e the historic monuments of
Antwerp in their bombardment, if the Belgian General Staff will send
them maps of the city with such monuments and hospitals clearly; marked.
I found that it had been arranged in Brussels that I should collect the
plans on my way through Antwerp and deliver them to the German
authorities in Brussels, and, of course, agreed to do so.

After luncheon I went back to the Palace, where I was immediately
received by the Queen in her sitting room. Her Majesty seemed quite
oblivious of the confusion in the Palace, and, like the King, she was
chiefly concerned as to the welfare of the people left under German
domination. I was able to give her comforting news as to the treatment
of the people of Brussels. While we were talking, the roar of the German
guns seemed to increase and made the windows rattle. There was an outcry
in the street, and we went to the window to see a German aeroplane
pursued by a British machine. We watched them out of sight, and then
went back to our talk. The members of the Court had tried to prevail
upon the Queen to leave Antwerp, but when it became evident that the
place must be surrendered, she refused to move and told me she would
stay until the King left. And she did.

When I got back to the hotel, I found Eugene with news that the
differential of my car had broken, so that we could not start. It was
important that we lose no time in getting the plans of the town to the
German authorities, so I got Baron van der Elst to go with me to the
General Staff and explain the situation. General de Guise promptly wrote
out an order that I should be given the best car to be found in the
city. Armed with this, Eugene set forth and gathered in a very pretty
little limousine to bring us back to Brussels. It was evidently a lady's
car and almost too pretty, but we were not exacting and took it
thankfully. However, it was too late to start out through the lines, so
we gave up the idea of leaving before morning. We had thought of taking
the route of the army and getting to Brussels by way of Ghent, but the
people at the General Staff said the road was so crowded with transport
that we would make little progress, and that the better course would be
to take exactly the opposite direction and go by way of Tournhout.

[Illustration: Graves of civilians shot by the Germans]

[Illustration: A typical proclamation

PROCLAMATION

A l'avenir les localites situe