"Infantry?" asked Delaunay. "They must be mad!"
"They are planning a surprise attack, I suppose," said Paul. "There are a great many of them—and I am almost sure I saw some machine guns."
"If their battery hadn't been put out, I could understand," said Delaunay. "They might have attacked under the cover of a heavy fire from that. But to bring infantry against fortifications! It seems like suicide."
"I must go now," said Paul. "They are all around us. I don't know how soon they may come in. You will be ready for them?"
"Don't worry about that! We'll give them a hotter reception than they expect!"
Paul smashed the telephone now. Perhaps the Germans, if they found it, would think it had been useless from the beginning of the fighting. And, just as he went upstairs, there was a crash at the door, and half a dozen German soldiers, led by an officer, broke in. In a moment Paul was seized; in another two men had gone upstairs, and returned, each with a hand gripping one of Arthur's arms.
"What are you doing here?" asked the officer, in German. Paul understood him very well, but thought it better to pretend ignorance. He answered in French, saying he did not understand, and the German officer repeated his question in French.
"We—we lived in the house that was burned,"' said Paul, pretending to be greatly frightened. "We did not know where to go or what to do. So we stayed here."
"How long have you been here?"
"Since last night."