lly safe line to take with a man of that kind was to have naught
to do with him in anything.

"No, Monsieur Schenk, I cannot accept your offer," said Max in a steady
voice, getting up rather suddenly from his chair and facing the manager
resolutely.

"What? You----But why not, Monsieur Max?" he cried eagerly. "It is all
nothing. But there, if you do not like to join with me in running the
works I will not press that point. Get me the papers. Write for them to
your mother, and as soon as they come you are free."

"No," replied Max at once. "No, Monsieur Schenk, I am going to have
nothing to do with all this. I have fought and worked hard for Belgium
since the outbreak of war, and I am not going to do aught to betray her
now."

"Then die to-morrow--I shall at least have done with you!" cried M.
Schenk, with a bitter hate that told Max how much his blows had shaken
him. "Your temerity in stealing my papers and in burning the machine-gun
shop will be amply avenged."

"Have you then forgotten the power-house and the coal-yard?" asked Max
with a secret satisfaction that made him forget, for the moment, even
his approaching fate.

"Those too--were those your handiwork?" gasped the manager. "You
villain--you nearly destroyed my power and reputation with them. 'Tis
well you die. My only risk of further disaster will perish with you."

"Maybe. But I have the consolation of knowing that your treachery is
known to many, and that when the war is over, and the Germans are driven
out of Belgium, you will go with them."

"Bah! Belgium is German territory for all time. I tell you, Max Durend,
that, were it not so, I would see to it that before our armies left not
one stone of the Durend factories remained upon another. Take this with
you to the grave: in memory of what you have done, the trouble and worry
you have caused me, these works shall never more pass to your family. If
Germany win, they will remain mine. If the impossible happen, and we
lose, then I will blow the whole up to the sky and leave to your family
naught but the smoking ruins."

The vindictive earnestness with which the manager spoke left no doubt
upon Max's mind that he meant every word he said. The Durend works,
then, were as good as lost to his mother and sister, and it was with
additional thankfulness that he recollected that the large sum of money
and valuables he had managed to rescue from Schenk's clutches would be
ample, and more than ample, for thei