All for a Scrap of Paper Part 39

"Justice and peace will come, sir; Belgium will have justice."

"Belgium! If she had obeyed our commands, she need never have suffered."

"But why should she obey your commands, sir? You had promised her neutrality and independence, and you broke your promise; she had depended upon you, and you failed her. Then she turned to England, and England will never rest until Belgium has justice."

"And what is to become of Germany?"

"This is to be a fight to the end, sir; and Germany will never have power to make war again."

"You would rob us of our country, I suppose?"

"No, sir, we do not want to rob you of your country. We hope that when the war is over, the German people--many of whom hate war--will come back to their peaceful life; but we shall never rest until the War G.o.d of Germany is destroyed and is powerless to make war again. That is why we are fighting, and will fight for the peace of the world."

"But, surely, that is not the feeling of England as a whole?"

"It is the feeling of England as a whole, and we shall never cease fighting until our object is accomplished."

"And the Kaiser, what think you of him? What is the feeling in Britain about him?"

"We believe the Kaiser to be sincere, sir, but obsessed with the war spirit, and that because of it he is full of arrogance and conceit; many believe him mad--that he suffers from a kind of megalomania.

Evidently he, like the rest of the war party in Germany, believes that war is a good thing--a virtuous thing, a necessity; and, because of it, he regards himself as a kind of Deity. We believe that his great ambition is to make Germany the dominant power in the world, and that war is the means by which he hopes to accomplish this. That is why we are fighting, sir--and will fight."

While Bob was speaking, he saw that the other's hand moved nervously among the papers on the desk; he saw too that he fidgeted uneasily in his chair, as though with difficulty he restrained himself.

"And you think the Kaiser is responsible for this war?"

"We believe that he has been preparing for it for years. For a long time we fought against the belief, and a great part of the country held that those who regarded him as a kind of War G.o.d were mistaken: now we know otherwise. Doubtless, in many respects, he is a great man--a strong man; but he is mad."

Again the man in the chair started: then he touched the bell, and the officers who brought Bob there again returned. The man at the desk nodded to them and they led Bob out. As he withdrew, the last sight which met his gaze was that of the lonely figure seated at the desk, his face still largely in obscurity, but the eyes plain to be seen--light, steely, penetrating--the eyes of a master of men.

A few minutes later Bob heard two of the officers, with whom he had been previously brought into contact, conversing in their own tongue:

"It was unlike him to give an audience to a subaltern like that," said one.

"Yes," was the reply; "but he said he was dissatisfied with the reports of the spies; he wanted to see England's position through English eyes.

I wonder what the young cuckoo said to him."

Still between his guards, Bob walked away from the house where he had been for more than an hour; he was oblivious of the fact that he was pa.s.sed from sentry to sentry, from guard to guard; his mind was full of the strange scene in which he had taken part.

The figure of the lonely man at the desk, who was thinking and working while others were asleep, haunted him, and he wondered.

As he came to the tent from which he had been led more than an hour before, he again saw the officer who had given the command which had ended in the scene we have just described.

"Whom have I been speaking to?" he asked, as the officer entered the tent with him.

"Didn't you recognise him?"

"I fancied I did, but I dared not think I was right."

"You've been speaking to the Emperor of Germany," was the reply.

"I'm glad I spoke my mind," Bob said.

CHAPTER XX

During the three days which followed the one on which he was captured, Bob's experiences were difficult to explain. He found himself being moved farther and farther away from the English lines; but he knew nothing of what was taking place, neither could he understand why he was treated with such kindness and consideration.

He had expected to be immediately forwarded to some dirty German prison, where he would suffer the same fate as many of his English comrades. Instead of which, however, he might almost have been a guest of honour.

For this reason he could not help coming to the conclusion that this special treatment was for some purpose.

On the second day after the interview mentioned in the last chapter, he was closely questioned by some German officers. They evidently believed that he was possessed of information which would be valuable to them, and for that reason did not treat him like an ordinary prisoner.

Although he knew but little of what was going on in the German camp, his experience there was of great interest; it gave him an insight into the life of the German army which he had never hoped for. He realised at once the different atmosphere which obtained there from that which obtained in the English army.

He saw that the German discipline was more severe and more unbending; that not the slightest feeling of friendship or comradeship could be found between officers and men.

He saw too that the German private was scarcely regarded as a human being, but as a p.a.w.n on a chessboard; the officer looked upon himself as living in a different world from that of his men.

One day Bob saw that one of the soldiers failed to salute an officer with sufficient promptness to please him, and immediately the officer struck the man across the face with a whip.

Bob saw the great red mark rise on the man's face, where the officer had struck him. He knew that the pain he suffered must be great, but he made no sign; he simply bore the punishment as if he were without feeling.

That same evening he was admitted into the circle of a number of the officers. Bob mentioned the incident he had seen, and asked whether this treatment was common.

"What would you?" replied the German. "The man did not salute quickly, therefore he must be punished."

"And if he had cast a look of disrespect?" asked Bob.

The German shrugged his shoulders.

"We do not allow disrespect from men to their officers," was the reply.

"In time of war he would be shot like a dog."

"And in peace?" asked Bob.

"Ah--in peace, he would be treated in such a fashion that he would not soon offend again."

It was at that time, too, that Bob realised the terrible disappointment among the German troops at the progress of the war. It had been given out during its early stages, that the German Army would be in Paris by the end of August. At first their boasts seemed likely to be fulfilled, but as the days went by--as August pa.s.sed and September came to an end, and then, not only did they not find themselves in Paris, but were driven back mile by mile, until they were nearing their own borders--they were not only dismayed, but astonished. It seemed impossible to them that anything could stand before the German Army.

"It's you English," said one to him. "In 1870 we crushed the French Army in six weeks, and we should have done the same now but for you."

"And the contemptible little army has given you a great deal of trouble?" said Bob.

"That was one of the Kaiser's jokes, but we will pay you out for it."