harged across the field and had come
upon a sunken road into which they fell helter-skelter without having
time to draw rein. We could see where the horses had fallen, how they
had scrambled to their feet and tried with might and main to paw their
way up on the other side. The whole bank was pawed down, and the marks
of hoofs were everywhere. The road was filled with lances and saddles,
etc. All through the field were new-made graves. There was, of course,
no time for careful burial. A shallow trench was dug every little way--a
trench about thirty feet long and ten feet wide. Into this were dumped
indiscriminately Germans and Belgians and horses, and the earth hastily
thrown over them--just enough to cover them before the summer sun got in
its work. There were evidences of haste; in one place we saw the arm of
a German sergeant projecting from the ground. It is said that over three
thousand men were killed in this engagement, but from the number of
graves we saw I am convinced that this was a good deal overstated. At
any rate it was terrible enough; and when we think that this was a
relatively unimportant engagement, we can form some idea of what is
going to happen when the big encounter comes, as it will in the course
of a few days more. It is clear that the Germans were driven off with
considerable losses, and that the Belgians still hold undisputed control
of the neighbourhood. There were a few scattered Uhlans reconnoitering
near by, but they were not in sufficient numbers to dare to attack.

After gathering our trophies we were ready to start for home; and it was
well we should, for it was getting rather late in the afternoon and we
had a long trip ahead of us with many delays.

Soon after leaving Haelen, on our way back we met a corps of bicycle
carabiniers who were rolling along toward Haelen at top speed. The
officer in command held us up and asked us for news of the country we
had covered. He seemed surprised that we had not seen any German
forces, for he said the alarm had been sent in from Haelen and that
there were strong forces of Belgians on the way to occupy the town and
be ready for the attack. When he had left us, we ran into one detachment
after another of infantry and lancers coming up to occupy the little
village.

When we got to the barricade at the entrance to Diest, the soldiers of
the guard poured out and began taking our trophies out of the car. We
protested vigorously, but not one of them cou