Not only was Dinant itself being decimated, but in the Faubourg of
Leffe, through which they were now passing, the German soldiers, the
majority of them infantrymen wearing on their caps the green and white
cockade denoting that they were from Saxony, including also many from
Baden, were busy pillaging the houses, and in one spot an officer had
drawn up a number of terrified women and children, and was compelling
them to cry "_Vive l'Allemagne_!" Each house, after being sacked, was
systematically burned down.
In safety they passed through all the terrors which filled the little
place, yet in fear each moment of detection. But the soldiers and
officers seemed so intent upon their fell work of wanton destruction
that, happily, no notice was taken of the fugitives. At last they
gained the high road which, following the bold of the Meuse, ran in the
direction of Namur. Ten miles or so beyond lay the German front, and
that would have to be passed, if they were to escape with their lives.
On the road were many German soldiers, and passing them constantly were
rumbling guns, ammunition-wagons, and motor-cars containing
staff-officers.
Aimee knew the roads in the vicinity well, and in a whisper suggested
that they should turn off into a narrow lane on the right. She knew of
a path which led through the wood to a village called Assesse, she said.
"Assesse!" echoed her lover. "You know the way, darling! _Bien_, it is
near that place we must get. Close by there I hid my Belgian uniform,
and dressed in these clothes--clothes I took from a Bavarian shot by us
while on outpost duty."
They turned into the lane, where they found themselves alone.
"I think," the girl said, "that it would be best if we did not walk
together. We might be suspected. I will go ahead, and you follow me.
It is nearly five miles, but when we enter the wood the path is quite
straight, through two other woods and over a brook--until we reach the
village."
"Very well, dearest," he said, reluctantly obliged to admit that her
advice was sound. He would certainly stand a better chance of escape
alone, now they were in the open country over which the Germans were
swarming, than if they were together. Yet neither could disguise from
themselves the fact that their lives now hung by a single thread.
Should any soldier they met accost Edmond, then he would certainly be
betrayed, and death would, most assuredly, be their lot.
Having parted, however, the girl, dusty, dishevelled, and hatless, went
forward, he following her at a short distance, in fear lest she might
fall into the hands of one of the Prussian brutes.
At last, however, they came to the wood, but both noticed that, near by,
were half a dozen Uhlans drawn up on outpost duty. They quickly caught
sight of the girl, but regarded her as harmless, and then, when Edmond
came swinging along, they allowed him also to pass, believing him to be
one of their comrades-in-arms.
Within the wood they were practically safe, and had hurried forward a
couple of miles, when Aimee suddenly heard voices and loud laughter
ahead. A number of Uhlans were riding in single file up the path in
their direction, therefore, in an instant she dashed away into the
undergrowth until they had passed, an example followed by Edmond.
Then, when the enemy had gone, they once more went forward again, but
full of caution lest they should be taken by surprise.
Those five miles were the longest either of them had ever covered, for
every yard was full of breathless terror. They knew not where, an
outpost might be lurking, for they were gradually approaching the
Belgian front.
It was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon when, on emerging from the
wood into the hot sunshine again, they found themselves above a tiny
whitewashed village, with slated roofs and thin church spire--the
village of Assesse.
This place they carefully avoided lest it should be occupied by the
enemy, but approaching a field not far away, Edmond said:
"See yonder! darling, that old black shed. In there, my uniform is
hidden beneath some straw. Until night comes on I dare not change."
"Then let us hide in the shed till night," she suggested. "You can
change after dark, and we can then go forward."
He sighed. The situation was, he knew, critical. "You know the risk we
shall run, darling. Are you really prepared for it?"
"I will face any danger at your side, Edmond. You have saved my life
to-day, remember, and at imminent risk of your own."
"Because I love you, my own darling," was his quick response. "I have
thought only of you, and of you alone. I must save you, and God will
surely assist me in so doing."
"Yes. We are in His hands," she declared fervently. "Let us go over
yonder, and hide till it grows dark."
"But you must be hungry," he suggested.
"No, Edmond," she laughed. "Don't think of me--think of yourself, of
your own safety."
So they crept forward, unobserved, until they reached the shed--a mere
shelter for cows. In one corner of the dirty place lay a great heap of
mouldering straw, and Edmond, having worked away until he had made a
hole large enough to admit them both, they both crept in and lightly
covered themselves.
And then, as she found herself in his strong arms, she felt his fond
kisses raining upon her brow, fierce, passionate caresses, that told her
plainly how deep and how sacred was his great love for her--how strong
was his affection and devotion.
For seven long hours they remained there, conversing in whispers, he
recounting to her the various engagements in which he had been since the
outbreak of the war.
He explained to her, too, how by reason of a law-case brought to him by
a client, his suspicions had, two years before, been aroused that Arnaud
Rigaux, the great Brussels financier, was a secret agent of the German
Government. For months he had watched closely until, only a fortnight
before the war, Rigaux's suspicions had been aroused that he was being
watched. The spy feared him--feared lest he should go to the Minister
of War and disclose his suspicions. This course, however, Edmond had
hesitated to take.
"Why?" asked Aimee. "Was it not your duty to tell the truth?"
"It was my duty, I admit. But had I done so, you, dearest, not knowing
the true facts, would have believed me guilty of trying to remove my
rival by an underhand method. I should have lost your esteem.
Therefore I preferred to wait until I could strike an effective blow,
and still, at the same time, reveal to you that I had just cause for so
doing."
"Your just cause was revealed to-day, Edmond," she said. "You have
avenged our country, which that mean, despicable spy sought to undermine
and destroy, and at the same time, dear, you saved me."
"I had no idea that the scoundrel was in Dinant, watching the wanton
work of his Prussian friends. He hated Belgium, and all Belgians, and
so he went, I suppose, to witness a scene of destruction unparalleled in
modern history.
"Last night, after we had been driven back over the hills, I resolved at
all hazards to return to you; therefore, as I have explained, I took the
clothes from a dead Bavarian and succeeded in passing the German
outposts just before the dawn. It was an exciting journey back to
Dinant, I can assure you," and he smiled grimly.
"Ah! It must have been. And you risked your life--you are risking it
now--in order to save me," she said.
Slowly the light faded and a ray of red sunset, shining in at the
doorway of the shed, lit up the place with crimson light.
Suddenly they heard sounds of voices. They both held their breath.
Aimee, who knew German, heard one of the men exclaim, as they
approached:
"This would, I think, be a snug place in which to spend the night,
Karl."
Her heart beat quickly. She could hear it thumping.
The man's companion muttered some response gruffly, and they both
entered with heavy tramp. She could see that they were tall,
broad-shouldered Uhlans, in grey braided tunics, jack boots, and
helmets.
They looked around for a few seconds, whereupon the gruff-voiced man
exclaimed in disgust:
"No. It's too dirty. Let us get further along. We shall surely find a
better place than that."
And then they strode out, remounted their horses and rode away.
The pair in hiding drew long breaths of relief. That had, surely, been
a narrow escape.
When it had grown quite dark and the rats began to scamper, Edmond,
foraging about, discovered his torn worn-out Belgian uniform, and
quickly exchanged his Bavarian dress for his own clothes. Then he
having carefully stolen out and reconnoitred, they both crept away
across the fields to where the trees of a plantation showed like a
black, jagged line against the night sky.
In his Belgian uniform Edmond Valentin was now in even greater danger
than before, for at any moment they might be challenged, when he would,
assuredly, be shot.
But, keeping closely in the shadows, they went on until they gained the
plantation. The night was close and oppressive. In the distance, every
now and then could be heard the thunder of guns, while in the sky before
them, the long straight beams of the searchlights, sweeping backwards
and forwards, showed the direction of the Belgian front, now that they
had retired from the Meuse.
"I left the regiment about three miles from the edge of this wood,"
Edmond whispered. "They were yonder, where that second searchlight is
showing. But probably they have retired farther, towards Namur, or our
outposts would certainly have been here. We must have a care, and avoid
the German sentries."
Then they crept forward and entered the dark, silent plantation. There
was not a breath of wind; not a leaf stirred, hence their footsteps
sounded loudly as they stole forward, holding their breath, and halting
every now and then to listen.
Once they heard voices--men speaking in German and laughing. Even the
scent of tobacco reached their nostrils. They halted, drew back and
waited, so escaping detection.
That was truly a weird and exciting night adventure, for they were now
very near the German outposts. They could see the twinkling lights of
camp-fires upon a hill-side on their right, and once the far-off sound
of a bugle fell upon their ears.
Presently they emerged from the plantation, and Edmond, having paused
for a few moments to take his bearings, struck off down a narrow lane,
where the trees overhung until their branches met above. For nearly a
mile further they went along, leaving the roadway whenever they heard
the tramp of soldiers approaching, and once very narrowly running right
into the arms of a German sentry, who was standing hidden in the shadow
of a haystack. It was only by drawing up suddenly, bending behind a
bush, and waiting through some ten minutes of breathless agony, that
they were able to extricate themselves from a very tight corner.
And at last, when they were aide to creep forward unseen, they again
found themselves almost beneath the hoofs of a cavalry patrol, riding
along across some open pasture-land.
When that further danger had passed, Edmond whispered to his beloved:
"We have, I believe, passed the German outposts now, dearest. Yet we
must be very careful. We may not have got quite through yet. Come, we
will cross that low hill yonder. No, the valley, perhaps, will be
best," he added. "I see there's a farmhouse on the hill. The Uhlans
may be there--in quarters for the night. We must avoid that."
So they descended over the grass land, where the country dipped towards
the low ridge of hills, beyond which lay the Belgians on the defensive.
A few moments later they found themselves in a field of standing corn
which had, alas! been sadly trampled by the enemy, and still crept along
in the shadow of a high bank. On their right ran a shallow brook,
rippling musically over the stones, one of those many trout streams, the
undisturbed haunt of the heron, with which the picturesque Ardennes
abound.
All was quiet, and nobody appeared to be in the vicinity. Yet Edmond
knew that the whole of the enemy's lines must be so well patrolled that
it would be most difficult for them to escape across to the Belgians
with their lives.
The German sentry system is as near perfect as the military brain can
render it. Not a cat could slip by the German lines, now that they were
advancing to the conquest.
Still he had come through on the previous night, and he was bent, for
the sake of Aimee, upon getting her back safely. Of a sudden, a voice
sounded a short distance away--a loud gruff expression in German.
The pair drew up and waited, holding their breath.
Straight before them the long, bright beam of a searchlight was slowly
sweeping the sky, searching for German aeroplanes.
The men were against a line of bushes.
"Be careful, Edmond!" whispered the girl. "They are coming this way."
But they were not, for they could see that the dark figures silhouetted
against the night sky were receding.
Straight before them was another dark copse, which led up the side of
the low hill.
When the Germans had gone, Aimee and her lover crept forward
noiselessly, making their way to the cover afforded by the copse which,
Edmond had concluded, lay between the opposing lines.
They had, however, not gone more than a hundred yards when a German
sentry sprang suddenly forth from the shadow, with fixed bayonet, and
uttered a loud, gruff challenge in German:
"Halt! Who goes there?"
Aimee, startled, drew back in terror, clinging to her lover's arm. But
only for a second. Then she drew herself up again, and stood motionless
at his side.
"Who goes there?" again demanded the sentry, in a tone of quick
suspicion. "Come forward," he commanded in an imperious voice. "Who
are you?" Neither spoke. In their ignorance they were walking right
into the enemy's camp! They were entrapped!