When night fell Joos could not be kept in. It was understood that the _Kommandantur_ had ordered all inhabitants to remain indoors after nine o'clock, so the old man had hardly an hour at his disposal for what he called a _petit tour_. But he was not long absent. He had encountered a friend, a curé whose church near Aubel had been blown to atoms by German artillery during a frontier fight on the Monday afternoon.
This gentleman, a venerable ecclesiastic, discovered Dalroy's nationality after five minutes' chat. He had in his possession a copy of a proclamation issued by Von Emmich. It began: "I regret very much to find that German troops are compelled to cross the frontier of Belgium. They are constrained to do so by sheer necessity, the neutrality of Belgium having already been violated by French officers, who, in disguise, have passed through Belgian territory in an automobile in order to penetrate Germany."
The curé, whose name was Garnier, laughed sarcastically at the childishness of the pretext put forward by the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Meuse. "Was war waged for such a flimsy reason ever before in the history of the world?" he said. "What fire-eaters these 'disguised' French officers must have been! Imagine the hardihood of the braves who would 'penetrate' mighty Germany in one automobile! This silly lie bears the date of 4th August, yet my beloved church was then in ruins, and a large part of the village in flames!"
"Verviers seems to have escaped punishment. How do you account for it?" inquired Dalroy.
"It seems to be a deliberate policy on the part of the Germans to spare one town and destroy another. Both serve as examples, the one as typical of the excellent treatment meted out to those communities which welcome the invaders, the other as a warning of the fate attending resistance. Both instances are absolutely untrue. Every burgomaster in Belgium has issued notices calling on non-combatants to avoid hostile acts, and Verviers is exactly on a par with the other unfortified towns in this part of the country. The truth is, monsieur, that the Germans are furious because of the delay our gallant soldiers have imposed on them. It is bearing fruit too. I hear that England has already landed an army at Ostend."