one of the houses, were given an
opportunity of bathing, and were provided with suitable clothing and
with a meal the like of which they had not seen for many a long day.

"And now," said Henri on the following morning, when they assembled in
the _salon_ of the house to which they had been invited, "and now,
Stuart, what happens? Naturally enough, Jules and I make for France by
the quickest route, and then join the army."

"Which looks to me as though you're suggesting that I'm going to do
something quite different," growled Stuart, looking impressively big in
the Dutch clothes which had been provided for him. "Just as naturally
enough as you two are going to join the French army, I am off to join
the British--Kitchener's, you know--to take a hand in the job of
smashing the Kaiser."

"Then we shall part," said Jules, not without a sigh of regret. "We
have had fine times together--eh, Stuart? And, looking back upon it,
even Ruhleben doesn't seem so bad. In any case, it was worth it to
have gone through such a long adventure as we have had together. But I
wish we could continue in one another's company. I wish somehow you,
too, could join the French army, or that our regiments in the French
and British armies might be set to fight side by side in Flanders."

"The next thing is how are we going to return?" said Henri. "I have
said that we shall take the quickest route, and I am not quite sure
that that won't be via London--eh, Stuart? What do you think? Coastal
services from Holland towards France, I expect, are disorganized, and
no longer possible."

That this was so, their host immediately informed them.

"You may take it from me," he said, "that it is no longer easy, and in
fact almost impossible, to obtain a steamer running between the Hook
and Havre as formerly, and indeed of late it has been a matter of
considerable difficulty to get a passage from Holland even to England;
for the German submarines infest these waters, and, careless whether
the boat belong to a neutral or to one of the combatants, utterly
indifferent to the fact that many of them are filled with women and
children and people who have nothing to do with the fighting, indeed
forgetful of all instincts of humanity, of all mercy, and of all the
usual customs and feelings which have in the past controlled the
actions of belligerents, are torpedoing vessels at sight without
warning, killing the crews and passengers, murdering both French a