might have decided to send troops to the front by another railway.
They control the line through Rheims, too."

But the morning after they had decided that there was no real way to
tell what was happening, something definite did come up. Nearly all the
troops in Amiens moved south. Only a few hundred remained, enough to
garrison the town and control the railway, since there seemed no danger
of an allied raid. But the fact that the other troops were being sent up
to the front indicated that the fighting was assuming a character far
more desperate than the Germans had expected.

"They must be fighting on the line of the river Marne," said Frank. "You
see, during that long retreat, there was time to entrench there. And
open field entrenchments seem to be better than fortified places. Look
at how quickly Namur fell, when everyone thought it would hold the
Germans back for days."

"The country there is difficult, too," said Henri. "My father said once
that it was there that the garrison of Paris should have fought first in
1870, instead of waiting inside the forts for the Prussians to come."

"I think that everything favors us now, for the first time," said Frank.
"The Germans have been winning--they have made a wonderful dash through
Belgium and France. They must have got very close to Paris. I believe
the roar of guns is as easy to hear in Paris as here. And then,
suddenly, when they think they are to have it all their own way, their
enemy turns and faces them, and holds them. That much we may be sure of.
The battle has been raging now for four days at least, perhaps for five.
And the firing has certainly not gone further away. Even if we are not
gaining, it is a gain if the Germans cannot advance."

They were glad now that they were busy. A few refugees from the south
were coming, driven back by the Germans. Perhaps they would rather have
tried to reach Paris, but the battle stopped that. And always there were
errands to be run, and messages to be carried. It went against the grain
to obey the orders of German officers, and to be obliged to salute these
officers whenever they were encountered, but it was necessary. And the
scouts of Amiens, when they knew what their duty was, did it, no matter
how unpleasant it might be.

Now the troops who formed the garrison of Amiens changed almost daily.
Older men were now in the tents, and some young boys.

"The last classes of their reserves must have been called out," said
F