Three days after this fortuitous meeting, Baldens and I met at Devant-le-Pont-lez-Visé, not far from Liége, in order to study the disposition of the land and water. At a short distance from the Anna—one of those massive, coal-black tug-boats so familiar to the inhabitants of the banks of our Belgian canals and rivers—was a public-house frequented by boatmen; and near to it we found an equally convenient private house, which, as it was to let furnished, we took on a monthly tenancy. You will comprehend the reason for this when I add that, having made these preliminary preparations, I returned to Liége and began getting together a party of citizens who, in hourly dread of deportation, were anxious to join in any well-thought-out scheme of escape. Presuming that we succeeded in getting possession of the Anna and navigating her out of the canal into the Meuse, and thence to Dutch waters (for that was the ambitious plan we had in view), we had to have some place where we could temporarily harbour our fellow-adventurers before they went on board. I had no difficulty, I can assure you, in finding volunteers. No fewer than sixty people expressed their willingness to join us, and did, in fact, assemble at the house in question on the night fixed for carrying out our plans. True, eighteen of these got frightened at the last moment and returned home, on the plea that the risk was too great, as the boat would have to run the gauntlet past German sentries. Over forty, however, including two brave women, remained staunch and stuck to us.
It was a pitch-black night just five days before Christmas when Baldens and I got our little party of fugitives under that convenient roof and started active operations by sauntering in the direction of the Anna, with the object of inviting the captain and crew to have a glass at the neighbouring "pub." The three topers took the hook, daintly baited by Baldens, in splendid fashion, and—one bottle leading to another—we kept them at it until turning-out time. But it takes a lot of liquor to fuddle a Boche completely, and, though we arranged to mix their drinks pretty often and let them have the lion's share, they were still in possession of their senses when they started back for their cabins on the Anna. However, the far-seeing, ingenious Baldens was with them, and I knew he could be trusted to finish the job, especially when he whispered to me, after wishing me a boisterous good night in which the others joined:—
"Everything will be ready, Prost, in an hour's time. You can all of you come aboard then and assist in the finishing touches. Au revoir!"
Back with my flock in the furnished house, where I found them waiting in great anxiety, I explained how things were going, and an hour later (how the time did hang on our hands!) we all sallied forth. I led the party in single file through the darkness, and it was an immense relief to me on reaching the Anna to find that Baldens was waiting for us—a clear proof he had succeeded in his object and that the coast was clear.
When we got below we found the captain and his two men stretched out on the floor, dead drunk, and chloroformed into the bargain.
"Now, quick's the word and sharp's the motion," said Baldens. "Off with their uniforms. And who'll volunteer to put them on? Prost, find three men who are about the same size as these fellows—three cool-headed men who don't mind facing danger."
It was not at all an easy task undressing and redressing those three helpless lumps of Boche humanity, but we managed it all right, in the dim light from a hanging lantern, and in a little over half an hour three Liégois, armed with Mausers, were impersonating the German guards on the deck of the Anna.
We were to be off on our voyage as soon as possible. Steam was to be got up without delay, so several of us, with the assistance of Baldens, who, of course, knew the tug-boat from end to end, set to work to do our best to light the furnaces. Whilst we were in the midst of this work, which required to be done with the greatest caution, in order not to arouse the suspicions of the German patrol, whose measured footsteps could be heard along the towpath every half-hour, a tremendous uproar arose in the cabin where we had left the three prostrate Germans. Baldens and I rushed in, with drawn revolvers, and were just in time to prevent the captain—who had come to his senses and taken in the situation at a glance—from dashing up on deck and raising the alarm. He was a powerfully-built man, and it took the two of us to master him. He fought like a tiger, literally with tooth and nail. Finally, however, we got him in a corner, and, whilst I was pinioning him from behind, Baldens kept him covered with his six-shooter, which he threatened to empty into his carcass if he moved another muscle. Thereupon the mastered man caved in and begged for mercy in the classic phrase: "Kamarades! Kamarades! Nicht kaput!"
III—"WE BOUND AND GAGGED THE GERMAN CAPTAIN"
When we had bound and gagged the obstreperous captain of the Anna we completed our work as stokers, and, with infinite care, lest we should attract the attention of the sentinels of a neighbouring lock, began to manœuvre the boat along the canal. It was necessary to pass through this lock in order to reach the channel which leads into the Meuse. The Anna, with its crew of over forty fugitives, drew more than two metres of water, so we were confronted with the problem of the depth of the water in this channel. Was it sufficiently deep to accommodate us? Please remember that amongst the members of our improvised crew there was not a single boatman, not a single homme du métier. And remember, too, that we knew that if we were caught in the act we should all of us be ranged in line against a wall and shot without mercy!