their shells right where our men must be massed. I don't believe any
troops can stand their ground long under such a fire as that."

"They're still there--they're still answering, Paul!"

"Yes, but listen!"

Even above the roar of the battle now they could hear sounds of
cheering. And, on one side, much of the lighter rifle fire now died
away.

"The Germans are advancing! It must be a charge against our men. And
they can't have had time to intrench!" said Paul. "Look! Didn't I
tell you so?"

It was almost as if they had been able to see. They could follow the
bending of the Belgian line as it gave way before the furious advance.
The artillery firing on the German side--on the German left wing, that
is, and the Belgian right--ceased. And then, nearly half a mile beyond
where it had been before, the rifle fire broke out again.

"There, can you tell what has happened?" asked Paul. "They've turned
our wing--they must have rushed a lot of troops this way. We're
holding them well enough on the other side and in the centre, but our
men will have to retire very soon. It's awfully bad for us, because
now the Germans are between us and Tirlemont, and I don't see how we
can get around them, because they will keep spreading out, no matter
how far we go," keen disappointment in his voice.

"I don't see how you can tell that from here, Paul!"

"Watch the flashes from the guns nearest us--those are the Germans,
now. The rifles, I mean--do you see, there? They're firing pretty
regularly, and the flashes are very close together. They haven't
spread out much. When they're firing, it looks as if a whole lot of
lightning bugs were flashing all at once, and it makes a line along the
ground. That's a curved line, now. A few minutes ago it was straight."

And now the German batteries opened up again on their left flank, and
they were firing from a position that had been moved considerably
westward since they had ceased firing after the infantry had begun
pushing back the Belgian line. That was the most significant thing.
These batteries had now evidently taken up a position that, at the
beginning of the fight, had been held either by the most advanced of
the German skirmishers or by the Belgians themselves. The German
policy of concentrating the attack at one spot, which has been the
policy of great generals throughout all history, had worked well for
them again.

But it was not the result of this fight, which