“One more word, and I have finished,” put in Dalroy. He turned again to Maertz. “What did you mean by saying a little while ago that the frontier is closed?”
“The lieutenant—Von Halwig, is it?—sent some Uhlans to the major of a regiment guarding the line opposite Holland. He wrote a message, but I know what was in it because he told the other officer. ‘They’re making for the frontier,’ he said, ‘and if they haven’t slipped through already we’ll catch them now without fail. They mustn’t get away this time if we have to arrest and examine every —— Belgian in this part of the country.’”
“Ho! ho!” piped Joos, who had listened intently to Jan’s recital, “why didn’t you tell us that sooner, animal? What chance, then, have I and madame and Léontine of dodging the rascals?”
“Caput!” cried Maertz, scratching his head, “that settles it! I never thought of that!”
“Oh, look!” whispered Léontine. “They’re searching the mill!”
So earnest and vital was the talk that none of the others had chanced to look down the ravine. They saw now that lights were moving in the upper rooms of the mill. Either Von Halwig had arrived before time, or some messenger had tried to find the commissariat officers, and had raised an alarm.
Joos took charge straight away, like the masterful old fellow that he was. “This locality isn’t good for our health,” he said. “The night is young yet, but we must leg it to a safer place before we begin planning. Leave nothing behind. We may need all that food.—Come, Lise,” and he grabbed his wife’s arm, “you and I will lead the way to the Argenteau wood. The devil himself can’t track me once I get there.—Trust me, monsieur, I’ll pull you through. That lout, Jan Maertz, is all muscle and no brain. What Léontine sees in him I can’t guess.”
For the time being, Dalroy believed that the miller might prove a resourceful guide. Before deciding the course he personally would pursue it was absolutely essential that he should learn the lay of the land and weigh the probabilities of success or failure attached to such alternatives as were suggested.
“We had better go with our friends,” he said to Irene. “They know the country, and I must have time for consideration before striking out a line of my own.”