of us, up those stairs yonder," one of the men
answered.

"Then no doubt they are cut off, like rats in a trap. Go in and kill
them."

Henri turned and whispered to his friends.

"You heard that?" he asked them. "But perhaps you do not speak German.
Then I will translate; they say they have us here like rats in a trap,
and the order has been passed to come and kill us. Well, personally, I
have a great objection to being killed, and I have every wish indeed to
kill our enemies. Get ready! Load! Two hundred Germans shan't turn
us out of these quarters."

CHAPTER XV

Rats in a Trap

Douaumont Fort was captured. But for that handful of men who had
nominated Henri as their leader, and who crouched behind the parapet of
grain-bags at the summit of the narrow flight of steps within the fort,
not a Frenchman remained to defend it. The "pillar of the defence of
Verdun", as the Kaiser and his War Staff had termed it, was in their
hands, and at once the news was flashed broadcast across the States of
Germany and to every neutral country.

"Douaumont has fallen. We hold the fortress firmly in our hands. The
resistance of the French before Verdun is almost broken, and in a short
time we shall capture that city."

That was the gist of the _communique_ issued to the world--a
_communique_ which set the people of Germany, at this time rendered
anxious and despondent by the position in which they found themselves,
rejoicing and flying flags. For, indeed, they needed some sort of
encouragement. To east and west, and on the seas in all directions,
the Central Empires were hemmed in by a line of soldiers, steadily
growing stronger, and by ships of the British Fleet which daunted those
of the Germans. True, at this date, looking at the map of Europe, the
Kaiser might crow and ask his people to behold the conquests their
troops and those of Austria and Bulgaria had gained for them. There
was the greater part of Belgium, all but that thin strip running from
Ypres to Dunkirk; there was Luxembourg, that little State which had
been captured without even protest; there were the north-eastern
provinces of France, rich in iron ore and coal and iron industries; and
to the east there was the whole of Serbia; while all Poland and a
respectable slice of the Tsar's dominions were in his possession.

"See how we have succeeded! Behold our conquests; won for us by the
blood and bravery of our soldiers!" the Kaiser had ofte