.
He announced as he burst into my office that the Germans were within 20
kilometers of Brussels and were going to occupy the city this evening.
He was fairly trembling, but got indignant because I denied it, having
just talked with Colonel Fairholme and with Maxwell, both of whom had no
more than come back from the front. The fact that it had been published
in the _Soir_ was enough for him, and although the news had made him
nervous, he hated to have his perfectly good sensation spoiled.

The authorities, so as to be prepared for any eventuality, have this
evening published a communique to impress upon the population the
necessity for abstaining from any participation in the hostilities in
case of an occupation. It advises everybody to stay indoors and avoid
any words or actions that might give an excuse for measures against
non-combatants.

* * * * *

_August 15th._--Last night I dined with the Colonel, Grant-Watson, and
Kidston at the Palace. I was looking forward to a lot of interesting
talk, as the Colonel had just come from the front. Just as we were
settling down to our conversational Marathon, up walked ----, the
---- Charge and bade himself to dine with us. He is strongly pro-German
in his sympathies, and, of course, that put a complete damper on
conversation. We talked about everything on earth save the one thing we
were interested in, and sat tight in the hope that he would move on. Not
only did he stay, but after a time the ---- First Secretary came and
joined us, and we gave up in despair. The only result of the evening was
that I gathered the impression that there is a good deal of apprehension
on the part of the allies as to the result of the next big battle, which
may occur any day now. The Germans are undoubtedly pretty near now,
perhaps a good deal nearer than we know. Just before dinner the War
Office announced that there would be no further official communiques as
to the operations. That looks as though they were battening down the
hatches for the next big engagement.

Yesterday's papers announced France's declaration of war against
Austria. This morning comes the news that Montenegro has also declared
her intention of wiping Austria off the map. Our daily query now
is--"Who has declared war to-day?"

Every minute we are not hammering away at our work, we sit around and
talk of the latest developments. These things make such an impression
that