"I hope they will catch the Germans," said Kenneth. "One of them--it was the last comer, the man whose ring at the bell you heard--was Hellwig. I shall be particularly disgusted if he gets off."
"What led to the row? You weren’t rash enough to attack them?"
"No; but I wasn’t so careful as I ought to have been, I’m afraid. You see, hearing no knives and forks going, I thought they had finished their meal, and everything was cleared away, and didn’t expect any danger from the kitchen. As soon as I knew there was something preparing for Hellwig I backed, straight into the old woman with a tray. It was all up then, of course."
"You’ve had a lucky escape. But we have saved the bridge."
"One of the fellows dashed to an electric push," said Kenneth, smiling. "I was too busy to notice how he looked when the explosion he expected didn’t happen, but I’ve no doubt it was the surprise of his life."
"We’ll have a look round. I’ll give the old woman a soothing explanation, and borrow a lamp."
Their investigation added little to their knowledge. The luggage of the spies contained no papers bearing on espionage. But the wireless installation, carried up inside the chimney, was very powerful. The electrical apparatus for firing the mine was in perfect order.
"There is nothing amateurish about it," said Pariset. "This is spying reduced to a science."
It was some time before the lancers returned. They brought with them the man who had been wounded as he sprang through the window. The others had got away. The man who had fired at Kenneth was dead; his comrade, to whom he owed his death, Kenneth had wounded.
After consultation with the captain of lancers, it was decided to leave a dozen men to occupy the mill, pending the receipt of instructions from headquarters. Kenneth and Pariset begged a lodging for the night from the old miller, who was delighted at the success of their scheme, and lavishly hospitable.
Next morning the two friends flew into Charleroi. The town was seething with excitement. People were laughing and singing, cheering every soldier who passed along the street, congratulating each other on the good news. It had become known that the fierce German assaults of the previous day on Liége had been beaten back by the guns of the forts and the steady rifle fire of the men in the trenches, and that the Germans had asked for an armistice.