The Wonder of War on Land

sh, looked blankly at the charred body of their officer. Before they could make a move, h

ced the men wit

words! Is that the work of men-" she pointed to the foot of the cross, "or of drunken, ignorant and fear-ridden brutes? And you are cowards, too, like all bullies," she cried, her voice rising as she shook

ish, lurched forward savagely, but a no

he said, "we've

ail saw t

n," she said

es, she knelt beside the groaning

but it was quite likely that they would shake off this merciful mood. A reckless desire on the part of each soldier to show his comrades that he was not afraid

oing, Horace?" h

e boy replied, "this lit

ought into Beaufays, she had slaved night and day, giving her time to Germans and Belgians alike. He

f "Le Mond

avalry o

nd hindered the German advance upo

seemed to feel the bullet in his back. None the less, he did not falter or look arou

d until late in the evening and then breathed his last, one more of the thousan

wing well that this cautious signal could not come from Germans, who, instead, undoubtedly would have battered

sappearance had been a matter of the most intense curiosity an

ok his head and l

of this," h

n the floor in his room. The ambe

l in that same strained wh

y, Horace leaned down

oy's arm out of its socket, he clambered to the window and climbed in. Then, moving so

of wonder have you

brushed the

Now, listen to me closely. Those pigs of Germans have found a keg of brandy and they're drinking themselv

here's no use asking her. I spok

nswered. "I'm not telling what I think, but what I know. Bring her here at

hought fo

try,"

wo wounded German officers were lying. He knew, if he stepped softly, it might arouse

to have that mustard po

had been said that evening concerning a poultice, she r

ed it now?

plied. "I'll go back to my room

le from the stove and carrying a box of mustard, she pa

or two cleared

pected, she refu

y. If they kill me they'll have to fight America. If they take me to Germany as a pri

oy?" asked

rent. Those beasts wouldn't hesitate to fire on him when, perhaps,

onsieur Croquier

f minutes," the

testily. "Go, and go quick, both of you. And

the hunchback said emphatically, and, grab

said Horace, and p

arply but there was affec

boots," she said, "and if you break through the line

riotous singing was hea

tate. He dropped fr

flying out of the window and landed beside him with a

d the hunchback,

edge, the hunchback clambering as soft-footed as a cat in spite of his ungainly shape, and then passed through a hedg

ouse and the boy followed Croquier without hesitation. As he swung his legs over, his feet touched the run

Horace found him

this go?"

vaults under the churc

ou find ou

id the hunchba

he

er the village and the Germans were looking for me e

under torture, meant life and death. Therefore I had t

which way we were going. B

do some work. It wasn't so hard to figure the course of the tunnel from here to the c

aped this afternoon fr

cour

place," said Horace,

ole storeh

d a

urface of the ground. Just where it comes out I don't know. I

you expect to stay

than I can help. I'm

-ni

Liége will be put under regular German rule, patrols and sentries will be established and we'll be trapp

thought

here under the Germans. The school's burned down,

f, no matter who escaped. You were present in the school defiance, don't forget, and it was you who carried off l

, I'm not surprised. But if we clear o

Fran

's nearer. The Germans are all heading for

chback, "but I'm not leaving here to save my

his tones and Horace felt it, bu

t's your scrap; but, you see, I'm an American, and however

back made

Horace, slowly, "I know

said Croquier, "but if your aunt wer

n the Germans blind Deschamps, burn Mme. Maubin alive, massacre the curé and kill lit

hat you would," th

quaring his shoulders, "it's for F

hunchback, "and keeping my ears open. W

e Germans wer

up positions. Every hour makes it harder. With the fall of the forts, the railway lines are open to the Germans for troop transport. Besides that, several days ago, we saw di

ur was stronge

hunchback replied, "Von Buelow won't attack Namur with his infantry until

ily at Liége to want to rep

man armies while they are on the march and before they take up definite po

Boy Wa

fficial P

ho fought with his regiment at

of "The

as joined the colors, now that

?" asked the

say, 'I don't know.' We may be killed if we go, but we'll have a chance to fight for oursel

s your

rowd every road which is wide enough to take a wheeled

do we

got your

es

we sta

o the well-head and

hey haven't burned it down, in any case. Now, fill your pockets with food as full a

rly, realizing the peril i

th anybody. A poor chap, like I used to be, must know a good bit about the country. I ran away from a ci

might camp in

the old days, when men fought with cold steel, one could push troops over rough country and each company

companies, on a diet regulated in advance, cooked by motor kitchens supplied by a provision train of a sc

operate or advance behind a cavalry screen, and, at all times, must be in direct communication with its staff officers. All that means travel on hard roads, at a certain pace, over a cert

matters as he talked. Now he slipped out of the well and waited for t

France, surely?" queried Horace in surprise, as he n

on raised h

m going to donate i

," the boy said; "they'

er escape. It is my trust!" H

ace, "it would br

aiser said he would be in Paris before the year is out. I

ked harshly in

quiet?" said Horace

back laug

days," he said, "when there's a wou

s into the fields beyond, and silently, stoopin

re n

Croquier. "Not at Tilff or Esneux

hought a

ut of our way to go dow

y do yo

m," the lad replied. "We could crawl over it quite easily. I found it,

ep your ears wide open. If I stop, you stop. If in danger, don't mo

ed into

ered whether he would not be wiser, after all, to escape to Holland and thence to America. However

o help him from time to time, the boy had much ado to keep up with his comrade. At a stumbling pace which was neither walk nor run, the hunchback

o lie down and wriggle across, but the hunchback, for all his apparent clumsiness, went across it like a tight-rope walker, and Horace, for very shame,

good," he grunt

, the hunchback scouting in advance. From time to time they crossed a road, and this was done with the utmost circumspection. At last, the chi

looking for?

ied by a boy-oh, no, that would be much too easy to trace! We can only travel by night. Well, we ought to be s

amation of satisfaction, C

," he said. "Let us w

asked

was all the

the point designated, where a na

hrough the water and over on the o

, Horace did so several times, the

order, and, with the word, he

"don't step on anything that projects o

s, Horace obeyed to the letter. After wading up stream for

pointing to the limb of a large tree that ov

cage. Then the hunchback, leaning down, grasped the boy's outstretched hand and pulled him to the bough, beside him. Thence he slid down the

," said the hunchback, "are

was worn out by trying to

o get here?" he asked. "We could have ste

who might be passing in the fields? No, thank you! Coming the way we did, there's no trail for a dog to scent, no track to follow

ons and excitement, fell into a sound sleep. It was late in the afternoon befor

, but the hunchback's grip would have held a lion. Then Croquier, seeing

guish a word here and there. Evidently the men were strolling along the river bank, at the end of a day's march. H

hunchback queried in a whisper, when t

mal' was repeated several times. They seem

road from Liége to Jemelle and a junction of four

nts of their pockets and, as soon as the darkness favored, st

t again. A wide road thronged with motor-lorries, one following upon another so that they

taminating the water. Those who had been wounded were abandoned, without any attempt to relieve their sufferings. The men remaining had been commandeered to dig trenches and build defensive works against troops of their own country, in defiance of the laws of warfare, just as, in other places, women were herded together to walk i

jected from the

of "L'Ill

jected from Por

ir mouths, the two fugitives were compelled to dart for a few hundred yards along a road, though every highwa

itting on the bank of a road, besi

rvice, Madame?" Croq

Monsieur, my little Theophile was playing with a toy gun, a thing of wood, Monsieu

icer said, 'kill the young viper before he learns to

rave and twisted two boughs into a rude cross. They left the woman sitting there, but weeping and more content. Owi

n soldier on the path, not more than twenty yards ahead of him. He d

so quickly that he had not been seen, the soldier pointed h

e? Come out

r" had traveled far and wide. Should the hunchback be seen and suspected, his dea

m he

is questions Horace replied truthfully, except that he said he was alone. He stated that

go to Holland?"

hrough to the north

, why didn't you stay in Lié

he soldier firm

was a woman on the road a little way back," h

istened, wit

where your army has been," the

er raised

know nothing of war, but I tell you that sort of thing is bound to happen. I'll admit that it's horrible. Many of us are sickened

rs tell us that a town is to be burned and pillage is allowed. It's not the soldiers who org

shot by a sniper from some house, when you've only got to put a bayonet to an inn-keeper's throat to get all the liquor you can drink, why, things look different then. All the standards by which you're accustomed

ising, for he realized that his captor-if captor

s on the off

rorized. Should any officer weaken, he would be suspected and refused promotion. They're as much a part of the system as we are. The system is deliberately intended to wipe out the instincts of kindliness. To be humane is to be weak. Still, I believe and most of us believe that the sys

his ton

he said. "Quick, boy, h

nto the bushe

sence of the officer, the force of military discipline should urge him to reveal the presence of the fugitive. The soldier, howeve

ould no longer be heard, the

ica, you hear stories of German brutality, tell them your story that they may know the Ge

ed on h

indictment of Germany as a whole than if the outrages were merely due

g told of Croqu

do," he whispered. "You mean

cour

n though it's daylight. That soldier might repent of his kindness or drop a w

or he saw that if there had been two soldiers instead of one, neither would have dared to trust the other, and,

e. This man had picked up a great deal of information from a German transport corps which had commandeered all his grain and all his horses, leaving him poverty-stricken and unable to carry on the work of hi

's army was only an advance guard). Soon after, they had crossed the path of the Second Army, under Von Buelow. The tra

my we passed yester

nsidered the pro

eems," he continued, "that Von Kluck is striking due west, evidently to flank Namur; Von Buelow is

d, for e

his other arm

ew moments, su

r be going on?"

. I think we'll have to try and cross the Meuse south of Dinant, b

to the French front

s south of Dinant. Luckily, I know a man who lives close

of the Meuse before midnight. There, the Meuse is deep and wide, flowing at the bottom of a deep valley. The h

rawn face

!" said a sullen voice, with b

k, "we are good Belgians, like

llingly the peasan

ircus boy!"

ted no time

id. "I have information of value

answer, "but the Ger

ey near

the light of

is guarded,

foot

e must

sponded the peas

up the iron cage, and showing the "captive Kaiser," w

head in evident appre

viously more interested in the fate of the bird than of

quier significantly; "

s the meaning of the

back look

member the curé, remember little J

led himsel

three of us

ng-place in the frame of the bed, he pulled

id the hunchback;

y?" asked t

d German near Liége," the boy an

said the peasant

aven't Croquier's grip, and somehow, I could

ack, turning to his friend. "

village. There was a battle near by, the day before yesterday. They mad

ter, a German officer came. He asked for food. When my sister commenced to get it r

d Croquier, as

peasant continued, "drew his

went to the well and brought some. When he returned, other Germans were in

and gave a drink firs

e hunchback. "A German always thinks h

and his eyes were bandaged. Then the officer changed hi

es of th

of "Le

er, 12 years old, who fou

y of "J

ho won revenge against the Ger

f "Ill. Lo

d, full member of a gun cr

ou!' he said. 'That will

who fell dead. So," said the peasant slowly, "they first tortured my nephew and then killed him. After that they set fire to th

d s

owned herself in the river. Do you thin

through the forest down the steep slopes to the river belo

e with relief at the thought that he would not be compelled

ens, see that the Germans do not get it. If you are about to be

as his fingers closed upon the iron ring, but h

e gates of Namur. It rose and fell on the night breeze above the indistinguishable murmur around him, born of the presence of hundreds of thousands of men encamped on both sides of the river,

hand flashed in the faint moonlight of an aged moon and the sentry fell with a choked cry. From the other sentry's throat there came no sound and the dumb struggle was a fearfu

the snatch of a German song and the third sent

n unprepared. His gorge rose at the thought. Yet, if he allowed the sentry

hood flashed t

as he passed, with a sudden jerk tripping him up, so that he fell headlong from the na

sentry!"

the peasant leaped into the boat and a few short, sharp st

ghness of the path in the darkness, got up, grumbling, rubbed himself where

were salvation f

e stretched-out bodies of his comrades. Taken by surprise, he lost another ten or

ad been made and that his fall on the path had been purposed and not d

straight!" declared the hunchback,

ised a sliver of wood from the feathered blade, he had an uncomfortable feeling inside. But, before the ala

the ranking officer. Horace was able to give but little information, but Croquier, who had read widely of military tactics,

f Von Kluck and Von Buelow to the north, and the Duke of Würtemberg and t

sir," Croq

whose c

't find o

r gnawed h

the German line, there," he

y road we crossed was filled with troops, and, sir," he added, "there s

icer said, "unless you had more facts than you were able to gather, but I'll convey your i

the hunchback, "if I could find

im as though he thought

about," he said, "to

n his hand, which he had positively

ir," he said, "wither

d the capture, and, in spite of the responsibilit

" he said. "Stay with this div

d to, sir,"

the men kno

" the hunchback answered. "I've told the s

macked his le

rth half a regiment of men. Next to good food, good spirits ke

t. The front is no place for a boy, and, in any case, military regulations are rigid against the presence o

t is not less strict. Boy-like, he trusted to chance that something might happen, and, in any case, he would probably see a

m Liége, and partly owing to the stories he had to tell of German atrocities in Belgium, Horac

gained his first clear idea of the huge scale upon which modern war operations are conducted. Evidently the veteran had worked out for himself the main elements of General Joffre's plan, and Horace's information concerning the location

Condé. The south to north line, where we are now, is held by the Fourth French Army, under General Langle de Cary

Charleroi to Binche is held by the Fifth French Army under General Lanrezac, and is protected by a narrow river, the Sambre. Westward from Binche, through Mons to Condé, is hel

ter guns (16.5-inch howitzers) on their way to Namur. Once those siege-guns get i

power of the great siege-guns. "In any case, they'll hold for three days, and that's as long as necessary.

"but, as I've told you, we saw anothe

know all about it. You're mistaken, that's all. The battle-line is just about the way

ld have thought that strategy was pretty exact a

ent principles. They work in different ways. The German depends on massed force, the French on individual courage; the German thinks mainly of attack and his favorite word is 'ann

ine engaged, while, at the same time, at least a full army corps is thrown out on each end of the battle-line, two or three divisions of cavalry being thrown out farther still, to act as a screen and hide

nk," said Horace, "

ey must therefore be cowards. It is because their tactics are based on the principle of flanking, enveloping and securing a decisive victory, rather than the principle of saving men, taking advantage o

three points of the main line, re?nforced by a concentration of artillery far greater than is possessed by any other ar

"I understand that clearly.

perior in individual dash and bravery. It is the problem of winning a battle with a smaller number of men than the enemy. The principle is

egic square,' isn't it? It seems something like our baseball diamond

hat way. In this strategic lozenge, the whole army is divided in four parts. The rear, or the reserve army, is where you call 'home base.' The fighti

"Panorama de

Showed Grea

m. piece in the teeth of a Frenc

trong. I should think a long line, like the German one you were telling me about,

The flanking movement is impossible, because if the long line bends round the corner, it would take several days for the ends to close in, and, when they did close in, they would only be confronted by a new army, let us say at 'third base.' Long

. "Then the German arm

r armies, which had broken through, could fall on the line of

f course, they would, they could halt all along the extended line, re?n

ace, "that wou

diamond can be swung either to right or left. So, since they have only a short distance to go, they can force the battle on the

ee that,"

teran

l of the commanders. There's not a great deal of difference between a bayonet and flint knife, a rifle is but an explosive form of bow and arrow, and the great 42-centimeter siege-gun of the Boches is only a sling-shot made a little bigger and throwing a little f

o the extreme left of the English troops, is 'third base.' The German long line is bent round the angle. This has been very skillfully done, for it enables the line to attack at any point. But, see, we could throw our re?nforcing

hy

it would take? Your easternmost corps would have to begin the march by retreating at least thirty miles before they could begin to turn, in order to leave room for the rest to turn inside them. The first

was necessary to pivot the line in position for attack. In addition to that, my boy, there would be the waste of time in strategical handling caused by the change of direction. New lines of communication would have to be established, new supply depots built, new routes mapped out, rolling stock sh

e, scornfully, "German s

at, instead of being able to retreat upon its reserves in good order, it is annihilated, what then? In that case, the enemy can plunge right in between

all armies of the world. It is only equaled by some of the Irish and Highland Scotch regiments of the British Army, and the Bersaglieri and other corps of the Italian Army. It is

d forward, t

l more to this than

s no machine so enormous, none that requires so much detail and fineness of adjustment. I've studied it from a soldier's po

n tons of food and munitions and what good will they be unless the food gets to the men, the munitions to the guns, and the men a

are ten years ago, she would still have been twenty years too late. To expect to make an army by waiting until it is needed, is just about as se

ad become thoroughly roused on the poi

tiffer grows the spring, for we are falling back on re?nforcements and shortening our lines of communication and transport all the time. The more the enemy advances, the weaker his line grows, for he is losing men which he cannot replace and is lengthening his lines of com

expect t

that. The public won't understand it, of course, and a good many of the younger soldiers are apt to lose their heads over it, but

ell as the moral principle between a nation that breaks its word and one that keeps it. Within a month will be settled, perhaps forever, the gre

ee the whole operative corner from Condé through Mons, Binche, Thuin, Charleroi, Namur, Dinant, Givet, and Montmedy to Verdun narrow its lines, shorten its communications and dra

TNO

Belgian Roya

French Commis

ches, near Douchy. The boy's name was Emi

ry, and conveys the se

ns" by the British. The origin of the word "Boche" is disp