"We had heard already of that," he said. "Only of the burning of the ships, not of how it was done. You have done well for France, mes braves! Wait! You shall not find France ungrateful. I go to Paris from here, to make reports. I shall make one concerning you, to those in authority. And—who knows?"
He pinched their ears, that gesture loved of French soldiers since the days of the great Napoleon, of whom his officers said that when he pinched their ears he conferred an honor they valued more highly than the cross of the Legion d'Honneur.
After the departure of the last officers of the staff, Amiens took on a new aspect. The thunder of guns, even the rolling of rifle fire, was plainly to be heard now in the streets. In the distance—and not a great distance, either—the smoke of a dozen burning villages was to be seen to the north and east. It was so that the Germans marked their advance, steady, relentless. Henri exclaimed in fury at the sight.
"These barbarians of Germans!" he cried. "Burn and kill—and not soldiers alone!"
"It tears my heart-strings to see all this wanton destruction indulged in by the foe," said Frank. "What then must be the feelings of the French as they watch their villages being so ruthlessly burned! But some day, somehow, Henri, our chance will come and the French will sweep back into this territory, a victorious host. Not for long will it be in the power of our foe!"
Every day Amiens expected the incursion of the Germans, but day followed day and still the enemy did not come. Frank and Henri stayed in the Martin house alone. The servants had gone; Madame Martin had respected their fears of the Prussians, and had made other arrangements for them. So the two scouts camped out there, and Henri invited many of the other scouts to share their quarters in relays. The house was open, too, to any refugees who cared to use it, but by this time the country to the north that was in danger of German raids had been swept clear, and Amiens was no longer a gathering place. It was in itself too much exposed.
The smoke of burning villages rose now to the south, toward Paris. The retreat was still on, it seemed. And while they waited patiently, since there was nothing else to do, for the coming of the Germans, there was much work for the Boy Scouts to do. It was routine work now, very different from the exciting labors that had fallen to the share of Frank and Henri on the day of their trip to Le Cateau. When Henri became restless and impatient, as he sometimes did, Frank soothed him.
"We are still serving France," he said. "There are no more soldiers in Amiens. There are a few police, and those are old men, since the young gendarmes have gone to join their regiments. But Monsieur le Maire knows that he can call upon us."
The military authorities, before completing the evacuation of Amiens, had given strict orders that if the Germans came there was to be no resistance. And in order to enforce this rule, the mayor detailed the few remaining police and the Boy Scouts to make a house-to-house canvas, warning the citizens, and collecting all firearms that might be found. The scouts worked in pairs on this duty, and Frank and Henri always went together.
"In Belgium," one of them always explained, in making the demand that the arms be given up, "Louvain and other towns were destroyed, so that not one stone remained upon another. And always the Germans made the excuse that shots had been fired on their men from the houses. Here in Amiens we must save our cathedral and the other famous buildings. When the Germans come it will not be for long; soon they will be in retreat before the armies of France and England."