Gradually the country grew rougher and more broken, and ahead of them they could see steep and rocky hillsides, cleft by deep valleys and covered by a thick growth of pine. "We must find a road," said Stewart at last; "we can't climb up and down those hills. And we must find out where we are. There is a certain risk, but we must take it. It is foolish to stumble forward blindly." "You are right," his companion agreed, and when presently, far below them at the bottom of a valley, they saw a white road winding, they made their way down to it. Almost at once they came to a house, in whose door stood a buxom, fair-haired woman, with a child clinging to her skirts. The woman watched them curiously as they approached, and her face seemed to Stewart distinctly friendly. "Good-morning," he said, stopping before the door-step and lifting his hat--an unaccustomed salutation at which the woman stared. "We seem to have lost our way. Can you tell us----" The woman shook her head. "My brother and I have lost our way," said his companion, in rapid French. "We have been tramping the hills all morning. How far is it to the nearest village?" "The nearest village is Battice," answered the woman in the same language. "It is three kilometers from here." "Has it a railway station?" "But certainly. How is it you do not know?" "We come from the other direction." "From Germany?" "Yes," answered the girl, after an instant's scrutiny of the woman's face. "Then you are fugitives? Ah, do not fear to tell me," she added, as the girl hesitated. "I have no love for the Germans. I have lived near them too long!" There could be no doubting the sincerity of the words, nor the grimace of disgust which accompanied them. "Yes," assented the girl, "we are fugitives. We are trying to get to Liège. Have the Germans been this way?" "No; I have seen nothing of them, but I have heard that a great army has passed along the road through Verviers." "Where is your man?" "He has joined the army, as have all the men in this neighborhood." "The German army?" "Oh, no; the Belgian army. It is doing what it can to hold back the Germans." The girl's face lighted with enthusiasm. "Oh, how splendid!" she cried. "How splendid for your brave little country to defy the invader! Bravo, Belgium!" The woman smiled at her enthusiasm, but shook her head doubtfully. "I do not know," she said, simply. "I do not understand these things. I only know that my man has gone, and that I must harvest our grain and cut our winter wood by myself. But will you not enter and rest yourselves?" "Thank you. And we are very hungry. We have money to pay for food, if you can let us have some." "Certainly, certainly," and the good wife bustled before them into the house.