ung Englishman, his mind wandering, said, "Is it you,
mother?" The German comprehended, and to maintain the illusion, caressed
his face with a mother's soft touch. The poor boy died shortly
afterwards and the German soldier, on getting to his feet, was seen
to be crying.

[Illustration]

_MEN TO THE RIGHT, WOMEN TO THE LEFT_

On Sunday, August 23rd, at half past six in the morning, the
soldiers of the 108th regiment of the line drove worshippers of the
Premonstratensian Church, separated the men from the women, and shot
about fifty of the former through the head. Between seven and nine
o'clock there was house to house looting and burning by soldiers who
chased the inhabitants into the street. Those who tried to escape were
shot off-hand.

At about nine o'clock the soldiers drove all who had been found in the
houses in front of them by means of blows from their rifle-butts. They
crowded them together in Place d'Armes, where they kept them until six
o'clock in the evening. Their guards amused themselves by telling the
men repeatedly that they would soon be shot.

At six o'clock a captain separated the men from the women and children.
The women were placed behind a line of infantry. The men had to stand
alongside a wall; those in the first row were told to sit on their
haunches, the others to remain standing behind them. A platoon took a
stand right opposite the group. The women prayed in vain for the mercy
of their husbands, their sons, and their brothers; the officer gave the
order to fire. He had not made the slightest investigation, pronounced
no sentence of any sort.

_Belgian Gov. Committee's Report._

[Illustration]

_A PITIFUL EXODUS_

In many groups were to be seen old, old people, grandfathers and
grandmothers of a family, and these in their shaking frailty and terror,
which they could not withstand, were the more pitiable objects in the
great gathering of stricken townsfolk. This pathetic clinging together
of the family was one of the most affecting sights I witnessed, and I
have not the slightest doubt that in the mad rush for refuge beyond the
borders of their native land many family groups of this sort completely
perished.

All day and throughout the night these pitiful scenes continued, and
when I went down to the quayside early Thursday, when the dawn was
throwing a wan light over this part of the world, I found again a great
host of citizens awaiting their chance of fligh