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STILL IN ANTWERP 259
freaks of fate which occur in this connection. During an engage-
ment, a General and a Major stood talking on the high road.
A shell fell near them. The Major was sent away on some
errand, and had scarcely moved away when there came
another shell, which struck the General so effectually that he
literally vanished from sight.
On another occasion two officers were living in the same
quarters in a town which was being shelled. When the house
was struck by a shell, which, however, did no damage to speak
of, one of the officers thought that they might consider them-
selves safe, as surely the same house was not likely to be hit
more than once. The other, however, sought new quarters
and induced his friend to follow him. As soon as they had
left, the house was totally destroyed. It turned out that it
was a public ofhce, where the enemy took it for granted that
the German commanders would take up their quarters.
Thus, chance often seems to play a great part. To live in a
bombarded town is like a game of chance, as no one can tell
where the shells will strike. The wisest course is to discard
all calculations and to trust one’s life to God’s hands. We
have already seen how the Swedish Consul in Antwerp, who
exposed himself to danger, came off scot-free, while his Argen-
tine colleague, who took refuge in an apparently safe cellar,
was killed.
During my stay in Antwerp I had an opportunity—though
only once—of meeting the Rev. Börjeson, Seamen’s Mis-
sionary, a son of the great sculptor. Börjeson told me various
things about the refugees, and the hardships they suffered.
They had camped out in woods and pasture lands, but in
Holland they had been well received, and the Dutch had
helped them all they could. In this connection I expressed
a wish to see one of the high roads leading north, and Consul
Petri, with his usual hospitality, placed his car at my disposal
;
accordingly, on the i8th of October, we started on the road
leading to Bergen-op-Zoom.
On our drive through the town we observed, to our pleasant
surprise, that some of the railways were already working—
a
new sign of reawakening life, even if of no great significance.
At the bridge across the town moat our papers were carefully
examined, whereupon we proceeded through the suburb of
Merxem. West of this is the fort of the same name. This
had been surrendered without a fight, though surrounded on
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