No sooner had the fugitives entered the fort than Kenneth collapsed. The tension of the last two days, the terrific strain of controlling the armoured car, and the concussion of the final shock, had been too heavy a tax upon his nervous system. Pariset was in little better condition. Granger, an older man, of settled constitution, was less affected than the others, and he was able to assist the surgeon of the fort in tending upon his friends.
Much to their surprise, the interior of the fort was quiet and peaceful. The German batteries had ceased fire, the fort guns were silent. Lieutenant Montoisy explained that during the past few days there had been no attack. The enemy's infantry, shattered by fire from the trenches in their frontal assaults, had retired. The bombardment had been feeble.
"We can hold out for weeks," said the lieutenant.
"Don't buoy yourself with false hopes," said Granger. "The Germans are only waiting until they bring up their great guns. There are several monsters of 42 centimetre calibre on their way. They will bring them through Liége; as soon as they can place them the fort will be shivered to atoms."
"Bah! Our cupolas will stand anything. Besides, no one has ever heard of these great guns. They are probably a myth, invented to frighten us."
"These gentlemen know better than that," Granger returned. "You had better tell what you saw, Amory."
Kenneth related the incident near Erkelenz.
"Unluckily we only destroyed the parts of one gun," he concluded. "The block on the road had evidently caused them to send on the others by another route."
Lieutenant Montoisy was still sceptical of the effect these guns could produce. He led the three men round the fort. It was triangular in shape, with guns in disappearing turrets at each corner. In the centre was a steel turret armed with two 6-inch howitzers, enclosed in a square with four similar turrets carrying 5-inch quick-firing guns. The turrets were embedded in a solid block of concrete, and here and there were machine guns and searchlight apparatus. The heaviest guns were mounted on a steel cupola, capable of being raised and lowered. Impressed by the immense strength of the defences, the Englishmen began to share Montoisy's confidence in their power to withstand bombardment even by the heaviest artillery.
"Why aren't our men in the trenches?" asked Pariset.