"We may meet again; we may not," he said, as he shook hands. "I hope we may. It will be a long war. We shall win. And if we three lose our lives--well, who was it said that death is the portal to the life Elysian? But I won’t moralise. We’ll stick it out. Good-bye!" and smiling serenely he went out into the night. Pariset was eager to know what was happening in other parts of the vast battlefield, and in particular whether anything had been heard of General Leman. Montoisy explained that, the telephone communications having recently been smashed, the fort was cut off as completely as if it were a desolate island in the midst of an ocean. Next evening, about six o’clock, two shrapnel shells burst harmlessly over the fort. A few minutes later an acute buzzing was heard in the air, then there was a thunderous roar, the whole place trembled, and the outer slope of the fort was smothered in a cloud of stones, dust, and black smoke. Montoisy looked grave, and hurried to the arcade under which the commandant was sheltering. As he stood talking with him, a shell which, judging from its size, weighed nearly a ton burst near by, bringing down a shower of shattered masonry, and wounding the commandant. "Close the cupola," he signalled. "Every man take shelter." Montoisy tried in vain to locate the enormous guns which had started on their fell work. They could not be seen. To fire at them was impossible. That they had so soon been got into position seemed to show that their concrete emplacements had been prepared long before. For two hours the helpless garrison crouched in their shelters, hearing the roar of the guns, the crashing of masonry and the splintering of steel, almost choked by the noisome gases emitted by the bursting shells. The smashing of the dynamo plunged them into pitch darkness; and all the while, outside, the western sky glowed with the rich hues of a peaceful sunset. At eight o’clock the bombardment ceased, and the Belgians, venturing forth from their subterranean lairs, looked out upon a scene of devastation. The slopes and counterslopes were a chaos of rubbish: it was as if an earthquake had shaken the foundations of the globe. Great chasms yawned; tongues of flame shot up from where one of the cupolas had been; shapeless shreds of armour plate lay amid jagged masses of masonry and heaps of stones. No trace of the guns was to be seen. Far down the slope two German officers were advancing under a white flag. Coming within hailing distance they called on the garrison to surrender. "You have seen what our guns can do," said one of them in French. "You have been struck by 278 shells; you cannot reply; and we have still more colossal guns in reserve. Surrender, or you will be annihilated." The commandant, wounded as he was, half choked by the foul gases that still clung about the place, stepped forward and gave his answer. "Honour forbids us to surrender: we shall resist to the end."