h German and Belgian. These were caught and mounted by
civilians glad to have so rapid a mode of escape.

TROOPS HINDERED BY CIVILIANS

"I remember watching a black clad Belgian woman running straight down
the middle of a road away from the Germans. Behind her came the retiring
Belgian troops, disheartened but valiant. This woman, clad in mourning,
was the symbol of the Belgian populace.

"At some of the barricades along the route the refugees and soldiers
arrived simultaneously, making the defense difficult. All about
Tirlemont and Louvain the refugees interfered with the work of the
troops. The road to Brussels always was crowded with refugees and many
sorrowful sights were witnessed among them as they fled from the homes
that had been peaceful and prosperous a few days before. BRUSSELS FILLED
WITH REFUGEES

"Brussels is filled with refugees from surrounding towns, despite the
large numbers who left the city for Ghent and Ostend during the last few
days," said a correspondent, writing from Ghent on August 20.

"The plight of most of the refugees is pitiable. Many are camped in
the public square whose homes in the suburbs have been fired by the
Prussians. The roads leading into Brussels have been crowded all day
with all kinds of conveyances, many drawn by dogs and others by girls,
women and aged peasants.

"Most of these people have lost everything. Few of them have any money.
The peasant is considered lucky who succeeded in saving a single horse
or a cow.

"Military men characterize the German force which is moving across
Belgium as overwhelming, saying it consists of at least two or three
army corps. The advance of this huge force is covered over the entire
thirty-mile front by a screen of cavalry. The Germans had no difficulty
in taking Louvain, which was virtually undefended.

"In the high wooded country between Louvain and Brussels the Germans
found an excellent defensive position. Having occupied Louvain, the
Kaiser's troops pushed forward with great celerity, the cavalry opening
out in fan-shaped formation, spreading across country.

"At one point they ran into a strong force of Belgian artillery, which
punished them severely. Later in the day a Belgian scouting force
reached Louvain and found it unoccupied, but received imperative
orders to fall back, because of the danger of being outflanked and
annihilated."

ALLIES MEET THE INVADERS

By August 20 the Germans were in touch with the French army