eir rapid exit followed them,
and made the anger of one at least of them burn with a still fiercer
resentment.

"Right through and out at the back," cried Max in urgent tones, and the
two passed through the house, which appeared to be deserted, and found
themselves in an open space intersected only by low garden fences.

Max laid his hand on his friend's arm. "I am going to move quietly along
until I reach the back of the house where those curs are at work," he
said in a hard, suppressed voice. "I must do something, but do not you
come, Dale. There is no need for you----"

"I am already in it, I tell you," almost shouted Dale as he impatiently
shook him off. "It's as much my affair as yours. Come on."

The two made their way rapidly but cautiously along until they reached
the house they sought. The doors were open at the back, and the shouts
and screams were almost as audible there as at the front.

"We have no weapons; let us arm ourselves with these," cried Max,
pointing to some blocks of ornamental quartz bordering a little fernery.
Even in the midst of his excitement it struck Max how strangely the
orderliness of the tiny, well-kept garden seemed to contrast with the
deeds of violence being committed outside.

Rapidly but quietly the two lads filled hands and pockets with the heavy
missiles. Then they crept inside the house and up the stairs to the
floor above. The house was quite empty, for all within had rushed or
been dragged to the scene in front.

The bedroom windows were wide open, and the instant they entered both
lads began with one impulse to hurl with all their strength the great
stones upon the German soldiery below. They were both wild with rage at
what they had witnessed, and utterly reckless what fate might ultimately
be theirs, so long as they could inflict some punishment upon the
cowardly wrongdoers.

[Illustration: BOTH LADS BEGAN TO HURL THE GREAT STONES UPON THE GERMAN
SOLDIERY]

The soldiers, completely taken aback by this sudden rain of missiles
almost from the skies, immediately scattered to the opposite side of the
road and took refuge in the gardens there. Not one of them had his rifle
to hand, for their arms had been stacked against the wall of the house
they were attacking, and even the man who had fired at Max and Dale had
put down his rifle once more. Thus, for the moment, the soldiers were
impotent, and Max shouted rapidly in the Walloon dialect to the women
below to release