ng
they can to prevent it, by requiring them to give up their arms and
pointing out the danger of reprisals.

Before we moved on, our officer presented me with a Prussian lance he
had picked up on the battlefield near Haelen. We got careful directions
from him for finding the battlefield and set off for Loxbergen, where
the fight had taken place the day before. The run was about four
kilometers through little farms, where the houses had been set on fire
by shrapnel and were still burning. The poor peasants were wandering
around in the ruins, trying to save odds and ends from the wreck, but
there was practically nothing left. Of course they had had to flee for
their lives when the houses were shelled, and pretty much everything was
burned before they could safely venture back to their homes.

We had no difficulty in locating the field of battle when we reached it.
The ground was strewn with lances and arms of all sorts, haversacks,
saddle bags, trumpets, helmets and other things that had been left on
the ground after the battle. There were a few villagers prowling around,
picking things up, but there were enough for everybody, so we got out
and gathered about fifteen Prussian lances, some helmets and other odds
and ends that would serve as souvenirs for our friends in Brussels. As
everybody took us for English, they were inclined to be very friendly,
and we were given several choice trophies to bring back. While we were
on the field, a German aeroplane came soaring down close to us and
startled us with the sharp crackling of its motor. It took a good look
at us and then went its way. A little farther along, some Belgian troops
fired at the aeroplane, but evidently went wide of their mark, for it
went unconcernedly homeward. We wandered through the ruins of some old
farms and sized up pretty well what must have happened. The Germans had
evidently come up from the south and occupied some of the farmhouses
along the road. The Belgians had come down from the north and opened
fire on the houses with rapid-fire guns, for the walls were riddled with
small holes and chipped with rifle fire. Then shrapnel had been brought
into play, to set the houses on fire and bring the German troops out
into the open. Then they had charged the Belgians across an open field
and apparently with disastrous results. Part of the ground was in hay
which had already been harvested and piled in stacks, the rest was in
sugar beets. The Prussians had c