CHAPTER XIII
THE CIVIC GUARDS
That this was no mistaken guess they soon learned. Half a mile of fastwalking brought them to a small village, and there they met a stream ofpanic-stricken refugees, fleeing from their own burning homes a littlefurther on. The people of the village swarmed about the newcomers,exclaiming in horror and anger at their stories. Paul and Arthurlistened.
German cavalry, it seemed, had ridden in early that morning, and postednotices, in German, French and the Walloon dialect that many of thepeasantry still used. These notices warned all the people that theGerman army had occupied the town or village, and that no act ofviolence against the invaders must be committed. All arms, it read,were to be surrendered, and certain rules about keeping lights in everywindow and having all doors unlocked must be strictly obeyed.
If obedience were given, said the Germans, no harm would be done to theoccupied places or any of their citizens.
"Then they rode away," a woman was saying. "And presently footsoldiers came in their places. And--a shot was fired. It struck anofficer. Then they went into the house where the man who fired theshot had been, and they brought out every man they found in it, andkilled them right before all of us, before they set the house on fire.And they set other houses on fire, too, where they said they found gunsand pistols! They said we were murderers! Is it murder to defendoneself in time of war? My man is with the army! Is he a murderer?"
Arthur was panting with anger as he listened. Paul, seeing this, drewhim aside.
"I suppose you think she's right, don't you, Arthur?" he asked, quietly.
"Of course! If you were in your home and you saw German soldierscoming, wouldn't you shoot as many as you could?"
"Perhaps. But I'd expect them to take me out and shoot me, when theycaught me, and burn my house. I wouldn't call them brutes andbarbarians for doing it."
"But why? Isn't it war to attack the enemy?"
"Yes, if soldiers do it. Soldiers ought to fight soldiers. If womenand men who aren't in uniform fight, they must expect to be attackedthemselves. Listen, Arthur! If our soldiers were in Germany they'dhave to do just what the Germans are doing here, to protect themselves.They'd have to frighten the people into playing fair, if it couldn't bedone any other way. It isn't fair to hide and shoot a man who isn'texpecting it, is it? At any rate, those are the laws of war. Franceand Belgium have agreed to them, and bound themselves by them, just asthe Germans have done. So we can't complain if the Germans stick tothe rules. Don't do anything foolish now. The Germans may be here anyminute, if they're as close to us as these people say."
"I'll do whatever you say, Paul," Arthur agreed, finally. "But itdoesn't seem sensible to me."
"It is sensible and right, believe me," said Paul, earnestly. "And Ithink we'll stay here, Arthur, for a little while, anyway. I believethere'll be a chance for us to do some good work here. If we can keepthese poor people from acting so that the Germans will destroy theirvillage it will be a good thing, won't it?"
"Ye--es, I suppose so. Yes, I can see that, Paul. Even if I thinkit's all wrong, I can see that the Germans are too strong. They can dowhatever they like, whether it's right or not."
"That's one way to look at it," said Paul. "That's one of the things Ihope to try to make them understand--that they'd better submit toinjustice than lose their homes. Might makes right, though the Germanshave a good excuse for acting in the way they do."
"Still I don't see what good we can expect to do, Paul. These peoplehere don't know us, and I don't believe they'll pay any attention toanything we say," deep doubt written on his face.
"I think perhaps they will, Arthur. You see, we're in uniform and I'mhoping that they don't know anything about the Boy Scouts here. Theymay think our uniform means that we're connected with the army in somefashion, and respect it."
"I didn't think of that! I say, that would be rather good fun,wouldn't it?"
"Look!" said Paul, suddenly. "That's just what I was afraid of!"
A dozen men, in ill assorted and badly fitting uniforms, were comingfrom the inn that was the dominating feature, aside from the inevitableparish church, of the village.
"They belong to the civic guard," said Paul. "I'm afraid they aregoing to try to resist the Germans. Look at those guns!"
"They're the old-fashioned ones they used in the army years ago, aren'tthey, Paul?"
"Yes, and they'd be about as much good against the new German rifles asso many pea-shooters!"
The sight of the patchwork uniforms, worn by armed men, seemed to be amagnet for the panic-stricken inhabitants of the village. So far thepeople had been far too busy with their fears and their eagerness tosave themselves to pay any attention to the two scouts, and so Paul andArthur were able to attach themselves to the crowd and follow the civicguardsmen without exciting too much attention. There were curiousglances at their uniforms, but Paul was well pleased by this. Hewanted the people to notice their khaki suits, and he was glad thatthey seemed to be rather mystified.
The leader of the guardsmen was a big, burly man, by trade a butcher.Under his direction his men and a host of volunteer helpers proceededto erect a barricade across the road by which, it seemed, the Germansmust enter the village if they came. Old furniture, broken downwagons, mattresses--anything that came to hand was used in building thebarricade. Then it was covered in front with branches of trees andbushes.
"There!" said the big butcher, when it was done to his satisfaction."Now we can take up our place behind that--and God help the Germanpigs! Jean, do you and Marcel go up in the windows of Boerman's house,there, and make holes in the shutters to shoot through. If they driveus from this barricade we will take to the houses and the roofs, and dowhat we can from there."
A cheer greeted his speech.
"Now we shall be safe!" said one woman. "Ah, if they had had one likeRaymond the butcher to show them how to fight, those poor people wouldnot have been driven from their homes! He is a man!"
"I think so, too, Paul!" whispered Arthur. "It's something to make afight like this, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is something," said Paul. "It's suicide, that's what it is!How long can they stand against the Germans? They will throw their ownlives away and they won't save the village. Instead, they will simplymake it certain that it will be destroyed. The Germans won't fightthem on even terms. If they find that the place is to defended they'llbring a couple of guns into action! and shell the place. In fiveminutes every house will be on fire, and they will shoot down the menas they try to run from the flames. Wait! I'm going to see what I cando!"
Arthur did not seem to be convinced. But when Paul ran forward andstood before the crowd by the barricade, Arthur was by his side. Hewas like a good soldier, obeying his superior officer, as he felt Paulwas, even though he neither understood nor approved the orders hereceived.
Now, indeed, the khaki uniforms of the scouts attracted their share ofattention. There was a murmur of surprise; one or two lads laughedaloud. But the chief emotion of the crowd was one of curiosity. AsPaul walked up to the big self-satisfied butcher, the noise behind thebarricade died away.
"Are you the leader here?" asked Paul.
"Yes--chosen by the Garde Civique of the village of Hannay, in thistime of danger!" announced the butcher, swelling up with pride.
"Then it is your duty to save the people entrusted to your care byordering them to go to their homes and to stay there quietly if theGermans come," said Paul. "Also to call upon your guards and allothers in the village to give up their arms and on no account to fire ashot against the Germans if they come."
"Eh?" said the astonished Raymond. "Is that the way to save thevillage from the Germans?"
"Is it not better to give in to them and know that no one will be hurtthan to make it necessary for them to fire with their cannon? As foryour men, they can do nothing here. If they want to serve theirvillage and their country, let them enlist in the ar
my."
"Eh?" said Raymond again. He was half angry and wholly puzzled. Pauldid not defer to him at all; he spoke aggressively, and as if he wereentirely sure of himself and of what he was saying. "Who are you, thatyou come here giving orders?"
"I'm giving no orders," said Paul. "I am only telling you what thegovernment wishes. The Germans do not recognize the Garde Civique assoldiers at all. They are treated as spies, or as outlaws. Any manwho bears arms against the Germans, or shoots at any German, will beshot as soon as he is caught."
Paul spoke purposely in a loud tone. He saw that his words were makingan impression, not so much on Raymond as on some of the others.
"They won't make prisoners of war of you, you see," he said. "Thosewho aren't killed by the shells will be caught, and then they will beshot or hung. They won't be sent back to Germany, to be safe andsound, with plenty of food and a good place to sleep. They will betreated just like men who kill other men in time of peace, except thatthey won't have a trial."
"What of it?" asked Raymond, who was beginning to realize that thissort of talk was bad for his authority. "We can only die once for theFatherland! Isn't that so?"
"Then die so that it will be of service for you to die!" said Paul."Tear down your barricade. Give up your arms. And then let those ofyou who want to fight go to Huy and enlist. There will be plenty offighting for you then, and if you are captured you will be treated likesoldiers, and not like murderers and robbers. If you were not patriotsyou would not be willing to do this. Then why not do what will beuseful?"
For a moment there was silence. Raymond stood still, his mouth open,staring at the two scouts. And then there came sudden aid for Paul.From behind the barricade a small, determined looking woman appeared.She marched straight up to Raymond.
"Give me that gun!" she said.
There was a titter and in a moment it had spread until it became a roarof laughter. Raymond the blusterer, wholly unnerved by the suddenappearance of his small wife, surrendered at once, and withoutconditions.
"Be off, the rest of you!" she said. "I daresay the young gentleman isquite right! As if you could fight against the Germans here!"
Raymond's wife had given the rest a cue. In a few moments thebarricade was being dismantled. In five minutes peace reigned. AndRaymond, entirely subdued now, came to Paul.
"Need we give up our arms?" he asked.
"You know what the Germans order," said Paul. "Perhaps they have noright to do so, but they have the strength to enforce their orders, andthat is what counts, after all. Believe me, I would like to fight.But when there is no chance of winning, the wise soldier saves himselffor a day when things will be more even. Look, there are the Germanscoming now!"
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