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228 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
of trial, and that at her age—she was now seventy—she had
not cared to venture upon the vicissitudes of a journey. Her
garden had been struck by five shells, but the house had been
left untouched. Yet, as may be imagined, she had lived in
mortal terror. Now she was out for the first time to take the
air after the anxiety and strain of the last few days. Her
nearest neighbours had been less fortunate, for of their houses
nothing but the naked walls was left. No doubt they were
away, but she believed that they had left servants behind, for
she thought that she had heard cries of anguish from that
direction when the shells were falling. Before parting, we
learnt that the venerable lady was no less a person than the
widow of the celebrated Belgian historical painter, Karel
Ooms, and that she had lived in the villa since her husband’s
death in igoo. The street had, in fact, been named after him.
After a plain luncheon we paid a visit to the northern parts
of the harbour, and had a hasty look at the steamers still
lying in basins and docks. We went on board one of them.
It was a German steamer, the Celadon, and the fore-part
of the deck showed signs of an explosion having taken place.
We learnt later that the boilers of all the vessels in the
harbour had been destroyed, so as to make the ships useless
to the Germans.
In the afternoon we came across the long bridging train
which we had passed on the way to the city ; it was now
marching past the cathedral on its way to the nearest part of
the harbour quay used for crossing over to Tete de Flandre.
N o doubt a bridge was to be thrown across in place of the one
which had been blown up.
It was interesting to notice that the inhabitants were
already showing signs of returning to their city. There were
not many of them, but here and there we saw men and women
with bundles on their backs opening the doors from the street.
One man was pulling two old women along on a barrow which,
besides, was crowded with packages and odds and ends. A
couple of cafes and hotels were likewise on the point of open-
ing, and a few shops, especially provision shops, soon followed
their example.
It was now time to break up and we turned back towards
Brussels. We had not got very far before we met three re-
serve battalions with colours flying and headed by a band
playing cheerful military music. In accordance with their
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