"That could only be in the darkness, and they may fire the mine before night. I see nothing for it, after all, but to bring some cavalry from Charleroi and take care the men don't escape. We can do that, if we can't save the bridge."
"Why not wait a little? If the order to fire the mine comes suddenly, any time before night, we can't prevent it. But if it doesn't come before night, we still have a chance. In any case we ought to get some lancers over, to be in the neighbourhood at nightfall. It won't take long for one of us to get into Charleroi and back."
"That would be risky after that fellow's question about the aeroplane. The best course will be to send in a message by the drayman. I'll write a note as soon as we get back."
The drayman readily agreed to carry Pariset's note to the commandant of the Charleroi garrison. When he had departed, the miller was taken into consultation.
"Is there any other entrance to the millhouse besides the front door?" asked Pariset.
"There is a door to the stables, but that has long been nailed up," the old man replied.
"Describe the interior as well as you can."
"Well, monsieur, I lived there fifty years, so I ought to know something about it. You go in by the door; well, first there's the lobby; beyond that, straight ahead, is the kitchen, and beyond that again, looking on the stream, is the storeroom with the mill above. To the left of that is the hoist; and this side of it, overlooking the yard, is the big room, dining-room and parlour in one. There you have the ground-floor; the bedrooms are upstairs."
"And the wall goes all round?"
"Yes, right down to the stream on each side, and along the bank, except where the wheel juts out into the waterway. The old wheel is dropping to pieces; it hasn't been used these twenty years."