Page 141 - A Hero of Liége

"Achtung!" cried Kenneth, in the short sharp tone he had many a time heard
in a German drill yard.

The men sprang to attention, clicked their heels, and saluted. They had no

time to think; they acted with mechanical obedience. Standing thus rigid
they were amazed to see the officers cover them with their rifles, and to
hear a peremptory summons to surrender. Fuddled, astounded, they threw

up their hands.

At this moment the door of the parlour was flung open, and the sergeant,
red with wine and rage, before he had taken in the scene, demanded what
the noise was about. His voice dropped at the end of the sentence, when he

saw, as he thought, a captain and a lieutenant before him. A sound of
rushing feet behind him caused him to swing round hastily. With a startled

cry he raised his revolver, and fired; but he was immediately hurled
backward to the floor by a dozen sturdy peasants, the foremost of whom
held a knife.

There was a great silence in the farm.