In the Claws of the German Eagle

lgian Who Sai

on the Termonde side, and on the side held by the Belgians they led to a table in the room of the commanding officer. In this table was an electric button. By the but

idge with shrapnel. A roofed-over trench ran along the river like a levee and bristled with machine guns whose muzzles were also trained upon the bridge. Full caissons of

atchers of the night lay stretched out upon the ground, sleeping in the warm sun after their

" he cried, "don't

" I a

ad Men in the Termonde Trenches,' and you would have them

med us that their instructions were to allow no one to pass over without a permit signed by the General. We produced scores of passes and passports decorated with stamps and seals and c

ng passes. They were in a gleeful, bantering mood. That evening they apprised me of the fact that all day I had

into the city of Termonde, or what was once Termonde, for it is difficult to dignify with the

these tombs. For Termonde appeared like one vast tomb. As we first entered its sepulchral silences we were greatly relieved that the three specter-like beings who sat huddled up over a dist

have gone quite insane, and if there had been an agitator among them he might well have asked his fellow-dogs why they had acknowledged a race of madmen as their masters. Indeed, one could almost detect a sense of surprise

or while one detachment of the German soldiers had been setting the city blazing with petrol from the petrol flasks, others had set their

o drunken and uncontrolled as to commit atrocities on themselves (i.e., self-destruction), it is reasonable to infer that they coul

crawl across the bridge were prodding

ou doing?"

," they

or?" we

mans," th

do with the

"We just strip them of what the

y sentimental reasons, but simply by their business interest a

e of a Belgian mitrailleuse car, manned by a crowd of young and jaunty dare-devils. It came swinging into the square, bringing a lot of bicycles from a German patrol which

g up the street, startled me. I turned to see, not one of the photographers, but a ful

outed; "are yo

but managed to shout back, "Yes, yes, I'm

he replied, coming quickly up

down here-fighting?"

ou think I'm doi

offerings of similar "language of small variety but g

worked in a lumber-mill in Wagner, Wisconsin. Came back here to visit my family. The war broke out. I was a Rese

n any b

cha," he

any Ge

bet

ou enj

bet

ound he

nd," he exclaimed confidentially. "Come right down with me and you can take a pot- shot at the damned Boches with my rifle." He said it with the air of a man offering a rare t

e down there!" implying that I couldn't af

certing reply. "You can see their green-gray un

last resort. It was the only thing that could prevent my zealous friend from dragging me forcibly down to the brooksid

ut any hesitati

fallen reputation; for a soldier is always peculiarly amenable to the charm

ws Ridden serene, smiling, confident, and my sort of evasive hangdog

to its stand on the river Scheldt. Always being promised aid by the Allies if they would hold out just a little longer, they were led again and again frantically to pit their puny strength against the overwhelming tide out of the North. For the moment they would st

recounted his privations as nonchalantly as if it was just the way that he had planned to spend his holiday. As a farewe

get back to America," I crie

not cherish a great hope of ever seeing Ridden again. The chances are that, like most of the Belgian army, he is no longer treading the gray streets of those demolished cities, but

ct and undamaged amidst the general wreckage. As we stumbled over the debris, imagine our surprise when an old lady of about seventy thrust her head out of a ba

e, and I am going to die here," she said,

e billowing tide of fire. A fountain of sparks shooting up from a house a few hundred yards away marked the advance of the firing squad into her street, but she never wavered. Down the street came the spoilers, relentless, ruthless, and remorseless, sparing nothing. They came like prie

t, "and when the flames burst forth they rushed over here, and I fell down on my kn

estroy. But Madame Callebaut was endowed with powerful emotions. Carried away in her recital of the events, she fell down on her knees before me, wringing her hands and pleading so piteously that I felt for a moment as

T ANB

ot se

it upon her neighbor's wal

ged house stood with the words chalked on its front, "Only harmless old woman lives here; do not burn down." Underneath were the numbers and initials of the particular corps of the Kaiser's Imperia

d totally disregarded this sign and had torn through the parlor, exploding in the back yard, ripping the clothes from the line, but touching neither of the inma

the footfalls of some returning sentry, did they once echo with the roar of traffic? And those demolished shops, were they once filled with the babble of the traders? Over yonder in that structure, which looks so much like a church, did the

eposterous it seemed, none the less it was a city that yesterday ran high with the tide of human life. And thousands of people, when they recall the lights and shadows, the pains and raptures, which make up the thing we call life, will think of Termonde. Thou

thousand

eeding in every

olated cities cut the

ing "Remember Termonde and Louvain," these Belgians sprang fro