The sergeant gave the order to halt, then spoke hurriedly to two of his men who were not so intoxicated as the rest. These two walked up to a door and knocked. Receiving no reply, they shattered the woodwork with their rifles and entered the house. In less than a minute they reappeared, dragging between them a peasant so old and feeble that he could hardly walk. Him they bundled into the cart beside the body of the dead Belgian, and the convoy resumed its way.
"The brutes!" ejaculated Kenneth. "I see their game. They're going to palm off that poor peasant as the man that escaped."
"It seems like it," agreed Rollo; "but what will happen when they read the roll-call? It will give the show away."
"Trust those fellows for carrying out a dirty piece of work. Hist!"
The lads relapsed into silence. They did not want a repetition of the scene when their last conversation was interrupted. Already they were bruised from head to foot.
Shortly before six in the evening the prisoners reached the outskirts of Louvain. The town, the principal seat of learning of Belgium, was, of course, in the hands of the Germans; but hitherto they had refrained from any vandalism. According to their usual procedure they had terrorized the inhabitants, who still remained in fear and trembling. Everywhere were placards in French and Flemish, warning the townsfolk that any act of hostility towards the German troops would result in severe penalties. With the examples of the fate of other towns and villages—where the luckless inhabitants, in defence of their lives and homes, had ventured to resist the invaders and had been ruthlessly massacred—the people of Louvain had rigidly abstained from any action that could be regarded as aggressive to German authority. On their part the invaders behaved fairly well, and confidence was beginning to be restored amongst the Belgians who still remained in Louvain.
Suddenly a shot rang out, quickly followed by others. Bullets screeched over the heads of the prisoners and their German guards. In a few moments all was confusion. The prisoners flung themselves on the ground to escape the deadly missiles. Some of the escort followed their example. Others, kneeling behind the two wagons that brought up the rear of the procession, returned the fire.
"Good!" ejaculated Kenneth. "Louvain has been recaptured. That accounts for the firing we heard this afternoon."
"I trust so," replied Rollo. "There's one fellow down—another rascal the less."
It was the German who had received a taste of a British fist. Rendered incautious in his maudlin state, he had recklessly exposed himself. A bullet passing through his chest laid him dead on the spot. Another German was leaning against the wheel of a wagon, with his hand clapped to his right shoulder.