. They killed about three hundred people and burned
about the same number of houses. Most of the houses had been looted
systematically. According to the stories of those inhabitants who
remain, there was a reign of terror for about a week, during which the
Germans rendered themselves guilty of every sort of atrocity and
barbarity. They are all most positive that there was no firing upon the
German troops by the civil population. It seems to be generally believed
that the massacre was due to resistance of retiring Belgian troops and
the destruction of bridges and tunnels to cover their retreat. Whatever
the provocation, the behaviour of the Germans was that of savages. We
were shown photographs showing the corpses of some of those killed. It
was to be inferred that they had been wantonly mutilated.

Had lunch at an hotel across the street from the station. After a hasty
lunch we made off to Dinant, still following the Meuse. The thin line of
houses down the course of the river were thinner than they were a few
months ago, and there were signs of suffering and distress everywhere. I
had never been to Dinant before, but had seen pictures of it and thought
I had an idea of what we were going to see. But the pictures did not
give a hint of the horror of the place. The little town, which must have
been a gem, nestled at the foot of a huge gray cliff, crowned with the
obsolete fort, which was not used or attacked. The town is _gone_. Part
of the church is standing, and the walls of a number of buildings, but
for the most part, there is nothing but a mess of scattered bricks to
show where the houses had stood. And why it was done, we were not able
to learn, for everybody there says that there was no fighting in the
town itself. We heard stories, too, and such stories that they can
hardly be put on paper. Our three guests were more and more impressed as
we went on. The bridge was blown up and had fallen into the river, and
as we had little time to make the rest of our day's journey, we did not
wait to cross by the emergency bridge farther up the river. While we
were standing talking to a schoolmaster and his father by the destroyed
bridge, seven big huskies with rifles and fixed bayonets came through,
leading an old man and a woman who had been found with a camera in
their possession. At first there was no objection raised to the taking
of photographs, but now our friends are getting a little touchy about
it, and lock up anybody