The first batch[290] of those “not found guilty” was “conveyed” by the _Boulevard de Diest_ round the outskirts of the town, and out along the _Malines Road_, about 11.0 o’clock in the morning. It consisted of from 70 to 80 men, one of whom at least was 75 years old, while five were neutrals--a Paraguayan priest, Father Gamarra,[291] the Superior of the Spanish Hostel, Father Catala, and three of Father Catala’s students. There were doctors, lawyers, and retired officers among the Belgian victims. One prisoner was driven on ahead to warn the country people that all the hostages would be executed if a single shot were fired;[292] the rest were searched, had their hands bound behind their backs, and were marched in column under guard. On the way to _Herent_ they were used as a screen.[293] The village of _Herent_ was burning, and they had to run through the street to avoid being scorched by the flames.[294] “Carbonised corpses were lying in front of the houses.”--“At _Herent_” states the South American priest,[295] “I saw lying in the nook of a wall the corpse of a girl twelve or thirteen years old, who had been burnt alive.” On the road from _Herent_ to _Bueken_ “everything was devastated.” Beyond _Bueken_ and _Campenhout_ they were made to halt in a field, and were told that they were going to be executed. Squads of soldiers advanced on them from the front and rear, and they were kept many minutes in suspense. Then they were marched on again towards _Campenhout_, surrounded by a company which, they were given to understand, was the “execution company.” Crowds of German troops, bivouacked by the roadside, shouted at them and spat on them as they passed. They reached _Campenhout_ at dusk, and were locked up for the night in the church with the inhabitants of the village. At 4.30 a.m. they were warned to confess, as their execution was imminent. At 5.0 a.m. they were released from the church, and told they were free. But at _Bueken_ they were arrested again with a large number of country people, and were marched back towards _Campenhout_. One of these countrywomen bore a baby on the road.[296] From the outskirts of _Campenhout_ they were suddenly ordered to make their own way as best they could to the Belgian lines. They arrived at _Malines_ about 11.30 in the morning (of August 27th), about 200 strong. Within four hours of their arrival the German bombardment[297] of _Malines_ began, and they had to march on again to _Antwerp_.