German commander trying to work him for a few sacks of flour! When
I asked him what career he had chosen he said, "Business!" without
any waste of words. I think that he will succeed in a way to surprise
his family. It is he and all those young Americans of whom he is a
type, as distinctive of America in manner, looks, and thought as a
Frenchman is of France or a German of Germany, who carried the
torch of Peace's kindly work into war-ridden Belgium. They made you
want to tickle the eagle on the throat so he would let out a gentle,
well-modulated scream; of course, strictly in keeping with neutrality.

Red lanterns took the place of red flags swung by Landsturm sentries
on the run to Brussels as darkness fell. There was no relaxation of
watchfulness at night.

All the twenty-four hours the systematic conquerors held the net tight.
Once when my companion repeated his "Again!" and held out the
pass in the lantern's rays, I broke into a laugh, which excited his
curiosity, for you soon get out of the habit of laughing in Belgium.

"It has just occurred to me that my guidebook states that passports
are not required in Belgium!" I explained.

The editor of that guidebook will have a busy time before he issues
the next edition. For example, he will have a lot of new information
about Malines, whose ruins were revealed by the motor-lamps in
shadowy broken walls on either side of the main street. Other places
where less damage had been done were equally silent. In the smaller
towns and villages the population must keep indoors at night; for
egress and ingress are more difficult to control there than in large
cities, where guards at every corner suffice--watching, watching,