Page 142 - A Hero of Liége

CHAPTER XVI

--THE CARETAKER

"We shall have to clear everybody out of this double quick," said Pariset.
"If the regiment comes up every soul will be massacred."

"You mean that we must all trek?" said Kenneth.

"Yes. You and I must rig ourselves up as Uhlans, and pretend that we are
convoying prisoners. The villagers had better gather what valuables they

want to save, and migrate, it doesn't much matter where to, so long as it is
as far as possible from the line of the German advance."

He explained his plan to the farmer and the other Belgian peasants. They
suggested that a short and easy way of securing safety was to shoot all the

Uhlans and bury them, but Pariset would not agree to that. The men having
surrendered, their lives at least must be spared.

Without delay preparations were made. The body of the dead sergeant was
hastily buried. The Uhlan prisoners were stripped of their uniforms, clad in

coarse garments provided by the villagers, and roped together. The wagon
was emptied of its hay and loaded up with such little treasures as the

villagers possessed, among them an extraordinary number of birdcages.
Then it rumbled off, followed by the whole population of the hamlet, men,
women, and children, setting off through the rain to some sequestered

village off the main route, where they might hope to be left untouched by
the German tide.

Pariset and Kenneth exchanged their uniforms for those of two of the
Uhlans, provided themselves with civilian clothes, selected two of the best

horses, and after a few minutes' puzzled consideration what to do with the
rest, removed their trappings and let them loose in the fields.

It was now getting late in the afternoon. Rain was still falling heavily,
which was at once an inconvenience and an advantage. For safety's sake