ed for a private hospital outside the barriers.
It was a work of time to get the last two to their destinations; the
Germans had begun to come in by that time, and we had to wait two hours
to cross a certain street that led to the hospital, as all traffic had
been stopped while the enemy entered Brussels.

It was an imposing sight to watch the German troops ride in. The
citizens of Brussels behaved magnificently, but what a bitter
humiliation for them to undergo. How should we have borne it, I wonder,
if it had been London? The streets were crowded, but there was hardly a
sound to be heard, and the Germans took possession of Brussels in
silence. First the Uhlans rode in, then other cavalry, then the
artillery and infantry. The latter were dog-weary, dusty and
travel-stained--they had evidently done some forced marching. When the
order was given to halt for a few minutes, many of them lay down in the
street just as they were, resting against their packs, some too
exhausted to eat, others eating sausages out of little paper bags
(which, curiously enough, bore the name of a Dutch shop printed on the
outside) washed down with draughts of beer which many of the inhabitants
of Brussels, out of pity for their weary state, brought them from the
little drinking-houses that line the Chaussee du Nord.

The rear was brought up by Red Cross wagons and forage carts,
commissariat wagons, and all the miscellaneous kit of an army on the
march. It took thirty-six hours altogether for the army to march in and
take possession. They installed themselves in the Palais de Justice and
the Hotel de Ville, having requisitioned beds, food and everything that
they wanted from the various hotels. Poor Madame of the Hotel X. wept
and wrung her hands over the loss of her beautiful beds. Alas, poor
Madame! The next day her husband was shot as a spy, and she cared no
longer about the beds.

In the meantime, just as it got dark, I installed my last two nurses in
the little ambulance out beyond the barriers.

II

CHARLEROI AND ROUND ABOUT

The Germans had asked for three days to pass through the city of
Brussels; a week had passed and they showed no signs of going. The first
few days more and more German soldiers poured in--dirty, footsore, and
for the most part utterly worn out. At first the people of Brussels
treated them with almost unnecessary kindness--buying them cake and
chocolate, treating them to beer, and inviting them into their