stantly; many a poor fellow endeavouring to escape from this unhappy
country has been electrocuted. But there are ways to avoid such
dangers, and here is one. Give a help, you, my friend Stuart, who are
the Hercules of the party."

A huge grating, which he endeavoured to lift, was a mere plaything in
the hands of the burly Englishman. It was a big grating above an open
sewer, and heavy enough to try the strength even of Stuart, yet it
yielded to the first tug he gave, and lifted upwards.

"Now, descend," said the Belgian, "there is a pit down here some twenty
feet in depth, and iron rungs in the wall. Descend, my friends; I
follow."

In a trice they were at the bottom of what felt like a deep, cold well,
and were standing in utter darkness listening to the sounds made by the
Belgian as he too entered and dropped the grid behind him. Then all
four stood listening for a while.

"Not a sound; no one has followed--that is good," giggled the Belgian,
for he was an amiable little fellow. "One has to be careful in these
day, messieurs; for there are spies throughout Belgium, and they know
well that there are people, like myself, patriots, my friends, who
carry on this traffic. But none have seen us, and therefore we are not
likely to be disturbed. Now, on, messieurs, and have no fear, for
there are no holes and gullies into which you can tumble, while, seeing
that it has been dry weather, there is no water in the sewer."

Feeling their way by stretching out their hands, and stumbling along in
the darkness, Henri following immediately after the Belgian, then
Jules, and last of all Stuart, the party traversed a long stretch of
the sewer, their fingers every second or so touching the brick walls on
either side, while occasionally their feet splashed through puddles.
Then the narrow path they trod swung to the left, and for a moment a
breath of cold air blew in upon them, and, glancing overhead, Henri
caught just a fleeting glimpse of stars far above, and of the iron bars
of a grid stretching between him and the sky.

"Now to the left, messieurs, and we descend. Listen, we are nearly
under the Dutch frontier, and overhead stretch those highly-charged
electric wires which have been erected by the Germans, and on which
many a poor fellow has been electrocuted. But even fear of
electrocution cannot keep the brave sons of Belgium from endeavouring
to leave this invaded country, and from joining those Belgian troops
no