, for now no Belgian can take ship from Ostend to England. So I
go to Ypres. The wandering people have all been sent to Nieuport and
Dunkirk. Still I search. My wife is not in Nieuport. I come here, three
days ago; I cannot find her in Dunkirk; she has vanished. Perhaps--but I
will not trouble you with that. This is my story, ladies and gentlemen.
Behold in me--a wealthy landowner of Liege--the outcast from home and
country!"

"It is dreadful!" cried Patsy.

"It is fierce," said the man. "Only an American can understand the
horror of that word."

"Your fate is surely a cruel one, Maurie," declared Mr. Merrick.

"Perhaps," ventured Beth, "we may help you to find your wife and
children."

The Belgian seemed pleased with these expressions of sympathy. He
straightened up, threw out his chest and bowed very low.

"That is my story," he repeated; "but you must know it is also the story
of thousands of Belgians. Always I meet men searching for wives. Always
I meet wives searching for husbands. Well! it is our fate--the fate of
conquered Belgium."

Maud brought him a deck chair and made him sit down.

"You will stay here to-night," she said.

"That's right," said Dr. Gys. "He can't resume his search until morning,
that's certain. Such a tumble as he had would have killed an ordinary
man; but the fellow seems made of iron."

"To be a waiter--a good waiter--develops the muscles," said Maurie.

Ajo gave him a cigarette, which he accepted eagerly. After a few puffs
he said:

"I heard the German bombs. That means the enemy grows insolent. First
they try to frighten us with bombs, then they attack."

"How far away do you think the Germans are?" asked Beth.

"Nieuport les Bains. But they will get no nearer."

"No?"

"Surely not, mamselle. Our soldiers are there, awaiting them. Our
soldiers, and the French."

"And you think the enemy cannot capture Dunkirk?" inquired Jones.

"Dunkirk! The Germans capture Dunkirk? It is impossible."

"Why impossible?"

"Dunkirk is fortified; it is the entrance to Calais, to Dover and
London. Look you, m'sieur; we cannot afford to lose this place. We
cannot afford to lose even Nieuport, which is our last stand on Belgian
soil. Therefore, the Germans cannot take it, for there are still too
many of us to kill before Kitchener comes to save us." He spoke
thoughtfully, between puffs of his cigarette, and added: "But of course,
if the great English army does not come, and they kill u