Women seldom err when they sum up the characteristics of the men of a race, and the women of every other civilised nation were united in their dislike of German men long before the first week in August, 1914. Irene Beresford had yet to peer into the foulest depths of Teutonic "degradation"; but she had sensed it as a latent menace, and found in its stark records only the fulfilment of her vague fears.
Dalroy read into her words much that she had left unsaid. "At best it's a terrible necessity," he replied; "at worst it's what we have seen and heard of during the past twenty-four hours. I shall never understand why a people which prided itself on being above all else intellectual should imagine that atrocity is a means toward conquest. Such a theory is so untrue historically that Germany might have learnt its folly."
Joos grew uneasy when his English friends spoke in their own language. The suspicious temperament of the peasant is always doubtful of things outside its comprehension. He would have been astounded if told they were discussing the ethics of warfare.
"Well, have you two settled where we're to go?" he demanded gruffly. "In my opinion, the Meuse is the best place for the lot of us."
"In with you, then," agreed Dalroy, "but hand over your money to madame before you take the dip. Léontine and Jan may need it later to start the mill running."
Maertz laughed. The joke appealed strongly.
Madame Joos turned on her husband. "How you do chatter, Henri!" she said. "We all owe our lives to this gentleman, yet you aren't satisfied. The Meuse indeed! What will you be saying next?"
"That's it, where the house is on fire," said the miller, pointing.
"I hear no shooting in that direction. Moreover, an army corps is passing through. Let us go there. Something may turn up. We shall be safer among thousands of Germans than here."
They walked on. The Englishman's air of decision was a tonic in itself.
The fire on the promontory was now at its height, but a curve in the river hid the fugitives from possible observation. Dalroy was confident as to two favourable factors--the men of the marching column would not search far along the way they had come, and their commander would recall them when the wood yielded no trace of its supposed occupants.