the Hôtel 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 houses to
rest--but by the end of the week these civilities ceased.

Tales of the German atrocities began to creep in--stories of Liège and
Louvain were circulated from mouth to mouth, and doubtless lost nothing
by being repeated.

[Illustration: MAP OF BELGIUM]