"We have to reckon with that possibility, of course; but it’s not probable. I’ll just reconnoitre again; then we’ll get back. If the lancers have not arrived, we must get the assistance of some stout fellows from the farm. I’m determined that these Germans shall not escape." "Let me go," said Kenneth. "You don’t know German; I do; and I might overhear something worth making a note of." "That’s a good notion. We may get on the track of other operations of theirs. Take off your boots; I’ll tie them to mine." A minute later Kenneth tiptoed in his stocking feet along the dark passage. Through the closed door of the kitchen on the left came the sounds of some one moving about. On the other side he heard the voices of the men in the dining-room, the door of which was ajar. Grasping his revolver, he bent his ear towards the opening. At the first words he caught he started. The voice was only too familiar to him. It was the voice of Kurt Hellwig. Was he there before, Kenneth wondered, or was he the newcomer whose ring Pariset had heard? In a few seconds the point was cleared up. "Yes," Hellwig was saying, "I had intended to give you the word by wireless myself. But the chief wanted me to come through and see that all was ready. The wire is fixed?" "I guarantee that," was his friend’s reply. "You don’t want to go along the tunnel yourself?" "No, I’ll take your word for it. I’m very tired; thought I should never get through. Our friend Spiegel was caught in Liége before my eyes, and taken away to be shot. The soldiers could hardly save him from lynching, the mob was so furious." "The Belgians are going to be troublesome, then?" said another voice. "It appears so. We opened the attack on the forts yesterday, and the fools had the audacity to reply. They did some damage, too, worse luck. Von Emmich is attacking again to-day in full force, and with his numbers he’ll sweep the idiots away. There’ll not be a man left. The orders are to spare nothing and nobody." "When are we likely to get the word?" asked his friend. "Probably not at all. If our men are already in Liége, as I expect is the case, we shall leave the bridge intact: the railway will be useful. It is only to be blown up in case of a check, to prevent the Belgians from being reinforced from France. But that’s not at all likely." "I suppose it is true that England has declared war?" Hellwig’s ironical laugh made Kenneth’s blood boil. "Yes, it’s true," he said. "It’s the chance we’ve been waiting for for years. They’ve next to no army; they’re never ready; and within a week there’ll be a rebellion in Ireland which will keep the whole of their forces busy. Within a month we shall have France under our heel; then we’ll turn back and crush the Russians, who’ve no organization. Then with the Channel ports in our possession the rest will be easy. By this time next year the Kaiser will be dictating peace in London."