"Yes," was the answer. "They 're at us from all sides. Some of the
men we are now transporting have been under fire in two countries,
and now they will see service in a third." He knew that I had come
from Ghent and from Antwerp, which the Germans were about to
bombard, yet, to his credit, it should be said that he did not ask for
information of Belgian activities. Similarly, although the soldiers, as a
rule, and one man high in the civil government of Brussels, asked
what was going on in Antwerp, it was noticeable that German officers
recognized the obligations of neutrality.

Of how we left Brussels and of the first part of the eastward trip, I am
going to quote from the jottings in the log-book, which was written up
at some length after we left Aix-la-Chapelle:--

"Early on the morning of the 22d, I went up to Consul Watts's office to
get the mail pouch I had promised him to carry. Luther and I then
boarded a trolley car going northwest past the Gare du Nord and on
to Schaerbeek, a junction on the outskirts of Brussels. Although the
Major Bayer passes, with von W------'s counter-signature, got us as
far as Schaerbeek, we were challenged by the guards at the railroad
station. The stations were watched with the most astounding
precaution. Of course there was no such thing as a ticket; once inside
the gate you could jump a troop train, ammunition car, or blow up the
track if you felt like it. Wherefore they guarded the stations carefully.

"At the gates had a terrible pow-wow with an officious Bavarian who
called himself the Officer-of-the-Day. I played all my best German
cards, including Count von Bemstorffs letter. At the end of half an
hour our pig-headed officer shipped us back to Brussels. We
returned to von W------, then in Brussels, who vised our pass with a
note to the effect that although we were civilians, exceptional
circumstances demanded our hurried return to Aix by military train.

"When we eventually got into the Schaerbeek station we had two
hours to wait. Walked up and down the tracks or sat on the platform,
keeping an eye on everything that was going on. Luther says I spent
most of my time trying not to look like an Englishman. Occasionally,
when we spoke a word of English, some officer would shoot us a 42
cm. glance and demand our papers. We were undoubtedly marked
figures, because in the first place no civilians were allowed along the
railway line, especially foreigners.

"Watch