t Napoleon, of whom his officers said that when he
pinched their ears he conferred an honor they valued more highly than
the cross of the Legion d'Honneur.

After the departure of the last officers of the staff, Amiens took on a
new aspect. The thunder of guns, even the rolling of rifle fire, was
plainly to be heard now in the streets. In the distance--and not a great
distance, either--the smoke of a dozen burning villages was to be seen
to the north and east. It was so that the Germans marked their advance,
steady, relentless. Henri exclaimed in fury at the sight.

"These barbarians of Germans!" he cried. "Burn and kill--and not
soldiers alone!"

"It tears my heart-strings to see all this wanton destruction indulged
in by the foe," said Frank. "What then must be the feelings of the
French as they watch their villages being so ruthlessly burned! But some
day, somehow, Henri, our chance will come and the French will sweep back
into this territory, a victorious host. Not for long will it be in the
power of our foe!"

Every day Amiens expected the incursion of the Germans, but day followed
day and still the enemy did not come. Frank and Henri stayed in the
Martin house alone. The servants had gone; Madame Martin had respected
their fears of the Prussians, and had made other arrangements for them.
So the two scouts camped out there, and Henri invited many of the other
scouts to share their quarters in relays. The house was open, too, to
any refugees who cared to use it, but by this time the country to the
north that was in danger of German raids had been swept clear, and
Amiens was no longer a gathering place. It was in itself too much
exposed.

The smoke of burning villages rose now to the south, toward Paris. The
retreat was still on, it seemed. And while they waited patiently, since
there was nothing else to do, for the coming of the Germans, there was
much work for the Boy Scouts to do. It was routine work now, very
different from the exciting labors that had fallen to the share of
Frank and Henri on the day of their trip to Le Cateau. When Henri became
restless and impatient, as he sometimes did, Frank soothed him.

"We are still serving France," he said. "There are no more soldiers in
Amiens. There are a few police, and those are old men, since the young
gendarmes have gone to join their regiments. But Monsieur le Maire knows
that he can call upon us."

The military authorities, before completing the evacuatio