ting of the Givonne Valley.
During the siege of Paris they occupied a part of the German northern
line, finally to march in triumph into Paris. This infantry and
cavalry of the Prussian Guard stiffened Von Hausen's force into
an army of battle strength.

We have thus two factors to bear in mind with regard to the French
defensive position at Charleroi--the resisting power of the Namur
forts, and the unknown, to the French, proximity of Von Hausen's
army.

However substantial was the measure of reliance that the French
General Staff and General Michel placed on the Namur forts, evidently
General von Buelow regarded them as little more than passing targets
for his siege guns. He seemed to have made a comparatively simple
mathematical calculation of almost the number of shells necessary
to fire, and the hours to be consumed in reducing the Namur forts
to masses of debris.

We can picture General von Buelow as he sat in the motor car with
Marshal von der Goltz--the old gentleman with an overcoat buttoned
up to his nose in August, and huge spectacles. Doubtless discussion
ran mainly upon the impending attack of their Second Army on the
French right. Emphasis would have been laid on the positions of
the armies of the Duke of Wuerttemberg and crown prince advancing
away to their left upon the forces of the French Generals Ruffey
and de Cary. But there was apparently a German gap here between
Von Buelow's army and the armies of the Duke of Wuerttemberg and
crown prince, though we noticed previously Von Buelow's army came
in touch with Saxon troops half way between Huy and Namur, when a
detachment of Von Buelow's left wing was thrown across the Meuse at
Ardenne. This gap was faced by the French extreme right resting on
the southward Namur bend of the Meuse. It was possibly the "trap"
military critics of the moment foresaw for the Germans. Quite likely
the two German generals Von Buelow and Von der Goltz, chatting in
their motor car, referred to this gap, and it is hardly a stretch
of imagination to suggest a twinkle in the huge glasses of the
old gentleman in the August overcoat, when now and then the name
of Von Hausen was mentioned.

The German attack on the French right began early in the morning
of Friday, August 21, 1914. A party of German hussars crossed the
Meuse, rode through Charleroi, and trotted on toward the Sambre.
At first they were mistaken for a British cavalry patrol. Probably
the populace in Charleroi we