cles were assisting the enemy in
their attack upon their own kith and kin, and strengthening the grip he
had already laid upon their native land.

CHAPTER VI

A New Standpoint

To Max and his chum these were days charged high with excitement. Their
day's toil in the shops over, they raced away to the points where the
most exciting events were to be seen. They were witnesses of most that
went forward, and actually lent a hand in the rounding-up, from among
the civil population of the city, of the band of armed Germans who
attempted to assassinate the commandant of the fortress, General Leman.

The entry of the Germans was to both of them a fearful blow. They knew
little of military matters, and vaguely believed that the town and forts
were strong enough to stand a regular siege. And yet on the third day
after the attack the town had fallen! As they watched the young German
troops marching into the town they could not help feeling deeply
disappointed and discouraged.

"I wish now that you had gone home, Dale," remarked Max in a gloomy
voice as they slowly made their way towards the works. "Now that the
place has fallen you can do no good here. And as you are not a native
you may be taken for a spy and shot off-hand."

"Shut up, Max! We've agreed to go through this business together, and
there's an end of it. Liege is lost, but the war's still on, and it will
be hard if we can't find some way of giving our side a shove forward."

"Aye to that, Dale. Well, if you don't mind being here in a conquered
town I'm jolly glad to have you. Now, I suppose we can still go on
helping to cast shells--why no, Dale! We simply can't do any more of
that work; it's absolutely useless."

"Of course it is. You may be sure the Germans won't let shells be sent
away from Liege except to Germany. Your works had better get on with the
other work. Shells are out of the question."

"I must see Schenk about this," replied Max thoughtfully. "It needs
thinking out what work--if any at all--we can do without helping the
Germans. It's an awkward business, but I have no doubt Schenk can see
daylight through it."

"I should think so, but--hallo! What's that?"

Dale stopped suddenly, and stood gazing down a side street, the end of
which they were just about to cross. A sudden burst of screams and
shouts, quite startling in its intensity, assailed their ears, and made
them look and look with a feeling of foreboding new to them. At the fa