order" for their arrest without the least suspicion that they
had slipped through the net in that very place.

Meanwhile these things were in the lap of the gods. For the moment, the
six people were free, and actually under German protection.

CHAPTER IX

AN EXPOSITION OF GERMAN METHODS

Three large and powerful automobiles stood at rest in the tiny square of
Argenteau. Nearly every little town in Belgium and France possesses its
_place_, the hub of social and business life, the centre where roads
converge and markets are held. In the roadway, near the cars, were
several officers, deep in conversation.

"Look," murmured Irene to Dalroy, "the high-shouldered, broadly-built
man, facing this way, is General von Emmich!"

By this time Dalroy was acquainted with the name of the German
commander-in-chief. He found a fleeting interest in watching him now,
while Joos and the others loitered irresolutely on the pavement outside
the improvised office of the _Kommandantur_.

Though the moon was high and clear, there was no other light, and the
diffused brilliance of the "orbed maiden, with white fire laden," is not
favourable to close observation. But Von Emmich's bearing and gestures
were significant. He put an abrupt end to the conclave by an emphatic
sweep of his right arm, and the larger number of his staff disposed
themselves in two of the cars, in which the chauffeurs and armed escorts
were already seated. They made off in the direction of Aix. It was easy
to guess their errand. More cannon, more cannon-fodder!

The generalissimo himself remained apart from the colonel and captain
who apparently formed his personal suite. He strode to and fro,
evidently in deep thought. Once he halted quite close to the little
company of peasants, and Dalroy believed he saw tears in his eyes, tears
instantly brushed away by an angry hand. Whatever the cause of this
emotion, the General quickly mastered a momentary weakness. Indeed, that
spasmodic yielding seemed to have braced his will to a fixed purpose,
because he walked to the waiting car, wrote something by the light of an
electric torch, and said to the younger of the staff officers, "Take
that to the field telegraph. It must have priority."

Somehow, Dalroy sensed the actual text of the message. Von Emmich was
making the humiliating admission that Liege, far from having fallen, as
he had announced during the first hours of the advance, was still an
immovable barrier