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234 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
spersed here and there amongst the other troops. They had
their own amusing httle train, consisting of a barrow drawn
by a donkey and laden with an odd-looking contrivance of
sheet-iron which might simply have been a stove with its
pipes. " What are you going to do with that thing there ?
"
we asked. " It’s going to be a field kitchen," replied a stout,
jovial fellow who was driving a couple of calves behind the
donkey-baiTow.
Farther on we passed a bivouac with its shelter-tents still
up and the breakfast boiling in its caldrons. Another war
picture, or perhaps I should call it a picture from the boundary
line of peace and war, was furnished by an entire caravan of
carts piled high with trunks, bags, bundles, bedclothes and
what not, accompanied by a group of men, women and chil-
dren. They were fugitives returning to Malines. But if it
was their misfortune to live just south of the cathedral, they
were doomed never to see their homes again.
Near Eppeghem we saw on an unpretentious wooden cross
by the roadside the following inscription :
’
’ Hier ruht ein tap-
ferer Belgier von scinen deutschen Kameraden bcgraben." (Here
lies a brave Belgian buried by his German comrades.) The
fallen hero has stuck to his post up to the last, and by his
courage had evoked the admiration of his opponents. ^ Now
we drive once more through the ruined street in Malines and
stop outside the cathedral. Here are a couple of hundred
Belgian prisoners guarded by a few marines. They wear
little black caps with a red stripe and tassel, short tunics or
greatcoats ; some of them have water-bottles, bundles or
bags carried on the shoulder by a strap. A herd of cattle
is just being driven past by some German soldiers. " Quick
march !
" orders a German N.C.O., and the prisoners quickly
disappear down one of the narrow alleys.
We continue northward past the outer fortifications, with
the German naval ensign floating on the crest, and meet
fresh groups of returning fugitives, fresh marching columns,
amongst them a field telegraph detachment, and fresh swarms
of horsemen. And so at length we come once more to the long
Chaussée de Malines, which in a car takes but a couple of
minutes from end to end.
^ Dr. Fr. Klefberg, when in the same neighbourhood, had come across
the following inscription : "A brave Belgian soldier buried by German
comrades. 4th Company, 26th Regiment of Field Artillery."
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