halted at the door. The rattle of keys, as someone--no doubt the
manager--drew a bunch from his pocket, could now be distinguished, and
as Max crawled in under the desk, and packed himself in on top of Dale,
the key turned in the lock.

Several men entered, talking together in the German tongue. One voice
only Max and Dale recognized, and that, as they expected, belonged to
the manager, Otto Schenk.

"... take severe measures against any workman adopting a hostile
attitude. Would this meet with approval in Highest quarters?"

"Certainly. You may rest assured, Herr von Schenkendorf, that the
Government of His Imperial Majesty has no intention of showing aught but
the utmost sternness and rigour towards the whole Belgian population,
whether workmen, property owners, or their families."

"Thank you, General."

"Serious consequences have ensued from the unexpected delay caused to
our armies by the resistance of the Belgian army, and it is the Belgians
who shall be made to pay for it. And to make them pay for it in a
literal sense is, as you know, the reason of my presence here now."

"True, General," replied the manager as he switched on the light; "but
if I am to develop these works to the utmost, and to support our armies
with ample supplies of guns and shells, I must be able to pay my
workmen."

"The gold and securities handed over will be replaced by notes of our
Imperial Reichsbank or by Belgian paper money, which I have good reason
to believe we shall shortly commence to manufacture. You will thus be as
well off as before, and the Government will have securities which it can
sell in neutral countries."

"Oh, I am not objecting, General! The plan is excellent, and should
yield much profit to our country. As for these Belgians, they have
brought it on themselves by their foolish obstinacy. Ha, ha! A large
part of the securities I am about to hand to you, General, were, by the
explicit instructions of the widow of Monsieur Durend, to have been sent
into Holland for her use. I thought I could find a better use for them
than that, however, and they will doubtless be made to render important
service to the Imperial Government. Only two days ago, too, that young
English cub, Monsieur Durend's son, attacked me in this room and
demanded money for his mother's use. I told him to go and work for her,
and sent him about his business."

There was a rumble of laughter, and the desk creaked as one of the
officers--there