But at Liege, they told one another, things would be different. There the invaders would come against something more than villages peopled with frightened peasants and trustful countryfolk, and would realize in their turn something of the terribleness of war.
CHAPTER V
The Fall of Liege
Arrived at his home, Max was astonished to find that his mother and sister had fled over the border to Maastricht, taking two of the servants with them. A letter had been left for him, however, and this he tore feverishly open. In a few words his mother explained why she, as an Englishwoman and one getting on in years, preferred to seek safety in Holland to remaining in a city which obviously would soon be the storm-centre of a terrible struggle. She then reminded Max that he had not yet reached a man"s age, and could not be expected to take a man"s part. Would he not leave the affairs of the firm to M. Schenk and join her in Holland? But his conscience must decide, she finally conceded, though it was clear how her own desires ran. But whether he left or stayed, she expected him to take no part in the fighting that was bound to come.
Questioning the servants, Max found that his mother"s flight had been arranged at the urgent solicitation of M. Schenk, and without more ado he left the house and hastened to the works to see the manager, and gather what further particulars he could. He did not doubt the wisdom of his mother"s precipitate flight, for even now scouting parties of the Germans had appeared before the eastern forts, and no one could doubt that the city was on the point of being invested and besieged.
M. Schenk was clearly surprised to see Max and his friend, and was at no pains to hide it.
"A letter was left for you, Monsieur Max," he said in his ponderous way, "telling you that your mother wished you to join her instantly. Did they not hand it to you?"
"Yes," replied Max, "I have received the letter, and I have come to learn something more about their flight. Have they taken money enough for what may be a long stay? And can we send them more before the city is invested?"
"All that is seen to, Monsieur Max. I have had a large sum of money transferred to a bank in Maastricht for their use. They will be safe and well there, and I strongly advise you to join them. You will certainly not be safe here."
"Why not? Why should I go if you can stay--if you _are_ staying?"
"Because, sir, you are half an Englishman, and before the day is out England will have joined in this conflict. No Englishman will be safe here if the Germans enter, and I strongly urge you and your friend to escape before the city is surrounded. I will carry on the business, and do my best in the interests of the firm and your good mother."
"Yes, yes, I know; but I am a Belgian as much as an Englishman, and I am not going to fly the country like that. If I cannot yet fight for her I can work for her, and I have made up my mind to stay, Monsieur Schenk."
"As you will," replied M. Schenk, shrugging his shoulders in indifference, "but do not blame me if things do not go as you wish."
"That"s all right," replied Max quickly. "Now, as to the work of the firm. I have been thinking that we might use our great works to a.s.sist in the defence of the town. Soon the forts will be in action, and if the city is invested they can only replenish their stores from within the town itself. Why should we not begin to cast sh.e.l.ls instead of rails, and see whether we cannot make rifles and machine-guns instead of machinery? There are many things we could do at once, and many others in a little while."
"That is true, sir, and you will find that I have not been behindhand. I have already seen the commandant, and our casting-shops are almost ready to begin casting sh.e.l.ls. I am not letting the gra.s.s grow under my feet, I can a.s.sure you, and in a week or two we shall be able to do great things in the defence of the town. Come down to the works with Monsieur Dale, and see the preparations we are making for turning out sh.e.l.ls for big guns. You will see that the Durend workshops are going to be well to the fore here as elsewhere, and I prophesy that they will be so until the end of the war."
As they made the tour of the works, Max was both astonished and delighted at the evidence he saw of the energy and ability displayed in turning over the vast manufacturing resources of the firm from peace to war. The rapidity with which the works had been transformed was indeed remarkable, and his opinion of M. Schenk"s capacity, already great, became almost profound.
"Now, Dale, what are you going to do?" demanded Max as the two friends parted company with the manager at the door of the last shop. "I think you had better get clear while you can. This place is my home and I must stand by it, but you are not concerned and ought to get out of it, if only for your people"s sake."
"My people! My uncle and aunt, you mean. _They_ won"t bother their heads about me," replied Dale decidedly. "No, Max, I came over here to see the sights, and I am going to see "em, come what may. If England is in it, well and good; it will then be my quarrel as much as yours, and we will work or fight against Germany together. Hurrah!"
Max grasped his friend"s hand. "I ought not to encourage you, Dale, but I can"t help it, and I"m jolly glad. Let us go into this business together--it will seem like old times. D"ye remember the fight we put up for Benson"s?"
"Who could forget it?" cried Dale with enthusiasm.
"And how it ended?"
"Aye--and it was fixity of purpose that did it, so said Benson. Well, let us do something of the sort again. Hark! d"ye hear that?"
"Rifle-shots. The fun has commenced. Come along, and we will see what we can of it before the day is out. To-morrow I am going to start work in the casting-shops, and I hope you will come and help me."
"I will. Come along."
The sound of rifle-shots was quickly succeeded by the distant boom of guns. Then the sound was swallowed up in the roar of the big guns of the forts, and it seemed as though a tremendous attack was in progress. The streets of the town instantly began to fill with excited people, until it appeared as though everyone had left his work to discuss the situation and listen to the noise of battle. Through the crowds pressed small bodies of soldiers dispatched as reinforcements to the ring of forts surrounding the town.
Max and Dale followed one of these parties at a respectful distance, and climbed with them from the cup-like hollow in which Liege is situated to the hills beyond. The soldiers were bound for one of the forts on the eastward side, and, as they reached the higher ground, the two lads caught their first glimpse of the fighting. Darkness was coming on, and away in the distance they could see the intensely bright flashes of high-explosive sh.e.l.ls bursting on or around the forts, as well as the flame of the fortress guns belching forth their replies. As it grew darker the duel grew more intense, and lasted without intermission throughout the night till three or four o"clock in the morning.
By that time the forts were apparently thought to have been sufficiently damaged to permit of an a.s.sault, and the German infantry were flung against them in ma.s.sed formation. Unfortunately for them, however, the guns had not been heavy enough to make any impression on the steel cupolas which sheltered the big guns of the forts, and, as the infantry pressed forward to the attack, they were literally swept away by a devastating sh.e.l.l-fire from the forts attacked and those flanking them.
Again and again fresh ma.s.ses were sent forward to the a.s.sault, only to meet with a similar fate. In the attack on one of the forts the infantry, favoured no doubt by the formation of the ground, were able to get so close that the guns could not be depressed sufficiently to reach them. They believed the fort as good as won, and with cheers of exultation pressed on to the final a.s.sault. But at the corners of the forts quick-firing guns were stationed, and these and the infantry lining the parapets mowed them down as surely as the big guns.
In the wide s.p.a.ces between the forts the Belgian field army had entrenched, and with rifle-fire and frequent bayonet attacks frustrated every attempt of the German infantry to break through.
The infantry a.s.saults lasted until eight o"clock in the morning, when the Germans withdrew, heavily shaken. They had hoped to rush the forts with heavy ma.s.ses of infantry, supported only by light artillery, and they had failed. They now waited for the heavy guns, which were already on the road, to arrive, and very soon forts Fleron and Chaudfontaine were deluged with an accurate fire of enormous sh.e.l.ls, so powerful as to overturn the ma.s.sive cupolas and to pierce concrete walls twelve feet thick as though they were made of b.u.t.ter. Such sh.e.l.ls as these they had never been built to withstand, and it was not long before they succ.u.mbed, thus opening a way for the invaders towards the town itself.
Forts Evegnee and Barchon soon shared the same fate, and the Belgian field army, which had continued to maintain an heroic resistance, began to fall back on the town.
Max and Dale had not been allowed to see much of these events. Before midnight they were accosted by a patrol and ordered to return to the safety of the town.
Early the following day, before the fall of the forts and the retreat of the Belgian army, Max and Dale carried out their intention of presenting themselves at the casting-shops and lending a hand in the making of sh.e.l.ls. To their satisfaction they found the work going forward with splendid energy and smoothness, and, with their own ardour kindled by the sights they had seen the previous night, they joined zealously in the work.
Presently it came home to Max that there had been considerable changes in the personnel of the shop since he had last worked there. The men he looked out for--those with whom he had been on most friendly terms when he was there--were gone, and their places were taken by other and, for the most part, younger men, all quite strangers to the place so far as he could see.
But, most strange of all, the language of the shop was German. The Walloon, or Flemish-speaking Belgians, were the men who had gone, and German-speaking workmen had taken their places.
On making a few cautious enquiries, Max learned that the men who had gone had been transferred to shops which were still engaged in executing peace-time orders, rails, axles, wheels, and the like, and that the whole of the sh.e.l.l output was being handled by the newer German-speaking workmen.
Max felt no particular resentment at this. He did not like it, but he knew the manager"s preference for these men as workmen, and he could not deny that they were a hard-working, docile lot, nor that the work was well organized and being carried on with splendid spirit and energy.
It seemed hard, however, that the Belgian-born men should not have a chance of directly working for their country"s benefit, and, as soon as he could, Max took an opportunity of representing the matter to M.
Schenk.
"Why have you withdrawn all the older men from the sh.e.l.l-shops, Monsieur Schenk? They were good men, and have served the firm well. Upon my word, while working there and hearing naught but the German tongue, one might have fancied oneself in the enemy"s country."
"They are loyal Belgians, Monsieur Max," replied M. Schenk rea.s.suringly.
"They are as ready as Flemings or Walloons to work to the utmost, casting sh.e.l.ls for our gallant army. That speaks sufficiently for their sentiments. I have filled the shop with them because they work well together, and there is no jealousy. We must do our best for Belgium in this crisis, and should be swayed by no consideration save that of finding the best men for each of our great tasks."
"Well done, Monsieur Schenk!" cried Max impulsively. "I also will go where you think best. Where shall it be?"
"Thank you!" replied the manager, smiling. "I think you are doing so well where you are that I cannot improve upon it. Remain at work in the casting-shop and aid me to increase the output of sh.e.l.ls. It is my belief that we can turn out double the number with no increase of staff, and I shall leave no stone unturned to make my opinion good."
Greatly heartened by this evidence of the manager"s energy and patriotism, Max and his friend did stick to their work and fling themselves into it even more whole-heartedly than they had done before.
On the morrow, the 7th August, however, events happened that entirely changed the aspect of affairs. Forts Fleron, Chaudfontaine, Evegnee, and Barchon had fallen, and early in the morning of that day German infantry entered Liege. The forts on the north, south, and west of the town still held out for a time, but the town from that moment remained in German hands. To the people, and especially the workers of Liege, this made a vital difference. The output of the numerous factories, in so far as it was useful to the German armies, was at any moment liable to be requisitioned by them; and it was as clear as noonday that all who toiled in the manufacture of such articles were a.s.sisting the enemy in their attack upon their own kith and kin, and strengthening the grip he had already laid upon their native land.
CHAPTER VI