"Well, what have you to say?" proceeded the major.
"We lost our way and scrambled on to the bank to see where we were. We happened to catch sight of one of the guns, with disappearing mountings, and we were curious to see what happened," replied Kenneth.
"Your curiosity might lead you into trouble," said the Belgian officer gravely. "How am I to know that you are not German spies?"
Kenneth bridled indignantly.
"We give you our word that we are not."
"Your word will hardly do, monsieur, at a time like this. Can you produce proofs? Have you anyone in the district who can identify you?"
The lads produced their permits.
"This will hardly do," continued the major as he scanned Kenneth"s doc.u.ment. "These are only too easy to obtain. Ha! Your name is Barrington?" he asked, turning to the owner of that patronymic.
"Yes, sir," replied Rollo. "My father is a retired colonel in the British army."
"His Christian name?"
Rollo told him.
"Then I know your father; not intimately, perhaps, yet I am acquainted with him. I met him at your great manoeuvres at Aldershot, to which I was sent as attache in 1904. But, tell me, why are you both so anxious to go to Liege?"
"My sister is at a boarding-school near Vise," replied Kenneth. "I want to see her, as she is not returning home for the holidays."
"She is at the inst.i.tution of Madame de la Barre?"
"Yes, sir; how did you know that?" asked Kenneth eagerly.
"I have the pleasure of Mademoiselle Everest"s acquaintance," replied the major with a deep bow. "In fact, she is a great friend of my daughter, Yvonne. You are free to depart, messieurs, but perhaps you will do me a favour. Convey my compliments to Madame de la Barre, and say that it is advisable that she should remove her school from Vise as soon as possible. Should you find it inconvenient to take your sister to England, please inform her that she may find a temporary home with Yvonne at my house in the Rue de la Tribune in Brussels."
"That we will gladly do, and let you know the result."
Major Resimont smiled.
"My duty prevents me from being my own messenger," he said. "I was on the point of sending one of my men with a letter, but you will, according to your English proverb, kill two birds with one stone.
To-night, if you wish to see me, I hope to be at the Cafe Royal, in the Rue Breidel at Liege, from eight till eleven. Will you, before you depart, honour me by taking a gla.s.s of wine?"
"What do you think of the situation, sir?" asked Rollo.
Major Resimont shook his head.
"Serious," he said solemnly. "At any moment these pigs of Prussians may cross the frontier. Only one thing will hold them back: the fear of your English fleet. You are fortunate, you English, in having the sea around your country, yet I think you do not give sufficient thought towards the significance of the fact."
"But Great Britain has not declared war on Germany."
"No, not yet, but perhaps soon. Your country would do incalculable service to France and Belgium simply by holding the sea; yet in addition she has generously pledged herself to send almost the whole of her army to Belgium if the Germans attack us. Then the rest will be a question of time. We in Liege will do our utmost to keep the invaders at bay until your brave army arrives. Then, with the French, to say nothing of the Russians on the east, Germany will be a.s.sailed and conquered, and the vile spectre of Teutonic militarism will be for ever laid low."
The Belgian major spoke with conviction. His earnestness in the hope of British aid was intense.
"And we are ready," continued the major. "Already the bridges across the Meuse are mined; our armoured forts will defy the heaviest of the German artillery. We will keep the Germans at bay for a month if need be. Meanwhile you two messieurs journey through Belgium as calmly as if you were on an English country road. You English are brave, but you are enigmas. But take this and show it if you are challenged," and he wrote out a pa.s.s on an official form.
The major accompanied his involuntary guests as far as the edge of the glacis. This time they were not blindfolded; yet there was very little to be seen, except to the practised eye of a trained man. There were mountings for quick-firing guns, and just discernible above the turf the rounded tops of the steel cupolas. Beyond that the fort looked nothing more than an earthworked enclosure.
Somewhat to the lads" astonishment they found their motor-cycles placed on a trolley. The Belgian soldiers, not understanding the action of the exhaust lever, had been unable to wheel the heavy mounts; and since their orders had to be obeyed, they had first resorted to the toilsome task of carrying the mounts. This, owing to the heat of the day and the thickness of their clothing, was eventually abandoned, and a trolley procured.
"You have a clear road," announced Major Resimont. "When you re-enter the lane, keep to the left; that will bring you speedily upon the highway. Au revoir, messieurs!"
Somewhat to the wonderment of the Belgian soldiers, who could not understand how the unwieldy machines could be moved by manual power, the lads took a running start. Both engines fired easily, and soon the tourists were speeding along through the outskirts of the city of Liege.
CHAPTER IV
Enlisted
"Madame de la Barre presents her compliments, but regrets that the regulations of her establishment do not permit her pupils to receive visits except during certain hours," announced a stern-faced Flemish woman in broken French.
Kenneth glanced at his companion,
"What"s to be done now?" he asked.
"Give her Major Resimont"s message. Say it"s very urgent," advised Rollo.
The lads, curbing their impatience, waited for another ten minutes outside the lofty blank wall surrounding the boarding-school. The air was sultry, and the glare from the whitewashed walls was almost blinding. The _pave_ seemed to throw out a stifling heat. The village street was practically deserted, but in the neighbouring fields a row of peasant women were bending over their monotonous task of pulling vegetables. Farther away some cows were lying down under the scant shade afforded by a few gaunt trees. Otherwise the landscape was devoid of life.
Presently a woman pa.s.sed, leading a little girl by the hand. She was a buxom, comely peasant, the child bright-faced and apparently well-cared-for. They were laughing and chattering. Then a man on a dog-drawn cart came down the street. The animals, their tongues protruding and their sides heaving with the heat, were moving at a leisurely pace. The man made no attempt to hurry them. He was smiling contentedly, and called out a cheery greeting in Flemish to the patient audience before the gate of Madame de la Barre. A little way down the street he halted his team and entered a cottage. He was lame, hence he had not been called up on mobilization.
Presently the maid-servant reappeared.
"Madame thanks Monsieur the Major, but at present sees no reason for taking his advice. Should war be declared she will take necessary steps to safeguard her pupils. If Mademoiselle Resimont is to be sent to her home at Brussels, no doubt Monsieur the Major will communicate in writing with Madame. If Monsieur Everest desires to see his sister he can do so in the presence of Madame at eleven o"clock to-morrow."
Having delivered this ultimatum, the maid shut the door and shot the ma.s.sive bolts.
"Done this time!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Kenneth. "Let"s get back to Liege.
There"ll be plenty to see."
The lads set off at a rapid pace in spite of the heat. They were on foot, having placed their motor-cycles in the village of Argenteau.
By the time they regained Argenteau a change had come over the little hamlet. A detachment of engineers was in possession. The men, discarding their heavy greatcoats, were busily engaged in throwing up earthworks, while almost within arm"s-length their rifles were piled, each weapon with its bayonet fixed.
"Halte-la!" The tip of a bayonet presented within a couple of inches of Rollo"s chest brought both lads to a sudden stop. "Qui v"la?"
The production of the pa.s.s with which Major Resimont had provided them was sufficient, and without further hindrance the two friends gained the inn.
As they pa.s.sed under the archway they found that their beloved motor-cycles had vanished.
"Pardon, messieurs!" exclaimed the landlord on catching sight of the two lads. "It was not my fault, I a.s.sure you. It is the order of the Government. They have taken away all the horses, all the carts----"