_As the_ CURTAIN _rises, the_ MUNICIPAL SECRETARY _is writing at a corner of the table_. ENTER, _on the right_, JEAN GILSON. _He is dressed in ill-fitting peasant’s clothes, and carries his arm in a sling._ JEAN GILSON Good-morning, Mr. Secretary. THE SECRETARY Good-morning. What can I do for you? JEAN GILSON (_Going nearer._) Don’t you know me, old friend? THE SECRETARY Why, it’s you, Jean! The last man I expected to see! Where have you come from? I say, you’re wounded! JEAN GILSON Yes, a bullet in the arm.... I got it outside Aerschot. They put me into hospital at Winkel, but the Germans entered the town yesterday and, as I could walk, I didn’t wait for them to take me prisoner. I got into these clothes, cleared out, spent part of the night in a ditch, tramped three hours across country and here I am at Stilemonde. I must be off at once, though, and try and catch up my carabineers, who ought to be somewhere near Overloop. THE SECRETARY You look tired. Does the arm hurt? And you’re soaked through! JEAN GILSON Yes. The arm’s not much, or rather it wasn’t. To-day, somehow, I seem to feel it more. THE SECRETARY That’s because you’re tired. You must rest a little and have your wound seen to. We’ll find you a bed somewhere, either at my place or here, which is God’s own house. JEAN GILSON It’s not a question of resting, it’s not a question of bed; they’ll be here before the morning’s over. THE SECRETARY Who? JEAN GILSON The Germans! There are Uhlans everywhere along the roads; and I expect the main body isn’t far behind. THE SECRETARY Impossible! We’ve heard nothing of that here; but of course the communications have all been cut. JEAN GILSON Where’s the Burgomaster? THE SECRETARY I’m waiting for him. He’s in one of the glass-houses. The storm last night seems to have done some damage. He’ll be here in a minute: the man has gone to find him. Would you like to speak to him? JEAN GILSON I’ve a message from the Burgomaster of Winkel, advising him to be very careful and, above all, to see that no arms are found in the town. THE SECRETARY We’ve seen to all that; we’ve done everything. All the arms, even the trophies and curios, have been put away in the Town-hall and locked up in a room of which I’ve got the key.... So they’re at Winkel, are they? JEAN GILSON Yes, three or four hundred. I was told that the master’s son-in-law was at the head of them. THE SECRETARY The master? Who?