Page 72 - A Hero of Liége

are feeding."

"That's true," said the miller. "They have their supper somewhere about
seven o'clock. I know that because one evening I met old Jules coming

back from the village all puffing and blowing. I asked him why he was in
such a hurry for an old man; had to ask three times before he heard me; and
he told me he'd forgotten the vinegar, and the gentlemen were very angry."

"Well, it's dusk at seven; the lancers will be here by half-past. We'll make

our attempt then."

"Better go a little earlier, while it's light enough to see our way," suggested

the miller. "I'm not so young as I was, and I doubt whether I could find my
way in the dark."

"Very well. It's now nearly five; we have nearly two hours to wait. You'll
give us a meal, miller?"

"To be sure; the best I have. I'd feed a regiment to capture a German spy."

Just before seven Pariset and Kenneth left the house with the miller. Pariset
had given the farmer a note addressed to the officer of the expected lancers,

asking him to leave the horses at the farm, and post his men behind the
hedge lining the road in the neighbourhood of the mill, ready to break in if

they were called upon, or to intercept the Germans if they tried to escape.

The miller led the way across the fields, by a route which did not expose

them to view from the mill-house until they arrived within a few yards of
the bank of the stream opposite the wheel. The last part of the journey lay

through a cornfield, the wheat growing so high that by stooping they
completely hid themselves.

All was silent in the mill-house. Dusk was just falling. A lamp had already
been lit in the kitchen, sending a ray of light across the yard to the left. The

rear of the building, facing the stream, was dark.