ing through a dark lane hemmed in
by warehouses. At the first opportunity, Dalroy extinguished the
lantern. Then he bethought him of his companion's appearance. He halted
suddenly ere they entered a lighted thoroughfare.

"I had better put on these clogs again," he said. "But what about you?
It will never do for a lady in smart attire to be seen walking through
the streets with a ruffian like me at one o'clock in the morning."

For answer, the girl took off her hat and tore away a cluster of roses
and a coquettish bow of ribbon. Then she discarded her jacket, which she
adjusted loosely across her shoulders.

"Now I ought to look raffish enough for anything," she said cheerfully.

Singularly enough, her confidence raised again in Dalroy's mind a
lurking doubt which the success thus far achieved had not wholly
stilled.

"My candid advice to you now, Miss Beresford, is that you leave me," he
said. "You will come to no harm in the main streets, and you speak
German so well that you should have little difficulty in reaching the
Dutch frontier. Once in Holland you can travel to Brussels by way of
Antwerp. I believe England has declared war against Germany. The
behaviour of Von Halwig and those other Prussians is most convincing on
that point. If so----"

"Does my presence imperil you, Captain Dalroy?" she broke in. She could
have said nothing more unwise, nothing so subtly calculated to stir a
man's pride.

"No," he answered shortly.

"Why, then, are you so anxious to get rid of me, after risking your life
to save me a few minutes ago?"

"I am going straight into Belgium. I deem it my duty. I may pick up
information of the utmost military value."

"Then I go into Belgium too, unless you positively refuse to be bothered
with my company. I simply must reach my sister without a moment of
unnecessary delay. And is it really sensible to stand here arguing, so
close to the station?"

They went on without another word. Dalroy was ruffled by the suggestion
that he might be seeking his own safety. Trust any woman to find the
joint in any man's armour when it suits her purpose.

Aix-la-Chapelle was more awake on that Wednesday morning at one o'clock
than on any ordinary day at the same hour in the afternoon. The streets
were alive with excited people, the taverns and smaller shops open, the
main avenues crammed with torrents of troops streaming westward.
Regimental bands struck up martial airs as column after column debo