unctionary who "simply must get to the front."
As for the lady, she was the sole representative of her sex travelling
west that night.

Meanwhile the two young men chatted amicably, using German and English
with equal ease.

"I think you are making a mistake in going by this route," said Von
Halwig. "The frontier lines will be horribly congested during the next
few days. You see, we have to be in Paris in three weeks, so we must
hurry."

"You are very confident," said the Englishman pleasantly.

He purposely avoided any discussion of his reasons for choosing the
Cologne-Brussels-Ostend line. As an officer of the British army, he was
particularly anxious to watch the vaunted German mobilisation in its
early phases.

"Confident! Why not? Those wretched little _piou-pious_"--a slang term
for the French infantry--"will run long before they see the whites of
our eyes."

"I haven't met any French regiments since I was a youngster; but I
believe France is far better organised now than in 1870," was the
noncommittal reply.

Von Halwig threw out his right arm in a wide sweep. "We shall brush them
aside--so," he cried. "The German army was strong in those days; now it
is irresistible. _You_ are a soldier. You _know_. To-night's papers say
England is wavering between peace and war. But I have no doubt she will
be wise. That Channel is a great asset, a great safeguard, eh?"

Again Dalroy changed the subject. "If it is a fair question, when do you
start for the front?"

"To-morrow, at six in the morning."

"How very kind of you to spare such valuable time now!"

"Not at all! Everything is ready. Germany is always ready. The Emperor
says 'Mobilise,' and, behold, we cross the frontier within the hour!"

"War is a rotten business," commented Dalroy thoughtfully. "I've seen
something of it in India, where, when all is said and done, a scrap in
the hills brings the fighting men alone into line. But I'm sorry for the
unfortunate peasants and townspeople who will suffer. What of Belgium,
for instance?"

"Ha! _Les braves Belges!_" laughed the other. "They will do as we tell
them. What else is possible? To adapt one of your own proverbs: 'Needs
must when the German drives!'"

Dalroy understood quite well that Von Halwig's bumptious tone was not
assumed. The Prussian Junker could hardly think otherwise. But the
glances cast by the Guardsman at the silent figure seated near the
window showed that some part of his vapouring w