After the exodus on the morning of the 27th, Louvain lay empty of inhabitants all day, while the burning and plundering went on. But at dusk a procession of civilians, driven by soldiers, streamed in from the north. They were the fourth batch of prisoners who had been marched out of Louvain on the previous day. They had spent the night in the open, and had been locked up that afternoon in _Rotselaer_ church. But after only an hour’s respite they had been driven forth again, and the whole population of _Rotselaer_ with them, along the road leading back to the city. “On the way,” states one of the victims,[352] “we rested a moment. The curé of _Rotselaer_, a man 86 years of age, spoke to the officer in command: ‘Herr Offizier, what you are doing now is a cowardly act. My people did no harm, and, if you want a victim, kill me....’ The German soldiers then seized the curé by the neck and took him away. Some Germans picked up mud from the ground and threw it in his face....” “We entered Louvain,” states the curé himself,[353] “by the _Canal_ and the _Rue du Canal_. No ruins. We reached the _Grand’ Place_--what a spectacle! The _Church of Saint-Pierre_! Rest in front of the _Hôtel-de-Ville_. Fatigue compelled me to stretch myself on the pavement, while the houses blazed all the time. “Other prisoners from Louvain and the neighbourhood kept arriving. Soon I saw fresh prisoners arrive from _Rotselaer_--women, children and old men, among others a blind old man of eighty years, and the wife of the doctor at _Rotselaer_, dragged from her sick-bed. (She died during the journey to Germany.)...” “In the _Grand’ Place_,” states the former witness,[354] “the heat from the burning houses was so great that the prisoners huddled together to get away from it....” “After we had remained standing there about an hour,” states a third,[355] “we had to proceed towards the _Station_ along the _Rue de la Station_. In this same road we saw the German soldiers plundering the houses. They took pleasure in letting us see them doing it. In the city and at _Kessel-Loo_ the conflagration redoubled in intensity.” “The houses were all burning in the _Rue de la Station_,” states the first,[356] “and there were even flames in the street which we had to jump across. We were closely guarded by German soldiers, who threatened to kill us if we looked from side to side.”