more troops were being brought up. You see, we haven't
any idea at all of what's going on, except just where we've happened to
be. We haven't had any news since the Germans caught us the first
time."

"Can't we get to the Belgian lines?"

"We can try, of course. We must bear well to the west, which will
bring us behind the skirmish lines. I think the place for us to try to
reach now is Tirlemont. There must be a sort of headquarters there, I
think, because it's on the railway, and any railway is important in
time of war. Yes, I believe that's where these troops must have come
from. They could be brought there from all over Belgium, you see, and
sent out to try to check the German advance."

They could follow the line of the battle readily now, for the firing
was heavy and well marked, showing that the line along which the
fighting was going on was five or six miles long. The bursting shells,
too, dotting the darkness with patches of light every few seconds,
marked out the battle line, so that they could lay their course to get
away from it. Both of them understood the need of doing that; it was
now their business to get to some superior officers as quickly as
possible with the valuable information they possessed about the German
movements, though of course each hour of delay made it less likely that
that information would be of any value. And on the firing line, if
they were lucky enough to escape being shot, they would find no
superior officers in any case, but only men charged with the duty of
looking after their small, individual tasks, and too busy to pay any
attention to them. It was the staff headquarters they wanted to reach.

And then, while they were going on as fast as they could, over the
stubble of the fields, there was a sudden shifting of the lines in
front of them. Immediately before them the firing was almost doubled
in violence, but on one side only. Apparently some heavier guns had
been brought up by the Germans, and they saw that a terrific fire was
being directed at the higher ground whence the flashes of the Belgian
guns had been coming. One by one these guns were silenced, and then
the bursting shells began to search out the ground in front of the
Belgian artillery. Paul cried out in dismay.

"What is it? What's the matter?" asked Arthur.

"I'm afraid it's going badly for us there," said Paul, gloomily. "Do
you see, they've put our guns out of business! Now they are sending