he road with a man. We scurried to the side of the road as soon as we
made them out. Then I decided to test the matter of our whereabouts and
stepped out to accost them.

"Have you a match?" I asked in German.

The man did not understand me!

We were in Holland--_and free_!

* * * * *

Little was heard from the Belgians themselves of the hardships and
suffering endured by them under the rule of the Germans. Occasionally,
however, an eye-witness from the outside was able to present some
aspects of the terrible picture. The narrative of such an eye-witness is
given in the following pages.

UNDER GERMAN RULE IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM

J. P. WHITAKER

[Sidenote: The German iron heel on Roubaix.]

Toward the end of March, 1915, a distinct change became noticeable in
the policy of the German military authorities, and for the first time
the people of Roubaix began to feel the iron heel. The allied
Governments had formally declared their intention of blockading Germany
and the German Army had been given a sharp lesson at Neuve Chapelle.
Whether these two events had anything to do with the change, or whether
it was merely a coincidence, I do not know; the fact remains that our
German governors who had hitherto treated us with tolerable leniency
chose about this time to initiate a regime of stringent regulation and
repression.

[Sidenote: Identification papers.]

The first sign of the new policy was the issue of posters calling on all
men, women, and children over the age of 14 to go to the Town Hall and
take out identification papers, while all men between 17 and 50 were
required also to obtain a control card.

Up to this time I had escaped any interference from the Germans, perhaps
because I scarcely ventured into the streets for the first two months of
the German occupation, and possibly also because, from a previous long
residence in Roubaix, I spoke French fluently. Strangely enough, though
I went to the Town Hall with the rest and supplied true particulars of
my age and nationality, papers were issued to me as a matter of course,
and never during the whole two years and more of my presence in their
midst did the enemy molest me in any way.

[Sidenote: Control cards for men of military age.]

The only incident which throws any light on this curious immunity
occurred about the middle of 1915. Like all other men of military age, I
was required to present myself once a month