s softly as the cumbrous sabots would
permit. He was tempted to go bare-footed, but dreaded the lameness which
might result from a thorn or a sharp rock. At a suitable place,
half-way down the steep path by the side of the quarry, he tied a pistol
to a stout sapling, and, having fastened a cord to the trigger, arranged
it in such fashion that it must catch the feet of any one coming that
way. The weapon was at full cock, and in all likelihood the unwary
passer-by would get a bullet in his body.

It was dark under the trees, of course, but the moon was momentarily
increasing its light, and the way was not hard to find. He memorised
each awkward turn and twist in case he had to retreat in a hurry. Once
the lower level was reached there was no difficulty, and, with due
precautions, he gained the shelter of a hedge close to the main road.

The stream of troops still continued. Few things could be more ominous
than this unending torrent of armed men. By how many similar roads, he
wondered, was Germany pouring her legions into tiny Belgium? Was she
forcing the French frontier in the same remorseless way? And what of
Russia? When he left Berlin the talk was only of marching against the
two great allies. If Germany could spare such a host of horse, foot, and
artillery for the overrunning of Belgium, while moving the enormous
forces needed on both flanks, what millions of men she must have placed
under arms long before the mobilisation order was announced publicly!
And what was England doing and saying? England! the home of liberty and
a free press, where demagogues spouted platitudes about the "curse of
militarism," and encouraged that very monster by leaving the richest
country in the world open to just such a sudden and merciless attack as
Belgium was undergoing before his eyes!

Lying there among the undergrowth, listening to the tramp of an
army corps, and watching the flicker of countless rifle-barrels in
the moonlight, he forgot his own plight, and thought only of the
unpreparedness of Britain. He was a soldier by training and inclination.
He harboured no delusions. Man for man, the alert, intelligent, and
chivalrous British army was far superior to the cannon-fodder of the
German machine. But of what avail was the hundred thousand Britain could
put in the field in the west of Europe against the four millions of
Germany? Here was no combat of a David and a Goliath, but of one man
against forty. Naturally, France and Rus