forever, and that the
Belgian flag would fly again over Brussels. In their unimaginative way
they sent down a squad of soldiers and arrested him. He was taken to
headquarters, and brought before von Luettwitz, who told him that he was
to be taken as a prisoner of war to Berlin. Max replied that he bowed
before superior force; that he had done what he knew to be necessary for
the preservation of order in his city, and that he was ready to accept
the consequences of his act; that at any rate he would have the
satisfaction of having maintained order here up to the minute that he
was sent to Germany, and that he could not be held responsible for what
might happen after his departure. General von Luettwitz sat up and took
notice of the last part of this and rushed off to see von der Goltz. In
ten minutes he came back and told Max that he was free and that the
Field Marshal desired that he should continue to act as Burgomaster as
though nothing had happened. Why don't people have a little
imagination!!

The town is still bottled up, and troops are being marched back and
forth across it, as, I believe, purely for the purpose of impressing the
population with the belief that they are far more numerous than they
really are. Late this afternoon I took a drive to the edge of town, and
we were stopped half a dozen times and had our papers examined. From all
I can gather it would seem that the Germans are entrenching themselves
as solidly as they can so as to be ready to resist another sortie
without sustaining the terrible losses they suffered last time. They
cannot be very happy over the way things have been going in France,
although they have this afternoon announced a great victory on their
right wing.

One of our friends who has just come back from the coast reports that
there were a lot of French troops marching through Belgium on their way
from Dunkerque to Lille--evidently an attempt to turn the German right
wing. We have heard nothing more about it.

* * * * *

The food supply of the country is being rapidly exhausted and there is
urgent need for importations. The public knows little about the
situation, but a serious shortage threatens and we must have a
considerable stock from abroad. The Brussels committee has raised a
goodly sum of money and hopes to get food from Holland and England to
meet present needs. Similar committees are being formed in other cities,
and t