Evening star., 1917-12-09
A Story Of 1914
By LOUIS TRACY

toned as to the chance Of reaching
Namur BY q forced march along coun-
of the province is closed by cavalry
patrols. You cannot avoid them. mon
sieur. Come with me to Huy. and
You'll be reasonably safe
why safer in Huy than here, or any
where else where these brutes may
be-"
"Huy has been occupied by the Ger
mans since the 18th. and is their lem
porary headquarters From what
gather. they usually spare such towns
That Is why we never dreamed OF An
denne being sacked"
Dalroy remembered the aged cure
exposition of kultur as policy rs
this sort of thing going on generally
them" he asked.
raised his eyebrows. Where can you
have been. monsieur. not to know what
has happened at Liege, Wise, Flemeiie
Grande. Blagny Trembieur and score
of other places"
wise broke in the cracked. piDins
voice of Joos. Whats that about
Wiser
TT is burned to the ground; and
nearly all the Inhabitants killed.
rs ANYTHING said of fat major
named Busch. whom Henri Joos, the
miller. stuck with a fork?'
"A Prussian. do you mean"
"Ay. One of the same breed-a West
phalian."
II haven't heard"
He tried to assault my daughter. sc
] got him. The second one. Uhlan
killed nv wife. and got him. too: !
cut his throat down there IN the man
street. It's easy to Kill Germans
They're soft. like pigs
Though Joos' half-demented boastinE
was highly injudicious. Dalroy did not
interfere. He was in 4 mood to let
matters drift: They could not well be
worse. He had tried to control the
course Of events in so far as they af-
fected his own and Irene Beresford $
fortunes. but had failed lamentably
Now. fate must take charge
Pochard's comment was to the point,
at any rate. Il congratulate you. mon
line myself when this little one Is
lodged with his aunt in Huy. IL every
Belgian accounts for two Prussians
you'll hold them till the French and
English join up"
DO YOU know for certain where the
English are?' put in Dalroy. eagerly.
Yes. at Charleroi. The French are
in .Samur. Come with me to Huy. A
few days. and the sales Alboches will
be pelting back to the Rhine"
For the second time Dairoy heard a
slang epithet new to him applied to
the Germans. He little guessed how
familiar the abbreviated French form
of the word would become in his ears
have cordially adopted "Boche" as .
suitable term for the common enemy
1T has no meaning, yet conveys sense
OF contemptuous dislike. Stricken
France had no heart for humor in
1870. The merciless foe was then a
"Prussian": in 1914 he became a
''Boche." and the change held a COM
fortins Significance.
Dalroy. of course. did not share the
Frenchman's opinion AZ to the speedy
I'm nf "a IN but ri. l.f
was falling. the offer Of shelter was
too good to be refused. Nevertheless,
he was careful to reveal a real diff
Guilty Unfortunately. We have a dead
Stauwaert. too, is I'll. but she has re-
covered from a faintins ft. ! see
''Ah. poor Stauwaert,' murmured the
other. "A decent fellow. l saw them
Kill him. And that's his wife. of course.
1 didn't recognize her before
Dalroy was relieved to find that the
Frenchman and the bereayed woman
were friends. He had not forgotten
the priests statement that there would
be a spy in every group in that mart Of
Belgium. Later he ascertained that
NJ. Pochard was a we1l-to-do leather
merchant in Andenne, who, like many
others. refused to abandon a long es-
tablished business for fear of the Ger
mans: doubtless he was destined to pay
a heavy price for his tenacity ere the
Samaritan. urging an immediate move
and promising even to arrange for
Nine. Joos' burial Dalroy helped him
to carry the child. three-year-oldb boy
did not understand why he should not
be at home and in bed
Joos suffered them to lead him where
they listed. He walked by the side OF
the cart. and told "Lise" how he had
dealt with the uhlane. Leontine Sob
bed afresh. and tried to stop him, but
he grew quite angry.
Why shouldn't she know" he snap
ped. 1T is her AFFAIR. and nine. You
screamed. and turned away, but I
hacked at him till his windpipe hissed.'
NJ Pochard brought them to Huy by
rough road among the hills
1t was dreadful journey in the
Eloaming OF perfect summers even
ing. The old mans ehoulish jabber-
ing. the sobs of the women. the pant
ing of two exhausted dogs and the
wailinK of the child. who wanted his
fathers arms round him rather than a
strangers, supplied a tragic chorus
which i'll beguiled that Via Dolorosa
along the heights of the Meuse.
Irene insisted on taking the boy for
time. and the younsster ceased his
plant at once.
That's blessed relief she eonnded
nerves. but this poor little chaps cry
ing was more than could bear"
He is too heavy that YOU should
carry him far" he protested.
You're very much of q man, Arthur"
she said. quietly. You don't realize.
l suppose. that nature gives us wome n
strong arms for this very purpose"
II hadn't thought of that. The fact
Is. m worried l have a doubt at the
back of my head that we ought to be
going the other way"
Which other way"
In precisely the opposite direction
But what can we do? At what
stage in our wanderings up to this
very moment could We have parted
know. l have horrible feeling that wo
have brought good deal of aveidable
misery on their headse If we hadn't
gone TO the mill
They would probably all have been
dead by this time. and certainly both
homeless and friendless." he inter-
rupted. Then he began telling her the
rate of Wise. but was brought up short
by an imperative whisper from Po-
cnard. They were talking English,
without realizing 1t. and Huy was near.
And why carry that sword?" added
the Frenchman. 1T is useless. and
most dangerous. Thrust it into a
ditch"
Dalroy obeyed promptly. He had
thoughtlessly disregarded the sinister
outcome IL patrol found him with
such n weapon In his hand
They came to Huy by winding road
through suburb. meeting plenty of
soldiers strolling to and from biiIets.
Luck befrfended them at this ticklish
moment. None saw a little party turn
ing into lane which led to the back OF
the villa tenanted by NJ Pochard's mar
ried sister. This lady proved both