st finish the harvest
alone--but--" "Fall in!" cried the voice of the Burgomeister, and
Father Van Hove kissed his wife and children and stepped forward.

Mother Van Hove bravely checked her rising sobs. "We shall go with you
to Malines, at any rate," she said firmly. And as the little group of
men started forward along the yellow road, she and many more women and
children of the village marched, away with them in the gray twilight
which precedes the coming of the dawn. The priest went with his people,
praying for them as he walked, in a voice that shook with feeling.

The sky was red in the east and the larks were already singing over the
quiet fields when the men of Meer, followed by their wives and
children, presented themselves at the Brussels gate of the city.

IV

"FOR KING, FOR LAW AND LIBERTY"

At the gate they were met by an officer, who at once took command of
the company. There was only a moment for hasty good-byes before the
order to march was given, and the women and children watched the little
column stride bravely away up the street toward the armory, where the
uniforms and arms were kept. They followed at a little distance and
took up their station across the street from the great doors through
which the men had disappeared. There was little talking among them.
Only the voice of the priest could be heard now and then, as he said a
few words to one and another of the waiting women. It was still so
early in the morning that the streets of the city were not yet filled
with people going to work. Only those, like themselves, concerned with
the sad business of war were abroad.

To Jan and Marie the long wait seemed endless, but at last the doors of
the armory sprang open; there was a burst of martial music, and a band
playing the national hymn appeared. "For King, for law and liberty!"
thrilled the bugles, and amidst the waving of flags, and the cheers of
the people, who had now begun to fill the streets, a regiment of
soldiers marched away toward the north. Jan and Marie stood with their
mother on the edge of the sidewalk, eagerly scanning every face as the
soldiers passed, and at last Jan shouted, "I see Father! I see Father!"

Mother Van Hove lifted her two children high in her arms for him to
see, but Father Van Hove could only smile a brave good-bye as he
marched swiftly past.

"No tears, my children!" cried the priest; "let them see no tears! Send
them away with a smile!" And, standing on th