“That’s only right,” agreed Alan, so the three of them rejoined Ned, where he sat at the wheel, and Bob Russell related his adventures as follows.
CHAPTER XVII
BOB RUSSELL’S STORY
“Shortly after international war was declared last July, the Herald decided that it needed a personal representative at the front, and I was selected for the job because I had been over here several times on pleasure trips before, knew the lie of the land pretty well and moreover could speak half a dozen languages. As you may guess, I was mighty proud of being honored by so responsible a position.
“Before leaving I called at the offices of the Universal Transportation Company to bid Ned and Alan good-bye, but found that they were visiting their families in Chicago, and so had to leave without seeing them.
“Following instructions, I landed first in England, where I interviewed both Lord Roberts, commander-in-chief of the British army, and Sir Edward Grey, the prime minister. At that time no one in London seemed to be much worried over the war and it was prophesied that the Kaiser would soon be treating for peace.
“Knowing the truly magnificent organization of the German military machine as I did, I didn’t think so, and really I don’t believe that gallant Lord Roberts did either, despite his remarks in our interview.
“I crossed the channel from Dover to Calais on August fifteenth, shortly after the fall of Liege and while sharp fighting was going on between the Germans and French in Alsace-Lorraine. Everything was in confusion. Train service was disrupted, the French army was only half mobilized yet, the Belgians, despite their wonderful resistance, were being crushed by the invading Germans on every hand, and the country people were fleeing in abject terror to get out of harm’s way.
“Contrary to expectations, I found that foreign war correspondents were not at all welcome and I was subjected to all sorts of petty annoyances from both civic and military officials. It was then that I began showing my neutral newspaper credentials less frequently, and tried wherever possible to pass myself off as a tourist unable to return home.
“The allied French, Belgian and English forces engaged the conquering German host all along a two hundred and forty-eight mile battle line on the Alsatian frontier about that time, and the Germans threw millions of men into Belgium, seeking a shortcut to already terrified Paris. There were wild rumors afloat that Brussels, the Belgium capital, would resist German occupation. This promised to be a big ‘story’ for my paper, so I hurried there with what haste I could.