"I think perhaps they will, Arthur. You see, we're in uniform and I'm hoping that they don't know anything about the Boy Scouts here. They may think our uniform means that we're connected with the army in some fashion, and respect it."
"I didn't think of that! I say, that would be rather good fun, wouldn't it?"
"Look!" said Paul, suddenly. "That's just what I was afraid of!"
A dozen men, in ill assorted and badly fitting uniforms, were coming from the inn that was the dominating feature, aside from the inevitable parish church, of the village.
"They belong to the civic guard," said Paul. "I'm afraid they are going to try to resist the Germans. Look at those guns!"
"They're the old-fashioned ones they used in the army years ago, aren't they, Paul?"
"Yes, and they'd be about as much good against the new German rifles as so many pea-shooters!"
The sight of the patchwork uniforms, worn by armed men, seemed to be a magnet for the panic-stricken inhabitants of the village. So far the people had been far too busy with their fears and their eagerness to save themselves to pay any attention to the two scouts, and so Paul and Arthur were able to attach themselves to the crowd and follow the civic guardsmen without exciting too much attention. There were curious glances at their uniforms, but Paul was well pleased by this. He wanted the people to notice their khaki suits, and he was glad that they seemed to be rather mystified.
The leader of the guardsmen was a big, burly man, by trade a butcher. Under his direction his men and a host of volunteer helpers proceeded to erect a barricade across the road by which, it seemed, the Germans must enter the village if they came. Old furniture, broken down wagons, mattresses—anything that came to hand was used in building the barricade. Then it was covered in front with branches of trees and bushes.
"There!" said the big butcher, when it was done to his satisfaction. "Now we can take up our place behind that—and God help the German pigs! Jean, do you and Marcel go up in the windows of Boerman's house, there, and make holes in the shutters to shoot through. If they drive us from this barricade we will take to the houses and the roofs, and do what we can from there."