ound herself in a situation little short of
desperate. She must do something, and that quickly--something to smash
these enemies. Already she had brought Turkey into the conflict on her
side, and now she burst her way through Serbia with the aid of the
treacherous Bulgarians. Yet it profited her nothing. For the real
conflict and the real issue lay on the Western Front, where that line
stretched through France and Belgium. It was there, and nowhere else,
that the _coup de grace_ would be given to either of the combatants;
and, clinging to the old idea as a drowning man clings to a straw--the
idea of defeating their enemies in detail--the Kaiser and his Staff
once more set to work to prepare a blow which should crush the French
offensive and defensive, and break for themselves a way to Paris.
Their eyes were fastened on Verdun, that point from which the long
French line had pivoted during the great retreat at the commencement of
the war, where grizzly cement forts circled the old town, a place
famous for its strength, upon which the eyes of the world were likely
to be attracted.

We have no space at this moment to tell of the many reasons for
choosing Verdun for an attack--for doubtless there were many--yet the
mention of one alone will be sufficient. The place was considered
impregnable; its forts and guns had given to it a sinister reputation.
Let German armies burst their way over the French lines at Verdun, and
capture the ancient city and the fortresses, and the world would be
impressed. Neutrals, although irritated by German frightfulness and
overbearing action, on hearing of Verdun would shiver and cease to
obstruct the Teuton. Let Roumania, tottering on the brink of war, but
get the tidings, and she would no longer think of joining Britain and
her allies. Add to these considerations the strategical value of a
break of the French line at any point, with prisoners captured, and a
huge wedge thrown into the gap, which would widen out so that the road
to the sea would be barred no longer, and one sees sufficient reason
for this new German plan which aimed at Verdun.

Even as Henri and Jules and the hefty Stuart tripped their way from the
siding in Louvain, to which they had dropped from the truck which had
brought them from the heart of Germany, the Kaiser's generals were in
council before Verdun. Trains were hurrying troops in that direction,
while under shelter of the trees--for the neighbourhood is gene