“Well, since we’ve come all the way from Rotterdam by sea and found the going good, what’s to hinder our looking up a boat starting that would carry us to Calais, Dunkirk or Boulogne? It strikes me that if we did manage to land at one of those seaports we’d stand a much better chance of getting through to Paris over the railroad than by coming down here from Belgium.”
“A bright thought, Allan,” admitted Thad, “so let’s climb aboard our rig and scurry back to the docks again, to inquire about the departure of southbound steamers.”
They were speedily hastening back to the river, where those bustling scenes were hourly taking place, for even at this early date every boat leaving for London was packed to its capacity with fugitive tourists trying to get out of the war-stricken country.
Upon inquiry the boys found that they were up against a disappointment. A boat had left only an hour before for Boulogne; indeed, they remembered seeing it passing down the Schelde as they neared the docks. There would not be another bound for a port in France for three days, as most of the vessels were being impressed into the cross channel service just then, heading for England.
Realizing that there was no help for it, Thad suggested that they give up the scheme of going by sea. That long delay was terrible to even think of, and Bumpus could never stand idling his time away when he wanted so much to be on the move.
It was thereupon decided that they seek the railway gare and board the first train that left for Paris. Of course this meant they would have to take great risks, for it could be understood that there was no telling what delays they were likely to face. Still, they had no choice in the matter, unless they chose to cross to London and take chances of being able to reach France in that roundabout way.
Shortly afterward they drove up to the railway gare and dismissed their driver. Here, as everywhere, they found things in the utmost confusion. Every uniformed man was being besieged by a score of wild-eyed persons all wanting to know how soon their train would start, and if there was any hope that it might reach the destination for which it was billed. They had the poor servants of the company almost frantic with trying to pacify them and be civil at the same time.
Thad went about the business in his customary cool, deliberate fashion. First, he learned that a train would actually start for Paris within the hour, though the official who gave him this information merely shrugged his shoulders in an eloquent way when asked whether there was any chance of its reaching the French capital.
Next Thad booked himself and three chums for the journey. They would have to share the third-class compartment with a number of other fugitives, all wild to shake the dust of Belgium off their shoes before those terrible Germans overran the whole country. This, however, did not bother the boys, for they were accustomed to camping out and taking things as they found them. A little crowding was to be expected under such remarkable conditions as prevailed at such a time as this. All of them said they could stand it if the other people were able to endure the crush.
When, later on, the signal was given for the heavily laden train to start, there were numerous persons who had not been able to find accommodations aboard. This came through the ever-growing desire to get away from the city which undoubtedly sooner or later would hear the crashing detonations of the monster mortars that had already smashed the steel-domed defenses of Liege and Namur.