The moon had cleared by now, bathing the ruined hamlet with a silvery sheen, although the place which sheltered them remained in darkness. But through a rift in the broken wall stole one narrow beam of light, and he moved slightly to let this fall upon her face--then just in time caught himself, else he would have given a cry of pain and fury. Her eyes, horrified and shadowed by the cruelties she had witnessed, were turned to him; great, dark, hollow eyes which seemed to be looking directly through him to some confusion of thoughts beyond. Her face was pinched and blue with lack of nourishment, the skin stretched tightly over cheek bones which seemed about to push through; her lips were wax-like, dry and cracked, and her ears were almost transparent. But even more appalling than any of these was the utter despair, the absence of hope or desire of life, that had changed the bloom of youth to the decay of age. She might have been the wan ghost of a shrivelled old woman lying in his arms, instead of young flesh and blood! This martyred child, who should be sleeping happily amidst dreams of dolls and play--what was the ghastly thing into which she had been made? The father, who with horse and plowshare should be summoned by the morning cock to yielding fields--where was that servant of the vineyard? The mother, who should be planning for the harvest which her capable hands would convert into winter comforts--what of her? A wee tot, whose sobbing should have been stilled by tender arms--did she understand the caress of steel? And the other two, whose minds had been snapped by horrors and privations--did their locked-in souls realize these things to be the result of military necessity?--or a nation's degeneracy! Yet what could he expect from a people whose idol in philosophy, their pampered Nietschke, teaches and writes: "Morality is a symptom of decadence! There is no right other than that of theft, usurpation and violence!" It is in his book for all to read! What hope of an army, or hope of mercy from it, whose Kaiser confesses himself to be a liar or a lunatic by proclaiming: "The spirit of God has descended upon Me because I am the German Emperor! I am the instrument of the Most High. I am His sword, His representative on earth. Woe and death to those who oppose My will! Death to the infidel who denies My mission! Let all the enemies of the German nation perish. God demands their destruction--God, who by My mouth summons you to carry out His decrees!"[3] [Footnote 3: From the Kaiser's proclamation to his army, Sept. 13, 1914.]