swayed to and fro on shaky elbows. The lust of +battle lit up wooden countenances, fire sprang from eyes yet heavily +veiled by crusted lids and a fervent "<i>bien fait</i>" or "<i>vivent les +Belges</i>," trembled from heretofore silent corners.</p> + +<p>Madame André, who comes to see her boy every day, remarked my looking at +her dress which was all darned and mended in the most unaccountable +places, "O, Mademoiselle," she said. "I suppose you are wondering about +my waist? But wasn't it lucky I was here with André when the troops +passed through our village? The soldiers fired haphazard in the windows +and the wardrobe in which my clothes were hanging <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>caught seven bullets +and the headboard of my bed, four."</p> + +<p>All the afternoon troops were coming back from Namur in evident haste +and apparent rout, for they had such a tired, bedraggled look. About +five o'clock a company with ammunition wagons, Red Cross ambulances and +baggage trucks dashed madly into the orchard among the apple trees, +nearly wrecking themselves and everything else. Immediately after, three +officers came to the house to beg lodging for the night. They were +frightful-looking individuals covered with mud and dirt, with half-grown +beards and one could not tell what uniforms. They asked the most humble +apartment—a corner, the floor—anything, "and, Madame, a little hot +water, <i>s'il vous plait</i>." We were sitting on the terrace tonight just +before dinner when down came the three new arrivals, beautiful as the +morning, shaven and shining in their gray-green uniforms, polished boots +and bracelets set with precious stones—officers of the "Emperor's Own," +though these men did not seem like Germans, but were much more the +lighter build and elegant type of the Austrians.</p> + +<p>They were a bit haughty at first, but dinner thawed them out and then +what tales they told us; the most promising imagination could not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>rival +their flights in the air. They acted like people who walk in their sleep +and had that same vague expression of the eye. But it is not to be +wondered at, coming as they did from a frightful battlefield and +fatigued by a hard march. It must be true that battle intoxicates men +for these latter, being of a sensible age, did say very ridiculous +things. Hitherto the officers who have been here were fairly modest +though always showing an undeniable confidence, while these three openly +bragged. The young lieutenant who sat next to me spoke French fluently +and never stopped talking all the evening. Among countless other things, +he said, "We are being sent back from Namur as Paris is taken" +(ejaculation from me "I cannot believe it") "and they have no more need +of us in that direction," he went on without turning a hair. "So we are +<i>en route</i> for England or Russia, in the morning, to conquer the seven +nations (he included Monaco in the list) who have declared war against +our beloved Vaterland."</p> + +<p>"And, Mademoiselle," he continued, "they fired on our ambulances!"</p> + +<p>"Ah?" I answered, nonchalantly, "the Germans have already done that +here."</p> + +<p>He was a bit taken aback at this rejoinder; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>then with a prodigiously +sorrowful look he exclaimed in a hushed voice, "<i>Oui, la guerre est +terrible.</i>"</p> + +<p>The victories they exploited on land and sea were fantastic and the +funny part is, they believed thoroughly all they said. It is strange to +hear serious people fabricate such yarns as they did, with as much +dexterity as a spider spins its web.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 29th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The ambulance was as busy as a beehive this <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> Except for +one or two, the patients are all feeling better. André, the third on the +left, whose sonorous "<i>Merci, chère Soeur</i>" nearly frightened me to +pieces one day, seems to be the wit and authority on all subjects—a +real leader, I should say, and <i>drôle</i>! Augustin, four beds from him, is +our difficult child, the only one of the twenty-nine who is spoiled and +fights his dressings, but we must be patient with him for he has been +very sick and that drawn look about the nose and a certain, startled +expression of the eyes, worry me. But the little <i>Soeur Victoire</i> says +comfortingly that he will soon be well, though he does not wish to eat +and his jaws are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>a little stiff. O, <i>chère Soeur</i>, in your sweet faith, +are stiffened jaws such a trivial circumstance?</p> + +<p>Next Augustin is Sylvestre, <i>le beau</i>. He was the splendid <i>pointeur</i> of +Fort Chaudefontaine and was the least burned of the men; that is why I +know he is beautiful; also I catch many glimpses of him in the little +mirror in which he is constantly regarding himself, but he is <i>bon +garçon</i>, nevertheless—his honest blue eyes attest it.</p> + +<p>At the end of the row is the big Flamand, who was always two feet too +long for his bed. He is sitting up now and that great, black head, with +features swollen three times their normal size, is a sight to frighten +the boldest. If he should roar at me I would drop everything and flee. +But he doesn't; nobody roars; for they are all the finest gentlemen in +the world, even in their trying moments.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock this evening, right out of the silence, issued sounds of +heavy, rolling carts, and horses' hoofs. Madame de H. and I stole out +into the court to see what it might be and, almost as if by magic, whole +regiments came pouring along in the greatest haste and disorder. A wing +of the servants' quarters hid the approach of the soldiers from us and +the strange, non-resonant quality of the atmosphere tonight deceived us +as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>to their nearness. In a moment they were upon us—not three feet +away, for some of the troops had taken, not the usual highroad two +hundred feet distant, but a short cut by the narrow path which directly +passes the court yard. Happily we had hidden ourselves behind the +grille, in the foliage, or we might have been shot without ceremony, as +by order of the military governor of the city "every civilian shall be +indoors and lights out at eight <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>"</p> + +<p>We enjoyed the danger a little at first because we did not realize it; +all the same we obliterated ourselves as much as possible, though hardly +daring to move or breathe. Not an arm's length away, their nearness +oppressed us and the waves of heat which reeked from their toiling +bodies sickened us. But there we crouched in our light dresses, easily +seen if one had chanced to look, and separated only by an iron fence +with sparse, fluttering vines from a mass of tired, quarrelsome, +desperate men. Why! any of them might have run us through in a flash as +one would lunge at a white rag for the amusement of his companions. +Indoors the family were frantic, not daring to open a crack of the door +for fear of violent consequences to us.</p> + +<p>The night was full of dull noises; even the clanking chains of the gun +carriages seemed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>muffled and the thud of horses' hoofs in the mud added +to the air of secrecy which pervaded the scene, while the moonlight +threw out shadows and drew crazy perspectives and showed up silhouettes +of men positively falling from their seats with fatigue. Some one was +twirling a French soldier's cap on a bayonet, we heard smothered yawns, +the words "<i>Russland</i>," "<i>Vaterland</i>," and finally the infantry +whistling in unison as they limped along.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 30th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>At two o'clock in the morning the whole family was aroused by a +thundering rap from the butt of a gun on the big front entrance. The +poor old butler, who has been in service thirty-five years, was aghast +to open the door and find the Burgomaster, in white kid gloves, standing +between two Prussian soldiers, with fixed bayonets. They demanded +Monsieur J. (for the second time) as hostage. What could have happened +among the people, we could only guess. Had they been rash enough to +protest against strength and did they want to share the fate of the +pitiful Visé?</p> + +<p>The forenoon brought us no news; after lunch we walked in the broiling +sun to the little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>railroad station at Kinklepois, to see Monsieur J. +(he had aged ten years over night) where he was under guard with several +others, including <i>Monsieur le Vicaire</i> of A. and <i>Monsieur l'Abbé</i> of +K. We sat around the table in the Concierge's tiny dining room and +listened to some amusing anecdotes told by the Vicar, while the gentle +old Abbot sent out to the vicarage for a bottle of his good old +Burgundy. To be sure, no one was much in the mood to be amused, but it +lessened the tension of the moment; the least unusual sound from the +street—and it was full of soldiers and horses—brought the tale to a +sudden end and we listened with blanched faces for perhaps—the worst.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>August 31st, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur J. was released as hostage at seven o'clock <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> and +returned to the fold. This evening, as all was still, we played a little +game of Bridge, as in the old days when life was a pleasant dream. +Suddenly a dozen rifle shots, in quick succession, rang out in the air +and the cards fell from our nerveless fingers as a stray ball rattled +against the iron shutters of our windows. Instinctively we crouched into +sheltered corners and waited; another volley and another followed, until +finally Monsieur S. whispered in a hoarse voice, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>"À la cave." The +household, including the servants, delighted to be any place where we +were not, made a lightning dash, Indian file, for the cellar. Quite +unperturbed and loath to leave her cozy, warm kitchen, the old, fat cook +was the last to waddle down the stairs, repeating her usual "They cannot +hurt me. I am Dutch." She was the calmest of us all, for those +intermittent shots and the possibility of retrieving lost balls had +raised a tremor of excitement as well as our hasty descent into the +realms of Bacchus, in common words—the wine cellar. By the thin rays of +a candle the scene was comic; there we were, fourteen of us huddled +together in a twelve by twenty foot vault, earthen floor and stone +walls. Expecting at any moment an onslaught of we did not know what, +each one was bracing himself for the blow, in different attitudes of +mind and body. Madame X. was pale, her daughter stolid and ready for the +defensive—the true, fighting blood of the Belgians on fire: the old +butler, attentive to the slightest sound, was shaking his gray head with +ominous pessimism and one of the maids was weeping hysterically and +audibly in the arms of her husband, the young footman. At first we just +stood and looked at each other as periodic volleys resounded now and +again. Then we relaxed as well as we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>could on dusty cases and rounding +barrels or whatever was at hand. An hour passed before the shooting +ceased and then we discovered that we were cramped and uncomfortable and +cold—chilled through with that deathlike dampness which pervades +subterranean chambers. What misery for those who had to live in them for +days! Another hour elapsed before the danger was really over and we +dared to come out from cover; then we crawled upstairs to bed on our +hands and knees to keep below the level of the window ledges.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Madame de H. made an attempt to go to Brussels by a military train +which, however, was derailed ten kilometres from here. Some disagreeable +officers took the second automobile for military service, in spite of +the signed permission which Count Moltke has given the family. Did I +tell you that Madame X.'s children are related by marriage to a high +official of the Imperial Court? I do not know at all if this fact +accounts for the extreme courtesy which they have always received from +the soldiers, but at any <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>rate some of their friends have not been so +favored.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Madame T., who had a charming Villa at S., was one of the unfortunate +ones. She was obliged to entertain the officers of some passing troops +at lunch recently, after which they had coffee in the garden. The +Captain glanced around at the flowers and said, "Madame, very pretty, +very pretty, tomorrow, nothing." That night her villa and several other +neighboring ones were burned to the ground.</p> + +<p>The Germans are constantly forcing the Belgian old men, women and +children to march in front of their attacking armies. What kind of +soldiers can it be that does these things, but brutes and barbarians?</p> + +<p>My revulsion for it all is so great that the words fairly scorch my +fingers as I write them.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> We never heard what really started the commotion, whether +it was premeditated or accidental, but this illustrates what a furor a +rifle shot creates instantly. The nervous tension of both the invader +and invaded is tremendous.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> A printed document was exposed afterwards in the village +recommending the Château X. to be respected.</p></div> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 2nd, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Very early this morning we were awakened by the most remarkable sound—a +co-operative noise I should call it, or anything you like, being a +combination of steamboat, train of cars and sawmill. Looking out of the +window we saw a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>magnificent Zeppelin sailing along in all its majestic +wonder.</p> + +<p>Miracles happen overnight in the ambulance now, for Health is hastening +back in seven-league-boots and every one of our brave <i>blessés</i> is +turning out to be handsome. Each day a real face emerges from its black +chrysalis and we find it beautiful. The refinery was of the cruelest +type, but the temper of such men stood the test and their souls shine +out undeniably over the scarred flesh.</p> + +<p>Some new companies, with their under officers, have taken up quarters in +the stables and garage. For the last ten days we have had Prussians +there, who were discontented with everything and wanted all the kitchen +utensils and everything within reach, but these new men are Bavarian +<i>Landstürm</i>, rather nice old things, who have brought all their own +contrivances, not the least among them being one of the famous rolling +kitchens. This latter is a round boiler, hung on four wheels, and is +about a metre in diameter and a metre in depth. It is divided into three +longitudinal compartments (the fire being underneath), one for soup, one +for meat and one for vegetables. Then, under the driver's seat or +perhaps not right under, is a tiny oven where are baked <i>kuchen</i> or a +steaming pudding. It is a complete <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>affair and when dinner is ready, +they just hitch on a pair of family horses and drive around to the +different companies where rations are dished out, literally. I do not +know if the position of cook is the most enviable one in the army, but +at any rate this chef appears to enjoy it and is content to sit in the +courtyard all day, peeling potatoes and onions and cabbages and cabbages +and onions and potatoes.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 3rd, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>"<i>Monsieur Seegnal Box</i>" went this morning and everybody was sorry to +see him go, for he was a congenial spirit, and, like us, found nothing +attractive about war. He seemed a protection, too, from the beast that +is ever snarling at the door.</p> + +<p>A young cousin of the family related to us to-day how much at home the +soldiers have felt in his château in the country; so much so, in fact, +that they have already sent off to Germany all his old family portraits +and the best rugs. Here is a bit of psychology for you to unravel. Why +should they want his family portraits?</p> + +<p>I suppose you could not imagine such a thing happening in America. Well, +just try for a moment.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>Fancy somebody's coming in and explaining to you that you cannot use +your own things and that your choice possessions will have a far better +setting in Germany than where they are. I think it would do the world a +lot of good if everyone tried such a mental drill for three minutes a +day.</p> + +<p>A great depression hung over the Convent to-day—the men were quiet, +showing their consideration for the "<i>camarade</i>" as they always do. +Constant, who received internal injuries at Fort d'Embourg, is dying and +Augustin is worse. The latter's face has a gray-blue look and his poor +jaws are very stiff. But there is hope! Oh, yes, there is Hope in big +Jean's smile across the ward, as he follows us around with his great, +black eyes. One can find lots of sympathy in a "<i>Oui, Mademoiselle</i>," or +a "<i>Non, Mademoiselle</i>," (which is all he ever says) even when it has +nothing to do with the question.</p> + +<p>Since the commandant has taken the auto we no longer go out. It is much +too complicated anyway, as one has to show a passport at every bridge +and corner. Every acre of land is infested with soldiers. It is +interesting, however, to see what they do and how they turn everything +to some use. Men are sent from Germany to repair railroads, build +bridges, put up telephones, institute food stations and to kill pigs and +wash <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>the meat in porcelain bath tubs as we saw them do yesterday, +outside a free bath establishment near one of the factories. As we were +looking down on the road tonight, from a hill perhaps two hundred yards +away, we saw distinctly a column of soldiers in dark blue uniforms, +marching across country, and just behind them the ground seemed to +writhe and wriggle in a distressing manner. For a moment we could not +imagine what was happening, when soon a company of men in khaki began to +evolve itself from the landscape. Does that not prove the inestimable +value of earth-colored clothes? For as close as they were to us, we +could distinguish nothing.</p> + +<p>This gray-green which the Germans wear is by far the best tone of khaki +that I have yet seen.</p> + +<p>Soldiers are stripping the factories here of their fine machinery, but +one sort of chuckles in one's boots when he remembers that it was +originally bought in Germany and has not been paid for yet.</p> + +<p>All day long, trains without ceasing were bringing back the wounded. We +do not know exactly where the fighting is, but probably near Charleroi. +A Baron de C. and his wife arrived here at ten <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> from +Posen, one of the German provinces already taken by the Russians. Crazed +with anxiety, they are going in search of their son, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>who was wounded at +Namur, and have been three days in a military train—an excruciating +journey! At midnight, the soldiers and the <i>chef de cuisine</i>, who has +had his kitchen in the court, departed. Before going they sang softly +some of their songs and then the wagons, one by one, filed out of the +moonlight and were swallowed up in the shadows of the trees. I felt as +if the candle had been blown out for them.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 4th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur J. came home today with bad news, though every day has its bad +news. His cousin Robert had been killed near Gand. The old butler's eyes +were sweet to see when Madame X. turned at table and said to him, +"François, Monsieur Robert is dead." This man of one syllable, according +to his custom, answered simply, quick tears visible, "<i>Oui, Madame</i>" +with that gentle upward intonation which says so much.</p> + +<p>The longest sentence he probably ever constructed was uttered +thirty-five years ago when his young master had wished to dismiss him +for some reason and he had answered, "Oh no, Monsieur, we could not +live, either one of us without the other," which settled the question +for all time. And now the master is laid to rest and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>the servant must +serve the enemy in his house.</p> + +<p>We took a little walk in the woods, this afternoon—as the coast was +clear and no strangers in the house for the first time in three weeks. +We had hardly finished a short promenade when we heard a violent +clanging on the gong to call us back, and when we returned in all haste +to the house found seven soldiers in the library going through all the +drawers and closets in search of firearms. Commencing there, they +searched the whole house from top to bottom, even fumbling in the +bureaus among the dainty lingerie of Madame X. Some of them took an +obvious pleasure in performing their duty, while others looked +uncomfortable and bored. It is true that many of the men hate this war, +whereby whole families of brothers and cousins have to leave their homes +to fight what they call the "Aristocrats' War," who in their arrogance +think to be masters of the whole world.</p> + +<p>Some newspapers, two weeks old, were brought from Brussels in the +evening and we pounced upon them as a starved dog makes for a bone.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 5th, Saturday.</i> (At the ambulance.)</h2> + + +<p>"<i>Constant, le pauvre Constant!</i> What is in your tortured soul, these +three long days and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>nights, that chains it to earth and tosses your +poor body from one troubled thought to another?"</p> + +<p>I did not think to have my question answered. At eleven o'clock this +morning a child of twelve years, beautiful as an angel with heavenly +blue eyes and a shock of golden hair, dashed breathlessly into the +courtyard of the Convent, almost too exhausted to ask if <i>Soldat</i> +Constant Martin, by any chance, were there. The gentle <i>Soeur Cecile</i> +led him in to the sick man's cot. The boy gazed a moment, bewildered at +the wasted form upon it; then with an agonizing cry of "<i>mon père</i>" fell +on his knees by the bedside. The man's eyelids trembled, half opened an +instant to look upon his son, and closed. In ten minutes he was at +peace.</p> + +<p>Since the railroad has been reconstructed the soldiers have been passing +in trains instead of on foot. Today we saw hundreds of older men, +Bavarians and sailors—it looks as if something had miscarried when the +marines have to fight on land. In the opposite direction, thousands of +wounded were going back in ambulance cars. These ambulance trains are +admirable and are often made up of forty and fifty carriages of the +light, swinging, old-fashioned type, of uniform size, the roofs painted +white, with a big, red <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>cross on the top and one on each side. The cots +are arranged one above the other, showing clean, white linen, while the +attendants are spotlessly uniformed in white. In the middle of each +train is a car which might be called the "ugly duckling," for it is a +decidedly clumsy looking affair, full of steam boilers with safety +valves and tubes sticking out at the top, and is, I fancy, a sterilizing +plant.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 6th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Oh, the peace of Sunday in a little village! And Augustin is better, +though he still fights his dressings. It takes the combined effort of +the ward to present duty in such an attractive guise that he will not +realize he is minding, but it is really the sympathetic Roger who can +insinuate comforting comparisons from his own recent acquaintance with +pain and the ever-ready Pierre, who with a "courage, camarade," and one +free hand to help me, actually put the thing through.</p> + +<p>On my way home to lunch I glanced at the clock in the church tower and +saw that it was an hour ahead of time, having been made to coincide with +Teuton pendulums. This is the second time that it has happened, for the +villagers dared to climb up the long stairs and put it back, once, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>but +the soldiers were so ferocious in their threats that—well, one must +accept their insolence. Crossing the field I passed the farmer who must +have felt considerable perturbation of soul this particular day, for he +looked "worrited" and was mowing grass for his poor, thin cows, in a +blue gingham smock and a bowler hat. The war is not more vital to anyone +on earth than to him, for the soldiers have taken away his wagons and +most of his hay for their bedding and they ruined the grass in the +orchard where they were encamped.</p> + +<p>Soldiers came to the Convent this morning to search for firearms. It +appears that the German military authorities are terrified of an +uprising among the inhabitants, particularly the factory hands, who will +not work for the Prussians and are getting a little restless. One can +readily imagine such an apprehension when from a population of 40,000 +working men in the vicinity, only forty-two firearms were presented upon +requisition. If all the rest are buried in the woods, as many believe, +it will only be the story of another inspired "Cadmus, who sowed +dragons' teeth and there sprang up an army of armed men."</p> + +<p>Madame de H. has left for Brussels. The third auto which was hidden away +was brought out and with Count Moltke's <i>laisser-passer</i> and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>the +family's chauffeur, she will arrive safely, we hope, though we shall not +rest until the man gets back.</p> + +<p>In Liége this afternoon, in front of the University, we saw squares and +squares which were burned out by the Germans, and also where those +eighteen civilians were shot, following a slight uprising of the people. +Madame X.'s niece, who lives quite near there, heard the screams of the +women, and such scenes of terror seem even yet to paralyze the +population. In the Place de la Cathédrale we saw soldiers pushing people +along with their saw-toothed bayonets to disperse a crowd which was +gaping, stupefied, at some unusual proceeding.</p> + +<p>As we stood there, an automobile, with eight Prussian officers in it, +came banging down the street, loose bolts jingling, and was just +disappearing around a corner when Madame R. exclaimed "Oh, that's our +Reynaud!"</p> + +<p>All the automobiles, as well as everything else, have been confiscated +by the invaders and it is a common occurrence to look up and see one's +own beautiful car bounding along over cobblestones and breaking with its +load of soldiers—the motors are driven so hard that in two weeks' time +they are practically worthless.</p> + +<p>At the beginning of the war, many owners <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>cunningly removed a tiny +necessary part of their machines, but in most cases the same owners were +given just two hours at the point of the bayonet to find those missing +parts, which was not always easy. And the farmers, too, who cut down the +big trees across the roads to impede the enemy's advance, had just the +same amount of time given them to clear the path again. So you see that +one is helpless.</p> + +<p>Rumors come from France that the fortified town of Mauberge still +resists, but that the Germans are at Compiégne, which is so near to +beautiful Paris. It is impossible to believe. Yet we all experienced a +feeling of absolute faintness when that report came, for Compiégne, or +anywhere within one hundred kilometres of it, is too near. But if—<i>Bon +Dieu</i>, keep us from thinking!</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 8th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>There is a possibility of our going to Brussels. Oh, the joy of it! That +may find me the means, through the American Ambassador, of getting back +to my beloved France.</p> + +<p>The youngest gardener, the little one, Charles, who is only eighteen +years old, has left for "the front." Not with his regiment, for he +hasn't <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>one (this year was to have been his class), but as a private +individual who could not stay at home when his country needed him. His +old mother, with a little catch in her throat, sent him off proudly, her +baby, her <i>petit Charles</i>, to serve with his four brothers, already +gone.</p> + +<p>But how can he get away with the eye of the arrogant usurper on every +corner and road?</p> + +<p>A Belgian soldier will play his rôle after his own interpretation. +Instead of going off in his best smock and a tiny bundle on a stick, <i>le +petit Charles</i> bade us a smiling <i>au revoir</i> in his old blue apron and +torn hat. He will wander aimlessly over the hills which he knows so well +and, unsuspected, will creep through the friendly hedges into the very +arms of hospitable Holland and then, "All's well."</p> + +<p>Trains were passing all day loaded with provisions, as well as soldiers +and sailors who were sticking on like caterpillars all over the roofs, +the sides, the steps and almost the wheels. I saw two of them dancing +the tango on the top of one carriage. Then came car after car of prairie +wagons, we call them, with voluminous, white, canvas hoods, loaded with +provisions; after these, countless, giant cannon decorated with +branches, flowers and flags, mounted on open trucks without sides. All +this procession was a weird <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>phenomenon gliding by in the sky like a +mirage, for the road-bed at the rear of the château is very high and is +hidden by intervening shrubs and bushes so that the wheels of the cars +are quite concealed. It reminded me of those Amazon warriors in "<i>Die +Walküre</i>" who slid up to Heaven so smoothly on their wooden horses at +the Opéra in Paris.</p> + +<p>Dropping from the poetical plane to common cause and effect, the whole +gave the impression of being well lubricated—like the wheels of Destiny +which turn steadily on with few jerks or hitches.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 9th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The word is said. We are packing our bags to leave for Brussels +tomorrow. When I went to the Convent this morning, I found all the +soldiers in bed and looking so wretched. Merciful Heaven! What blight +could have fallen on our children over night? But it was a farce. They +had heard that the officers of the regiment, here, were coming to +inspect the wounded with the idea of sending those who are well enough +on to Germany as, of course, they are prisoners. So the moment the +Germans entered the courtyard, all the <i>blessés</i>—even those who are +quite well—hopped into bed with their clothes on, pulled the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>covers up +to their chins and with a wet compress on their heads, looked as ill as +possible. It was comical to see; one can be a soldier and comedian at +the same time—and even the dear Sisters enjoyed it. But I was paralyzed +with fear. They had not thought of another side of the question to which +the very impudence of their ruse might subject them.</p> + +<p>I was very sad to say good-bye to these brave fellows who have been to +all the world such a lesson in bravery and patience during their +suffering. One big, lanky <i>garçon</i>—Jean, in fact—was quite undone at +our departure. He refused to be consoled with the promise of postal +cards in some future era and wept and sobbed, but I managed to +understand between the sobs that he was saying, "<i>Mais, Mademoiselle, je +vous suis habitué.</i>" (But, Mademoiselle, I am used to you.) I do not +know if this was meant for a compliment, but I took it as such and wept +too.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 10th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>This morning was spent in finishing packing, which usually is the +biggest part of it, I find.</p> + +<p>There appears to be violent fighting at Malines, Louvain and Tirlemont. +Nevertheless we are setting out from the château, at two o'clock, bag +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>and baggage. Everybody felt sorry to leave the servants (<i>Liégeois</i>) +who have been staunch and comforting friends through all the misery of +these terrifying times. Will an eager Fate close them in? Let us hope +they will absorb the effervescent optimism of the fat old cook who +continually reiterates in her awful French, "They cannot hurt me. I am a +Hollander."</p> + +<p>2 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>—Well, off we started. It was a moment I shall never +forget, for it was as if we had taken up something solid and heavy (an +experience, for example) in our two hands and put it behind us. There +were in the party our two autos and Monsieur H. with Signor K., an +Italian consul, in his. Monsieur H. has a passport from the military +Governor, Field Marshal von der Golz, to go anywhere in Belgium, so we +felt very safe to be with him. No ancient stage-coach with a dozen +passengers on the top could have made as precarious a flight as our +machines, packed and jammed full inside and crowned on the roof with an +overhanging cornice of every sort of bundle. You can imagine that there +was an idea at the back of our minds of never returning, perhaps, or of +keeping what we could in immediate possession.</p> + +<p>It was interesting in leaving the city to see the disposition of troops; +we passed through Seraing, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>where are those tremendous Cockerill +factories, and soon arrived opposite the famous Fort Hollogne which did +such wonderful work in the defense of Liége, August 5th. At present it +flies the German flag and but for one or two sentinels pacing near, one +would never dream that a tremendous fort was there. Like the others, it +is built three stories underground, with just a slight rising of earth +defining the cupolas. Along the road on both sides, for miles and miles, +lay splendid trees which were cut down for cannon range. Just before +arriving at Jauche we met three automobiles with Prussian officers, who +shouted "<i>Nicht weiter</i>" and made violent signs which we did not +understand. But why "<i>nicht weiter</i>" with the <i>Herr Feld Marschall's</i> +permission in our pocket? We soon learned at the railroad crossing. An +hour before there had been an alarm and the station had received orders +to allow no one to pass, as there was fighting not far beyond in the +direction of Tirlemont. Then and there arose a mighty discussion and the +<i>esprits</i> of many nations (Belgian, Italian, Russian, French and German) +entered into the argument while one meek American looked on at the +sparring. Even the little slip of paper ladened with the name of von der +Golz in much ink, had no weight. Then we tried another route, that lay +right through the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>heart of a dirty, squalid, little village to +Ramillies, the same Ramillies of Louis XIV.'s time, famous in the +"<i>Batailles des Flandres</i>." We arrived there by a sudden turn of the +road which brought us up standing, onto a bridge spanning the railroad. +Below, perhaps two hundred feet distant, was the station, out of which, +upon our sudden apparition, swarmed a hundred soldiers in alarm, quite +as if the surprising toe of a boot had inadvertently kicked over an ant +hill. At Ramillies we were not more successful than at Jauche, for as +the officials explained, if we passed the railroad station we were in +danger of being caught between two battlelines. So, sadly indeed, we +retraced our way and returned in the dark and the pouring rain to a +dismantled house and forlorn hopes.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 12th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We are in the depths of despair today for we hear that they are fighting +at Meaux—Meaux, which nearly is Paris. If I were a French woman I could +not feel more poignantly about it. But we always think that it is not +true, as we have no real means of knowing—all is hearsay.</p> + +<p>A messenger brought news from Monsieur N., "Uncle Maurice," in the +Ardennes. It appears <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>that in August when the German troops went through +Belgium on foot, the regiment of Count Otto von M. passed his villa. +Count Otto is "Uncle M's" nephew—the son of his sister, who married a +"high official of the Imperial Court," of whom I have already spoken. So +it happened that the young officer went to call on his esteemed uncle, +who frankly shut the door in his face. The Count burst into tears and +cried, "Uncle, Uncle, won't you speak to me? It is not my fault. When my +brothers and I received orders to come through Belgium, we begged other +commissions but to no avail."</p> + +<p>Certainly not! who better than the Counts von M. who have hunted from +childhood, thro' every lane and secret path, to lead the armies thro' +Belgium.</p> + +<p>Trains are passing with every known thing therein—first thousands of +soldiers, then wagons of provisions, cannon, boats for pontoon bridges +mounted on wheels ready for unloading, material for building, trucks of +hay, portable houses and in one car were hundreds of tiny wheels +sticking up which we discovered belonged to wheelbarrows. It is a droll +procession, that never ceases before one's eyes. To offset it, we have +taken to playing Patience morning, noon and night, and if this monotony +keeps up much longer we shall <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>certainly become imbeciles. From time to +time, in the trains going back to Germany one sees French prisoners, +easy to tell by their red <i>képis</i>, boxed up in cattle cars, peering out +from a narrow slit at the top. From the terrace can be heard the dull +thud of distant cannon; the fighting is at Warrem, thirty kilometres +from here.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>Monday, September 14th.</i></h2> + + +<p>Somebody came into possession of a newspaper, the "Figaro" from Paris, +dated September 6th. We were delighted to have it loaned us for an hour, +greasy and dirty as it was, for in these days a newspaper is the most +precious article on earth. It is brought in on a silver tray—then +somebody feverishly reads aloud for the benefit of the others, while the +servants run out to invite the neighbors to come in and listen. Just as +the reader is in the middle of a grand eulogy on glorious victories, +etc., an unknown person raps on the door to reclaim the precious journal +and we all relapse into a general interchange of impressions, ideas, +complaints, inspirations—"They say"; "It appears"; "Why"; "Must"; +"Ought"; "Should"; etc. In a German paper we read to-day, they are +preparing their men for "slight defeats" by saying that, "The French +army is no <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>longer the army of 1870, but one worthy to combat with our +own." That was very condescending and was doubtless inspired by the +formidable battleline from the coast to Nancy, before their noses.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 16th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Natural laws are demonstrating themselves very plainly these days, for +when we were sitting on the terrace just before lunch to-day, a curious +thing happened—a sound wave, from a cannon shot literally hit our ear +drums. I felt as if somebody had struck mine with a padded club. There +was no noise, you understand, but we all looked up, aware of the impact +at the same moment, so that it could not have been imagination. It must +be that the terrible experiences of the past weeks have developed us to +a highly sensitized degree, for many things are strikingly clear which +were not so before.</p> + +<p>Nearly every afternoon we go up over the hill to a high cliff +overhanging the river which makes a sounding board for those sounds, +which never abate, of a distant battle across the valley.</p> + +<p>Heaven above! how are there men enough left after all these weeks of +killing to continue a battle? At times the reports come as thick and +fast <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>as hail, making one long roar of awfulness, and our hearts sink +like lead at the vision it conjures up.</p> + +<p>And again, how readily and eagerly hope springs up when the shots become +interrupted and the noise fades away a little.</p> + +<p>In this wooded spot where we so often go to find out the real truth of +things with our own ears, one meets nearly all one's friends from the +neighboring villas who have come for the same purpose, morbidly +attracted as we all, no doubt, are by these dreadful signs of a world of +torture.</p> + +<p>We huddle together like sheep lost in the storm, we confide our personal +misfortunes and we recount the barbarous tales we have recently heard, +the story ever interrupted by fresh evidence of the reviving fury of the +never-ending struggle.</p> + +<p>When we arrived home we heard that a company of soldiers had arrested, +as espions, four or five men who, like ourselves, were taking a little +promenade in the wood across the valley. Our liberties are being +curtailed more and more. Thank goodness there is a large garden and a +private wood to wander in. A month ago the order was that every +inhabitant must be in the house and lights out at eight <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> +Now it is seven o'clock and as the days grow shorter it will soon be six +or five—and perhaps three. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>soldiers are in such a blue fear of +being shot that recently in Aerschot all the villagers were put into the +church on bread and water. Some of the men were shot before their wives +and most of the houses burned. And they say, "the heart of the Imperial +Empire bleeds." It is not surprising that it does when one considers +what is happening right here at Liége, where houses are burned and +innocent men shot for murder. Afterward one finds German bullets in +German soldiers, which proves what you will.</p> + +<p>What a story we heard to-day—such a pitiful little story of somebody's +blue-eyed boy who ran out with his toy gun and aimed it at the passing +troops.</p> + +<p>They shot him dead, the little fellow, but he will sleep in a hero's +grave as truly as another, for his loyal wee might.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 18th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>A memorable day! We went in the auto to Spa. As we drove out of the +court yard we were obliged to let some horsemen pass, who were out for +their morning exercise. I think it is somebody's body guard, for we see +them often at a distance. There are about thirty of them and at close +range they are rather beautiful, that is, their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>uniforms of spotless +white broadcloth with gold trimmings. <i>En route</i> we passed by Fort +d'Embourg, which still has some of its cupolas, and Fort Chaudefontaine, +which our burned soldiers defended and which is demolished. For miles +around the country has been flattened, one may say, from the operation +of the cannon and looks as if a cyclone had hurried across it. Every bit +of shrubbery has been swept off the soil as if by a blast of magic and +the singed earth has a very shorn-lamb aspect.</p> + +<p>Our route was a veritable <i>via dolorosa</i>—destruction on both sides, in +front and behind. Many houses and trees had eight inch shells half +sticking in them which have not exploded and nobody knows when they may. +The churches were without fail demolished more or less and the most +astonishing thing was to see, again and again, the marble statue of the +Christ standing intact on the crumbling remains of an altar. It fills +one with awe and reverence to see this figure repeatedly spared by a +supernatural power from an otherwise pitiless devastation. We passed +through the now famous Louvigné which was entirely burned by the +Prussians on their way to Liége. It was the same old story of the +"civilians firing on the troops," or rather the excuse of the +delinquents to martyr innocent villagers who instinctively <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>took up a +rifle to defend their homes, as any one of us would. And revenge came +quickly.</p> + +<p>As we neared this spot which scarred the face of Nature, we were seized +with silent horror. If, in the smiling sunshine and in the quiet of the +beautiful country, we shivered at the sight of such destruction and the +thought of that dastardly work which marked the destiny of hundreds of +human beings, what must the awful realization have been to the +inhabitants themselves? Fancy the helplessness of them and their +consternation at the approach of a great army bearing down, of men +maddened with the love of conquest, of the wild beast seeking what it +may devour! Imagine the distant rumbling of wheels, drawing nearer and +nearer, the thud of horses' hoofs, the rhythmic tramp of feet, first +wafted on the wind, and finally the frightful dread confirmed by a +sudden explosion from the forts. Then the arrival—the dark—the +noise—the confusion—the terror of the women—the screams of little +children clinging to their mothers—the despair of the old ones, ill and +bedridden—fire everywhere and men torn from the arms of their loved +ones and stood up in a row and shot. What ghastly scenes, illumined +still more by those rockets of flame from the forts which cut across the +plain to stay the brutal invaders!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>I saw a little girl come out from the débris to draw water from a +pump—for what? For whom? There did not seem to be a living creature in +the vicinity, though perhaps some of the poor things who fled out into +the night across the fields for safety, have come back to dig out a +little home under the crumbled stone. One or two houses remained +standing, which seems a miracle, as pétrole-soaked fire-brands were +thrown systematically into every habitation. As we passed, rather +quickly, I counted ninety houses in ruins and about half a mile from the +road, a magnificent château, a victim as well as the meanest hovel. The +façade only was standing, though on approaching directly, the building +seemed intact, except for a curious impression of daylight shining +through the windows.</p> + +<p>Coming back in the twilight the effect of all this misery was +accentuated, the sentinels every few hundred yards were more suspicious +than ever and when we came upon a few isolated "<i>Hussars de la Mort</i>" +with the death's head leering out from those elegant fur turbans, I +thought all was finished. Happily the men were more peaceable than their +aspect.</p> + +<p>Spa, the lovely, indolent <i>ville d'eaux</i>, which we visited, was filled +with the "military" and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>bristling like a porcupine with saw-edged +bayonets and pointed helmets.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 22nd, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The doctor has gone to Neufchateau in the Ardennes to bring back the +French and Belgian wounded. I wish I could have gone with him, for we +seem so useless here now that our soldiers are well, and the days are +long, since the wild excitement of a giant army on the wing has cooled +down. "On the wing" is not an idle expression when we remember those +forced marches and how they lashed the poor artillery horses which +galloped and strained in the traces without making much impression on +the wheels. It was rather like that famous chariot race in the play, +"Ben Hur," when the landscape rolled around too fast for the horses. +Certain Imperial Esprits have doubtless already arrived, but without the +baggage—an item somewhat important.</p> + +<p>May the Fates preserve beautiful Paris! There is a dear little French +sister at the Convent (this Sisterhood was transferred from Metz after +the War of 1870) who says that we must pray the Blessed Virgin every day +to "<i>écraser</i> (smash) <i>les Allemands</i>," and she says it so fervently +that one does not observe the lack of Christian spirit.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>Very little is passing through the city at present except perhaps this +eternal line of trains, and oh, how we are thirsting for news! Can you +imagine, dear people at home, you who have hundreds of newspapers, how +we are straining every nerve to know the real truth of things as they +are, to pierce through this thick wall, with which an arrogant despotism +has cut us off from the whole world? But we cannot. It is wadded on both +sides with deceptions and our only privilege is to surmise. What poor +things we are, in truth, though born and reared in the common +independence of the age. Everywhere (else) the poorest farmer has his +one old horse to take him to and fro, where he will, and he has his acre +of God's country, where he may muse in the sun or dream with the stars, +while we, conquered by numbers, must walk in a straight line without +loitering and we must go into our houses at seven <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> and +close the door. Do you think that is amusing?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 24th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We heard five booms of cannon in an hour this morning and bad and +inhuman as it sounds, we were quite pleased—any little sign from an +outside world that one lives, one breathes, to drag us out of this +inertia, this eternal silence!</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 28th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>There was quite a demonstration in Liége yesterday when they brought +back from Neufchateau some Belgian and French wounded. The people all +shouted, "<i>Vive la France.</i>" Today we have a new military governor, who +has given the order to shoot, without hesitation, any person attempting +such an indiscretion again.</p> + +<p>The scene of operations is gradually swinging back into Belgium and the +stories of atrocities are increasing. The sacking and burning of +Louvain, with its art treasures and its world-famous library of rare +books and old manuscripts, is only another blot on a shield already +stained. In fact, it is said that the general who permitted it is most +discontented with himself for having been so stupid and that he has been +relieved from active service on account of ill health.</p> + +<p>Monsieur Max, the burgomaster of Brussels, has been taken prisoner and +is in confinement at Namur, because he was not able nor willing to meet +the demands of the Prussians, who want gold. We hear that the women of +Germany have been required to give up all their jewelry, except wedding +rings, for fighting money.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 30th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We went again to Spa in the auto. Passing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>again through the pitiful +village of Louvigné, we saw, in a meadow, the graves, covered with +wayside flowers, of the farmers who were shot. The soldiers picked out +forty of the villagers, stood them up in a line, then shouted, "Save +yourselves." Thirteen were shot in the back and the rest escaped. What +words to find for this barbarism? But is it barbarism and not rather the +refined cruelty of civilization? Is it not better then to remain a +primitive, with a beautiful faith in the Sun-god?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 1st, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The siege of Antwerp has begun. Here is a dialogue between the Kaiser +and his <i>belle armée</i>.</p> + +<p>K. "I need Antwerp."</p> + +<p>A. "Your Majesty shall have Antwerp, but we need five hundred thousand +men."</p> + +<p>K. "You shall have them."</p> + +<p>Does this explain the fantastic array of soldiers, sailors, the old, the +young, grandfathers and infants, the simple rank and file and the +elegant regiments of H. M. that are continually trailing on to the +battlefield?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>September 29th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The servants are dismantling the house today, putting all the art +treasures in safety—tapestries, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>silver, portraits, paintings, rugs, +fine china, furniture, dresses, furs, books, linen—in fact everything +of value. All this is to be taken off for safekeeping and sealed +up,—maybe, in the crystal caves of the river nymph, Aréthusa. Madame X. +does not like to imagine the <i>Haus Fraus</i> parading in her sables.</p> + +<p>A man in the city saw some circulars ready for distribution that were +printed by the German War Office, saying that in case of retreat of the +army, the inhabitants of Liége would have six hours to evacuate the +city.</p> + +<p>All that horror over again? Oh! this is a more terrifying thought, even, +than the advance of an army.</p> + +<p>Madame de H. managed to get through to us a letter from Brussels by +messenger. What dreadful things are happening, what curious things! +Three kilometres from her château on the other side of Brussels is an +old feudal castle which has been occupied for the last two years by an +Austrian family. These people were never very neighborly, preferring +their own society evidently and spending all their time and interest in +repairing the dilapidated walls of an unused wing of the château. This +had turned out an endless task, as it appears, continued for weeks and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>then suddenly and unaccountably stopped for days, only to be feverishly +recommenced. But of course, people round about, accustomed to the +varying energy of workmen in general were not puzzled at this. At least +this was the explanation given and, in truth, it began to look as if the +old place would live its given quota of days and crumble away still +unfinished.</p> + +<p>Twenty-four hours after Germany declared war on France and had already +crossed the frontier into Belgium, the Austrian family disappeared in +the night, taking with them their household goods. The next day Belgian +authorities seized the property and found a complete arsenal under the +walls with a net-work of tunnels burrowing far into the earth in all +directions.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 3rd, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>During the last forty-eight hours, hundreds of cattle cars have been +going back to Germany and we were very curious as to their contents. +Unhappily, we have been enlightened.</p> + +<p>Some of the villagers at the station, this morning, looked into one car +and saw that it was full of dead human bodies, tied together in threes +and packed tightly side by side in rows. Is that <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>not too horrible for +words? It is better not to be too inquisitive these days, for there is +horror enough on the surface of things.</p> + +<p>The Germans have already taken some of the forts of Antwerp, although +the country surrounding the outer belt line of forts has been purposely +inundated, which does not, however, prevent the operation of big field +cannon.</p> + +<p>About fourteen of our wounded at the Convent Ambulance were sent to +Germany today as prisoners. We went to see them off and found the poor +things absolutely overwhelmed. Against the fear of cold and +imprisonment, they put on as many clothes as possible—two suits of +underwear, two pairs of socks, two pairs of trousers, coats, shirts, +sweaters and waistcoats—until they looked like stuffed partridges. +Poor, feathered brood, with pinioned wings! At three <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> our +(usually) gay boys were led out of the court, two by two, like convicts, +a Prussian at the head of the column and a Prussian at the foot.</p> + +<p>Oh, these Belgians are brave and they know how to obey, which may be the +very secret of their greatness. It is glorious to see the respect with +which even grown men accept the advice of their aged parents, for at the +moment of peril to their honor and their country when the old father had +said to his son, "My boy, it is time to lay down <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>the hoe and take up +the sword," he had answered, simply, "<i>Oui, mon père</i>," while the women +brought out the sword and buckled it on with a tearless Godspeed.</p> + +<p>That is the way the Belgians went to war and that is the way they will +sustain themselves to the glorious end.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 5th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>To-day, two months after that horrible battle of Sartilmont, we found a +Belgian soldier's cap lying in the middle of the path in the woods. It +seemed like a human thing and stirred me to the profoundest depths. I +never thought that clothes could take on life and a personality all +alone, but they do. Has its owner been in hiding all these weeks or is +he lying yet unburied among the friendly trees? In these places where +Death has walked so boldly one feels his accompanying presence at every +step.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 8th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur B., a man of seventy years (Madame X.'s brother-in-law), was +taken as hostage yesterday at Spa. Fortunately for him, he was allowed +to sleep in the hotel, but can you imagine <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>what the anxiety of those +twenty-four hours was? Every voice in the street, every foot-step in the +corridor—!</p> + +<p>From the top of the mountain all day a continual booming was heard, +distantly transmitted through the air. It was so incessant and with such +vivacity, one could easily imagine two armies all mixed up into one. The +Red Cross trains bear witness to tremendous battles somewhere—but +where? We hardly know how to contain ourselves in this absolute +ignorance of what is happening in the world. We rush upon and tear to +bits, like beasts of prey, the least little piece of news that comes +straggling within reach and if, by chance, someone comes into the court, +it is enough for all the family, including the servants, to rush to the +windows in excitement.</p> + +<p>The soldiers who are in the garage had the delicate idea of killing a +cow therein, which they did, and dismantled the animal then and there. +The next day they dressed themselves in Belgian uniforms, stripped from +the dead, and had themselves photographed before the château. We noticed +their laughing and pointing to the attic windows of the house, and we +finally discovered that they had festooned strings of sausages, of their +own recent make, from the window sills, to ripen.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>A Baron de S. spent the night here, and told us of the ravages made by +the passing troops at his château down in the country. They had buried a +Frenchman in one corner of the garden and two Germans in another and +nothing was left but the house. All engravings and paintings were cut +with a sword; silver platters were melted in a lump in the court yard; +meat was cut up on a beautiful salon table; shoe polish was rubbed on +another; pipes in the kitchen and bathroom were cut to flood the rooms; +every glass in the house was broken and all the linen carried off except +the handkerchiefs.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 9th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Baron T., another friend of the family, came to lunch. He told us of his +cousin, who was one of the unfortunate victims of the sack of Louvain. +This aged man (seventy years) with a thousand others, was obliged to +walk for twenty-four hours with nothing to eat or drink and arms +stretched up straight over their heads. The poor man, fainting with +fatigue, asked permission of the soldiers to put his hands behind his +neck, but this grace was denied, and after some hours more all the +company was pushed into a cattle train and for eight days taken over the +country, as far as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>Cologne, and at last released in Brussels, almost +demented.</p> + +<p>When this Monsieur—of whom I speak, found himself free again he made +his way, laboriously enough, to his brother's house in Brussels.</p> + +<p>The <i>maitre d'hotel</i> opened the door and, seeing this haggard, bootless +individual, who was weakened with fatigue and dazed from his recent +horrible experience, did not recognize him, naturally enough, and +refused him admission until the old gentleman got his poor scattered +brains together enough to prove his identity. This is the story as we +have it first-hand. Can it then be possible that the others we heard are +true, too?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 10th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>I have been advertised! like a stray dog, and what a feeling of +importance it gives one. A peculiar looking document with the Embassy +seals of Paris and Brussels on it, arrived from the American Consul in +Liége enquiring if such a person as "Me" still exists.</p> + +<p>Well, rather, I should say. Fancy one's coming all the way on foot from +Brussels to find out that!</p> + +<p>Masses of soldiers and cannon passing today <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>and news from Brussels is +bad. The worst must have happened! "Antwerp, the untakable." How is it +possible in a few days, with fifty-two forts in triple line? We were so +depressed we could scarcely eat dinner, when about nine <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> +came the news, from a man of affairs who is just back from Brussels, +that the rumor is false. We shall sleep tonight after this hope and the +end of the world is not today, anyway.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 11th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We have heard the raging of a distant battle for days and we tremble for +the result. It seems that Antwerp is really taken, that is, "they say" +so, but it is such a mystery to everybody.</p> + +<p>A Dutch army nurse—but in the German Red Cross service—is here for a +few days' furlough, and related to Madame X. some horrible details of +the battlefield in France, whence she has recently come. It is just one +scene of mud and blood—pieces of limbs strewn everywhere and the dead +standing straight against masses of bodies, both living and dead. In +some towns she saw women and children pinioned with a sword through the +breast to the walls of their houses, and in Belgium the women and +children were often obliged to hold the hands of the men whom <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>the +soldiers shot at random, according to their fancy. Here again are tales +that one hears that I cannot assert as facts, though this woman told +them as her own experiences.</p> + +<p>Madame X. received a card from Charles, the young gardener, who is now +safe in France training with the Belgian army near Dunkirque. You are +doubtless wondering how a card arrived here, as we have had no mail +since August 2nd. It was sent to a certain bank in Holland which is not +far from the Belgian frontier and a messenger brought it on foot.</p> + +<p>And I have sent you back a letter, dear people, scribbled at top speed +(without capitals, t's crossed nor i's dotted, probably) by the same +messenger who takes his life in his hands when he passes the guard at +the Dutch frontier again. If letters are found on this person he will +certainly be shot, so whether you ever receive my communication will be +a matter of history.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 13th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>The old concierge of the hunting box at Viel Salm (near Malmédy, +Germany), who has been dying of tuberculosis for twenty years, arrived +here tonight, having walked the whole distance of seventy five +kilometres. This shows the faithfulness of the old servant who thought +he <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>must come to report the sacking of the villa by the German troops +which occurred in the early days of August.</p> + +<p>The poor man could not have hobbled another step, for he was at the end +of his strength and his feet were just two great blisters. He told a +shocking tale of the troops, who entirely pillaged the villa. While he +went to complain of them at the <i>Kommandantur</i> of the place, others came +and what they did not break up, they took off. Pictures, engravings and +mirrors were broken, the leather chairs slit up with a +sabre—artistically done in the shape of a cross—and porcelain smashed +in the middle of the courtyard. You can see by this that pillaging and +atrocities began when the troops were hardly over the frontier.</p> + +<p>In one of the numerous pillaged châteaux around about, an extraordinary +bit of literature, in fact a masterpiece, has been found by the +châtelaine. A tiny scrap of paper sticking out from a book had these +words scribbled on it in German: "I am only a common soldier but I ask +pardon for these atrocities, committed by my superior officers."</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 14th, Wednesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>It is unbelievable the trainloads of soldiers that are passing about +every ten minutes, and the fighting—judging from the wounded—must be +beyond words. The army nurse told of men who have fought five days in +the trenches without relief. They were tumbling over with fatigue, rifle +in hand, and the officers were obliged to go from one to the other, +shaking them into consciousness.</p> + +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/map2.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/map2.jpg" width="85%" alt="Map Showing Viel Salm and the German Frontier" /></a><br /> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;"><span class="smcap">Map Showing Viel Salm and the German Frontier</span></p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 16th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>We went to Viel Salm in the automobile. The destruction at the villa, +which I saw with my own eyes, has not been exaggerated. There was +practically nothing left but the structure itself and that was far from +intact, for nearly all the great plate glass windows were broken by some +<i>dévot</i> of vandalism who had taken the trouble and an ax to split up the +jambs of the doors so that they never could shut again.</p> + +<p>Inside was far worse; every picture, glass and mirror was smashed, each +leather chair had a great cross on it, cut with the sword, the sofas +were ripped up the middle, curtains and portières were wrenched from +their rods, all the dishes were taken except the glass stoppers of the +water-bottles, all the linen, all the blankets, all the clothes except a +few which were carefully cut up into ribbons and the tops of riding +boots which <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>were sawed off for gaiters. In addition to this, eighteen +beds and bedsteads as well were carried off.</p> + +<p>We visited the Baronne de L., whose son, after refusing a demand of +forty thousand francs, was taken as a hostage, with the burgomaster and +others of the village.</p> + +<p>One morning at two o'clock a great ox cart drove up the avenue of pines +to the château and took him off before his mother's eyes. He is now +confined in a convict's cell at Coblenz.</p> + +<p>Baronne de L. has suffered severely at the hands of the invaders. She is +living quite alone in the château with the servants since her son was +taken and the avalanche of troops swept over the frontier at this point. +The house has been full of officers from the "first days" and she thinks +one of them was the "Kronprinz" from his photograph and because his +brother-officers always addressed him as Excellency. After one frightful +day, when the soldiers had literally despoiled the place by tearing +trophies from the wall, appropriating furniture and devastating the +stables, the household quieted down about midnight and everybody was in +bed, when suddenly a thundering of horses' hoofs was heard in the +courtyard and a new detachment of hungry, quarrelsome men piled in, +making a raid on the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>kitchen and pantries as usual. They were even more +boisterous and brutal than their predecessors and poor Madame de L. +crept fearfully up to the captain's room to solicit his aid and +protection. She knocked and knocked several times before the door +finally burst open and he angrily demanded what she wanted. Just as he +was in the middle of roaring out an oath, he suddenly drew himself up +haughtily, attired as he was in that great voluminous night gown +accredited to the Teutonic people, to salute a superior officer who at +that moment ascended the stair-case.</p> + +<p>Baronne de L. said that in spite of the fearfulness of the moment, it +was one of the most laughable scenes that she ever witnessed.</p> + +<p>On our way home from Viel Salm we saw the wonderful bridge of trees, +three hundred feet long and fifty feet high, at Trois Ponts, which the +Germans built when the tunnel was blown up by the Belgians at the +commencement of the war. It is a marvellous affair in engineering +construction and commands enthusiastic admiration. Except for iron bolts +and rivets, it is made entirely of trunks of huge trees—with the bark +yet on in places, though, when necessary, a surface was planed square +and true to meet its fellow.</p> + +<p>We drove through the village of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>Francorchamps, which was also burned to +the ground, and a few miles further on met three Prussian officers who +snarled out some frightful invective as we passed. I cannot think of a +reason, except that we were in an automobile while they were obliged to +circulate in a modest, pony phaeton.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 17th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Antwerp is taken! There is no doubt about it now, and it is a sad blow +for Belgium. Antwerp! the pride and strength of the whole empire! But +there is not a person (bar the enemy) who does not expect to get it back +and all the rest of the usurped territory.</p> + +<p>Madame de H. sent letters by a "foot-messenger" from Brussels. She left +here only to plunge into a wild vortex of experiences there. Two days +ago she saw a battle in the air between two aeroplanes and yesterday the +locomotives on the trains had chains of roses around their necks to +celebrate some good news for the enemy. It sounds wild, doesn't it? And +last week—well, one does not dare to think what might have happened at +her home, Château de H., when four different companies of soldiers +pursued each other in quick succession on the road.</p> + +<p>First a regiment of German light infantry <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>passed who stopped just long +enough for some hot coffee and were off again. About half an hour later +a brigade of Belgian bicycle <i>carabiniers</i> appeared and stayed to +"lunch." They were not so <i>pressés</i> and were leisurely laughing and +joking when one of the stable-men rushed panting into the kitchen and +said a company of Uhlans could be seen galloping hard in the distance.</p> + +<p>Then ensued a kaleidoscopic performance which took less time than my +writing it, and they all escaped, safely guided by Baron de H. himself, +down a narrow path hidden by trees behind the stables which led them +eventually right out across the heart of that famous beet-root country. +When the last man was safely hidden from view, one breathed a sigh of +relief which only changed to an exclamation of terror as, turning from +this window to look out of another, one saw a hundred fierce horsemen +dash up, hard on the scent of their prey.</p> + +<p>When Madame de H. (senior) looked down from her room and saw the Uhlans +ride into the court, she went right off her head, literally, and drawing +a tiny pearl-handled revolver from a secret drawer in her desk, started +to shoot from the window. But thanks to the presence of mind and rapid +action of her daughter-in-law, who pushed her unceremoniously into her +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>dressing-room and locked the door, she was prevented in time, which +without the least doubt saved all their lives.</p> + +<p>It is just such circumstances as these that have given the troops +opportunities and excuses to shoot peace loving citizens and burn down +many a town.</p> + +<p>Madame de H. (junior) then went down stairs and placated the men, who +were very insolent, as well as she could with what was left to eat in +the house. As the latter were deep in this occupation of refreshing +themselves, the sentry espied a troop of Belgian lanciers coming on the +gallop and gave the alarm.</p> + +<p>To horse! and away they went, bridles clinking, lances clashing. Then +commenced a phantom race as they flew over the ground like the wind, the +Belgians following hot in pursuit, until they both disappeared over the +edge of the world.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 19th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>I went to see the American Consul, to explain that I do exist and to ask +his advice about getting back to France. He did not seem to second my +enthusiasm, which surprised me, and said, "In the first place what would +you go in, and in the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>second, why should you want to go, with Paris +surrounded by 2,000,000 soldiers?"</p> + +<p>Isn't it human nature to want to get out of prison?</p> + +<p>He has received no mail from America since August 19th and a letter +which came from his confrère, the American Consul at Aix-la-Chapelle, +Germany, took twenty-five days by the German Military Post.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>October 22nd, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>I was perfectly enraged this morning when I crossed the bridge and saw +the soldiers changing the street signs into the German language. Now it +is "<i>nach Brussels</i>" and "<i>nach Lüttich</i>."</p> + +<p>I suppose you will say, "But why be so disturbed about things? It is not +your war." But it is my war. I cannot keep out of it—it's everybody's +war!</p> + +<p>The new soldiers who have been in the stable at the château received +sudden orders to advance. The rest of the company, scattered about in +the vicinity, assembled here and they marched out of the court, a +hundred strong. Poor, old, nice things, these Bavarians; they did not +look very military nor very keen about moving on to the "front."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>In contrast one can tell a Prussian five blocks away by his swing. His +stride is so individually overbearing that it is impossible to mistake.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 5th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Monsieur and Madame S. came back from Brussels today and oh, it was good +to get a little, first-hand, outside news! It appears that Brussels +still has a semblance of her normal activity, as the heel of oppression, +in the presence of different foreign representatives, has not cut in so +deeply there. Madame S. said, one evening when they were walking in the +street she noticed a man following them and when they reached a +particularly dark corner he came quickly up and whispered, "Would you +like to see a 'London Times'? Then come into the shadow across the way." +It is well known that a single copy has already sold for 165 francs and +also there has been quite a traffic in renting sheets of it for twenty +francs the half hour.</p> + +<p>Coming back from Brussels, they drove through Louvain—martyred Louvain! +It was too dreadful to contemplate. First the material destruction of +those wonderful buildings, like an exquisite pattern in lace, torn by a +ruthless sword and eaten by wanton flame; then the misery and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>deprivation of the people who were able to resist those hours of agony +and peril.</p> + +<p>Every sort of device was used for shelter and hollow eyes and +terror-stricken faces looked out from the damp cellars under the ruins, +where destitute families of at least half the population had crept to +find a home.</p> + +<p>Now we know why the taking of Antwerp has been kept so modestly in the +background and has never been advertised in Liége like all the other +victories, which were always flaunted in large print. It is because +while the Germans were studiously busy taking the city, fort by fort, +the Belgian army was walking out by the side door, along the coast to +France, so that when a big personage was sent from Germany to make a +grand, triumphal entry into Antwerp, he found an empty city and received +the sword of a general, ill and incapacitated for duty.</p> + +<p>It is said that the Prussian general who accomplished the siege was +decorated amid a grand flourish of trumpets and then retired, since one +of the great motives was the capture of the Belgian army, which is now +safe in France and taking a week-end off somewhere. Is it not fine that +little Belgium has been able to impede the great German army two and one +half months, which has given the other actors in the play time <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>to +change their costumes? Oh, it is fine to be brave!</p> + +<p>Countess de M. came with Monsieur and Madame S. from Brussels and has +her passports all in order to go to France, to her husband who is in the +Belgian army near Calais. She is leaving at once, under the protection +of the Dutch Consul, who is here in Liége for a few days (a circumstance +ordained by the Fates) and who is going to conduct her in his auto over +the frontier to Maestricht, Holland. And the miracle has happened! If I +can get my papers in readiness in two days, she will take me with her. I +am wild with joy, but I feel it is like a dream that one knows cannot +come true.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 6th, Friday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Just the moment I finished breakfast this morning, I dashed into town, +that is, as fast as an old tramcar could take me, to the American +Consul. In my impatience, I fancy I must have rung his bell several +times, though it was really a long while before the servant opened the +door and showed me in to the library. Then Mr. Z. (a German-sounding +name), the Consul, appeared, unshaven and with the evidence of his +morning meal upon his face—it was yellow.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>But nothing mattered to me and I plunged into the subject of getting a +passport for to-morrow without preliminaries. Perhaps I took the poor +man's breath away, for certainly he was not nearly as enthusiastic as I +about it. In fact, he embarked upon a dissertation pertaining to the +invaders which made me cry out in astonishment, "Why, you surprise me, +you seem to have pro-enemy tendencies." "Well," he said, "they've done +everything they've said they have, haven't they?"</p> + +<p>I asked him if he had seen Louvigné or Visé yet and he said, "No, I +haven't ben up t' Visé yet."</p> + +<p>All this, however, was far from the point in question and I finally got +back to it by informing him of the good fortune I was going to have +to-morrow in getting away to Holland in the Dutch Consul's automobile if +I could get my passport from the Germans. It did not occur to me that +there would be any difficulty about it, so I calmly asked him if he +could get it for me by six o'clock to-night?</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," he replied, "I could not get it before two or three days."</p> + +<p>"But," I protested, aghast, "I am going to-morrow and it is a chance in +a thousand; I may not have another such opportunity during the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>war. +Could you not make an especial effort to get it for me?"</p> + +<p>"Well," he answered, "I'll do what I can but I won't promise anything. +I'm not agoing to ask any favors of those people," i.e., the Germans.</p> + +<p>"It is not a favor," I replied, "it is your right. For what other reason +is an American Consul if he is not to protect his people, particularly +in wartime?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear young lady," he answered, "you must not think that you are +the only American in Liége."</p> + +<p>"How many are there?" indignantly.</p> + +<p>"Well, three or four," he replied, reluctantly.</p> + +<p>That was really too much! I was in despair. What was to be done? Seeing +my hope of freedom vanishing before my eyes, I clutched at the last +straw and entreated him with what eloquence I could whip into line to +make at least some effort to get me the passport by six o'clock, when I +would come again to his house for it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," he said quickly, "I don't get back here until eight o'clock, +but if you happen to pass by 'The Golden Lion' (or some such name) you +might find me there."</p> + +<p>Choking with rage I said to him, "I see that you cannot help me, Mr. Z., +but if you will be good enough to give me your card (he had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>already +suggested it) to the German passport department, I will go to the +<i>Kommandantur</i> myself and see what I can do; in fact, I am sure I can +accomplish far more than you." He ought to have been affronted at this +but, on the contrary, seemed jolly well pleased and handed me out his +card in a hurry, glad to relieve himself of the obligation of asking any +favors of "those people."</p> + +<p>I then made my way to the <i>Palais de Justice</i>. A man accosted me in the +square and told me if I were going for passports it would be of no use, +as there were hundreds and hundreds of people there before me. But I +kept on. With the glorious end in view, viz., to be a free person and to +see the scenes that, in a morbid way, I had begun to feel would never be +my privilege again, I kept on, threading a path through the throngs +until I stood right in front of the guard of the sacred chamber. He was +an enormously fat sentry, with the usual little round cap and fixed +bayonet. I thought he would eat me, he looked so offended, and roared +out, "<i>Nein, nein, das Zimmer ist voll.</i>" Then was my moment. I pulled +out the little white card and addressed him—not too timidly either, for +hadn't I the great American people behind me? He caught the words, +"American Consul," which drew him <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>up to salute and in the most +lamb-like voice he murmured, "<i>Ach, ja, Amerikaner</i>," and let me pass. I +cast one look at the multitude back of me—poor things, who may have +stood there two days already, and I felt despicably mean, as if I were +not playing fair.</p> + +<p>Once inside, I was put through a category of questions, worse than an +"Inkwhich." "Why had I come to Liége?" "How long had I been there?" "Why +did I want to go away?" "Where to?" "How?" etc. Finally my inquisitor +became suspicious, or feigned it, and said, "But what have I to prove +that you are an American?" Then I was furious and I answered, "Monsieur +(I suppose he hated the French appellation), since you have the card of +the American Consul asserting it, in your hand, is not such a question +an indignity to my government?" He answered with a wry smile and said +nothing.</p> + +<p>At 4 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> I returned for my passport with half a dozen +photographs to be affixed thereto. I had no difficulty in getting into +the <i>Bureau des Passeports</i> as I still had the Consul's card upon which +Herr Bauer, one of the German secretaries, had scribbled some mysterious +symbols which probably meant "let her pass," or its equivalent. At any +rate, the sentry and I regarded each other <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>superciliously and I skidded +past his saw-toothed bayonet without hurt.</p> + +<p>When I entered the crowded room I saw that I was about fiftieth in the +line and I said to myself that if I waited my turn I should still be +there at midnight. Luckily, an idea came to me, and waving that fateful +little white card in the air, I called out over the heads of everybody, +"Oh, Herr Bauer." A Belgian gentleman standing next me was quick enough +to catch the name and shouted out also, "Herr Bauer." But Herr Bauer was +far too clever for him and said with a mocking smile, "Ah, no, Monsieur, +you will have to wait your turn. Mademoiselle, come this way."</p> + +<p>I detached myself from the crowd and stepped behind the rail, horribly +conscious of unpleasant scrutiny. My face got hotter and hotter and I +could only see a host of uplifted Belgian eyebrows. Even the clerks +looked up and stared, unaccustomed as they evidently were to Herr +Bauer's benignity. And I had to bear all that humiliation because—well, +why?</p> + +<p>Having exposed the facts, I will give you the privilege to form your own +opinion which will be every bit as good as mine, I know.</p> + +<p>11 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> My passport signed, sealed and written all over by the +Imperial Government, is in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>my hand. I shall dream of long journeys, of +bitter struggles and at last—freedom! Will the daylight never come?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 7th, Saturday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Saturday dawned cold, gray and shivery. <i>Madame de M.</i>, <i>Monsieur le +consul hollandais</i>, and I left the château at eight <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> I was +heartbroken to part from the dear people with whom I had experienced so +much and I fancied their eyes looked longingly at the departing +automobile. They, too, would have liked to come out into the sunshine of +Freedom—how much!</p> + +<p>From Liége to the frontier sentries stopped us often, but the consul's +much-used passport, framed and glassed in like Napoleon's Abdication or +the Declaration of Independence, was very convincing. Half an hour's +cold drive along the Meuse brought us to Visé. On approaching it, we did +not dream that we were nearing a town and in truth we were not—only the +remains of one, for not a single building was standing. I had thought +that Louvigné with its one lane was desolate and awful, but here were +streets and streets of ashes and crumbled brick—and I seemed to see +again the ruins of ancient Troy in Asia Minor, which are not more +complete. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>Someone murmured, "Pompeii." But it is not comparable. The +ages have woven about the broken columns of Pompeii a light film of +romance and a bit of tender beauty springs up with the tiny, flowering +weeds which push their way to the sun between many colored tiles. Here, +the tragedy is too new; too crude; too bleeding!</p> + +<p>The only living things I saw were a cat scampering down a deserted +alley, and one man—half-dazed, looking at what was probably his own +ruined home; the only wall to be seen which was, even in part, standing. +It must have been an ironmonger's shop, for some black kettles still +hung on nails against the stone, and iron stoves in all their bleakness +stood up in bold relief on piles of ashes.</p> + +<p>When the Germans came to Visé the commanding officer called the people +together in the market place and harangued them at length, threatening +them with dreadful punishments if they did not do so and so. He felt he +had to, doubtless, as the town and the surrounding country are well +known centers of the firearms industry; the peasants work in their own +homes to a large extent and are very expert in the making of delicate +weapons and also in their use.</p> + +<p>So, when the sturdy Belgians could not digest another single threat, +apparently, somebody fired <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>a shot from the crowd which killed the +officer while he was speaking. Then followed that frightful slaughter +and the firing of the town, the remnants of which we saw to-day. Nobody +on earth will ever know who fired the shot, probably, for the soldiers +hate their officers and already German bullets have been found in German +soldiers.</p> + +<p>9 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> Over the frontier! Oh, the joy of it—the indescribable +relief—the wet-eyed thankfulness! Shall I ever forget it? I did not +know until then what depths Tyranny had furrowed into my consciousness. +Here were men and women laughing and talking in the streets and people +daring to drive in their own carriages, and everybody reading +newspapers—I felt as if I would spend my last sou for one.</p> + +<p>The day was spent in wandering aimlessly over the old town. The wind was +bitterly piercing and a fog hung over the canal but I was not altogether +aware of bodily discomfort. My mind, trying to adjust itself to new +conditions, was in a haze, staggering back and forth from the +consciousness of regained freedom to servitude and from barbarism to +freedom again.</p> + +<p>At three <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> the train left for Flushing, where we were to +take the boat for Folkestone, England. Just before it pulled out of the +station, a friend <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>of Comtesse de M. rushed up to the car window and +said, "Madame, must you go? We have just received a dispatch saying that +a big boat has been sunk today by a mine near Boulogne." But nothing on +earth could have deterred us then.</p> + +<p>All through the country of Holland, Dutch soldiers were "preparing" +everywhere. We arrived at Flushing at two <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> and went aboard +at once, but not before being well looked over by English commissioners, +who examined our foreheads and wrists for German measles. Shall I ever +get away from that word?</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 8th, Sunday.</i></h2> + + +<p>A long day on the Channel and I was seasick—miserably, hopelessly, +endlessly seasick, but when somebody shouted I managed to lift my head +in time to see a floating mine—just a tiny, black buoy bobbing about, +but I did not mind. I asked the stewardess if she were not afraid, +making the journey every day, and her answer awed me by its conciseness +and its confidence. "Oh, no," she said. "Our Admiralty has arranged a +path for us between the mines." That was a sublime faith, but I should +choose a more winsome path—bordered with marigolds, perhaps, or phlox.</p> + +<p>About four <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> the gaunt, chalk cliffs of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>Dover hove into +sight, rising up in their grimness and seeming yet to shadow the awful +tragedy of the previous day, when an auxiliary cruiser had struck a mine +a quarter of a mile from shore and sunk in five minutes.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 9th, Monday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Folkestone! The busiest town on earth, I should say, and soldiers +everywhere. There were ruddy-looking troops, singing also, and +apparently quite content to be "going over," for an Englishman is always +game; and there were pale ones, just out of hospital, in every kind of +uniform, and bands of refugees and exiles who had not a franc among +them.</p> + +<p>Comtesse de M. went with me to the English Embassy to see if they would +give me a passport to France with her, for in my haste in leaving Liége, +it had not occurred to me that I would need a passport ever again +anywhere.</p> + +<p>It seemed to me that there were millions of people at the door of the +Embassy, but fortunately Madame de M. found an acquaintance who must +have had considerable influence, for he took us around to a secret door +and we were soon in the audience room. Well, of course, there was +nothing to prove that I was an American but our <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>honest word, which was +not enough, so I offered to hand out my German passport, which was +certainly maladroit.</p> + +<p>Fancy, an Englishman viséing a German passport!</p> + +<p>Then Madame de M. pulled out hers and asked them to sign my name on it +as companion to her. The august head looked troubled at this; however, +he took his pen and was just in the act of putting it to paper when his +assistant or rather accomplice interposed and they argued a bit. He took +his pen for the second time and plunging it into the inkwell was just +about to sign when somebody else expostulated and another discussion +ensued.</p> + +<p>For the third time (he pulled himself together as a man who knows what +he is about) he took his pen and would certainly have achieved his +object if the door had not opened at the inexpressible moment to admit +an authoritative-looking person who vetoed the whole proceeding.</p> + +<p>What those moments were to me I shall never be able to describe—that +pen so near the paper! A naked sword three times across my throat would +not have been greater suspense. Marie Antoinette could not have suffered +more.</p> + +<p>Well, the game was up anyway, and as there was no American Consul nearer +than London, I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>decided to try the amiability of the French Consul which +I found impeccable.</p> + +<p>At the French Embassy again was that rush and struggle for papers, and +there I witnessed a pathetic scene. A Belgian man, of middle age, and +well dressed, came to the consul literally asking alms. "Monsieur," he +said, "to ask you for help is the hardest thing that I shall ever do in +my life, but I have lost everything and I must go to my wife, who is ill +in France, and I have but five francs. Could your Embassy aid me?"</p> + +<p>At five <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> the boat left Folkestone, containing a +conglomerate parcel of humanity—sailors and soldiers of different +nations and in divers uniforms, singing alternately the "<i>Marseillaise</i>" +and "God Save the King"; Red Cross assistants eager to reach the field +of their work; white-haired mothers in search of their wounded sons, +trembling for the message that land would have in store for them and +despairing exiles awaiting at least the welcome sound of their beloved +tongue. Night fell like a soft mantle and we forged on, into the +darkness, chancing what might befall. What impressed me among the people +aboard was the apparent lack of anxiety for personal safety. Past +sufferings and the great future issue were the predominant thoughts.</p> + +<p>The dock at Calais was crowded with anxious <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>friends and Belgian +soldiers. Madame de M. found several acquaintances among the +latter—friends of her husband. After the usual Custom House proceedings +we started on a quest for rooms for the night. A subdued excitement +trembled over the city; the whole population was in the streets; throngs +were seething up and down; hundreds of soldiers were hurrying to and fro +and intense groups of men discussed probabilities, while anxious women +pressed in on the crowd to catch a hopeful word. We heard that the +German army was about to plunge through to Dunkirque and would shell +Calais from there. The civil population was therefore expecting every +moment the order to evacuate the city.</p> + +<p>As we crossed the railroad near the pier, we saw in the half light a +small company of Belgian soldiers limping along, each with a forlorn +bundle on his back. Their aspect was <i>complètement démoralizé</i>, and the +young lieutenant with us, moved by his quick sympathy, shouted, "Oh, +say, <i>camarades</i>, have you heard of the new victories on the Yser and +the brilliant defense of the Belgians?" The poor, despondent things, +fired at once by the spirit of his enthusiasm, straightened themselves +up and cried, "Oh! Ah! Is it true? <i>Merci, mon lieutenant, vivent les +Belges!</i>"</p> + +<p>A few yards further on we passed a group of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>refugees who were stumbling +aimlessly along in the dark—there were men and women, trying to console +each other, and whimpering children, sick with hunger, clinging to their +mothers' skirts. Their plaintive cry was like a knife through the heart.</p> + +<p>After picking a toilsome way through the crowds we arrived in the +quarter of the big hotels and found there was not a room to be had. Not +at all daunted, we retraced our steps and sought the small hotels—there +were no rooms. Still, with courage—even amusement (the affair was +taking on a spirit of adventure) we attacked the <i>pensions de +famille</i>—not a cot; not a corner. Then we stopped in the <i>Place</i> to +review the situation, which began to look dull gray. There were still +the <i>cabarets</i>, or we could sit in the street all night. We chose the +<i>cabarets</i> and with newborn hope started on, systematically taking one +street after another, knocking at most dreadful-looking places, even +along the waterfront. A woman's voice from behind barred shutters +usually responded. Every chair, every table, every square inch of floor +was spoken for. Then the warm, brightly-lighted railroad station, +opposite the pier, leaped into our numbed consciousness—why had we not +thought of it before? The military authorities forbade loitering there.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>Out in the dark, once more we looked at each other inquiringly. That was +a curious joke. Fate had never dealt us such a hand of cards before! We +viewed the landscape—half of it was water and the little waves lapping +against the <i>quai</i> were rather mocking.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, dark and smug, a swaying object which we had not observed till +then, took monstrous form before our eyes and in it we recognized an old +friend, the Channel boat <i>Elfrida</i>, which lay basking in the velvet +shadows like a dozing cat and gently pulling on her cables. Why not? We +did! Nothing prevented our going aboard but a sleepy guard, who was +quickly consoled with a five-franc piece, and we made ourselves +comfortable for the night on the yellow, velvet cushions in the +captain's salon, behind the wheel-house.</p> + +<p>Who can assert that it has not all been arranged for us? Otherwise, I +fear, our own poor efforts would land us too often in the mud.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 10th, Tuesday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Left Calais at nine <span class="smcap">A. M.</span> The sun was pouring its cheerful rays +over the glorious land. It ought to be free—this smiling France! +Wherever the eye rested were soldiers drilling, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>building, maneuvering +and digging. Every few hundred yards the railroad was intersected by +lines of trenches. These latter appeared to be about seven feet +deep—cut true as a die into the ground and were braced with a lining of +woven reeds, like basket work. The front wall of these trenches was +crenated about every two feet, forming little niches for the soldiers +and protection against flank shots. The poppies and corn flowers blowing +over the edges were holding on for dear life to their tiny inch of soil +and nearly obliterated those brutal gashes in the earth which had +swallowed up their brothers and sisters. An unsuspecting army might well +be lured into such a pleasant bear-trap.</p> + +<p>Train progress was very slow for we had to switch off continually to +allow ammunition trains and troops to pass. All the railroad stations +were packed with soldiers and grieving women, though there was nothing +in the way of heroics in these leave-takings, just grim resolve on the +faces of the men and silent sorrow on the lips of the women. It seemed +as if clasped hands could not release each other and eyes held eyes in a +long farewell. Husbands were tearing themselves from their wives; +white-haired mothers were adding one word more of caution to their +departing sons; and there were young boys, of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>perhaps the last class, +who, touched at the moment to say <i>au revoir</i>, were yet eager to plunge +out into the future. I shall never know how many last good-byes I +witnessed this day.</p> + +<p>Train after train of cattle cars passed us, with a big cannon in the +middle, three horses stabled in one end and three in the other. Along +the road were several regiments of Indian troops—the <i>Girkhas</i>. They +were tall, splendidly handsome men of fine features, light, +chocolate-colored skin and brilliant, black eyes. They wore long, khaki +coats, belted in like a Russian blouse, and khaki turbans and they waved +their hands and smiled continually, showing flashing, white teeth. They +were evidently well pleased with the turn of events which had led them +to this wondrous, new world, where was plenty of opportunity for +killing—this reputed trait, however, was quite belied by their amiable +faces.</p> + +<p>About four <span class="smcap">P. M.</span> (three hours yet to Paris) I was dead with +fatigue and seeing so much. Also I had not had a bite to eat since eight +<span class="smcap">A. M.</span>, having counted on a basket lunch on the road, or at +least a solitary sandwich, but all the convenient station buffets have +been closed up since the war and civilians are tacitly understood to +look after themselves and not to bother the Government by racing +needlessly over the country. But I do not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>think there were many making +aimless journeys.</p> + +<p>Since noon the cars had been steadily filling up, until the compartments +destined for ten persons were accommodating twenty, not including +bundles, lapdogs, bandboxes and bird-cages—even then there was always +room for one more. And nobody was indignant, but rather complacent and +obliging, for had they not all sons at the front and the same great +grief at heart? The conversation was general as to people and on one +sole topic, the "War," including the strategic achievements of the +French army, "Eux" (they, i.e., the Germans), and the marvellous +qualities of their beloved Général Joffre, affectionately termed +"Grandpère" by the soldiers.</p> + +<p>And so we rolled slowly and more slowly on, packed like sardines, the +removing of one meaning the displacement of all, as when one heedlessly +snatches a potato from the middle of a bushel basket. But very few got +down except the soldiers, the objective point for all being Paris.</p> + +<p>The twilight shadows were welcome, for they swallowed up all the +phantasmagoria of the day and we relapsed into silence. It was one of +those moments when Reality, or the fear of it, battles with our courage +and each one grew thoughtful <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>as he neared the great city, dreading to +meet the spectre he feared.</p> + +<p>The wheels of the cars sang on in a hollow, monotonous tune, the windows +rattled systematically and outraged brakes screeched at every recurrent +jolt. Finally we saw a dim row of lights and a long, thin whistle from +our engine told us that the journey was done. Again was that noticeable +lack of excitement: everyone calmly took his personal belongings and +prepared to get down when the guard, in an unimportant voice, should +call out "<i>Paree</i>," which you would not hear if you were not listening.</p> + +<p>After the Customs, I was in a frenzy to get out into the street, to be +welcomed back, as one always is here, and to be cheered and warmed by +the bright lights—the flashing eyes of Paris. But the streets were dim, +the shops and restaurants closed and few people circulating about. How +different it all was! I felt like Rip van Winkle after his twenty-years' +sleep, for at the apartment (I thought I had come to the wrong house) +was a new concierge, young and pretty, replacing the old, white-haired +one. Had we gone back twenty years instead? The rooms were empty—all my +friends had disappeared, the dust was inches thick, the furniture pushed +mostly <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span>into the middle of the rooms and some of the beds were gone. +Thickly sprinkled over the floor of my room and on my bed were pieces of +the window glass, broken like all the others in the house, by a German +bomb which fell and exploded in front of the Prince of Monaco's house, +two doors from us—not one hundred and fifty feet away. Half dazed, I +dusted a place large enough for my hat and coat, extracted some clean +linen from the closet and went to bed, sick at heart.</p> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /> +<br /> +<h2><i>November 12th, Thursday.</i></h2> + + +<p>Paris! after a four days' tiring journey which in happier times takes +only five hours. But it doesn't matter—it is home again. Anywhere is +home which is out from under that yoke of infamous tyranny. I rage in +proportion as the minutes separate me from this odious thing that closes +its iron fingers around the necks of my friends.</p> + +<p>No! It is not to be borne. Let every man, woman and child on the earth +rise up until we have right. Do I not know? Have I not experienced the +mailed fist? And yet, how little in comparison to others; but it is +enough.</p> + +<p>The concierge gave me coffee and rolls and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>I dressed quickly in order +to get out into the street where I knew the dismal impression of the +indoors would be dispelled by the habitual smile of the enchanted city. +But the day was dull—the summit of the Eiffel Tower was hooded in a +cloud of fog and a cold blast swept over the Place de La Concorde which +froze me to the marrow. I kept on, however, somewhat protected by the +arcades of the rue de Rivoli, expecting to see, at least, familiar faces +in the shop-keepers of that gay, little Rialto—but the doors were all +closed and the blinds down. One place was open—the art shop of the +little, old, white-haired man with the twinkling eyes, who has sold me +marvellous Venus de Milos, etc., times without number. I greeted him +with real feeling and enthusiasm, for here was somebody I knew. He did +not recognize me and stared dully, without answering, as one who is +dazed; he was unshaven and dirty, his usually clear eye was lifeless and +his face was thin and drawn. Could it be that he had not enough to eat, +or was it despair? He must have had nephews and perhaps sons and +grandsons at the front. But do the people who stay at home change like +that? I went on—the Hotel Meurice was closed; the Continentale had a +section open for the Red Cross; the Bristol was closed; the Ritz was +made into an Ambulance; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>not a living soul on the Place Vendôme. All the +famous hat shops were closed—who would have a reason to buy hats? All +the big dressmakers were closed and every jewelry shop but two in all +that dazzling, brilliant rue de la Paix was closed. There were perhaps a +dozen people on the Boulevards, a single taxicab crawled listlessly out +of a side street, but not an omnibus to be seen. They, like all the +world, had left for the "front" and will go down in history as having +transferred the valiant French army in all haste to Victory on the +Battlefield of the Marne.</p> + +<p>The only thing unchanged was the Opéra, which stood there, in all its +splendor, looking on at the grievous spectacle of Paris, in anguish. +Will she live? Can she die? Is the burden of her woes too great? O, +Beautiful City of Dreams! Some call you very wicked—you, whose brave +smile has endured through all your sorrows. Is that so little? And the +valor of your Sons—was it ever surpassed? Did one of the hundreds, one +of the thousands, one of the millions, hesitate the fraction of an +instant at your call?</p> + +<p>O, Paris! Inimitable Paris! with the death shadow on your lovely +face....</p> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen">Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> + +Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in +the original document has been preserved.<br /> +<br /> +Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br /> +<br /> +Page 9 interment changed to internment<br /> +Page 52 officiers changed to officers<br /> +Page 67 Kommandatur changed to Kommandantur<br /> +Page 74 wth changed to with<br /> +Page 93 pertubation changed to perturbation<br /> +Page 94 stupified changed to stupefied<br /> +Page 115 gods changed to goods<br /> +Page 126 Coblentz changed to Coblenz<br /> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIéGE ON THE LINE OF MARCH***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 30264-h.txt or 30264-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/2/6/30264">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/2/6/30264</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution.</p> + + + +<pre> +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license)</a>. + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org">http://www.gutenberg.org</a> + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext06/</a> + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/old/30264-h/images/frontis.jpg b/old/30264-h/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d2fc4b --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264-h/images/frontis.jpg diff --git a/old/30264-h/images/map1.jpg b/old/30264-h/images/map1.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b8ccf78 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264-h/images/map1.jpg diff --git a/old/30264-h/images/map2.jpg b/old/30264-h/images/map2.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..77e4d98 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264-h/images/map2.jpg diff --git a/old/30264.txt b/old/30264.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f446ad3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3916 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Liége on the Line of March, by Glenna +Lindsley Bigelow + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Liége on the Line of March + An American Girl's Experiences When the Germans Came Through Belgium + + +Author: Glenna Lindsley Bigelow + + + +Release Date: October 15, 2009 [eBook #30264] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIéGE ON THE LINE OF MARCH*** + + +E-text prepared by Barbara Kosker and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from digital material +generously made available by Internet Archive/American Libraries +(http://www.archive.org/details/americana) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 30264-h.htm or 30264-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30264/30264-h/30264-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/30264/30264-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive/American Libraries. See + http://www.archive.org/details/ligeonlineofma00bige + + + + + +LIEGE +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + +[Illustration: GLENNA L. BIGELOW] + + +LIEGE +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + +An American Girl's Experiences When the Germans Came Through Belgium + +by + +GLENNA LINDSLEY BIGELOW + + + + + + + +New York: John Lane Company +London: John Lane, The Bodley Head +MCMXVIII + +Copyright, 1918, by +John Lane Company + + + + +_TO THE KING OF THE BELGIANS_ + + + _Multitudes upon multitudes they throng + And thicken: who shall number their array? + They bid the peoples tremble and obey: + Their faces are set forward, all for wrong. + They trample on the covenant and are strong + And terrible. Who shall dare to say them nay? + How shall a little nation bar the way + Where that resistless host is borne along?_ + + _You never thought, O! gallant King, to bow + To overmastering force and stand aside. + Safe and secure you might have reigned. But now + Your Belgium is transfigured, glorified, + The friend of France and England, who avow + An Equal here, and thank the men who died._ + + _H. M._ + _London Times, August 14, 1914._ + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Liege on the Line of March, or An American Girl's Experience When the +Germans Came Through Belgium, is a unique story. No other American +probably was in the exact position of Miss Bigelow who was at the +Chateau d'Angleur, Liege, Belgium, with the family of Monsieur X. at the +outbreak of the war and experienced with them and the people of their +country those tragic events which, up to the present, have hardly even +been sketched for the world. + +What the public already knows of armies, guns, trenches, etc., has +little to do with the suffering that the people of an invaded country +endures, when the white-hot flame of the enemy invasion sweeps over the +land scorching every flower and leaving in its wake only desolation and +pain and despair. This narrative describes in detail just what might +come to any one of its readers if the Germans were victorious in Europe. +Let him picture to himself his line of action or even his line of +thought if an insolent officer came into his home, took his paintings +from the wall, his rugs from the floor, his private papers from his +desk and, finally, his sons to--what fate? The most pacific of pacifists +would draw a tight breath at such proceedings. And these are the least +of things that have happened in Belgium. + +But the journal was not written with exhortative design. It is the +simple and truthful story of daily events as they occurred; if, at +times, the words seem brutal, the circumstances were brutal. Why should +one not know them? + +The Chateau d'Angleur was respected as far as real pillaging and +destroying were concerned for the fact that a cousin of Monsieur X., a +Belgian by birth, is the wife of the Count von M. of Germany, at one +time Grand Chancellor of the Imperial Court and a trusted friend of +Emperor William the Second. As was proven afterwards this relationship, +surprisingly enough, had some influence on the side of clemency. + +Monsieur X. was one of that family of famous Belgian bankers which has +existed for four generations. He was also President of the International +Sleeping Car Company of Europe to which honor he was appointed at the +death of his brother Monsieur Georges X., the originator and founder of +the Company. + +Madame X. is a Russian by birth, the great-granddaughter of Prince ----, +who was at one time Grand Chancellor of the Court of Russia, and a +cousin of Princess ----, a lady in waiting to Her Former Majesty the +Czarina of Russia. The daughter of Madame X., Baronne de H., wife of a +Belgian nobleman of Brussels, is a personal friend of Their Majesties, +the King and Queen of Belgium. + +Miss Bigelow, though a neutral subject, was nevertheless a virtual +prisoner of the Germans from August to November, 1914, owing to the lack +of facility in getting away from Belgium. The railroad was taken over +entirely by the German Army; automobiles, horses, carriages, etc., being +long since confiscated and appropriated by the Germans. Considerable +anxiety was felt as to her safety as no communication with the outside +world was possible during those three months of internment. Therefore, +her journal was faithfully kept for the benefit of her family and +depicts the comfortable luxurious life of the days preceding August, +1914, the shock of the Declaration of War, the terrific battle of +Sartilmont, three kilometres from the chateau, which entailed indirectly +the death of Monsieur X. in the early morning of the following day while +the guns were still booming. It also includes the bombardment of Liege +which lasted twelve days, the care of soldiers burned in the forts, the +capture of the city by the Prussians, their brutal shooting of +civilians, the burning of parts of the town and the taking of citizens +as hostages. + +The passing of the German army with all its accompanying paraphernalia +that went to the front in the first days is described as it was +photographed on the brain of the writer, looking down from her window, +day after day, onto the highroad. + +The journal ends with the attempted withdrawal to Brussels, the final +escape to Holland by the aid of the Dutch Consul of Maestricht, the +journey from Flushing, Holland, to Folkestone, England, to Calais and to +Paris. The last part of this journal will appeal to those who have known +and loved Paris in the old days, and portrays her to the world as the +flower she is, revealing her truth and her worth tho' stripped of that +individual worldliness which was yet a charm. + +_Note.--All except German names in the Journal are fictitious._ + + + + +LIEGE + +ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + + + +LIEGE, ON THE LINE OF MARCH + + + + +_July 30th, Thursday._ + + +To-day has been warm, very warm and sultry, a day of surprises, +beginning with the sudden disappearance of Monsieur X.'s trusted head +clerk--a German boy who has been in the office for fifteen years and who +knew every phase of the situation. What reason on earth could he have +had for vanishing like that with all his personal belongings, not +leaving one trace behind to show that such a person had ever been? Odd, +but certainly done with studied thoroughness. + +This afternoon we sat at the end of the garden by the little lake, +listless and content to do nothing. The air was ominously still, as I +remember it now, and the sun beat down through a yellow haze. Suddenly, +without the slightest warning, huge drops of rain began to fall. You can +imagine that we scurried up the path as fast as possible, past the old +oak, and reached the terrace just before the very heavens opened in a +flood and a great shaft of lightning, like a sword, swept down from the +sky straight to the oak tree, crushing it completely. My hand trembles a +little as I write tonight--it was the suddenness of the onslaught which +unnerved me, I suppose, for it was a curious thing that there were no +signs of approaching storm except the dull yellow light which we did not +notice then. + +There was a small dinner this evening and the table was beautiful as +usual with old silver and candles which shed their warm light about--all +lovely and luxurious. Monsieur R., M.P., did his best to draw out the +political opinions of the party, but conversation, quite contrary to +custom, was fitful. I think every one was a little unstrung by the +afternoon's experience and the air even yet is full of electricity. + +During one of the unwelcome pauses of the dinner a motor came panting up +the drive and "Uncle Henri" burst in, virtually hatless and coatless, +fairly bristling with political news and very much annoyed that +something, anything, had wrecked his normal existence for a moment. But +this something which has happened is terribly serious. The French trains +are not going beyond the frontier to-night, and part of "Uncle Henri's" +agitation was due to this fact as he had been obliged to walk a few +hundred yards to get the Belgian train. In the excitement of such an +unheard of proceeding he had plunged ponderously along in the dark and +mud with his fellow-travellers and incidentally lost his luggage and his +valet, the ineradicably English James. Nobody took in the seriousness of +such a strange tale at first, for Uncle Henri is, before all, _tres +comedien_. But why was he not in Russia as he was expected to be? Very +good reasons indeed, for it appears that Austria and Serbia and Germany +and Russia are about to jump down each other's throats, according to +widespread rumor. France, too, is writhing in suppressed excitement +which one cannot understand, with conditions growing worse every minute. +It would seem rather left-handed for Germany and Russia to reach around +through France to cross swords. + +Timid little Madame N. asked if these things might indicate War. +Everybody scouted the idea and ridiculed the thought of the hard-headed, +common-sense, Western world doing anything so absurd. So we will leave +it to the _diplomats_ to settle the difficulty. I am glad that they can. + + + + +_July 31st, Friday._ + + +Yesterday was only a preliminary to the seething in the tea-pot which +exists as to-day's events show--everybody is bewildered at the +tremendous things that have started and the equally tremendous things +that have stopped. What does it all mean? There is the greatest +excitement aroused by the foreign news in the evening papers, announcing +in glaring headlines a diplomatic rupture between Germany and Russia. So +it's true! Probably your seismic stock market has already foretold +coming disturbance, but for Europe it is a positive bomb. Already here +in Liege not more than half of the daily four hundred and eighty trains +have passed the city, and it is reported that none of these go beyond +the frontier. + + + + +_August 1st, Saturday._ + + +Today the papers announce the stunning news that Germany has declared +war against Russia. The report must be sufficiently authentic, for, as +if by magic, the Belgian army is already gathering itself together with +an almost superhuman rapidity, proof of which we have had in the masses +of troops that have been passing the chateau all day. Yesterday, trouble +was a newspaper rumor; today, deadly earnestness. And what excitement +all about! The air is positively charged and the whole community is +agog; people with anxious faces accost each other in the street; +farmers neglect their crops to come into town, bank clerks lay down +their pens and shop doors are beginning to close. + + + + +_August 2nd, Sunday._ + + +The world has suddenly become nothing but people, and the transition +from the peaceful, care-free existence of four days ago is so great that +I cannot write intelligently, today, because so much is happening. +Following on His Majesty King Albert's magnificent discourse [_Vive le +roi!_], the spirit of a great and glorious decision has set the empire +in motion. The vast machine moves--though some of the bolts creak and +protest a little in their rusty coats and the earth trembles to the +rhythm of tramping feet. Hundreds of soldiers and cannon have been +passing all night, and this morning routes in every direction are +blockaded by detachments from different regiments. There are uniforms of +all types and colors, the ensemble looking like a variegated bouquet +snatched hurriedly by the wayside; the sorting will come later, one +doesn't ask how. The old farm at the end of the garden has been turned +into a barracks, and recruits are being drilled among the apple trees in +the orchard. The excitement is intense--one treads carefully fearing to +be the first to prick the bubble. The newspapers are disquieting, as it +appears now that Germany will probably declare war against France, too, +and is contemplating passing through Belgium by Namur or Luxembourg to +the French frontier. That is a rather offensive threat, as, of course, +there is the neutrality of Belgium and one cannot get away with that. We +consider ourselves most lucky to be here rather than in France. + +A detachment of Belgian soldier boys slept in the stables last night. +Monsieur X. sent them his best cigars, and this morning, as soon as they +tumbled out, they made a straight line for the kitchen whence they +scented hot coffee. The good heart of the old, fat cook, who is a native +of Amsterdam, was melted at once and she gave unsparingly until they +flattered and coaxed her into such a state of bewilderment that even +Dutch patience was at last exhausted when she saw them pouring in and +pouring in and boldly attacking her sumptuous pantries _en masse_. + + + + +_August 3rd, Monday._ + + +Preparations for war are going on rapidly; scores of automobiles are +racing past like mad things, carrying Governmental messages no doubt +and the Government itself, by its eternal prerogative, is commandeering +for its use everybody's private property--horses, cows, automobiles, +pigs, merchandise, provisions, etc. And how one gives for one's country! +The men, their goods; the women, their sons. The spirit of the people is +magnificent. Huge loads of hay in long processions like caravans are +coming in from the country along with immense droves of cattle. In the +orchard adjoining the chateau are already domiciled two hundred or more +cows and the discordant melody from this hoarse-throated chorus, +uninterrupted day or night, is driving us to madness. Indoors, we +ourselves are laying in a supply of things in case of necessity and the +kitchen is piled high with bags of flour, coffee, beans, tinned goods, +etc., and in the pasture is a new cow. Beef will probably be the _piece +de resistance_ for many a day. + +Monsieur X.'s old coiffeur came out from town today. He is French and by +far the most volatile person about the news of the moment that I have +seen. It is like a play to hear him declaim on the situation, but, poor +man, having endured the Siege of Paris for six months in 1870, he +doubtless has recollections. And he makes the most of them as well as of +his dramatic ability, describing in an eloquent manner how he fried +rats in a saucepan, which with some spice and plenty of onion all +around, he admitted, were "_pas mal du tout_." Madame X. herself was in +the "Siege of Paris" in 1870 and is therefore taking thought. + +These details of the equipment and provisioning of the army will be as +interesting to you as they are engaging to us here in the midst of it, +for they are not commonly even included in a rapid conception of "War" +though being in reality the biggest part of it. + +What masses of convoys and munitions! They must constitute that same +impressive "impedimenta" that one used to read about in Caesar's Wars +which by its unfailing late arrival constantly threw the old Romans into +such a frightful _depit_. But happily, in this case, it comes first +instead of last. + +The whole world seems to be changing place like sand on a moving disc +and my mind is losing its grip on what is real--it's a curious feeling. +Madame X. and her family, like everybody else, are extremely anxious, as +one would naturally be with his country, his home and his future in +peril, but I, in my superb (what shall I say?) Americanism or optimism, +am sure it will come out all right: nevertheless I feel confused. + + + + +_August 4th, Tuesday._ + + +The situation, already grave, has taken a definite turn. Germany is +going to attack France through Belgium. Completely ignoring the +neutrality of the latter, she demands to "just pass through peaceably," +but being refused permission, so much the worse for those who are in the +road. Personally speaking, I should say we are decidedly in the +road--Aix-la-Chapelle--Liege--Namur. Don't you think the crow would +agree with me? + +We saw a charming spectacle this morning if anything connected with war +can be so called,--a little company of _mitrailleuses-a-chien_, that is, +small, shrapnel gun carriages drawn by the famous Belgian dogs. It sort +of made my heart crinkle up to see those magnificent animals, detailed +for fatal duty without doubt, pushing on so joyously. Straining in the +traces and really smiling with their great tongues hanging out, they +were performing their work, proud as Punch, and eager to get on. + +In the afternoon we were suddenly startled by the booming of nearby +cannon. I shall never forget the first sound of it! It might have been +the Last Trumpet and we didn't know that it was not. My soul turned sick +and seemed to be tumbling down a fathomless abyss while a pair of +unprejudiced eyes watched its descent. Please do not think I am not +serious--it is a moment when one meets things face to face and the +inevitable is happening. We hear that the firing is for the purpose of +demolishing houses and churches before the forts, which might in any way +obstruct the range of the guns. Did I explain that Liege is encircled by +twelve forts, built about twenty-eight years ago under the personal +direction of General Brialmont? They are on the same principle as those +of Namur and Bucharest, and are large affairs of concrete, sunk three +stories under ground and furnished with elaborate electrical apparatus. +Covering and protecting the cannon are automatic, armored cupolas, +rising and falling with the modern, disappearing guns. Here is a tiny, +freehand map which will give you an idea of the country as well as the +situation of Chateau d'A----, where I am and which is just between the +city and the enceinte of forts. A shell overreaching this latter, from +the enemy's field cannon, would, I should say, tumble right into our +"zone." But we do not even admit of such a possibility in speaking to +each other. Isn't it funny how we continue to deceive ourselves and life +is a sham to the last throw? + +[Illustration: MAP OF LIEGE WITH THE TWELVE SURROUNDING FORTS] + +General Brialmont warned the Government when the forts were under +construction, that if it could not maintain an army sufficiently strong +to defend the open country between them, he was building them for the +Germans. That statement revived suddenly, gives rise to an apprehension +hitherto unfelt by the _Liegeois_, who have absolute faith in the +impregnability of Liege. + +Madame X.'s oldest son, Monsieur S., and his wife, arrived tonight from +France by auto. They would never have been able to get here if Monsieur +S. had not the royal seal on some state papers which he was bringing +from the Belgian Embassy in Paris. Was there ever such a wildly exciting +ride, plunging through two battle lines (French and Belgian) into massed +formations everywhere? Nevertheless Madame S. said she used to fall +asleep from sheer fatigue during the long drives in the blackness of the +night or when they were stopped for hours at a time to identify even a +king's messenger. + + + + +_August 5th, Wednesday._ + + +I wonder what you are thinking of events, at home? You will marvel that +I can write at such length when the very skies seem to be pressing down +upon us. But it is the greatest relaxation possible and a kind of +safety valve. It makes me think of some lines of Shakespeare where +different conditions "oft make the wise dumb and teach the fool to +speak." So I write on. The news we get may not be altogether authentic, +as we receive nothing now except by word of mouth. By report it seems +that England, France and Russia are prepared to defend the neutrality of +Belgium with their armies. Liege is now in a state of siege with the +Prussians before the forts. Commerce in the city has ceased completely +with the railroad, telegraph, telephone, post, tramcars, newspapers, +shops and factories. Can you understand what that means? At one time or +another in our lives most of us have been the victim of a social +condition called a "strike"--horribly inconvenient circumstances, when +the mail-man did not come, for instance, or train service was laid off +or the electric light went out for a time. But these instances were all +individual, that is, they happened separately, while here the whole +Universe has shut down together. I could not make you comprehend the +criticalness of our position. I feel as if we were suspended by the +finest thread between heaven and earth, for there is nothing very solid +under our feet and only a sea of ether over our heads. This description +is wholly inadequate to interpret the sensation or the uncertainty. Can +you imagine what it would be like? I cannot exactly say I feel "fear"; +perhaps I cannot define fear; but a heaven-sent optimism buoys me up. In +our journeys 'round, having previously experienced cold plunges in the +dark, the fascination of "chance" lets us hope. + +"War!" What other lone factor could bring about at the same moment, such +circumstances, the absolute cessation of every living element of our +existence? I know that you will be amused at my sudden plunging into the +psychological realm, but it all makes me wonder. Oh, our dear +civilization and the convenient things we are used to! A puff of smoke, +a hostile shot and they are gone. And here we are, groping like the +veriest savage for a hole to hide in and something to eat. I assure you, +nothing else occupies us for the moment. How is it that the whole house +of cards falls down together? In all these centuries of Struggle and +Learning and Science and Dissent has nobody found a common leaven for +bread? + +It is not yet decided if we shall go to Brussels considering what is +rather sure to happen. Several days ago large quantities of gasoline +were buried in the garden under the shrubbery in the event of our +leaving quickly by automobile. However, Brussels is an open city and it +is a question if we would be as well off there as here in this strongly +fortified place. + +But Dieu! If they do come--? There is the sub-cellar of the chateau +whose fine arches and solid vaulting two hundred years old, would hold +even if the house were burned down about our ears. But no! To be +suffocated under burning ruins, no, no! We will not think of that! + +A moment of reckless mirth assails me: I want to scream! I feel like the +fair Dido mounting her funeral pyre. + +One other hiding place has been thought of. Up in the woods on the +hill-side is a long tunnel about four feet in diameter which conducts a +tiny mountain stream down to the lake. It is dark and wet. Could we stay +there on our knees in the water for many hours, perhaps days? Heavens! +It is unthinkable. Let us die in the open, if die we must. + +I am writing this morning in my room, which looks out on the highroad +and the hurrying troops. It is not a time that one would choose for +composition, but I want you to get as vivid an impression as possible of +events as they occur, _et enfin_, I must do something. The booming of +cannon has commenced again, which is sufficiently frequent and of a +certain terrifying decision to assure us that fighting has really +begun. + +This ceased during the early evening and we went to bed in peace. That +is, we went to bed. Madame X.'s oldest son was detailed for sentinel +duty on the little road at the side of the chateau leading up to the +plateau from where the sound of guns came during the day. Monsieur J., +the other son, with a friend of his, was carrying messages from one fort +to another in his auto, miraculously scooting between the shots. + +About 10 P. M. we were violently awakened by furious sounds of +shots in the distance which must have been rifle fire and which grew +more and more distinct, gradually becoming incessant like a long, +uninterrupted drum roll--the machine guns, I suppose. These frightful +noises, increased in volume by the minute and coming on and on in our +direction, were shortly right over the hill above us. The bullets rained +like hail and shells shrieked and split the universe from end to end. We +lay in our beds, trembling, while utter terror seized us as the fracas +would subside a little and then roll nearer and nearer in a perfect +deluge of horrible sounds. Suddenly in the middle of it all a terrific +blast rent the air; the forts had entered into this hideous contest! Oh +the joy of it! I hardly breathed between their shots which seemed +centuries apart and in reality were only a few minutes, for I thought, +now, surely the struggle must end; no enemy can long withstand their +mighty will. But the battle lasted all night with increasing fury. The +roar and din were beyond words, the concerted effort of four forts, the +giant field cannon, machine guns and rifles. My heart stands still when +I remember the thundering of those forts, the premeditated destruction, +the finality which each boom! bespoke, and the thousands of human beings +up there fighting like madmen. The latter, in the wild confusion of +fire, battle and the blackness of the night, finished by shooting into +each other by mistake as their officers were cut down in their midst. + +About 2 A. M. we all gathered in Madame X.'s sitting-room. +Suddenly, quite unconscious of any definite purpose, I remember pulling +on the light. Monsieur X., aghast, said, "Mademoiselle, put it out +quickly. They might see it through the dark and aim for it." + +What a night! and what visions we conjured up of the invincible +Prussians, drunk with blood and battle ready for any atrocity, plunging +down the hill into our own garden. The sound of the guns was so near +that Monsieur X. thought the battle must be in the open on his own +property just above the hill. As a matter of fact it was only three +kilometres away, on the plain of Sartilmont. + + + + +_August 6th, Thursday._ + + +Rain came with the light. That gentle pattering on the sod, after the +tumult of the night, was the sweetest sound I ever heard. It was just as +if Nature had put out Her mother's hand over the earth to soothe its +troubled breast. Was she pleading for that mercy which drops as Her own +gentle tears from Heaven? + +During the morning the road in front of the chateau was filled with +Belgian troops, bedraggled with mud, trying to regain order. And there +they halted for hours and hours in the rain--an absolute picture of +dejection. Even the horses imbibed the general despair as they stood +there, heads drooping, their manes stirring in the wind. That must be +the hard part of it--waiting for orders; but they did it well, no +impatience nor fretting, just obeying the command, their very immobility +carving them a niche in the landscape. These men had been fighting for +several days and, bowed down as they were with the wet and misery of it +all, made a shocking contrast to fresh troops of cavalry which passed at +the same time, brandishing long, dramatic looking lances. And Felix, +the second gardener, who is one of these "_lanciers_," came to say +good-bye in the elegant uniform of his regiment and looking very smart +in white trousers and short blue jacket--in fact, a man transformed. + +I had always seen him in wooden sabots and blue apron coaxing this +flower and that into bloom, but he had never been a great success at it. +When his elder brother died, he had wished, so much, to replace him as +head-gardener, so his master let him try for a little and he had failed, +indifferently. But here was a soldier-man, stout heart and valiant +sword, eager to serve his King. This time he will not fail but will meet +his opportunity more than half way.[1] All day Red Cross ambulances and +every kind of vehicle were hurrying by, bringing the wounded from the +battlefield. Madame X.'s family physician stopped in on one of his trips +for a moment's respite from the awfulness up there--his description of +those scenes is too terrible to write about. The carnage was +awful--pieces of bodies scattered about everywhere, the wounded writhing +in their death agony and the dead standing up straight against masses of +dead. + +In the evening, indistinct sounds of a far off battle could be heard as +the struggle moved on to another quarter. Nearer, we heard the trailing +of heavy artillery down the mountain and against our will the thought +formulated itself, "Will that wave of terror roll back to us?" Our ears +have developed an abnormal acuteness, so that almost a pin falling will +make taut nerves scream, though in reality nobody moves--a glance is +enough to both ask and answer a question. A marvelous new +self-possession seems to have come to everybody which bridges over a +natural despair and forms, at least, a skeleton framework by which we +keep each other up. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[1] Not heard of again. + + + + +_August 7th, Friday._ + + +More or less booming from the forts all day. As communications of every +kind have been cut off, we cannot know what is happening. But where is +the assistance so direfully needed, promised by both France and England +to poor little Belgium with the great German army moving on Liege? +Everybody has faith, however, in the Allies, and in the streets it is +pathetic to hear people assuring each other, "_O, oui, les Francais +viennent ce soir_" (Oh, yes, the French are coming to-night). There are +many German troops in town already, who somehow have pushed their way +in between the firing, but the city will not cede the forts, so the +bombardment may begin at any moment. I cannot define my +impressions--some day I may be able to, but just now I do not know what +they are. Happily the chateau is on the edge of the city and there is a +certain quiet at present, but in town pandemonium reigns. Men, women and +children are fleeing in all directions with their few most precious +possessions tied up in a bundle. And where are they going to, the poor +things, with all roads in the country choked up, soldiers and trenches +everywhere? + + + + +_August 8th, Saturday._ + + +This morning we walked through the garden to service in the little +village church. For a short moment a welcome calm stole over us in the +quiet of those walls, but how sinister to hear the eternal boom of +cannon between the words of the Mass. All the bridges of the city are +mined and guarded. The five days given Liege by the Prussians to +surrender are up tonight. What will tomorrow bring forth? The Belgians +have blown up the tunnel at Trois Ponts, near the German frontier, as +well as the railroad in many places, which will impede the enemy's +advance considerably, and great trees have been cut down across the +roads in all the country roundabout. + +Mere Gavin came hobbling down the path from the top of the hill this +evening to tell us of the astonishing experience she had this afternoon +when a peasant came to her old hut and offered to buy her cow. Now as +her cow is her most precious possession and her sole support she refused +at once, tho' frightened at her own boldness. The stranger, however, was +rather insistent and asked if she would rent the cow, then, for fifty +francs an hour? Was there ever a queerer offer? Of course fifty francs +was a gold-mine to Mere Gavin, so she accepted, and was fairly overcome +when the man laid down three hundred francs on the table and told her to +keep them for him. Then he drove the cow away over the hills while Mere +G. sat staring stupidly at her gold. After a time he came back (with the +cow) and said, "Old One, three hours after I have gone, you can tell +your people that the red _pantalons_ (French soldiers) will be here in +forty-eight hours." Was that not a clever way for a French Scout to find +out the lie of the land? + + + + +_August 9th, Sunday._ + + +Some of the Prussians have succeeded in penetrating into the city, tho' +the forts have not surrendered, and are already establishing martial +rule. Aeroplanes, with the wings turned back, _Taubes_, have been flying +about all the morning. In the afternoon we went up over the hill to the +plain of Sartilmont, the battlefield of Wednesday night. All along the +road were heaps of uniforms, some quite new, probably taken from the +dead. Those horrid limp things made me shiver with their lifelessness, +and the spirit of death, everywhere, seemed to close us in. Countless +numbers of haversacks were strewn about, doubtless cast away by the +soldiers to disencumber themselves in falling quickly back from one +position to another. In them, generally, was a change of underwear, +light boots, hard biscuit, canned meats and confiture. Already a flock +of human ravens was collected about the piles of debris, sorting out +what was good to take and collecting fragments of bread for a happy +repast. It was sickening to see, when possibly some of those brave, dead +soldiers were lying, yet unburied, in the nearby hedges and ravines. +Arrived at the little village we saw destruction a plenty. The +inhabitants all had terror-stricken countenances and yet in their desire +to please, literally fell over each other in haste to tell and show. +Some of the buildings were entirely demolished, others with doors hacked +up and windows broken, while everywhere houses and trees were riddled +with bullets. One old peasant woman told me that she and fifty others +were imprisoned for twenty-four hours by the Germans in a tiny stable, +without food or drink, and for no apparent reason. + +The battlefield on the top of a ridge of hills between the Ourthe and +the Meuse is a large plain, around the edges of which lay scores of +magnificent trees cut down in haste to give unobstructed range. Their +branches had been previously soaked in _petrole_ and set on fire. The +effect of those prostrate, charred monsters added to the desolation all +around. Across the end of the plain were those famous open trenches of +"two stories," that is, with about a two-foot elevation of earth in the +bottom against the front wall of the ditch, forming a kind of platform +for the soldiers when taking aim. + +These were dug by the soldiers and men from the factories of Liege. In +front of the trenches were constructed those marvellous, barbed wire +fences, about one and one half metres apart and perhaps five rows deep, +with the wire twisted and wound in every conceivable fashion. Thirty +feet in front of this barrier was buried a string of mines, connected +with the trenches by an electric wire, to be exploded at a given +moment. Dark as the night was, the enemy found and severed some of +these communications so that most of the mines were rendered +ineffective. We saw the cut wire in several places. What hope can those +poor soldiers have, enemy or no, the advance guard of the besiegers, who +are pushed forward often at the point of the bayonet, armed only with +huge scissors to cut through such an almost impenetrable defense? + +A most touching sight was the graves of thirty Belgians in one end of +these trenches. Does that not seem a terrible irony to be buried in +one's own trenches? A few common, wayside flowers were strewn on the +graves, in front of which was an old prayer-stool and a wooden cross +surmounted with a Belgian _kepi_ (military cap). This cap seemed a +living thing almost and reminded me of the red fez so often seen on the +Moslem tombs in the cemeteries of Constantinople, which seemingly +strives to evoke a vital spirit from the frigid marble. Nailed to the +cross was a fragment of those well-known lines of the Immortal Caesar, +"Of all the peoples of Gaul, the Belgians are the bravest." You see, the +old warrior knew that long ago. + +Near by was a small, shrapnel gun carriage, by which stood a toothless, +old man who told, in that excruciating _Wallon_ tongue, a pathetic story +of one of the dogs which had probably drawn it. His mate doubtless was +killed in battle, but he returned three days later, lay down beside the +broken wheels and defied anyone to approach. + + + + +_Monday, August 10th._ + + +Monsieur S. came home to-day laden down with bags of gold like Ali Baba. +How he is going to do away with it so that the ferret eyes of the enemy +will not spy it out, is a problem to me. And I do not want it explained +for I am sure I should look right into the forbidden corner at the wrong +moment and give the secret away. + +Although there are thousands of German soldiers who have come into the +city and who control it, they are like rats in a trap. On account of the +twelve surrounding forts they cannot leave it and for the same reason no +one can come to their aid. So they have mounted machine guns in corner +houses of many streets and it is horrible to see those deadly mouths +gaping out of the windows. In case of an uprising among the civilians +the soldiers' revenge will be to kill the women and children. But no! +that is not possible in these days, from men who are neither savages nor +Turks. + +A heavy cannonading began at 4.30 A. M.--it literally tore us +from sleep, for it seemed as if the very house were tumbling down about +our ears and the singing and whizzing of those big shells was _bizarre_, +to put it mildly. One did not know whether to get up or efface one's +self in the blankets. I remember having the utmost confidence in the +headboard of my bed, which was toward the window. But that did not +obliterate the siren whistle of those big shells and the moment of +suspense between the lightning and the thunder. After each deafening +burst I kept reiterating to myself, "Saved again," as one would repeat a +chronological table of something important. About 8.00 A. M. we +straggled into the breakfast room--all of us rather lifeless and with +very white faces and little appetite for either eating or talking. There +seemed to be only one thing to say, which was, "Did you hear that?" It +was the same sensation again of the thread between heaven and earth. I +wonder if it will break! + +This afternoon we took a little walk into the city along the river, +Madame X., her two sons--Monsieur S. and Monsieur J., her daughter, +Baronne de H., and myself. We passed several Prussian guards on the +bridges and Monsieur S. talked with one of them. It appears that the men +are very disheartened. This man said he had started with a company of +seven hundred soldiers and entered Liege with sixty four. That's what it +means to "take cities without difficulty"--and nobody remembers the +seven hundred mothers, or wives, or children that are left. The +burgomaster has received some most sensational news from Brussels, but +it is too ridiculous to be believed. + +Tonight is still and Nature is beautiful in the moonlight. Is it the +calm before the storm? Here in the chateau we are comfortable with +plenty to eat and faithful servants. In town one is not so lucky as a +cousin of Madame X. is quartering forty soldiers and ten officers at +table who are not--or rather, who are a little argumentative, and we +have heard of some instances where the "host" and "hostess" have had to +sleep in the garret or the cellar or wherever they could, while the best +rooms are appropriated by the _militaires_. Blankets, etc., are also +being requisitioned from many houses. + +It is reported that General Leman narrowly escaped being captured +recently when he was lunching in the court of the Cafe ---- in town. His +companions-in-arms suddenly became aware of four men in strange uniform +who were approaching, and gave the alarm. General Leman succeeded in +getting over the wall of the garden while the others engaged the spies +in a hand-to-hand fight and overcame them. + + + + +_August 11th, Tuesday._ + + +Invincible Liege! People are still firm in their faith, encouraged by +the peace of the morning. The day was quiet until 6.00 _P. M._, when +furious shooting into the valley began. We saw the great shells bursting +in the air and between the clouds of smoke we could distinguish an old +monastery on the other side of the valley which was being shot to pieces +by the enemy's field-cannon. The structure changed shape half a dozen +times before our eyes and the setting sun concentrated, as if purposely, +all its rays on the windows which made them blaze forth through all that +fury like the veritable Hand of God, writing in fire. It seemed almost +like a premonition. + +Pressure from those tremendous guns could remodel mountains, and Nature +herself, sometimes, cannot hold out against the fiendish ingenuity of +man. And the city, itself! Can it hold out? + +In the garden, very near the foot of the mountain, is the old farmhouse, +in one corner of which is a little chapel whose door stands open the +year round. It is of particular interest to the peasants, being the +last relic of a certain superstitious legend of the countryside. The +people come from miles around, crossing the fields by a little path +which they themselves have beaten down, to kneel before this tiny altar; +and on the last Sunday in May, the annual fete, the priests, leading a +religious procession which starts from the church, say Mass there. This +year, May 31st, 1914, the head gardener, who is the indisputable +authority on floral subjects in the village, borrowed everything from +the conservatory and gardens that he could lay his hands on in the way +of decoration. He arranged the semi-circle in front of the little chapel +very artistically with branches of leaves, palms and hundreds of pansies +which the day before had been uprooted from the terraces of the chateau +to make room for the red, summer geraniums. + +At ten o'clock this Sunday morning the usual fusillade and tolling of +bells announced the departure of the procession from the church. It +passed slowly along by the highroad and presently we heard a chorus of +young voices singing hymns--the girls and boys of the village: the music +was soft and illusive in the distance, developing a sweet crescendo as +they turned into the pasture, fairly plowing their way through a sea of +daisies. Behind them came two little acolytes, fair as angels, swinging +their golden incense lamps; then followed six choir boys, chanting the +Mass, like veritable della Robbias, in their red soutanes and exquisite, +white, lace surplices. Next were the clergy, in robes of cloth of gold +and rare Flemish lace, carrying the Host under a purple velvet canopy. +The village people followed on in quiet devoutness and, arrived at the +chapel, placed lighted candles in the sconces at each side of the grille +door. When the Mass was said and the last plaintive notes had died away, +little children came forward and heaped their thousand-colored bouquets +before the altar. It was an impressive ceremony and must, by its +charming simplicity, leave a mark on many a worldly heart. + +Today, August 11th, 1914, at dusk, as the cannon had ceased firing, we +took a little recreation, following the paths on the mountainside; +looking down from a height of perhaps one hundred feet through the +trees, we saw the little chapel gleaming like a beacon in the dark, +dozens of blinking candles pinioned against the black walls. The grille +door was woven with nosegays, making a curtain of flowers which +partially concealed the altar beyond. + +Before it, stretching up supplicating hands, many women knelt, bowed +down with grief and despair, and children, awed by recent memories, +stood immovable in their places. Poor, poor people! Some of them in +spite of their unwavering faith must drink the bitter cup so near at +hand. + + + + +_August 13th, Thursday._ + + +It is true that one gets inured to danger (particularly if one has not +so far been hit) and after a week of the bombardment, we have a distinct +feeling of annoyance at being disturbed at an unearthly hour every +morning by the screeching and bursting of shells. + +About four A. M. we were awakened by another terrifying +whizzing and exploding of bombs as if we were in the very midst of a +battlefield. This lasted about three hours and all we could do was wait. +I often wonder if it's as hard for the men to go off to war as it is for +the women to stay. The battle was inconceivably furious this morning. If +you could imagine five hundred of the worst thunderstorms, shaken up +together, that you ever experienced, you would arrive at a mild notion +of the tumult, not counting the apprehension, the danger and that +terrifying voice in the whistling trail of every shell which sings, +"This time I'll get you." At four this afternoon the Fort of +Chaudefontaine fell, blown up by the Prussians. Between four and six +o'clock the firing ceased. + +It was an evening of ineffable beauty and the garden looked so lovely in +its mantle of roses, the little lake at the foot with its white swans +and the wooded mountain rising up almost from its waters--a picture of +calm and contentment. We were there taking a long breath after the +nightmare of the day, when the young gardener rushed in from the village +with the news that thirty of the soldiers in the fort, wounded and +burned beyond recognition, were being brought into the Sisters' Convent, +which had been turned into a Red Cross Ambulance hospital. + +The shells from the great field pieces of the enemy falling upon the +forts had shattered the cupolas and had caused them to fall in upon the +Belgians who were thus imprisoned and barely escaped suffocation from +the poisonous gases of the exploding shells. The electric wires were cut +immediately so that the poor things who were entrapped three stories +underground groped about in the dark some time before they at last found +the stairs which led them up through shot and flame and gas to the air. + +Gathering some old linen together we fairly flew across the field to the +convent and stopped short, staggered by what we saw. Never on this +earth could one imagine so horrible a sight as those thirty charred +bodies with no suggestion of faces--just a flat, swollen, black surface, +with no eyes, nose nor mouth. Some of the wounded lay on beds, others in +the middle of the floor or wherever there was space, and each was +holding up hands burned to the bone. The room was dimly lighted, a +hushed quiet reigned except for an occasional stifled groan of pain or a +sigh of concern from the villagers or the swish of the black garments of +those ministering angels, the nuns, as they fluttered about among the +suffering; their white coifs, like a halo, contrasting them with that +other Angel, whose black wings, indeed visible, already shadowed his +chosen. + + + + +_August 14th, Friday._ + + +One has hoped against hope, but the worst has happened and the people +are despondent. Liege is certainly in the hands of the Prussians. They +have been pouring into the city all day and most of the forts have +either been destroyed by the German field artillery or been blown up by +their defenders rather than surrender. We nursed the soldiers all +day--if last night was horrible I could not find the words to describe +what the daylight revealed, or the awful odor of burned flesh when the +wounds were redressed. It was pitiful to see the courage of the poor +men--the Belgians are brave not only on the battle field. With lips too +seared to articulate, they would try to speak and one could occasionally +catch an indistinct "_de l'eau_," or a half-formed "_Merci, chere +Soeur_," but never a moan or a groan. + +At night, as we were wearily returning home, the young footman, with +ashen face, met us half-way down the steps and announced that there +would be Prussian officers at dinner who were already quartered in the +chateau. We were nearly too tired to be impressed at this as one +naturally would, at least, be moved in one sense or another, but we did +inwardly wonder what the keynote might be at table. + +At eight o'clock dinner was served. Madame X.'s daughter and I, after +such a scrubbing and disinfecting, came down the last ones and stepped +into a veritable playworld of the Middle Ages with the most beautiful +setting--a large salon, opening out onto the terrace, with old, +Flemish-wood fire-place and raftered ceiling, Japanese bronzes, rugs +from the Orient, soft lamps and portraits of dear grandmothers, in the +beauty of their youth, smiling out from their golden frames on the +walls. As we came into the room from the brightly lighted hall, a +semi-circle of gray-green coats rose right up out of the dimness and we +were blinded by a vision of shining buttons, polished boots, gleaming +swords and a military salute accompanied by clinking spurs. At the end +of the room stood Madame X. and her sons waiting for us. Naturally there +were no presentations and the moment was unique in the extreme--nobody +moved for a second which seemed like a decade and nobody spoke, so all +there remained to do was to acknowledge the salute with a semi-circular +bow. + +Dinner was an odd affair tho' it went off not so badly. Madame X., in +her proud Russian beauty and her admirable control of the conditions, +was superb. I never admired anybody so much, for it is not easy to +entertain at one's board an enemy who has just usurped home and country, +but her extraordinary charm and dignity gave the situation its note and +the "guests" were everything that was agreeable. We talked of +generalities, as well as "War," in four languages (Russian, French, +English and German) with much the same _sang-froid_ as the juggler who +tosses knives and, when the meal was done, thanked Heaven that nobody +had launched a tactless bomb which might have plunged us into a boiling +sea. There was nothing particularly boastful in their conversation, +though at times a certain assured reference to "Paris in a fortnight" +crept in, which we found difficult to digest--in fact I was furious. +Paris, indeed! Beautiful Paris! My neighbor at table on the right was a +man of perhaps fifty-eight years, rather gray and grandfatherly, with +such nice, blue eyes. Prefacing all his remarks with a nervous little +cough to fix my attention, he would launch with difficulty one or two +phrases in restricted French followed by a few straggling words in +English and finally finished up with a burst of voluble German. It was a +work of art to understand him, but I arrived panting--at least I had +that sensation, and it is not the first time I have given thanks for a +woman's natural intuition. Then I decided to lead out next--anyway I +wanted to get him started on "War" without precipitating an +international difficulty and I asked him as stupidly as possible +(perhaps I did not need to simulate that) if he liked "War." He +hesitated just a second and I was prepared for the usual self-respecting +denial when he horrified me by answering a simple "Yes." _Voila, le +sentiment prusse!_ + +Afterward when we went into the salon all the officers, commencing with +the superior, came up to Madame X. and kicking their spurs together with +the habitual "_Danke, Frau_," kissed our hands all around. The youngest +soldier among them was a handsome boy of about twenty-two years, who +interested me rather, because he was different--even his boots were +different and he truly had a striking manner, though very gracious. I am +convinced that he was a prince of a reigning house. The atmosphere had a +way of parting in rapid waves when he came in and dropping behind him +like an impervious shield when he went out. Fair, young Achilles! Will a +fatal arrow attain his charmed person? + + + + +_August 15th, Saturday._ + + +We took care of the wounded all day: it is the most heartrending +spectacle to see those poor, black heads lying there on their pillows. +They were so shapeless and immovable, I had almost begun to look upon +them as without life like charred logs, when, after finishing a dressing +this morning, I was startled by a hearty, "_Merci, chere Soeur._" Oh, +the joy of it! That brightened the whole scene and flooded me with hope. +Then they have not lost their intelligences, they aren't mere pieces of +wood and one day when their poor flesh has rejuvenated itself, they will +be given back to real life--and their country, again. + +The village people and the Sisters were so ardent in their desire to +help that dressings well covered with ointment sometimes fell from their +eager fingers onto grimy blankets or flopped, butter side down, so to +speak, upon the floor; which did not disconcert anyone but me, whose +modern prophylactic soul rattled and shook with horror as the +recalcitrant bandage was gaily redeemed from its dusty resting-place and +applied as originally intended. + +It seemed as if I must remonstrate, but the dear whole-hearted helper +was so sure that her dressing would cure and the patient was so +overwhelmingly grateful for the trouble she took to pick it up for him, +that I was dumb before their exquisite faith. + +Here was something too big for my stilted aseptic advice and it occurred +to me, suddenly, that perhaps there _are_ many things yet undreamed of +in our philosophy. + +All day long the troops in an endless chain have been passing on the +highroad before the chateau. The air was full of mingled sounds, as, for +example, the singing of the soldiers in the distance, which sounds like +the droning of bees far away and always heralds an advance of troops; +the rhythmic shuffling of feet, the thud of horses' hoofs, the chugging +of autos which carry the superior officers, and the heavy wheels of the +gun carriages with their clanking chains. Their order, equipment and +discipline are admirable to see. + +All their apparel is new, as one of the officers told Monsieur D. at +Spa. Uniforms, boots, belts, saddles, bridles and even buttons--all new +and spic and span for a triumphal entry into Paris. Each man carries two +sets of buttons, one for field service (negligible) and the other, +shining brass ones, for the review down the Champs Elysees. + +All the officers wear a tiny card-board map of Belgium about (3" x 4"), +hung on their coat buttons and every soldier has embossed on his belt +plate "_Gott mit Uns._" At dinner the officers were very entertaining; +the ice was somewhat broken, at least, we knew better what piece was +safe clinging to and we managed to exchange some ideas. It is rather odd +how few of these educated men speak French. In fact, it is so odd that +it makes us suspicious and cautious. Monsieur J. attacked the captain +with this question, as a leader, "when he thought the war would be +over?" (This being the second week of it.) His answer was _net_ and +forbade argument--"We shall be 'home' by Christmas, or Easter at the +latest." But he did have the grace to congratulate the Belgian army on +its stout defense of Liege, for instead of the two days given the +Germans by their Emperor to capture it, they had been constrained to +take nearly two weeks at it. + + + + +_August 16th, Sunday._ + + +A warm, beautiful morning. As Madame de H. and I walked through the +garden and the wood to the little convent ambulance, it was difficult +not to contrast smiling Nature with the frightful scenes of which, in a +few minutes, we would be a part. The awful stench of burned flesh met us +half a block away and congealed my courage as I walked, for it permeates +everything. We can even taste it, it clings in our hair when we go home +and we are obliged to hang our nursing clothes out of the window all +night. I felt as if I must run away from it and those terrible +dressings, reeking with purulence, where ears and eyelids and lips come +off and fingers and hands peel like a glove. + +Then I thought of the patience of those brave fellows and the pain and +awfulness of living it. The fortitude and devotion of the village men +and women are beyond praise--they come day after day to help in the +nursing, some spending the night, turn and turn about. Especially the +tenderness of the men for their "_camarades_" is one of the sweetest +things I ever saw, for they are as gentle and capable in their care as +any woman could possibly be. + +Prussian troops continue to pass and it is a wonderfully impressive +sight; infantry in gray-green khaki, singing, always singing their +famous "_Wacht am Rhein_" and other folk songs: the _Uhlans_, on +beautiful prancing horses, with their long lances and gray-blue capes +fluttering in the wind; _chasseurs_ in light green; "_Hussars de la +Mort_" with the death's head emblem in the front of their high fur hats +and endless companies of artillery with their huge field cannon, each +drawn by six magnificent horses. On the gun carriages sit four gunners +back to back, still as statues, with arms folded as if on parade. It was +for all the world like a circus when the procession goes twice around +the ring before commencing the serious business of the entertainment. + +Dinner was gay tonight (one is obliged to make the best of a bad affair) +and the officers as men of the world were interesting and in unusually +good spirits. + +The Captain, a little facetiously, took up the menu and, drawing a tiny +note-book and pencil from his pocket, proceeded to copy it in French, +soliciting Madame X.'s aid _en passant_. + +A curious fact occurred to me as I sat there looking down both sides of +the table, how much alike they were--it seems as if they must even think +the same thoughts to resemble each other so much. As their heads were +closely cropped, outlines were baldly apparent, low forehead sloping +back to a narrow crown and all set upon a bulwark of neck. They must +surely have been struck in the same mould. Though forceful, none of them +were good-looking except the young one, of whom I have spoken, and his +face in repose was shockingly cruel. They are expecting marching orders +in the morning and are probably eager to ride on to victory (?). They +bade us good night and good-bye by kissing our hands as usual, a click +of spurs, a military bow and very gracious thanks to Madame X. for her +hospitality. + + + + +_August 17th, Monday._ + + +About half-past three in the morning I was wakened from a sound sleep by +a commotion in the court under my window. Impatient horses were pawing +the ground and a voice exactly like a snarling dog was hurling out +orders--I peeped out cautiously and saw that the snarling dog was the +amiable captain who copied the menu last night. + +The officers left at four A. M. Fort Lancin fell today and +General Leman, commander-in-chief of the army here, was taken prisoner. +Thousands of soldiers have passed as usual. In the afternoon a company +of Prussians arrived, whose captain had mistaken the route, which put +him in an abominable humor, having made his men march fifty miles out of +their way and also risking a court-martial on his own account. He +ordered Monsieur S. to open the garage door, in the hope of lodging his +men there for the night. Unluckily the chauffeur, being absent, had the +key, which plunged his Military Highness into a towering rage and he +placed Monsieur S. at once under arrest between two soldiers, +_baionnette-au-canon_, while the others battered in the door with the +butt of their guns. Not finding sufficient quarters for two hundred men, +he marched Monsieur S. away, as guide, half a mile down the road to a +neighbor's. + +That excitement had hardly quieted down when another batch of officers +arrived at dusk, demanding lodgings for the night. These men were a +rough type, altogether different from the preceding ones. About eight +o'clock as we, the women, were waiting in the library for dinner to be +announced, we heard a tremendous stamping of heavy boots and spurs and a +snarl of angry voices just over our heads. Baronne de H., brave little +woman as she always proved herself to be, flew up the stairs in a flash +and found her brothers at the end of the hall between two orderlies with +fixed bayonets, trying to pacify seven officers who were disputing +angrily and were just about to enter one of the private apartments--in +fact their father's room. She addressed them in a few vehement words--"I +forbid you to enter the room of my father, who has been dead only a +week." Then she added that the other soldiers who had been here were +gentlemen and that she expected them to be. They were cowed at once and +all humility, begging pardon properly. They pleaded fatigue for their +rudeness and said "certainly they expected to be gentlemen, too." Wasn't +that comical? They were ill at ease and rather sullen at dinner: and +such a dinner as we had!--glacial does not express it. The captain of +the band spoke English, French, Russian and German, but he could not +coax anybody into conversation, for we clung to "_Oui_," or "_Non_," and +stopped there. More than that, a kind of rigid fascination fixed our +attention on one of their number--the tallest and lankiest, who sat down +at least two feet from the table and endeavored to serve himself like +that. Every mouthful was fraught with tense anxiety (for us). Happily +they went to bed early, the captain kissing our hands and asking Madame +X. if she were used to that, it being the custom in Germany. + +Hardly had they got under cover and we were alone again, when a hoarse +cry arose in the court--it was blood-curdling to us, as every sound +these days is full of terror and possibilities. But it turned out to be +only the cry of the sentry. There had been promiscuous shooting along +the railroad in the village and all our brave soldiers tumbled out of +bed, fell down the stair-case one after the other, buckling on swords as +they went. It is the greatest wonder to me that we were not all shot on +the spot when we stood there staring up, as one very young lieutenant +descended three steps at a time with a revolver in one wobbly hand which +was shaking like an aspen leaf, and a pair of field glasses in the +other. I think the sudden excitement may have unnerved him and there is +no doubt, this time, that the gods favored the innocent. That was the +last we saw of our guests. + + + + +_August 18th, Tuesday._ + + +This morning one of them came back for some personal things, principally +his watch, which, in the true, novel style, could not be found anywhere. +So the _Herr leutnant_ ordered a thorough search and said, with a grand +air, to the housekeeper that if it could not be found he would be +obliged to take one of the servant's as a forfeit. Fancy! + +I can see the butler's poor, old, bowed legs, now, flying up the +stair-case, with a bayonet stuck in his back to expedite matters. I do +not know if this threat lent an added zest to the search, but +fortunately someone had the happy thought to look under the mattress +(where the officer had put it himself) and there was the ill-fated +timepiece calmly ticking off German minutes. I think I forgot to tell +you that since the invasion we retire at ten instead of eleven o'clock, +having been advised to adopt Celtic time. + +Prussian troops in khaki continue to pass; will they never cease? One's +spine shivers at the sight of the endless, green snake which crawls +along, insinuating its greedy length into the gardens of plenty. This +morning four new officers came to the chateau; three of them were +nondescript, but the fourth, to all appearances, was an Englishman, pure +blood. He spoke English absolutely without accent and had a perfect +English drawing-room air. It was as funny as an impersonation and as he +had appeared on the scene alone, I believe his brothers-in-arms were +almost suspicious of him. After a little the story came out. He is +really a German, but has lived fifteen years in London. At the debut of +the war he had been obliged to take up arms against a sea of troubles, +or relinquish forever his right to go back to Baden, where his parents +live. Naturally he chose the former (also probably thinking that "War" +was a word only) and allowed himself to be bored by circumstances. He +told us some amusing tales of his having been already arrested three +times for an English spy. Everybody here likes him very much and I +welcomed him personally as the nearest approach to an Anglo-Saxon that I +have seen in many months. + +Monsieur J. and several of the representative men of the village, +including _Monsieur le Cure_ (a little, fat, rosy-cheeked man, adored by +his flock), were taken as hostages for twenty-four hours and had to +sleep in the railroad station. It was nervously comical to see Monsieur +J. starting off, his valet following with a mattress on his back and a +box of sandwiches in his hand against the misery of the night. But it is +not so amusing to be the victim of even a threat which at any moment may +take the form of a sudden reality for no reason except to terrorize +honest people who are defending their homes. The enemy's way of +punishing and evading future insurrection among the civilians is to take +people as hostages and shoot them if necessary, or burn the houses. +This they have already done in several quarters in Liege. A few nights +ago several students fired on some German officers in a cafe and the +latters' revenge was instantaneous and terrible; they just stood +eighteen men up in front of the University and shot them like dogs--then +burned that section for blocks around. + +Austrian artillery was passing today with their great cannon drawn by +automobiles. The wheels of the gun carriages are enormous and the cannon +are the biggest things we have yet seen. + + + + +_August 19th, Wednesday._ + + +Such an odd picking little noise, like a mouse, disturbed us at +breakfast this A. M. Madame X. opened the door and was astonished to see +a German soldier unscrewing the telephone from the wall. Her obvious +surprise moved the man to explain, which was unqualifiedly this--"Madame, +permit me, but we need your telephone for field service." + +I suppose he may as well have it anyway for nothing so modern and useful +as telephones has existed for us since August 3rd. + +A group of very surly officers have "taken over" Madame R.'s chateau +down in the country. The moment they arrived night before last, the +Colonel ordered her to bring out all her best wine, throwing her his +soiled gloves to wash at the same time. + +The patients at the Convent are beginning to show a little life now, +though their poor, black faces are more grotesque than ever as an eye, +here and there, begins to peep out from a crack in the crusted surface. +They have begun to talk after a fashion, though their poor, dried lips +can hardly accomplish the task. Jean, the big fellow who jumped seven +metres into the ditch from Fort Chaudefontaine when it blew up, died +this morning, the result of a fractured skull. + +French and German aeroplanes alike have been flying over the city, +dropping the most sensational circulars of the victories of their +particular armies. But the news is "_trop beau_"--one cannot believe it +and probably it is only destined to encourage the soldiers. It appears +that the officers tell their men all kinds of extraordinary tales, to +give them heart for the fight, and the poor things believe (hearing +French spoken here) that they are already in France, for yesterday one +of them in a passing train was heard demanding the Eiffel Tower. An +officer admitted to Monsieur S. that Germany prints three +newspapers--one for the officers, one for the soldiers, and one for +imbeciles. I suppose the latter means us. + + + + +_August 22nd, Saturday._ + + +Bread is being rationed out now in the village and we are allowed only +two small pieces at a meal. It seems to me that I never wanted one more +slice so much in my life. The soldiers have cleared out the baker's +supply and he cannot get any more flour. + +Monsieur S. has bought a bicycle and goes into town every morning to +find out about things. Sometimes it seems as if we could hardly wait +until he gets back to lunch for the news. And oh! such terrible things +are happening. Some funny incidents too, intersperse themselves from +time to time. During the recounting of some of these awful tales of +violence and revenge which we are hearing from the little villages the +young footman's knees doubled right up and nearly let him down while he +was serving the table and he is getting greener and greener from day to +day. He becomes absolutely petrified when the officers address him and +whispers out an unintelligible something as he vanishes through a door. + +The horrible carnage at Namur has begun and we already have heard +sickening accounts of it. The story, as we have had it by word of mouth, +is that one of the seven forts capitulated (the city was evacuated), +allowing the enemy to enter in over a tract of land which was literally +sown with this famous, new _Poudre Turpin_ which exploded under the feet +of whole regiments at once, and the forts completed the slaughter. + +Troops, troops, always troops plodding along. Their attitude could not +be called determined for there is not enough mental action in it, though +there does exist an indisputable tenacity which is appalling. How they +lack that infectious _ardeur_, that splendid _elan_ which characterizes +every little _poilu_! But they just plod on like a great machine, +lacking intelligence in its parts, each vital, however, to the +perfectly-fitted whole. + +Madame X. and I felt as if we could not sit still another minute this +afternoon and, safe, or no, we decided to take a walk on the +mountainside. We could hear regiments approaching first by a faint +buzzing in the distance which rounded out into song as it drew near; as +an officer told us, the men often sing in four voices which is quite +beautiful. Then, we became aware of a different noise, a sort of loose +rumble, as if cohesion would presently not exist for the thing, whatever +it was, that caused this new note. But it was not a note, it was a +disturbance which grew and grew in proportions. Madame X. and I scurried +up and down the paths trying to find a vista through the trees that +would disclose this monster which was moving so protestingly along the +road. + +I imagined it would be snorting flame and its eyes smouldering fires, +but instead its eyes were neat little windows with tidy curtains, for +the monster turned out to be three diminutive houses on wheels drawn by +a huge motor. What their end and purpose might be, is imaginable. If it +is for the comfort of the High Command _en campagne_, the great clumsy +procession rivaling the speed of a snail is a heap of trouble for a +little luxury. + + + + +_August 24th, Monday._ + + +Namur is taken by the Germans. Practically nothing remains of the city. +A German major who was brought, wounded, to Liege, said the battle was +too frightful to narrate. He entered the city with one thousand men and +left it with sixty-five. Just outside the forts, where he had been +stationed with two hundred horses, three bombs fell upon them at the +same moment and only seven of the poor beasts remained. His admiration +for the pointing and firing of the Belgian and French cannon was +unlimited. + +Just before lunch this morning, two very ragged-looking individuals +(Belgian civilians) came to the chateau. They were travel-stained +indeed, just having made the journey on foot from Brussels and in a +calmer era would have had some success in the role of common ordinary +tramps. As it was, they excited a little curiosity by the suspicious way +they had of looking about, and our first thought was spies until one of +them, edging toward the outside of the group, made Baronne de H. +understand that he had something to communicate to her. Inquiring if it +were safe, he suddenly leaned down and drew out from the sole of his +shoe, a piece of paper on which was written, "A banker of Brussels sends +greetings--all are well." The little woman burst into a flood of tears +for she realized that it was a message from her husband, one of the +_Garde Civique_ of Brussels. During the three, long, anxious weeks of +devotion to others, I had often remarked and wondered at her courage in +never mentioning her own longing and apprehension for her husband and +three little children. Before we had recovered from the first onslaught +of the army, she must have known, after it left here, that it would +pass their chateau three kilometres the other side of Brussels and what +would it leave in its wake? Can you imagine her anxiety, when every day +we were hearing frightful stories of children having their hands chopped +off and people's heads being paraded on bayonets? But I never remember +her uttering a single "I wonder," or an "I wish." Does this not bear out +what the illustrious Roman said about the "Belgians," which certainly +did not exclude the women? It is the grandest thing that ever could +be--this response of the women to the Nation's call, for it is not just +passive self-sacrifice, but impassioned co-operation. + +In the afternoon Madame de H. and I went to Liege to arrange her +passport for Brussels. Two of the officers who are here offered to go +with us in order to facilitate an entrance into the "_Kommandantur_," +which is the general headquarters and is in that ancient and beautiful +place of the _Princes-Eveques_, onetime feudal lords of the principality +of Liege. I wanted to rebel openly when I saw that wonderful court, +world-famous for its beauty, which has been turned into a depot of +supplies and barracks with horses stabled under those delicate, Gothic +arches, models of purity and beauty. But to what good? Will anything +ever expiate the offense? There are also horses in the theatre and +machine guns in all the upper windows. + +While Madame de H. was waiting to see Count Moltke in his office, I +walked about the court with one of the soldier attendants who came with +us and had an opportunity of peeking through many doors which would +otherwise have been closed to me. My companion, who is a wholesale grain +merchant in peace times, enjoyed his authority immensely and dragged his +sword, half unbuckled, on the ground, which clanked behind us and made +merry music in his ears, I am sure. The whole place was a perfect +beehive though there was little confusion. The soldiers were diligently +counting supplies, feeding horses and sorting Belgian cannon and shells +which had been captured. + +On the road from Angleur to Liege we were obliged to give way to some +troops which were returning from Namur. The auto stopped right in the +middle of a column, which, as we heard, was a conglomeration of the tag +ends of different regiments and I was almost afraid--the men peered in +at us so maliciously. I have never seen such a frightening spectacle of +humanity, for it was the personification of a rogues' gallery with every +kind of cut-throat, brigand and robber mixed up into a grand ensemble, +toiling and perspiring, limping and crawling along in the dust and heat. + +Does battle blot out the soul of a man in one savage conflict? +Obviously, it is before a weary march that one finds exalted faces. But +perhaps they were not desperadoes--only tired and dirty and unshaven. + +It is said, however, that when war was declared, the enemy opened the +doors of all the prisons and that the front ranks of the attacking +forces (which were sure to be lost) were entirely composed of convicts +and prisoners. And also, the officers in the regular army are so hated +by their men that when they started out to conquer the world every +officer was changed to a different regiment. + +This evening we sat on the terrace enjoying the afterglow of the setting +sun and the calmness of the garden, listening to the soldiers singing in +the orchard, next. This singing in the twilight is heartbreaking and +particularly melancholy, as the music is slow and has more consolation +in it than the usual soul-inspiring quality of battle hymns. At +intervals we heard the captain speaking with great force and enthusiasm, +the hurrahs of the men, an occasional "_Vaterland, Vaterland_," and +again and ever, "_Die Wacht am Rhein._" + + + + +_August 26th, Wednesday._ + + +Two new officers (not Prussians) of the _Landstuerm_ arrived this +morning--men of fifty to fifty-five years of age. One is a hardware +merchant _en civil_ and has a brown beard and the asthma; the other is a +lawyer, with big, blinking eyes--and they both looked as if they hated +war. The "Englishman" is still here--his department is looking after +supplies at the depot. He has borrowed all the English books in the +house and sits reading all day up in the signal box at the station, so +the family have named him "_Monsieur Seegnal Box_," which, with a tiny, +French accent, sounds quite attractive. + +We are so enthusiastic about our patients at the Convent, for they are +all improving and developing personalities now. Every morning at +eight-thirty we rush over there as quickly as we can to see how the poor +children are getting on and who has another eye open. Nature has begun +her restorative work and oh! what a satisfaction it is to see the new +skin stretching out tiny shreds to bridge over the martyred flesh. + +The atmosphere of the ward is gay. 'Most everybody can laugh, at least +with their hearts, for stiffened lips do not all respond yet. The work +has arranged itself in admirable routine, where humanity is not entirely +swallowed up in duty. There are young girls and boys who fetch basins +of water, old women who roll bandages, faithful, sweet-faced matrons who +bind up dreadful wounds, and strong, young men who lift, so tenderly, +pain-racked bodies and who can toss a joke or a word of encouragement +with equal discretion, which never fails to infuse the down-hearted with +their own priceless vitality. Then there is the _Mere Superieure_, of +thin, aesthetic face, who comes with a gentle word of the "Faith" for +each one; the austere _Soeur Felicite_, who counts the cups and searches +your soul and brings in hot coffee and a steaming ragout; and the +pretty, young _Soeur Monique_, with her uplifted face, who cannot +conceal a shy admiration for big, blond Henri who rails at everything +and is as lovable as a baby. Then the villagers: in the middle of the +room, Monsieur B. (Secretary and Treasurer, I should say) cuts off gauze +with a calculating eye at one end of a long table and at the other, +rosy-cheeked Monsieur R. (painter of every house and barn in the +village) stands all day long with a spatula in his hand and slaps on the +ointment for dressings. There is a sort of professional twist in the +gesture and his merry, little eyes glance around, not seeking but rather +gathering in approval, and from under his bristling, white moustache +will burst a salute for one, a joke for another, or a reproach for +another. + +Here, there and everywhere he is needed, is Monsieur F., whose great, +dark eyes are acquainted with pain; he is a frail, little person and the +substantial man of the village, a living paradox. Just when Monsieur R. +announces--dramatically waving his spatula--that that is the last ounce +of boric ointment and no more peroxide in the cupboard and we are raving +around and denouncing the pharmacist, Monsieur F. steps up and inquires +what the trouble is, knowing full well the difficulty and also "his +moment," wise man that he is. While we are swamping the situation with +words, he quietly dispatches a boy to his house, who quickly reappears +with huge bottles of this and that. Oh, blessed Monsieur F., who long +since had made a corner in peroxide and everything else we shall need +until after the war. But the despair of the moment, the heat and three, +long hours of unremitting "dressings" effect a faintness of soul and a +"queer" feeling we did not realize was there, until that dear, roly-poly +_Soeur Anastasie_ appears with a bottle of red wine, half concealed +under her cape, and with a motherly, "_Ca vous fera du bien_," (that +will do you good) pours us out a generous glassful. That puts the blue +in the sky again and keeps the shafts of golden sunshine from creating +zigzag patterns in our brain. Oh, Shades of my New England Ancestors! +Would you say, "Better to slip down in a swoon?"--and give everybody a +lot of trouble-- + + + + +_August 27th, Thursday._ + + +Madame de H. and I again went to Liege early this morning about her +passports. The hotels and cafes were just seething humanity, beds +improvised in every corner, and I saw officers paying their hotel bills +with cheques and notes. The poor proprietor blinked and swallowed hard +for a moment and said nothing. The city was literally packed with troops +going in all directions. _Uhlans_, _chasseurs_, artillery and the +infantry, singing and executing that foolish-looking goose-step--it +probably has its advantages, but at eight A. M. in the pouring +rain it did appear ridiculous. + +In the afternoon we took a walk into the country, following the +railroad. The soldiers were working everywhere, putting up temporary +buildings for any emergency. We saw one of those open dining halls--only +three walls with a shed roof where a regiment can step out of a train to +eat while another jumps quickly in and no time lost. We passed the +lovely chateau of the Marquis de T. who is Minister Plenipotentiary +from Costa Rica. Of course, this is neutral property and flies a +neutral flag, but the place is filled with officers and, according to +the _maitre d'hotel_, the wine cellar is undergoing a thorough +inventory. + + + + +_August 28th, Friday._ + + +This morning there was excitement at the Convent; someone was reading a +three weeks' old journal to the soldiers and for a moment everybody +forgot his particular aches and black heads lifted themselves from their +pillows and gaunt forms swayed to and fro on shaky elbows. The lust of +battle lit up wooden countenances, fire sprang from eyes yet heavily +veiled by crusted lids and a fervent "_bien fait_" or "_vivent les +Belges_," trembled from heretofore silent corners. + +Madame Andre, who comes to see her boy every day, remarked my looking at +her dress which was all darned and mended in the most unaccountable +places, "O, Mademoiselle," she said. "I suppose you are wondering about +my waist? But wasn't it lucky I was here with Andre when the troops +passed through our village? The soldiers fired haphazard in the windows +and the wardrobe in which my clothes were hanging caught seven bullets +and the headboard of my bed, four." + +All the afternoon troops were coming back from Namur in evident haste +and apparent rout, for they had such a tired, bedraggled look. About +five o'clock a company with ammunition wagons, Red Cross ambulances and +baggage trucks dashed madly into the orchard among the apple trees, +nearly wrecking themselves and everything else. Immediately after, three +officers came to the house to beg lodging for the night. They were +frightful-looking individuals covered with mud and dirt, with half-grown +beards and one could not tell what uniforms. They asked the most humble +apartment--a corner, the floor--anything, "and, Madame, a little hot +water, _s'il vous plait_." We were sitting on the terrace tonight just +before dinner when down came the three new arrivals, beautiful as the +morning, shaven and shining in their gray-green uniforms, polished boots +and bracelets set with precious stones--officers of the "Emperor's Own," +though these men did not seem like Germans, but were much more the +lighter build and elegant type of the Austrians. + +They were a bit haughty at first, but dinner thawed them out and then +what tales they told us; the most promising imagination could not rival +their flights in the air. They acted like people who walk in their sleep +and had that same vague expression of the eye. But it is not to be +wondered at, coming as they did from a frightful battlefield and +fatigued by a hard march. It must be true that battle intoxicates men +for these latter, being of a sensible age, did say very ridiculous +things. Hitherto the officers who have been here were fairly modest +though always showing an undeniable confidence, while these three openly +bragged. The young lieutenant who sat next to me spoke French fluently +and never stopped talking all the evening. Among countless other things, +he said, "We are being sent back from Namur as Paris is taken" +(ejaculation from me "I cannot believe it") "and they have no more need +of us in that direction," he went on without turning a hair. "So we are +_en route_ for England or Russia, in the morning, to conquer the seven +nations (he included Monaco in the list) who have declared war against +our beloved Vaterland." + +"And, Mademoiselle," he continued, "they fired on our ambulances!" + +"Ah?" I answered, nonchalantly, "the Germans have already done that +here." + +He was a bit taken aback at this rejoinder; then with a prodigiously +sorrowful look he exclaimed in a hushed voice, "_Oui, la guerre est +terrible._" + +The victories they exploited on land and sea were fantastic and the +funny part is, they believed thoroughly all they said. It is strange to +hear serious people fabricate such yarns as they did, with as much +dexterity as a spider spins its web. + + + + +_August 29th, Saturday._ + + +The ambulance was as busy as a beehive this A. M. Except for +one or two, the patients are all feeling better. Andre, the third on the +left, whose sonorous "_Merci, chere Soeur_" nearly frightened me to +pieces one day, seems to be the wit and authority on all subjects--a +real leader, I should say, and _drole_! Augustin, four beds from him, is +our difficult child, the only one of the twenty-nine who is spoiled and +fights his dressings, but we must be patient with him for he has been +very sick and that drawn look about the nose and a certain, startled +expression of the eyes, worry me. But the little _Soeur Victoire_ says +comfortingly that he will soon be well, though he does not wish to eat +and his jaws are a little stiff. O, _chere Soeur_, in your sweet faith, +are stiffened jaws such a trivial circumstance? + +Next Augustin is Sylvestre, _le beau_. He was the splendid _pointeur_ of +Fort Chaudefontaine and was the least burned of the men; that is why I +know he is beautiful; also I catch many glimpses of him in the little +mirror in which he is constantly regarding himself, but he is _bon +garcon_, nevertheless--his honest blue eyes attest it. + +At the end of the row is the big Flamand, who was always two feet too +long for his bed. He is sitting up now and that great, black head, with +features swollen three times their normal size, is a sight to frighten +the boldest. If he should roar at me I would drop everything and flee. +But he doesn't; nobody roars; for they are all the finest gentlemen in +the world, even in their trying moments. + +At ten o'clock this evening, right out of the silence, issued sounds of +heavy, rolling carts, and horses' hoofs. Madame de H. and I stole out +into the court to see what it might be and, almost as if by magic, whole +regiments came pouring along in the greatest haste and disorder. A wing +of the servants' quarters hid the approach of the soldiers from us and +the strange, non-resonant quality of the atmosphere tonight deceived us +as to their nearness. In a moment they were upon us--not three feet +away, for some of the troops had taken, not the usual highroad two +hundred feet distant, but a short cut by the narrow path which directly +passes the court yard. Happily we had hidden ourselves behind the +grille, in the foliage, or we might have been shot without ceremony, as +by order of the military governor of the city "every civilian shall be +indoors and lights out at eight P. M." + +We enjoyed the danger a little at first because we did not realize it; +all the same we obliterated ourselves as much as possible, though hardly +daring to move or breathe. Not an arm's length away, their nearness +oppressed us and the waves of heat which reeked from their toiling +bodies sickened us. But there we crouched in our light dresses, easily +seen if one had chanced to look, and separated only by an iron fence +with sparse, fluttering vines from a mass of tired, quarrelsome, +desperate men. Why! any of them might have run us through in a flash as +one would lunge at a white rag for the amusement of his companions. +Indoors the family were frantic, not daring to open a crack of the door +for fear of violent consequences to us. + +The night was full of dull noises; even the clanking chains of the gun +carriages seemed muffled and the thud of horses' hoofs in the mud added +to the air of secrecy which pervaded the scene, while the moonlight +threw out shadows and drew crazy perspectives and showed up silhouettes +of men positively falling from their seats with fatigue. Some one was +twirling a French soldier's cap on a bayonet, we heard smothered yawns, +the words "_Russland_," "_Vaterland_," and finally the infantry +whistling in unison as they limped along. + + + + +_August 30th, Sunday._ + + +At two o'clock in the morning the whole family was aroused by a +thundering rap from the butt of a gun on the big front entrance. The +poor old butler, who has been in service thirty-five years, was aghast +to open the door and find the Burgomaster, in white kid gloves, standing +between two Prussian soldiers, with fixed bayonets. They demanded +Monsieur J. (for the second time) as hostage. What could have happened +among the people, we could only guess. Had they been rash enough to +protest against strength and did they want to share the fate of the +pitiful Vise? + +The forenoon brought us no news; after lunch we walked in the broiling +sun to the little railroad station at Kinklepois, to see Monsieur J. +(he had aged ten years over night) where he was under guard with several +others, including _Monsieur le Vicaire_ of A. and _Monsieur l'Abbe_ of +K. We sat around the table in the Concierge's tiny dining room and +listened to some amusing anecdotes told by the Vicar, while the gentle +old Abbot sent out to the vicarage for a bottle of his good old +Burgundy. To be sure, no one was much in the mood to be amused, but it +lessened the tension of the moment; the least unusual sound from the +street--and it was full of soldiers and horses--brought the tale to a +sudden end and we listened with blanched faces for perhaps--the worst. + + + + +_August 31st, Monday._ + + +Monsieur J. was released as hostage at seven o'clock P. M. and +returned to the fold. This evening, as all was still, we played a little +game of Bridge, as in the old days when life was a pleasant dream. +Suddenly a dozen rifle shots, in quick succession, rang out in the air +and the cards fell from our nerveless fingers as a stray ball rattled +against the iron shutters of our windows. Instinctively we crouched into +sheltered corners and waited; another volley and another followed, until +finally Monsieur S. whispered in a hoarse voice, "A la cave." The +household, including the servants, delighted to be any place where we +were not, made a lightning dash, Indian file, for the cellar. Quite +unperturbed and loath to leave her cozy, warm kitchen, the old, fat cook +was the last to waddle down the stairs, repeating her usual "They cannot +hurt me. I am Dutch." She was the calmest of us all, for those +intermittent shots and the possibility of retrieving lost balls had +raised a tremor of excitement as well as our hasty descent into the +realms of Bacchus, in common words--the wine cellar. By the thin rays of +a candle the scene was comic; there we were, fourteen of us huddled +together in a twelve by twenty foot vault, earthen floor and stone +walls. Expecting at any moment an onslaught of we did not know what, +each one was bracing himself for the blow, in different attitudes of +mind and body. Madame X. was pale, her daughter stolid and ready for the +defensive--the true, fighting blood of the Belgians on fire: the old +butler, attentive to the slightest sound, was shaking his gray head with +ominous pessimism and one of the maids was weeping hysterically and +audibly in the arms of her husband, the young footman. At first we just +stood and looked at each other as periodic volleys resounded now and +again. Then we relaxed as well as we could on dusty cases and rounding +barrels or whatever was at hand. An hour passed before the shooting +ceased and then we discovered that we were cramped and uncomfortable and +cold--chilled through with that deathlike dampness which pervades +subterranean chambers. What misery for those who had to live in them for +days! Another hour elapsed before the danger was really over and we +dared to come out from cover; then we crawled upstairs to bed on our +hands and knees to keep below the level of the window ledges.[2] + +Madame de H. made an attempt to go to Brussels by a military train +which, however, was derailed ten kilometres from here. Some disagreeable +officers took the second automobile for military service, in spite of +the signed permission which Count Moltke has given the family. Did I +tell you that Madame X.'s children are related by marriage to a high +official of the Imperial Court? I do not know at all if this fact +accounts for the extreme courtesy which they have always received from +the soldiers, but at any rate some of their friends have not been so +favored.[3] + +Madame T., who had a charming Villa at S., was one of the unfortunate +ones. She was obliged to entertain the officers of some passing troops +at lunch recently, after which they had coffee in the garden. The +Captain glanced around at the flowers and said, "Madame, very pretty, +very pretty, tomorrow, nothing." That night her villa and several other +neighboring ones were burned to the ground. + +The Germans are constantly forcing the Belgian old men, women and +children to march in front of their attacking armies. What kind of +soldiers can it be that does these things, but brutes and barbarians? + +My revulsion for it all is so great that the words fairly scorch my +fingers as I write them. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[2] We never heard what really started the commotion, whether it was +premeditated or accidental, but this illustrates what a furor a rifle +shot creates instantly. The nervous tension of both the invader and +invaded is tremendous. + + + + +_September 2nd, Wednesday._ + + +Very early this morning we were awakened by the most remarkable sound--a +co-operative noise I should call it, or anything you like, being a +combination of steamboat, train of cars and sawmill. Looking out of the +window we saw a magnificent Zeppelin sailing along in all its majestic +wonder. + +Miracles happen overnight in the ambulance now, for Health is hastening +back in seven-league-boots and every one of our brave _blesses_ is +turning out to be handsome. Each day a real face emerges from its black +chrysalis and we find it beautiful. The refinery was of the cruelest +type, but the temper of such men stood the test and their souls shine +out undeniably over the scarred flesh. + +Some new companies, with their under officers, have taken up quarters in +the stables and garage. For the last ten days we have had Prussians +there, who were discontented with everything and wanted all the kitchen +utensils and everything within reach, but these new men are Bavarian +_Landstuerm_, rather nice old things, who have brought all their own +contrivances, not the least among them being one of the famous rolling +kitchens. This latter is a round boiler, hung on four wheels, and is +about a metre in diameter and a metre in depth. It is divided into three +longitudinal compartments (the fire being underneath), one for soup, one +for meat and one for vegetables. Then, under the driver's seat or +perhaps not right under, is a tiny oven where are baked _kuchen_ or a +steaming pudding. It is a complete affair and when dinner is ready, +they just hitch on a pair of family horses and drive around to the +different companies where rations are dished out, literally. I do not +know if the position of cook is the most enviable one in the army, but +at any rate this chef appears to enjoy it and is content to sit in the +courtyard all day, peeling potatoes and onions and cabbages and cabbages +and onions and potatoes. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] A printed document was exposed afterwards in the village +recommending the Chateau X. to be respected. + + + + +_September 3rd, Thursday._ + + +"_Monsieur Seegnal Box_" went this morning and everybody was sorry to +see him go, for he was a congenial spirit, and, like us, found nothing +attractive about war. He seemed a protection, too, from the beast that +is ever snarling at the door. + +A young cousin of the family related to us to-day how much at home the +soldiers have felt in his chateau in the country; so much so, in fact, +that they have already sent off to Germany all his old family portraits +and the best rugs. Here is a bit of psychology for you to unravel. Why +should they want his family portraits? + +I suppose you could not imagine such a thing happening in America. Well, +just try for a moment. + +Fancy somebody's coming in and explaining to you that you cannot use +your own things and that your choice possessions will have a far better +setting in Germany than where they are. I think it would do the world a +lot of good if everyone tried such a mental drill for three minutes a +day. + +A great depression hung over the Convent to-day--the men were quiet, +showing their consideration for the "_camarade_" as they always do. +Constant, who received internal injuries at Fort d'Embourg, is dying and +Augustin is worse. The latter's face has a gray-blue look and his poor +jaws are very stiff. But there is hope! Oh, yes, there is Hope in big +Jean's smile across the ward, as he follows us around with his great, +black eyes. One can find lots of sympathy in a "_Oui, Mademoiselle_," or +a "_Non, Mademoiselle_," (which is all he ever says) even when it has +nothing to do with the question. + +Since the commandant has taken the auto we no longer go out. It is much +too complicated anyway, as one has to show a passport at every bridge +and corner. Every acre of land is infested with soldiers. It is +interesting, however, to see what they do and how they turn everything +to some use. Men are sent from Germany to repair railroads, build +bridges, put up telephones, institute food stations and to kill pigs and +wash the meat in porcelain bath tubs as we saw them do yesterday, +outside a free bath establishment near one of the factories. As we were +looking down on the road tonight, from a hill perhaps two hundred yards +away, we saw distinctly a column of soldiers in dark blue uniforms, +marching across country, and just behind them the ground seemed to +writhe and wriggle in a distressing manner. For a moment we could not +imagine what was happening, when soon a company of men in khaki began to +evolve itself from the landscape. Does that not prove the inestimable +value of earth-colored clothes? For as close as they were to us, we +could distinguish nothing. + +This gray-green which the Germans wear is by far the best tone of khaki +that I have yet seen. + +Soldiers are stripping the factories here of their fine machinery, but +one sort of chuckles in one's boots when he remembers that it was +originally bought in Germany and has not been paid for yet. + +All day long, trains without ceasing were bringing back the wounded. We +do not know exactly where the fighting is, but probably near Charleroi. +A Baron de C. and his wife arrived here at ten P. M. from +Posen, one of the German provinces already taken by the Russians. Crazed +with anxiety, they are going in search of their son, who was wounded at +Namur, and have been three days in a military train--an excruciating +journey! At midnight, the soldiers and the _chef de cuisine_, who has +had his kitchen in the court, departed. Before going they sang softly +some of their songs and then the wagons, one by one, filed out of the +moonlight and were swallowed up in the shadows of the trees. I felt as +if the candle had been blown out for them. + + + + +_September 4th, Friday._ + + +Monsieur J. came home today with bad news, though every day has its bad +news. His cousin Robert had been killed near Gand. The old butler's eyes +were sweet to see when Madame X. turned at table and said to him, +"Francois, Monsieur Robert is dead." This man of one syllable, according +to his custom, answered simply, quick tears visible, "_Oui, Madame_" +with that gentle upward intonation which says so much. + +The longest sentence he probably ever constructed was uttered +thirty-five years ago when his young master had wished to dismiss him +for some reason and he had answered, "Oh no, Monsieur, we could not +live, either one of us without the other," which settled the question +for all time. And now the master is laid to rest and the servant must +serve the enemy in his house. + +We took a little walk in the woods, this afternoon--as the coast was +clear and no strangers in the house for the first time in three weeks. +We had hardly finished a short promenade when we heard a violent +clanging on the gong to call us back, and when we returned in all haste +to the house found seven soldiers in the library going through all the +drawers and closets in search of firearms. Commencing there, they +searched the whole house from top to bottom, even fumbling in the +bureaus among the dainty lingerie of Madame X. Some of them took an +obvious pleasure in performing their duty, while others looked +uncomfortable and bored. It is true that many of the men hate this war, +whereby whole families of brothers and cousins have to leave their homes +to fight what they call the "Aristocrats' War," who in their arrogance +think to be masters of the whole world. + +Some newspapers, two weeks old, were brought from Brussels in the +evening and we pounced upon them as a starved dog makes for a bone. + + + + +_September 5th, Saturday._ (At the ambulance.) + + +"_Constant, le pauvre Constant!_ What is in your tortured soul, these +three long days and nights, that chains it to earth and tosses your +poor body from one troubled thought to another?" + +I did not think to have my question answered. At eleven o'clock this +morning a child of twelve years, beautiful as an angel with heavenly +blue eyes and a shock of golden hair, dashed breathlessly into the +courtyard of the Convent, almost too exhausted to ask if _Soldat_ +Constant Martin, by any chance, were there. The gentle _Soeur Cecile_ +led him in to the sick man's cot. The boy gazed a moment, bewildered at +the wasted form upon it; then with an agonizing cry of "_mon pere_" fell +on his knees by the bedside. The man's eyelids trembled, half opened an +instant to look upon his son, and closed. In ten minutes he was at +peace. + +Since the railroad has been reconstructed the soldiers have been passing +in trains instead of on foot. Today we saw hundreds of older men, +Bavarians and sailors--it looks as if something had miscarried when the +marines have to fight on land. In the opposite direction, thousands of +wounded were going back in ambulance cars. These ambulance trains are +admirable and are often made up of forty and fifty carriages of the +light, swinging, old-fashioned type, of uniform size, the roofs painted +white, with a big, red cross on the top and one on each side. The cots +are arranged one above the other, showing clean, white linen, while the +attendants are spotlessly uniformed in white. In the middle of each +train is a car which might be called the "ugly duckling," for it is a +decidedly clumsy looking affair, full of steam boilers with safety +valves and tubes sticking out at the top, and is, I fancy, a sterilizing +plant. + + + + +_September 6th, Sunday._ + + +Oh, the peace of Sunday in a little village! And Augustin is better, +though he still fights his dressings. It takes the combined effort of +the ward to present duty in such an attractive guise that he will not +realize he is minding, but it is really the sympathetic Roger who can +insinuate comforting comparisons from his own recent acquaintance with +pain and the ever-ready Pierre, who with a "courage, camarade," and one +free hand to help me, actually put the thing through. + +On my way home to lunch I glanced at the clock in the church tower and +saw that it was an hour ahead of time, having been made to coincide with +Teuton pendulums. This is the second time that it has happened, for the +villagers dared to climb up the long stairs and put it back, once, but +the soldiers were so ferocious in their threats that--well, one must +accept their insolence. Crossing the field I passed the farmer who must +have felt considerable perturbation of soul this particular day, for he +looked "worrited" and was mowing grass for his poor, thin cows, in a +blue gingham smock and a bowler hat. The war is not more vital to anyone +on earth than to him, for the soldiers have taken away his wagons and +most of his hay for their bedding and they ruined the grass in the +orchard where they were encamped. + +Soldiers came to the Convent this morning to search for firearms. It +appears that the German military authorities are terrified of an +uprising among the inhabitants, particularly the factory hands, who will +not work for the Prussians and are getting a little restless. One can +readily imagine such an apprehension when from a population of 40,000 +working men in the vicinity, only forty-two firearms were presented upon +requisition. If all the rest are buried in the woods, as many believe, +it will only be the story of another inspired "Cadmus, who sowed +dragons' teeth and there sprang up an army of armed men." + +Madame de H. has left for Brussels. The third auto which was hidden away +was brought out and with Count Moltke's _laisser-passer_ and the +family's chauffeur, she will arrive safely, we hope, though we shall not +rest until the man gets back. + +In Liege this afternoon, in front of the University, we saw squares and +squares which were burned out by the Germans, and also where those +eighteen civilians were shot, following a slight uprising of the people. +Madame X.'s niece, who lives quite near there, heard the screams of the +women, and such scenes of terror seem even yet to paralyze the +population. In the Place de la Cathedrale we saw soldiers pushing people +along with their saw-toothed bayonets to disperse a crowd which was +gaping, stupefied, at some unusual proceeding. + +As we stood there, an automobile, with eight Prussian officers in it, +came banging down the street, loose bolts jingling, and was just +disappearing around a corner when Madame R. exclaimed "Oh, that's our +Reynaud!" + +All the automobiles, as well as everything else, have been confiscated +by the invaders and it is a common occurrence to look up and see one's +own beautiful car bounding along over cobblestones and breaking with its +load of soldiers--the motors are driven so hard that in two weeks' time +they are practically worthless. + +At the beginning of the war, many owners cunningly removed a tiny +necessary part of their machines, but in most cases the same owners were +given just two hours at the point of the bayonet to find those missing +parts, which was not always easy. And the farmers, too, who cut down the +big trees across the roads to impede the enemy's advance, had just the +same amount of time given them to clear the path again. So you see that +one is helpless. + +Rumors come from France that the fortified town of Mauberge still +resists, but that the Germans are at Compiegne, which is so near to +beautiful Paris. It is impossible to believe. Yet we all experienced a +feeling of absolute faintness when that report came, for Compiegne, or +anywhere within one hundred kilometres of it, is too near. But if--_Bon +Dieu_, keep us from thinking! + + + + +_September 8th, Tuesday._ + + +There is a possibility of our going to Brussels. Oh, the joy of it! That +may find me the means, through the American Ambassador, of getting back +to my beloved France. + +The youngest gardener, the little one, Charles, who is only eighteen +years old, has left for "the front." Not with his regiment, for he +hasn't one (this year was to have been his class), but as a private +individual who could not stay at home when his country needed him. His +old mother, with a little catch in her throat, sent him off proudly, her +baby, her _petit Charles_, to serve with his four brothers, already +gone. + +But how can he get away with the eye of the arrogant usurper on every +corner and road? + +A Belgian soldier will play his role after his own interpretation. +Instead of going off in his best smock and a tiny bundle on a stick, _le +petit Charles_ bade us a smiling _au revoir_ in his old blue apron and +torn hat. He will wander aimlessly over the hills which he knows so well +and, unsuspected, will creep through the friendly hedges into the very +arms of hospitable Holland and then, "All's well." + +Trains were passing all day loaded with provisions, as well as soldiers +and sailors who were sticking on like caterpillars all over the roofs, +the sides, the steps and almost the wheels. I saw two of them dancing +the tango on the top of one carriage. Then came car after car of prairie +wagons, we call them, with voluminous, white, canvas hoods, loaded with +provisions; after these, countless, giant cannon decorated with +branches, flowers and flags, mounted on open trucks without sides. All +this procession was a weird phenomenon gliding by in the sky like a +mirage, for the road-bed at the rear of the chateau is very high and is +hidden by intervening shrubs and bushes so that the wheels of the cars +are quite concealed. It reminded me of those Amazon warriors in "_Die +Walkuere_" who slid up to Heaven so smoothly on their wooden horses at +the Opera in Paris. + +Dropping from the poetical plane to common cause and effect, the whole +gave the impression of being well lubricated--like the wheels of Destiny +which turn steadily on with few jerks or hitches. + + + + +_September 9th, Wednesday._ + + +The word is said. We are packing our bags to leave for Brussels +tomorrow. When I went to the Convent this morning, I found all the +soldiers in bed and looking so wretched. Merciful Heaven! What blight +could have fallen on our children over night? But it was a farce. They +had heard that the officers of the regiment, here, were coming to +inspect the wounded with the idea of sending those who are well enough +on to Germany as, of course, they are prisoners. So the moment the +Germans entered the courtyard, all the _blesses_--even those who are +quite well--hopped into bed with their clothes on, pulled the covers up +to their chins and with a wet compress on their heads, looked as ill as +possible. It was comical to see; one can be a soldier and comedian at +the same time--and even the dear Sisters enjoyed it. But I was paralyzed +with fear. They had not thought of another side of the question to which +the very impudence of their ruse might subject them. + +I was very sad to say good-bye to these brave fellows who have been to +all the world such a lesson in bravery and patience during their +suffering. One big, lanky _garcon_--Jean, in fact--was quite undone at +our departure. He refused to be consoled with the promise of postal +cards in some future era and wept and sobbed, but I managed to +understand between the sobs that he was saying, "_Mais, Mademoiselle, je +vous suis habitue._" (But, Mademoiselle, I am used to you.) I do not +know if this was meant for a compliment, but I took it as such and wept +too. + + + + +_September 10th, Thursday._ + + +This morning was spent in finishing packing, which usually is the +biggest part of it, I find. + +There appears to be violent fighting at Malines, Louvain and Tirlemont. +Nevertheless we are setting out from the chateau, at two o'clock, bag +and baggage. Everybody felt sorry to leave the servants (_Liegeois_) +who have been staunch and comforting friends through all the misery of +these terrifying times. Will an eager Fate close them in? Let us hope +they will absorb the effervescent optimism of the fat old cook who +continually reiterates in her awful French, "They cannot hurt me. I am a +Hollander." + +2 P. M.--Well, off we started. It was a moment I shall never +forget, for it was as if we had taken up something solid and heavy (an +experience, for example) in our two hands and put it behind us. There +were in the party our two autos and Monsieur H. with Signor K., an +Italian consul, in his. Monsieur H. has a passport from the military +Governor, Field Marshal von der Golz, to go anywhere in Belgium, so we +felt very safe to be with him. No ancient stage-coach with a dozen +passengers on the top could have made as precarious a flight as our +machines, packed and jammed full inside and crowned on the roof with an +overhanging cornice of every sort of bundle. You can imagine that there +was an idea at the back of our minds of never returning, perhaps, or of +keeping what we could in immediate possession. + +It was interesting in leaving the city to see the disposition of troops; +we passed through Seraing, where are those tremendous Cockerill +factories, and soon arrived opposite the famous Fort Hollogne which did +such wonderful work in the defense of Liege, August 5th. At present it +flies the German flag and but for one or two sentinels pacing near, one +would never dream that a tremendous fort was there. Like the others, it +is built three stories underground, with just a slight rising of earth +defining the cupolas. Along the road on both sides, for miles and miles, +lay splendid trees which were cut down for cannon range. Just before +arriving at Jauche we met three automobiles with Prussian officers, who +shouted "_Nicht weiter_" and made violent signs which we did not +understand. But why "_nicht weiter_" with the _Herr Feld Marschall's_ +permission in our pocket? We soon learned at the railroad crossing. An +hour before there had been an alarm and the station had received orders +to allow no one to pass, as there was fighting not far beyond in the +direction of Tirlemont. Then and there arose a mighty discussion and the +_esprits_ of many nations (Belgian, Italian, Russian, French and German) +entered into the argument while one meek American looked on at the +sparring. Even the little slip of paper ladened with the name of von der +Golz in much ink, had no weight. Then we tried another route, that lay +right through the heart of a dirty, squalid, little village to +Ramillies, the same Ramillies of Louis XIV.'s time, famous in the +"_Batailles des Flandres_." We arrived there by a sudden turn of the +road which brought us up standing, onto a bridge spanning the railroad. +Below, perhaps two hundred feet distant, was the station, out of which, +upon our sudden apparition, swarmed a hundred soldiers in alarm, quite +as if the surprising toe of a boot had inadvertently kicked over an ant +hill. At Ramillies we were not more successful than at Jauche, for as +the officials explained, if we passed the railroad station we were in +danger of being caught between two battlelines. So, sadly indeed, we +retraced our way and returned in the dark and the pouring rain to a +dismantled house and forlorn hopes. + + + + +_September 12th, Saturday._ + + +We are in the depths of despair today for we hear that they are fighting +at Meaux--Meaux, which nearly is Paris. If I were a French woman I could +not feel more poignantly about it. But we always think that it is not +true, as we have no real means of knowing--all is hearsay. + +A messenger brought news from Monsieur N., "Uncle Maurice," in the +Ardennes. It appears that in August when the German troops went through +Belgium on foot, the regiment of Count Otto von M. passed his villa. +Count Otto is "Uncle M's" nephew--the son of his sister, who married a +"high official of the Imperial Court," of whom I have already spoken. So +it happened that the young officer went to call on his esteemed uncle, +who frankly shut the door in his face. The Count burst into tears and +cried, "Uncle, Uncle, won't you speak to me? It is not my fault. When my +brothers and I received orders to come through Belgium, we begged other +commissions but to no avail." + +Certainly not! who better than the Counts von M. who have hunted from +childhood, thro' every lane and secret path, to lead the armies thro' +Belgium. + +Trains are passing with every known thing therein--first thousands of +soldiers, then wagons of provisions, cannon, boats for pontoon bridges +mounted on wheels ready for unloading, material for building, trucks of +hay, portable houses and in one car were hundreds of tiny wheels +sticking up which we discovered belonged to wheelbarrows. It is a droll +procession, that never ceases before one's eyes. To offset it, we have +taken to playing Patience morning, noon and night, and if this monotony +keeps up much longer we shall certainly become imbeciles. From time to +time, in the trains going back to Germany one sees French prisoners, +easy to tell by their red _kepis_, boxed up in cattle cars, peering out +from a narrow slit at the top. From the terrace can be heard the dull +thud of distant cannon; the fighting is at Warrem, thirty kilometres +from here. + + + + +_Monday, September 14th._ + + +Somebody came into possession of a newspaper, the "Figaro" from Paris, +dated September 6th. We were delighted to have it loaned us for an hour, +greasy and dirty as it was, for in these days a newspaper is the most +precious article on earth. It is brought in on a silver tray--then +somebody feverishly reads aloud for the benefit of the others, while the +servants run out to invite the neighbors to come in and listen. Just as +the reader is in the middle of a grand eulogy on glorious victories, +etc., an unknown person raps on the door to reclaim the precious journal +and we all relapse into a general interchange of impressions, ideas, +complaints, inspirations--"They say"; "It appears"; "Why"; "Must"; +"Ought"; "Should"; etc. In a German paper we read to-day, they are +preparing their men for "slight defeats" by saying that, "The French +army is no longer the army of 1870, but one worthy to combat with our +own." That was very condescending and was doubtless inspired by the +formidable battleline from the coast to Nancy, before their noses. + + + + +_September 16th, Wednesday._ + + +Natural laws are demonstrating themselves very plainly these days, for +when we were sitting on the terrace just before lunch to-day, a curious +thing happened--a sound wave, from a cannon shot literally hit our ear +drums. I felt as if somebody had struck mine with a padded club. There +was no noise, you understand, but we all looked up, aware of the impact +at the same moment, so that it could not have been imagination. It must +be that the terrible experiences of the past weeks have developed us to +a highly sensitized degree, for many things are strikingly clear which +were not so before. + +Nearly every afternoon we go up over the hill to a high cliff +overhanging the river which makes a sounding board for those sounds, +which never abate, of a distant battle across the valley. + +Heaven above! how are there men enough left after all these weeks of +killing to continue a battle? At times the reports come as thick and +fast as hail, making one long roar of awfulness, and our hearts sink +like lead at the vision it conjures up. + +And again, how readily and eagerly hope springs up when the shots become +interrupted and the noise fades away a little. + +In this wooded spot where we so often go to find out the real truth of +things with our own ears, one meets nearly all one's friends from the +neighboring villas who have come for the same purpose, morbidly +attracted as we all, no doubt, are by these dreadful signs of a world of +torture. + +We huddle together like sheep lost in the storm, we confide our personal +misfortunes and we recount the barbarous tales we have recently heard, +the story ever interrupted by fresh evidence of the reviving fury of the +never-ending struggle. + +When we arrived home we heard that a company of soldiers had arrested, +as espions, four or five men who, like ourselves, were taking a little +promenade in the wood across the valley. Our liberties are being +curtailed more and more. Thank goodness there is a large garden and a +private wood to wander in. A month ago the order was that every +inhabitant must be in the house and lights out at eight P. M. +Now it is seven o'clock and as the days grow shorter it will soon be six +or five--and perhaps three. The soldiers are in such a blue fear of +being shot that recently in Aerschot all the villagers were put into the +church on bread and water. Some of the men were shot before their wives +and most of the houses burned. And they say, "the heart of the Imperial +Empire bleeds." It is not surprising that it does when one considers +what is happening right here at Liege, where houses are burned and +innocent men shot for murder. Afterward one finds German bullets in +German soldiers, which proves what you will. + +What a story we heard to-day--such a pitiful little story of somebody's +blue-eyed boy who ran out with his toy gun and aimed it at the passing +troops. + +They shot him dead, the little fellow, but he will sleep in a hero's +grave as truly as another, for his loyal wee might. + + + + +_September 18th, Friday._ + + +A memorable day! We went in the auto to Spa. As we drove out of the +court yard we were obliged to let some horsemen pass, who were out for +their morning exercise. I think it is somebody's body guard, for we see +them often at a distance. There are about thirty of them and at close +range they are rather beautiful, that is, their uniforms of spotless +white broadcloth with gold trimmings. _En route_ we passed by Fort +d'Embourg, which still has some of its cupolas, and Fort Chaudefontaine, +which our burned soldiers defended and which is demolished. For miles +around the country has been flattened, one may say, from the operation +of the cannon and looks as if a cyclone had hurried across it. Every bit +of shrubbery has been swept off the soil as if by a blast of magic and +the singed earth has a very shorn-lamb aspect. + +Our route was a veritable _via dolorosa_--destruction on both sides, in +front and behind. Many houses and trees had eight inch shells half +sticking in them which have not exploded and nobody knows when they may. +The churches were without fail demolished more or less and the most +astonishing thing was to see, again and again, the marble statue of the +Christ standing intact on the crumbling remains of an altar. It fills +one with awe and reverence to see this figure repeatedly spared by a +supernatural power from an otherwise pitiless devastation. We passed +through the now famous Louvigne which was entirely burned by the +Prussians on their way to Liege. It was the same old story of the +"civilians firing on the troops," or rather the excuse of the +delinquents to martyr innocent villagers who instinctively took up a +rifle to defend their homes, as any one of us would. And revenge came +quickly. + +As we neared this spot which scarred the face of Nature, we were seized +with silent horror. If, in the smiling sunshine and in the quiet of the +beautiful country, we shivered at the sight of such destruction and the +thought of that dastardly work which marked the destiny of hundreds of +human beings, what must the awful realization have been to the +inhabitants themselves? Fancy the helplessness of them and their +consternation at the approach of a great army bearing down, of men +maddened with the love of conquest, of the wild beast seeking what it +may devour! Imagine the distant rumbling of wheels, drawing nearer and +nearer, the thud of horses' hoofs, the rhythmic tramp of feet, first +wafted on the wind, and finally the frightful dread confirmed by a +sudden explosion from the forts. Then the arrival--the dark--the +noise--the confusion--the terror of the women--the screams of little +children clinging to their mothers--the despair of the old ones, ill and +bedridden--fire everywhere and men torn from the arms of their loved +ones and stood up in a row and shot. What ghastly scenes, illumined +still more by those rockets of flame from the forts which cut across the +plain to stay the brutal invaders! + +I saw a little girl come out from the debris to draw water from a +pump--for what? For whom? There did not seem to be a living creature in +the vicinity, though perhaps some of the poor things who fled out into +the night across the fields for safety, have come back to dig out a +little home under the crumbled stone. One or two houses remained +standing, which seems a miracle, as petrole-soaked fire-brands were +thrown systematically into every habitation. As we passed, rather +quickly, I counted ninety houses in ruins and about half a mile from the +road, a magnificent chateau, a victim as well as the meanest hovel. The +facade only was standing, though on approaching directly, the building +seemed intact, except for a curious impression of daylight shining +through the windows. + +Coming back in the twilight the effect of all this misery was +accentuated, the sentinels every few hundred yards were more suspicious +than ever and when we came upon a few isolated "_Hussars de la Mort_" +with the death's head leering out from those elegant fur turbans, I +thought all was finished. Happily the men were more peaceable than their +aspect. + +Spa, the lovely, indolent _ville d'eaux_, which we visited, was filled +with the "military" and bristling like a porcupine with saw-edged +bayonets and pointed helmets. + + + + +_September 22nd, Tuesday._ + + +The doctor has gone to Neufchateau in the Ardennes to bring back the +French and Belgian wounded. I wish I could have gone with him, for we +seem so useless here now that our soldiers are well, and the days are +long, since the wild excitement of a giant army on the wing has cooled +down. "On the wing" is not an idle expression when we remember those +forced marches and how they lashed the poor artillery horses which +galloped and strained in the traces without making much impression on +the wheels. It was rather like that famous chariot race in the play, +"Ben Hur," when the landscape rolled around too fast for the horses. +Certain Imperial Esprits have doubtless already arrived, but without the +baggage--an item somewhat important. + +May the Fates preserve beautiful Paris! There is a dear little French +sister at the Convent (this Sisterhood was transferred from Metz after +the War of 1870) who says that we must pray the Blessed Virgin every day +to "_ecraser_ (smash) _les Allemands_," and she says it so fervently +that one does not observe the lack of Christian spirit. + +Very little is passing through the city at present except perhaps this +eternal line of trains, and oh, how we are thirsting for news! Can you +imagine, dear people at home, you who have hundreds of newspapers, how +we are straining every nerve to know the real truth of things as they +are, to pierce through this thick wall, with which an arrogant despotism +has cut us off from the whole world? But we cannot. It is wadded on both +sides with deceptions and our only privilege is to surmise. What poor +things we are, in truth, though born and reared in the common +independence of the age. Everywhere (else) the poorest farmer has his +one old horse to take him to and fro, where he will, and he has his acre +of God's country, where he may muse in the sun or dream with the stars, +while we, conquered by numbers, must walk in a straight line without +loitering and we must go into our houses at seven P. M. and +close the door. Do you think that is amusing? + + + + +_September 24th, Thursday._ + + +We heard five booms of cannon in an hour this morning and bad and +inhuman as it sounds, we were quite pleased--any little sign from an +outside world that one lives, one breathes, to drag us out of this +inertia, this eternal silence! + + + + +_September 28th, Monday._ + + +There was quite a demonstration in Liege yesterday when they brought +back from Neufchateau some Belgian and French wounded. The people all +shouted, "_Vive la France._" Today we have a new military governor, who +has given the order to shoot, without hesitation, any person attempting +such an indiscretion again. + +The scene of operations is gradually swinging back into Belgium and the +stories of atrocities are increasing. The sacking and burning of +Louvain, with its art treasures and its world-famous library of rare +books and old manuscripts, is only another blot on a shield already +stained. In fact, it is said that the general who permitted it is most +discontented with himself for having been so stupid and that he has been +relieved from active service on account of ill health. + +Monsieur Max, the burgomaster of Brussels, has been taken prisoner and +is in confinement at Namur, because he was not able nor willing to meet +the demands of the Prussians, who want gold. We hear that the women of +Germany have been required to give up all their jewelry, except wedding +rings, for fighting money. + + + + +_September 30th, Wednesday._ + + +We went again to Spa in the auto. Passing again through the pitiful +village of Louvigne, we saw, in a meadow, the graves, covered with +wayside flowers, of the farmers who were shot. The soldiers picked out +forty of the villagers, stood them up in a line, then shouted, "Save +yourselves." Thirteen were shot in the back and the rest escaped. What +words to find for this barbarism? But is it barbarism and not rather the +refined cruelty of civilization? Is it not better then to remain a +primitive, with a beautiful faith in the Sun-god? + + + + +_October 1st, Thursday._ + + +The siege of Antwerp has begun. Here is a dialogue between the Kaiser +and his _belle armee_. + +K. "I need Antwerp." + +A. "Your Majesty shall have Antwerp, but we need five hundred thousand +men." + +K. "You shall have them." + +Does this explain the fantastic array of soldiers, sailors, the old, the +young, grandfathers and infants, the simple rank and file and the +elegant regiments of H. M. that are continually trailing on to the +battlefield? + + + + +_September 29th, Tuesday._ + + +The servants are dismantling the house today, putting all the art +treasures in safety--tapestries, silver, portraits, paintings, rugs, +fine china, furniture, dresses, furs, books, linen--in fact everything +of value. All this is to be taken off for safekeeping and sealed +up,--maybe, in the crystal caves of the river nymph, Arethusa. Madame X. +does not like to imagine the _Haus Fraus_ parading in her sables. + +A man in the city saw some circulars ready for distribution that were +printed by the German War Office, saying that in case of retreat of the +army, the inhabitants of Liege would have six hours to evacuate the +city. + +All that horror over again? Oh! this is a more terrifying thought, even, +than the advance of an army. + +Madame de H. managed to get through to us a letter from Brussels by +messenger. What dreadful things are happening, what curious things! +Three kilometres from her chateau on the other side of Brussels is an +old feudal castle which has been occupied for the last two years by an +Austrian family. These people were never very neighborly, preferring +their own society evidently and spending all their time and interest in +repairing the dilapidated walls of an unused wing of the chateau. This +had turned out an endless task, as it appears, continued for weeks and +then suddenly and unaccountably stopped for days, only to be feverishly +recommenced. But of course, people round about, accustomed to the +varying energy of workmen in general were not puzzled at this. At least +this was the explanation given and, in truth, it began to look as if the +old place would live its given quota of days and crumble away still +unfinished. + +Twenty-four hours after Germany declared war on France and had already +crossed the frontier into Belgium, the Austrian family disappeared in +the night, taking with them their household goods. The next day Belgian +authorities seized the property and found a complete arsenal under the +walls with a net-work of tunnels burrowing far into the earth in all +directions. + + + + +_October 3rd, Saturday._ + + +During the last forty-eight hours, hundreds of cattle cars have been +going back to Germany and we were very curious as to their contents. +Unhappily, we have been enlightened. + +Some of the villagers at the station, this morning, looked into one car +and saw that it was full of dead human bodies, tied together in threes +and packed tightly side by side in rows. Is that not too horrible for +words? It is better not to be too inquisitive these days, for there is +horror enough on the surface of things. + +The Germans have already taken some of the forts of Antwerp, although +the country surrounding the outer belt line of forts has been purposely +inundated, which does not, however, prevent the operation of big field +cannon. + +About fourteen of our wounded at the Convent Ambulance were sent to +Germany today as prisoners. We went to see them off and found the poor +things absolutely overwhelmed. Against the fear of cold and +imprisonment, they put on as many clothes as possible--two suits of +underwear, two pairs of socks, two pairs of trousers, coats, shirts, +sweaters and waistcoats--until they looked like stuffed partridges. +Poor, feathered brood, with pinioned wings! At three P. M. our +(usually) gay boys were led out of the court, two by two, like convicts, +a Prussian at the head of the column and a Prussian at the foot. + +Oh, these Belgians are brave and they know how to obey, which may be the +very secret of their greatness. It is glorious to see the respect with +which even grown men accept the advice of their aged parents, for at the +moment of peril to their honor and their country when the old father had +said to his son, "My boy, it is time to lay down the hoe and take up +the sword," he had answered, simply, "_Oui, mon pere_," while the women +brought out the sword and buckled it on with a tearless Godspeed. + +That is the way the Belgians went to war and that is the way they will +sustain themselves to the glorious end. + + + + +_October 5th, Monday._ + + +To-day, two months after that horrible battle of Sartilmont, we found a +Belgian soldier's cap lying in the middle of the path in the woods. It +seemed like a human thing and stirred me to the profoundest depths. I +never thought that clothes could take on life and a personality all +alone, but they do. Has its owner been in hiding all these weeks or is +he lying yet unburied among the friendly trees? In these places where +Death has walked so boldly one feels his accompanying presence at every +step. + + + + +_October 8th, Thursday._ + + +Monsieur B., a man of seventy years (Madame X.'s brother-in-law), was +taken as hostage yesterday at Spa. Fortunately for him, he was allowed +to sleep in the hotel, but can you imagine what the anxiety of those +twenty-four hours was? Every voice in the street, every foot-step in the +corridor--! + +From the top of the mountain all day a continual booming was heard, +distantly transmitted through the air. It was so incessant and with such +vivacity, one could easily imagine two armies all mixed up into one. The +Red Cross trains bear witness to tremendous battles somewhere--but +where? We hardly know how to contain ourselves in this absolute +ignorance of what is happening in the world. We rush upon and tear to +bits, like beasts of prey, the least little piece of news that comes +straggling within reach and if, by chance, someone comes into the court, +it is enough for all the family, including the servants, to rush to the +windows in excitement. + +The soldiers who are in the garage had the delicate idea of killing a +cow therein, which they did, and dismantled the animal then and there. +The next day they dressed themselves in Belgian uniforms, stripped from +the dead, and had themselves photographed before the chateau. We noticed +their laughing and pointing to the attic windows of the house, and we +finally discovered that they had festooned strings of sausages, of their +own recent make, from the window sills, to ripen. + +A Baron de S. spent the night here, and told us of the ravages made by +the passing troops at his chateau down in the country. They had buried a +Frenchman in one corner of the garden and two Germans in another and +nothing was left but the house. All engravings and paintings were cut +with a sword; silver platters were melted in a lump in the court yard; +meat was cut up on a beautiful salon table; shoe polish was rubbed on +another; pipes in the kitchen and bathroom were cut to flood the rooms; +every glass in the house was broken and all the linen carried off except +the handkerchiefs. + + + + +_October 9th, Friday._ + + +Baron T., another friend of the family, came to lunch. He told us of his +cousin, who was one of the unfortunate victims of the sack of Louvain. +This aged man (seventy years) with a thousand others, was obliged to +walk for twenty-four hours with nothing to eat or drink and arms +stretched up straight over their heads. The poor man, fainting with +fatigue, asked permission of the soldiers to put his hands behind his +neck, but this grace was denied, and after some hours more all the +company was pushed into a cattle train and for eight days taken over the +country, as far as Cologne, and at last released in Brussels, almost +demented. + +When this Monsieur--of whom I speak, found himself free again he made +his way, laboriously enough, to his brother's house in Brussels. + +The _maitre d'hotel_ opened the door and, seeing this haggard, bootless +individual, who was weakened with fatigue and dazed from his recent +horrible experience, did not recognize him, naturally enough, and +refused him admission until the old gentleman got his poor scattered +brains together enough to prove his identity. This is the story as we +have it first-hand. Can it then be possible that the others we heard are +true, too? + + + + +_October 10th, Saturday._ + + +I have been advertised! like a stray dog, and what a feeling of +importance it gives one. A peculiar looking document with the Embassy +seals of Paris and Brussels on it, arrived from the American Consul in +Liege enquiring if such a person as "Me" still exists. + +Well, rather, I should say. Fancy one's coming all the way on foot from +Brussels to find out that! + +Masses of soldiers and cannon passing today and news from Brussels is +bad. The worst must have happened! "Antwerp, the untakable." How is it +possible in a few days, with fifty-two forts in triple line? We were so +depressed we could scarcely eat dinner, when about nine P. M. +came the news, from a man of affairs who is just back from Brussels, +that the rumor is false. We shall sleep tonight after this hope and the +end of the world is not today, anyway. + + + + +_October 11th, Sunday._ + + +We have heard the raging of a distant battle for days and we tremble for +the result. It seems that Antwerp is really taken, that is, "they say" +so, but it is such a mystery to everybody. + +A Dutch army nurse--but in the German Red Cross service--is here for a +few days' furlough, and related to Madame X. some horrible details of +the battlefield in France, whence she has recently come. It is just one +scene of mud and blood--pieces of limbs strewn everywhere and the dead +standing straight against masses of bodies, both living and dead. In +some towns she saw women and children pinioned with a sword through the +breast to the walls of their houses, and in Belgium the women and +children were often obliged to hold the hands of the men whom the +soldiers shot at random, according to their fancy. Here again are tales +that one hears that I cannot assert as facts, though this woman told +them as her own experiences. + +Madame X. received a card from Charles, the young gardener, who is now +safe in France training with the Belgian army near Dunkirque. You are +doubtless wondering how a card arrived here, as we have had no mail +since August 2nd. It was sent to a certain bank in Holland which is not +far from the Belgian frontier and a messenger brought it on foot. + +And I have sent you back a letter, dear people, scribbled at top speed +(without capitals, t's crossed nor i's dotted, probably) by the same +messenger who takes his life in his hands when he passes the guard at +the Dutch frontier again. If letters are found on this person he will +certainly be shot, so whether you ever receive my communication will be +a matter of history. + + + + +_October 13th, Tuesday._ + + +The old concierge of the hunting box at Viel Salm (near Malmedy, +Germany), who has been dying of tuberculosis for twenty years, arrived +here tonight, having walked the whole distance of seventy five +kilometres. This shows the faithfulness of the old servant who thought +he must come to report the sacking of the villa by the German troops +which occurred in the early days of August. + +The poor man could not have hobbled another step, for he was at the end +of his strength and his feet were just two great blisters. He told a +shocking tale of the troops, who entirely pillaged the villa. While he +went to complain of them at the _Kommandantur_ of the place, others came +and what they did not break up, they took off. Pictures, engravings and +mirrors were broken, the leather chairs slit up with a sabre--artistically +done in the shape of a cross--and porcelain smashed in the middle of the +courtyard. You can see by this that pillaging and atrocities began when +the troops were hardly over the frontier. + +In one of the numerous pillaged chateaux around about, an extraordinary +bit of literature, in fact a masterpiece, has been found by the +chatelaine. A tiny scrap of paper sticking out from a book had these +words scribbled on it in German: "I am only a common soldier but I ask +pardon for these atrocities, committed by my superior officers." + + + + +_October 14th, Wednesday._ + + +It is unbelievable the trainloads of soldiers that are passing about +every ten minutes, and the fighting--judging from the wounded--must be +beyond words. The army nurse told of men who have fought five days in +the trenches without relief. They were tumbling over with fatigue, rifle +in hand, and the officers were obliged to go from one to the other, +shaking them into consciousness. + +[Illustration: MAP SHOWING VIEL SALM AND THE GERMAN FRONTIER] + + + + +_October 16th, Friday._ + + +We went to Viel Salm in the automobile. The destruction at the villa, +which I saw with my own eyes, has not been exaggerated. There was +practically nothing left but the structure itself and that was far from +intact, for nearly all the great plate glass windows were broken by some +_devot_ of vandalism who had taken the trouble and an ax to split up the +jambs of the doors so that they never could shut again. + +Inside was far worse; every picture, glass and mirror was smashed, each +leather chair had a great cross on it, cut with the sword, the sofas +were ripped up the middle, curtains and portieres were wrenched from +their rods, all the dishes were taken except the glass stoppers of the +water-bottles, all the linen, all the blankets, all the clothes except a +few which were carefully cut up into ribbons and the tops of riding +boots which were sawed off for gaiters. In addition to this, eighteen +beds and bedsteads as well were carried off. + +We visited the Baronne de L., whose son, after refusing a demand of +forty thousand francs, was taken as a hostage, with the burgomaster and +others of the village. + +One morning at two o'clock a great ox cart drove up the avenue of pines +to the chateau and took him off before his mother's eyes. He is now +confined in a convict's cell at Coblenz. + +Baronne de L. has suffered severely at the hands of the invaders. She is +living quite alone in the chateau with the servants since her son was +taken and the avalanche of troops swept over the frontier at this point. +The house has been full of officers from the "first days" and she thinks +one of them was the "Kronprinz" from his photograph and because his +brother-officers always addressed him as Excellency. After one frightful +day, when the soldiers had literally despoiled the place by tearing +trophies from the wall, appropriating furniture and devastating the +stables, the household quieted down about midnight and everybody was in +bed, when suddenly a thundering of horses' hoofs was heard in the +courtyard and a new detachment of hungry, quarrelsome men piled in, +making a raid on the kitchen and pantries as usual. They were even more +boisterous and brutal than their predecessors and poor Madame de L. +crept fearfully up to the captain's room to solicit his aid and +protection. She knocked and knocked several times before the door +finally burst open and he angrily demanded what she wanted. Just as he +was in the middle of roaring out an oath, he suddenly drew himself up +haughtily, attired as he was in that great voluminous night gown +accredited to the Teutonic people, to salute a superior officer who at +that moment ascended the stair-case. + +Baronne de L. said that in spite of the fearfulness of the moment, it +was one of the most laughable scenes that she ever witnessed. + +On our way home from Viel Salm we saw the wonderful bridge of trees, +three hundred feet long and fifty feet high, at Trois Ponts, which the +Germans built when the tunnel was blown up by the Belgians at the +commencement of the war. It is a marvellous affair in engineering +construction and commands enthusiastic admiration. Except for iron bolts +and rivets, it is made entirely of trunks of huge trees--with the bark +yet on in places, though, when necessary, a surface was planed square +and true to meet its fellow. + +We drove through the village of Francorchamps, which was also burned to +the ground, and a few miles further on met three Prussian officers who +snarled out some frightful invective as we passed. I cannot think of a +reason, except that we were in an automobile while they were obliged to +circulate in a modest, pony phaeton. + + + + +_October 17th, Saturday._ + + +Antwerp is taken! There is no doubt about it now, and it is a sad blow +for Belgium. Antwerp! the pride and strength of the whole empire! But +there is not a person (bar the enemy) who does not expect to get it back +and all the rest of the usurped territory. + +Madame de H. sent letters by a "foot-messenger" from Brussels. She left +here only to plunge into a wild vortex of experiences there. Two days +ago she saw a battle in the air between two aeroplanes and yesterday the +locomotives on the trains had chains of roses around their necks to +celebrate some good news for the enemy. It sounds wild, doesn't it? And +last week--well, one does not dare to think what might have happened at +her home, Chateau de H., when four different companies of soldiers +pursued each other in quick succession on the road. + +First a regiment of German light infantry passed who stopped just long +enough for some hot coffee and were off again. About half an hour later +a brigade of Belgian bicycle _carabiniers_ appeared and stayed to +"lunch." They were not so _presses_ and were leisurely laughing and +joking when one of the stable-men rushed panting into the kitchen and +said a company of Uhlans could be seen galloping hard in the distance. + +Then ensued a kaleidoscopic performance which took less time than my +writing it, and they all escaped, safely guided by Baron de H. himself, +down a narrow path hidden by trees behind the stables which led them +eventually right out across the heart of that famous beet-root country. +When the last man was safely hidden from view, one breathed a sigh of +relief which only changed to an exclamation of terror as, turning from +this window to look out of another, one saw a hundred fierce horsemen +dash up, hard on the scent of their prey. + +When Madame de H. (senior) looked down from her room and saw the Uhlans +ride into the court, she went right off her head, literally, and drawing +a tiny pearl-handled revolver from a secret drawer in her desk, started +to shoot from the window. But thanks to the presence of mind and rapid +action of her daughter-in-law, who pushed her unceremoniously into her +dressing-room and locked the door, she was prevented in time, which +without the least doubt saved all their lives. + +It is just such circumstances as these that have given the troops +opportunities and excuses to shoot peace loving citizens and burn down +many a town. + +Madame de H. (junior) then went down stairs and placated the men, who +were very insolent, as well as she could with what was left to eat in +the house. As the latter were deep in this occupation of refreshing +themselves, the sentry espied a troop of Belgian lanciers coming on the +gallop and gave the alarm. + +To horse! and away they went, bridles clinking, lances clashing. Then +commenced a phantom race as they flew over the ground like the wind, the +Belgians following hot in pursuit, until they both disappeared over the +edge of the world. + + + + +_October 19th, Monday._ + + +I went to see the American Consul, to explain that I do exist and to ask +his advice about getting back to France. He did not seem to second my +enthusiasm, which surprised me, and said, "In the first place what would +you go in, and in the second, why should you want to go, with Paris +surrounded by 2,000,000 soldiers?" + +Isn't it human nature to want to get out of prison? + +He has received no mail from America since August 19th and a letter +which came from his confrere, the American Consul at Aix-la-Chapelle, +Germany, took twenty-five days by the German Military Post. + + + + +_October 22nd, Thursday._ + + +I was perfectly enraged this morning when I crossed the bridge and saw +the soldiers changing the street signs into the German language. Now it +is "_nach Brussels_" and "_nach Luettich_." + +I suppose you will say, "But why be so disturbed about things? It is not +your war." But it is my war. I cannot keep out of it--it's everybody's +war! + +The new soldiers who have been in the stable at the chateau received +sudden orders to advance. The rest of the company, scattered about in +the vicinity, assembled here and they marched out of the court, a +hundred strong. Poor, old, nice things, these Bavarians; they did not +look very military nor very keen about moving on to the "front." + +In contrast one can tell a Prussian five blocks away by his swing. His +stride is so individually overbearing that it is impossible to mistake. + + + + +_November 5th, Thursday._ + + +Monsieur and Madame S. came back from Brussels today and oh, it was good +to get a little, first-hand, outside news! It appears that Brussels +still has a semblance of her normal activity, as the heel of oppression, +in the presence of different foreign representatives, has not cut in so +deeply there. Madame S. said, one evening when they were walking in the +street she noticed a man following them and when they reached a +particularly dark corner he came quickly up and whispered, "Would you +like to see a 'London Times'? Then come into the shadow across the way." +It is well known that a single copy has already sold for 165 francs and +also there has been quite a traffic in renting sheets of it for twenty +francs the half hour. + +Coming back from Brussels, they drove through Louvain--martyred Louvain! +It was too dreadful to contemplate. First the material destruction of +those wonderful buildings, like an exquisite pattern in lace, torn by a +ruthless sword and eaten by wanton flame; then the misery and +deprivation of the people who were able to resist those hours of agony +and peril. + +Every sort of device was used for shelter and hollow eyes and +terror-stricken faces looked out from the damp cellars under the ruins, +where destitute families of at least half the population had crept to +find a home. + +Now we know why the taking of Antwerp has been kept so modestly in the +background and has never been advertised in Liege like all the other +victories, which were always flaunted in large print. It is because +while the Germans were studiously busy taking the city, fort by fort, +the Belgian army was walking out by the side door, along the coast to +France, so that when a big personage was sent from Germany to make a +grand, triumphal entry into Antwerp, he found an empty city and received +the sword of a general, ill and incapacitated for duty. + +It is said that the Prussian general who accomplished the siege was +decorated amid a grand flourish of trumpets and then retired, since one +of the great motives was the capture of the Belgian army, which is now +safe in France and taking a week-end off somewhere. Is it not fine that +little Belgium has been able to impede the great German army two and one +half months, which has given the other actors in the play time to +change their costumes? Oh, it is fine to be brave! + +Countess de M. came with Monsieur and Madame S. from Brussels and has +her passports all in order to go to France, to her husband who is in the +Belgian army near Calais. She is leaving at once, under the protection +of the Dutch Consul, who is here in Liege for a few days (a circumstance +ordained by the Fates) and who is going to conduct her in his auto over +the frontier to Maestricht, Holland. And the miracle has happened! If I +can get my papers in readiness in two days, she will take me with her. I +am wild with joy, but I feel it is like a dream that one knows cannot +come true. + + + + +_November 6th, Friday._ + + +Just the moment I finished breakfast this morning, I dashed into town, +that is, as fast as an old tramcar could take me, to the American +Consul. In my impatience, I fancy I must have rung his bell several +times, though it was really a long while before the servant opened the +door and showed me in to the library. Then Mr. Z. (a German-sounding +name), the Consul, appeared, unshaven and with the evidence of his +morning meal upon his face--it was yellow. + +But nothing mattered to me and I plunged into the subject of getting a +passport for to-morrow without preliminaries. Perhaps I took the poor +man's breath away, for certainly he was not nearly as enthusiastic as I +about it. In fact, he embarked upon a dissertation pertaining to the +invaders which made me cry out in astonishment, "Why, you surprise me, +you seem to have pro-enemy tendencies." "Well," he said, "they've done +everything they've said they have, haven't they?" + +I asked him if he had seen Louvigne or Vise yet and he said, "No, I +haven't ben up t' Vise yet." + +All this, however, was far from the point in question and I finally got +back to it by informing him of the good fortune I was going to have +to-morrow in getting away to Holland in the Dutch Consul's automobile if +I could get my passport from the Germans. It did not occur to me that +there would be any difficulty about it, so I calmly asked him if he +could get it for me by six o'clock to-night? + +"Oh, no," he replied, "I could not get it before two or three days." + +"But," I protested, aghast, "I am going to-morrow and it is a chance in +a thousand; I may not have another such opportunity during the war. +Could you not make an especial effort to get it for me?" + +"Well," he answered, "I'll do what I can but I won't promise anything. +I'm not agoing to ask any favors of those people," i.e., the Germans. + +"It is not a favor," I replied, "it is your right. For what other reason +is an American Consul if he is not to protect his people, particularly +in wartime?" + +"Oh, my dear young lady," he answered, "you must not think that you are +the only American in Liege." + +"How many are there?" indignantly. + +"Well, three or four," he replied, reluctantly. + +That was really too much! I was in despair. What was to be done? Seeing +my hope of freedom vanishing before my eyes, I clutched at the last +straw and entreated him with what eloquence I could whip into line to +make at least some effort to get me the passport by six o'clock, when I +would come again to his house for it. + +"Oh, no," he said quickly, "I don't get back here until eight o'clock, +but if you happen to pass by 'The Golden Lion' (or some such name) you +might find me there." + +Choking with rage I said to him, "I see that you cannot help me, Mr. Z., +but if you will be good enough to give me your card (he had already +suggested it) to the German passport department, I will go to the +_Kommandantur_ myself and see what I can do; in fact, I am sure I can +accomplish far more than you." He ought to have been affronted at this +but, on the contrary, seemed jolly well pleased and handed me out his +card in a hurry, glad to relieve himself of the obligation of asking any +favors of "those people." + +I then made my way to the _Palais de Justice_. A man accosted me in the +square and told me if I were going for passports it would be of no use, +as there were hundreds and hundreds of people there before me. But I +kept on. With the glorious end in view, viz., to be a free person and to +see the scenes that, in a morbid way, I had begun to feel would never be +my privilege again, I kept on, threading a path through the throngs +until I stood right in front of the guard of the sacred chamber. He was +an enormously fat sentry, with the usual little round cap and fixed +bayonet. I thought he would eat me, he looked so offended, and roared +out, "_Nein, nein, das Zimmer ist voll._" Then was my moment. I pulled +out the little white card and addressed him--not too timidly either, for +hadn't I the great American people behind me? He caught the words, +"American Consul," which drew him up to salute and in the most +lamb-like voice he murmured, "_Ach, ja, Amerikaner_," and let me pass. I +cast one look at the multitude back of me--poor things, who may have +stood there two days already, and I felt despicably mean, as if I were +not playing fair. + +Once inside, I was put through a category of questions, worse than an +"Inkwhich." "Why had I come to Liege?" "How long had I been there?" "Why +did I want to go away?" "Where to?" "How?" etc. Finally my inquisitor +became suspicious, or feigned it, and said, "But what have I to prove +that you are an American?" Then I was furious and I answered, "Monsieur +(I suppose he hated the French appellation), since you have the card of +the American Consul asserting it, in your hand, is not such a question +an indignity to my government?" He answered with a wry smile and said +nothing. + +At 4 P. M. I returned for my passport with half a dozen +photographs to be affixed thereto. I had no difficulty in getting into +the _Bureau des Passeports_ as I still had the Consul's card upon which +Herr Bauer, one of the German secretaries, had scribbled some mysterious +symbols which probably meant "let her pass," or its equivalent. At any +rate, the sentry and I regarded each other superciliously and I skidded +past his saw-toothed bayonet without hurt. + +When I entered the crowded room I saw that I was about fiftieth in the +line and I said to myself that if I waited my turn I should still be +there at midnight. Luckily, an idea came to me, and waving that fateful +little white card in the air, I called out over the heads of everybody, +"Oh, Herr Bauer." A Belgian gentleman standing next me was quick enough +to catch the name and shouted out also, "Herr Bauer." But Herr Bauer was +far too clever for him and said with a mocking smile, "Ah, no, Monsieur, +you will have to wait your turn. Mademoiselle, come this way." + +I detached myself from the crowd and stepped behind the rail, horribly +conscious of unpleasant scrutiny. My face got hotter and hotter and I +could only see a host of uplifted Belgian eyebrows. Even the clerks +looked up and stared, unaccustomed as they evidently were to Herr +Bauer's benignity. And I had to bear all that humiliation because--well, +why? + +Having exposed the facts, I will give you the privilege to form your own +opinion which will be every bit as good as mine, I know. + +11 P. M. My passport signed, sealed and written all over by the +Imperial Government, is in my hand. I shall dream of long journeys, of +bitter struggles and at last--freedom! Will the daylight never come? + + + + +_November 7th, Saturday._ + + +Saturday dawned cold, gray and shivery. _Madame de M._, _Monsieur le +consul hollandais_, and I left the chateau at eight A. M. I was +heartbroken to part from the dear people with whom I had experienced so +much and I fancied their eyes looked longingly at the departing +automobile. They, too, would have liked to come out into the sunshine of +Freedom--how much! + +From Liege to the frontier sentries stopped us often, but the consul's +much-used passport, framed and glassed in like Napoleon's Abdication or +the Declaration of Independence, was very convincing. Half an hour's +cold drive along the Meuse brought us to Vise. On approaching it, we did +not dream that we were nearing a town and in truth we were not--only the +remains of one, for not a single building was standing. I had thought +that Louvigne with its one lane was desolate and awful, but here were +streets and streets of ashes and crumbled brick--and I seemed to see +again the ruins of ancient Troy in Asia Minor, which are not more +complete. Someone murmured, "Pompeii." But it is not comparable. The +ages have woven about the broken columns of Pompeii a light film of +romance and a bit of tender beauty springs up with the tiny, flowering +weeds which push their way to the sun between many colored tiles. Here, +the tragedy is too new; too crude; too bleeding! + +The only living things I saw were a cat scampering down a deserted +alley, and one man--half-dazed, looking at what was probably his own +ruined home; the only wall to be seen which was, even in part, standing. +It must have been an ironmonger's shop, for some black kettles still +hung on nails against the stone, and iron stoves in all their bleakness +stood up in bold relief on piles of ashes. + +When the Germans came to Vise the commanding officer called the people +together in the market place and harangued them at length, threatening +them with dreadful punishments if they did not do so and so. He felt he +had to, doubtless, as the town and the surrounding country are well +known centers of the firearms industry; the peasants work in their own +homes to a large extent and are very expert in the making of delicate +weapons and also in their use. + +So, when the sturdy Belgians could not digest another single threat, +apparently, somebody fired a shot from the crowd which killed the +officer while he was speaking. Then followed that frightful slaughter +and the firing of the town, the remnants of which we saw to-day. Nobody +on earth will ever know who fired the shot, probably, for the soldiers +hate their officers and already German bullets have been found in German +soldiers. + +9 A. M. Over the frontier! Oh, the joy of it--the indescribable +relief--the wet-eyed thankfulness! Shall I ever forget it? I did not +know until then what depths Tyranny had furrowed into my consciousness. +Here were men and women laughing and talking in the streets and people +daring to drive in their own carriages, and everybody reading +newspapers--I felt as if I would spend my last sou for one. + +The day was spent in wandering aimlessly over the old town. The wind was +bitterly piercing and a fog hung over the canal but I was not altogether +aware of bodily discomfort. My mind, trying to adjust itself to new +conditions, was in a haze, staggering back and forth from the +consciousness of regained freedom to servitude and from barbarism to +freedom again. + +At three P. M. the train left for Flushing, where we were to +take the boat for Folkestone, England. Just before it pulled out of the +station, a friend of Comtesse de M. rushed up to the car window and +said, "Madame, must you go? We have just received a dispatch saying that +a big boat has been sunk today by a mine near Boulogne." But nothing on +earth could have deterred us then. + +All through the country of Holland, Dutch soldiers were "preparing" +everywhere. We arrived at Flushing at two A. M. and went aboard +at once, but not before being well looked over by English commissioners, +who examined our foreheads and wrists for German measles. Shall I ever +get away from that word? + + + + +_November 8th, Sunday._ + + +A long day on the Channel and I was seasick--miserably, hopelessly, +endlessly seasick, but when somebody shouted I managed to lift my head +in time to see a floating mine--just a tiny, black buoy bobbing about, +but I did not mind. I asked the stewardess if she were not afraid, +making the journey every day, and her answer awed me by its conciseness +and its confidence. "Oh, no," she said. "Our Admiralty has arranged a +path for us between the mines." That was a sublime faith, but I should +choose a more winsome path--bordered with marigolds, perhaps, or phlox. + +About four P. M. the gaunt, chalk cliffs of Dover hove into +sight, rising up in their grimness and seeming yet to shadow the awful +tragedy of the previous day, when an auxiliary cruiser had struck a mine +a quarter of a mile from shore and sunk in five minutes. + + + + +_November 9th, Monday._ + + +Folkestone! The busiest town on earth, I should say, and soldiers +everywhere. There were ruddy-looking troops, singing also, and +apparently quite content to be "going over," for an Englishman is always +game; and there were pale ones, just out of hospital, in every kind of +uniform, and bands of refugees and exiles who had not a franc among +them. + +Comtesse de M. went with me to the English Embassy to see if they would +give me a passport to France with her, for in my haste in leaving Liege, +it had not occurred to me that I would need a passport ever again +anywhere. + +It seemed to me that there were millions of people at the door of the +Embassy, but fortunately Madame de M. found an acquaintance who must +have had considerable influence, for he took us around to a secret door +and we were soon in the audience room. Well, of course, there was +nothing to prove that I was an American but our honest word, which was +not enough, so I offered to hand out my German passport, which was +certainly maladroit. + +Fancy, an Englishman viseing a German passport! + +Then Madame de M. pulled out hers and asked them to sign my name on it +as companion to her. The august head looked troubled at this; however, +he took his pen and was just in the act of putting it to paper when his +assistant or rather accomplice interposed and they argued a bit. He took +his pen for the second time and plunging it into the inkwell was just +about to sign when somebody else expostulated and another discussion +ensued. + +For the third time (he pulled himself together as a man who knows what +he is about) he took his pen and would certainly have achieved his +object if the door had not opened at the inexpressible moment to admit +an authoritative-looking person who vetoed the whole proceeding. + +What those moments were to me I shall never be able to describe--that +pen so near the paper! A naked sword three times across my throat would +not have been greater suspense. Marie Antoinette could not have suffered +more. + +Well, the game was up anyway, and as there was no American Consul nearer +than London, I decided to try the amiability of the French Consul which +I found impeccable. + +At the French Embassy again was that rush and struggle for papers, and +there I witnessed a pathetic scene. A Belgian man, of middle age, and +well dressed, came to the consul literally asking alms. "Monsieur," he +said, "to ask you for help is the hardest thing that I shall ever do in +my life, but I have lost everything and I must go to my wife, who is ill +in France, and I have but five francs. Could your Embassy aid me?" + +At five P. M. the boat left Folkestone, containing a +conglomerate parcel of humanity--sailors and soldiers of different +nations and in divers uniforms, singing alternately the "_Marseillaise_" +and "God Save the King"; Red Cross assistants eager to reach the field +of their work; white-haired mothers in search of their wounded sons, +trembling for the message that land would have in store for them and +despairing exiles awaiting at least the welcome sound of their beloved +tongue. Night fell like a soft mantle and we forged on, into the +darkness, chancing what might befall. What impressed me among the people +aboard was the apparent lack of anxiety for personal safety. Past +sufferings and the great future issue were the predominant thoughts. + +The dock at Calais was crowded with anxious friends and Belgian +soldiers. Madame de M. found several acquaintances among the +latter--friends of her husband. After the usual Custom House proceedings +we started on a quest for rooms for the night. A subdued excitement +trembled over the city; the whole population was in the streets; throngs +were seething up and down; hundreds of soldiers were hurrying to and fro +and intense groups of men discussed probabilities, while anxious women +pressed in on the crowd to catch a hopeful word. We heard that the +German army was about to plunge through to Dunkirque and would shell +Calais from there. The civil population was therefore expecting every +moment the order to evacuate the city. + +As we crossed the railroad near the pier, we saw in the half light a +small company of Belgian soldiers limping along, each with a forlorn +bundle on his back. Their aspect was _completement demoralize_, and the +young lieutenant with us, moved by his quick sympathy, shouted, "Oh, +say, _camarades_, have you heard of the new victories on the Yser and +the brilliant defense of the Belgians?" The poor, despondent things, +fired at once by the spirit of his enthusiasm, straightened themselves +up and cried, "Oh! Ah! Is it true? _Merci, mon lieutenant, vivent les +Belges!_" + +A few yards further on we passed a group of refugees who were stumbling +aimlessly along in the dark--there were men and women, trying to console +each other, and whimpering children, sick with hunger, clinging to their +mothers' skirts. Their plaintive cry was like a knife through the heart. + +After picking a toilsome way through the crowds we arrived in the +quarter of the big hotels and found there was not a room to be had. Not +at all daunted, we retraced our steps and sought the small hotels--there +were no rooms. Still, with courage--even amusement (the affair was +taking on a spirit of adventure) we attacked the _pensions de +famille_--not a cot; not a corner. Then we stopped in the _Place_ to +review the situation, which began to look dull gray. There were still +the _cabarets_, or we could sit in the street all night. We chose the +_cabarets_ and with newborn hope started on, systematically taking one +street after another, knocking at most dreadful-looking places, even +along the waterfront. A woman's voice from behind barred shutters +usually responded. Every chair, every table, every square inch of floor +was spoken for. Then the warm, brightly-lighted railroad station, +opposite the pier, leaped into our numbed consciousness--why had we not +thought of it before? The military authorities forbade loitering there. + +Out in the dark, once more we looked at each other inquiringly. That was +a curious joke. Fate had never dealt us such a hand of cards before! We +viewed the landscape--half of it was water and the little waves lapping +against the _quai_ were rather mocking. + +Suddenly, dark and smug, a swaying object which we had not observed till +then, took monstrous form before our eyes and in it we recognized an old +friend, the Channel boat _Elfrida_, which lay basking in the velvet +shadows like a dozing cat and gently pulling on her cables. Why not? We +did! Nothing prevented our going aboard but a sleepy guard, who was +quickly consoled with a five-franc piece, and we made ourselves +comfortable for the night on the yellow, velvet cushions in the +captain's salon, behind the wheel-house. + +Who can assert that it has not all been arranged for us? Otherwise, I +fear, our own poor efforts would land us too often in the mud. + + + + +_November 10th, Tuesday._ + + +Left Calais at nine A. M. The sun was pouring its cheerful rays +over the glorious land. It ought to be free--this smiling France! +Wherever the eye rested were soldiers drilling, building, maneuvering +and digging. Every few hundred yards the railroad was intersected by +lines of trenches. These latter appeared to be about seven feet +deep--cut true as a die into the ground and were braced with a lining of +woven reeds, like basket work. The front wall of these trenches was +crenated about every two feet, forming little niches for the soldiers +and protection against flank shots. The poppies and corn flowers blowing +over the edges were holding on for dear life to their tiny inch of soil +and nearly obliterated those brutal gashes in the earth which had +swallowed up their brothers and sisters. An unsuspecting army might well +be lured into such a pleasant bear-trap. + +Train progress was very slow for we had to switch off continually to +allow ammunition trains and troops to pass. All the railroad stations +were packed with soldiers and grieving women, though there was nothing +in the way of heroics in these leave-takings, just grim resolve on the +faces of the men and silent sorrow on the lips of the women. It seemed +as if clasped hands could not release each other and eyes held eyes in a +long farewell. Husbands were tearing themselves from their wives; +white-haired mothers were adding one word more of caution to their +departing sons; and there were young boys, of perhaps the last class, +who, touched at the moment to say _au revoir_, were yet eager to plunge +out into the future. I shall never know how many last good-byes I +witnessed this day. + +Train after train of cattle cars passed us, with a big cannon in the +middle, three horses stabled in one end and three in the other. Along +the road were several regiments of Indian troops--the _Girkhas_. They +were tall, splendidly handsome men of fine features, light, +chocolate-colored skin and brilliant, black eyes. They wore long, khaki +coats, belted in like a Russian blouse, and khaki turbans and they waved +their hands and smiled continually, showing flashing, white teeth. They +were evidently well pleased with the turn of events which had led them +to this wondrous, new world, where was plenty of opportunity for +killing--this reputed trait, however, was quite belied by their amiable +faces. + +About four P. M. (three hours yet to Paris) I was dead with +fatigue and seeing so much. Also I had not had a bite to eat since eight +A. M., having counted on a basket lunch on the road, or at +least a solitary sandwich, but all the convenient station buffets have +been closed up since the war and civilians are tacitly understood to +look after themselves and not to bother the Government by racing +needlessly over the country. But I do not think there were many making +aimless journeys. + +Since noon the cars had been steadily filling up, until the compartments +destined for ten persons were accommodating twenty, not including +bundles, lapdogs, bandboxes and bird-cages--even then there was always +room for one more. And nobody was indignant, but rather complacent and +obliging, for had they not all sons at the front and the same great +grief at heart? The conversation was general as to people and on one +sole topic, the "War," including the strategic achievements of the +French army, "Eux" (they, i.e., the Germans), and the marvellous +qualities of their beloved General Joffre, affectionately termed +"Grandpere" by the soldiers. + +And so we rolled slowly and more slowly on, packed like sardines, the +removing of one meaning the displacement of all, as when one heedlessly +snatches a potato from the middle of a bushel basket. But very few got +down except the soldiers, the objective point for all being Paris. + +The twilight shadows were welcome, for they swallowed up all the +phantasmagoria of the day and we relapsed into silence. It was one of +those moments when Reality, or the fear of it, battles with our courage +and each one grew thoughtful as he neared the great city, dreading to +meet the spectre he feared. + +The wheels of the cars sang on in a hollow, monotonous tune, the windows +rattled systematically and outraged brakes screeched at every recurrent +jolt. Finally we saw a dim row of lights and a long, thin whistle from +our engine told us that the journey was done. Again was that noticeable +lack of excitement: everyone calmly took his personal belongings and +prepared to get down when the guard, in an unimportant voice, should +call out "_Paree_," which you would not hear if you were not listening. + +After the Customs, I was in a frenzy to get out into the street, to be +welcomed back, as one always is here, and to be cheered and warmed by +the bright lights--the flashing eyes of Paris. But the streets were dim, +the shops and restaurants closed and few people circulating about. How +different it all was! I felt like Rip van Winkle after his twenty-years' +sleep, for at the apartment (I thought I had come to the wrong house) +was a new concierge, young and pretty, replacing the old, white-haired +one. Had we gone back twenty years instead? The rooms were empty--all my +friends had disappeared, the dust was inches thick, the furniture pushed +mostly into the middle of the rooms and some of the beds were gone. +Thickly sprinkled over the floor of my room and on my bed were pieces of +the window glass, broken like all the others in the house, by a German +bomb which fell and exploded in front of the Prince of Monaco's house, +two doors from us--not one hundred and fifty feet away. Half dazed, I +dusted a place large enough for my hat and coat, extracted some clean +linen from the closet and went to bed, sick at heart. + + + + +_November 12th, Thursday._ + + +Paris! after a four days' tiring journey which in happier times takes +only five hours. But it doesn't matter--it is home again. Anywhere is +home which is out from under that yoke of infamous tyranny. I rage in +proportion as the minutes separate me from this odious thing that closes +its iron fingers around the necks of my friends. + +No! It is not to be borne. Let every man, woman and child on the earth +rise up until we have right. Do I not know? Have I not experienced the +mailed fist? And yet, how little in comparison to others; but it is +enough. + +The concierge gave me coffee and rolls and I dressed quickly in order +to get out into the street where I knew the dismal impression of the +indoors would be dispelled by the habitual smile of the enchanted city. +But the day was dull--the summit of the Eiffel Tower was hooded in a +cloud of fog and a cold blast swept over the Place de La Concorde which +froze me to the marrow. I kept on, however, somewhat protected by the +arcades of the rue de Rivoli, expecting to see, at least, familiar faces +in the shop-keepers of that gay, little Rialto--but the doors were all +closed and the blinds down. One place was open--the art shop of the +little, old, white-haired man with the twinkling eyes, who has sold me +marvellous Venus de Milos, etc., times without number. I greeted him +with real feeling and enthusiasm, for here was somebody I knew. He did +not recognize me and stared dully, without answering, as one who is +dazed; he was unshaven and dirty, his usually clear eye was lifeless and +his face was thin and drawn. Could it be that he had not enough to eat, +or was it despair? He must have had nephews and perhaps sons and +grandsons at the front. But do the people who stay at home change like +that? I went on--the Hotel Meurice was closed; the Continentale had a +section open for the Red Cross; the Bristol was closed; the Ritz was +made into an Ambulance; not a living soul on the Place Vendome. All the +famous hat shops were closed--who would have a reason to buy hats? All +the big dressmakers were closed and every jewelry shop but two in all +that dazzling, brilliant rue de la Paix was closed. There were perhaps a +dozen people on the Boulevards, a single taxicab crawled listlessly out +of a side street, but not an omnibus to be seen. They, like all the +world, had left for the "front" and will go down in history as having +transferred the valiant French army in all haste to Victory on the +Battlefield of the Marne. + +The only thing unchanged was the Opera, which stood there, in all its +splendor, looking on at the grievous spectacle of Paris, in anguish. +Will she live? Can she die? Is the burden of her woes too great? O, +Beautiful City of Dreams! Some call you very wicked--you, whose brave +smile has endured through all your sorrows. Is that so little? And the +valor of your Sons--was it ever surpassed? Did one of the hundreds, one +of the thousands, one of the millions, hesitate the fraction of an +instant at your call? + +O, Paris! Inimitable Paris! with the death shadow on your lovely +face.... + + + + + + +-----------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | + | original document have been preserved. | + | | + | Typographical errors corrected in the text: | + | | + | Page 9 interment changed to internment | + | Page 52 officiers changed to officers | + | Page 67 Kommandatur changed to Kommandantur | + | Page 74 wth changed to with | + | Page 93 pertubation changed to perturbation | + | Page 94 stupified changed to stupefied | + | Page 115 gods changed to goods | + | Page 126 Coblentz changed to Coblenz | + +-----------------------------------------------+ + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIéGE ON THE LINE OF MARCH*** + + +******* This file should be named 30264.txt or 30264.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/2/6/30264 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://www.gutenberg.org/about/contact + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/old/30264.zip b/old/30264.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7924e85 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/30264.zip |
