g feature, aside from the inevitable
parish church, of the village.

"They belong to the civic guard," said Paul. "I'm afraid they are
going to try to resist the Germans. Look at those guns!"

"They're the old-fashioned ones they used in the army years ago, aren't
they, Paul?"

"Yes, and they'd be about as much good against the new German rifles as
so many pea-shooters!"

The sight of the patchwork uniforms, worn by armed men, seemed to be a
magnet for the panic-stricken inhabitants of the village. So far the
people had been far too busy with their fears and their eagerness to
save themselves to pay any attention to the two scouts, and so Paul and
Arthur were able to attach themselves to the crowd and follow the civic
guardsmen without exciting too much attention. There were curious
glances at their uniforms, but Paul was well pleased by this. He
wanted the people to notice their khaki suits, and he was glad that
they seemed to be rather mystified.

The leader of the guardsmen was a big, burly man, by trade a butcher.
Under his direction his men and a host of volunteer helpers proceeded
to erect a barricade across the road by which, it seemed, the Germans
must enter the village if they came. Old furniture, broken down
wagons, mattresses--anything that came to hand was used in building the
barricade. Then it was covered in front with branches of trees and
bushes.

"There!" said the big butcher, when it was done to his satisfaction.
"Now we can take up our place behind that--and God help the German
pigs! Jean, do you and Marcel go up in the windows of Boerman's house,
there, and make holes in the shutters to shoot through. If they drive
us from this barricade we will take to the houses and the roofs, and do
what we can from there."

A cheer greeted his speech.

"Now we shall be safe!" said one woman. "Ah, if they had had one like
Raymond the butcher to show them how to fight, those poor people would
not have been driven from their homes! He is a man!"

"I think so, too, Paul!" whispered Arthur. "It's something to make a
fight like this, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is something," said Paul. "It's suicide, that's what it is!
How long can they stand against the Germans? They will throw their own
lives away and they won't save the village. Instead, they will simply
make it certain that it will be destroyed. The Germans won't fight
them on even terms. If they find that the place is to defended they'll
b