inhabitants. Any attack on German troops will be sternly punished. If
the inhabitants of Amiens behave in a peaceable and orderly fashion they
will not be harmed. Payment will be made for any private property
required by our forces. A brigade of infantry will march in this
afternoon. Quarters must be found for the troops, numbering nearly eight
thousand men. You will be informed later of the requisition the town
will be required to fill, in money and in supplies. For the present you
are required to clear this square, where my men will remain."

The mayor bowed.

"My orders are to make no resistance," he said. "I bow to the
inevitable, regretting that we are not permitted to defend ourselves to
the death. Amiens will keep its faith. No attack will be made, since
that would mean treachery. I will order the gendarmes and the Boy Scouts
to clear the square."

Frank and Henri were of great assistance in doing this work, Frank
taking the lead, since no patrol leader happened to be in evidence.
They and the police soon drove the people back, and the Uhlans
dismounted. There, in the public square, used as a market place, they
proceeded to cook a meal, making a fire in the street. From the sides of
the square the people watched them sullenly. But there was no
demonstration, since both the police and the scouts had explained that
anything of the sort was likely to mean the execution of the mayor, who
was within the power of the enemy.

As soon as the public curiosity to see the hated invaders had been
somewhat satisfied, the people were urged to go to their homes, and by
mid afternoon the streets were deserted. Then began the entrance of the
real force of occupation. At the head rode a general of brigade, a
sombre, stern-eyed man, accompanied by his staff. And behind him marched
thousands of green-gray German infantry keeping step with a marvelous
precision. These men had been fighting hard, but they looked fresh and
trim. And as they marched they sang, raising their deep voices in a
splendid, thrilling chorus.

_Fly, Eagle, Fly_, they sang as they marched into town. And then they
gave way to the magnificent hymn of Martin Luther, the battle song of
the Protestant nations in the Thirty Years' War, the battle song of
Prussia ever since that time, _A Mighty Fortress Is Our God!_

Henri watched them as they marched by, tears in his eyes. Finally he
could suppress the thought no longer, and he turned to Frank with:

"They ha