offered, they did not scruple to betray it.  In the cellar of the house belonging to one of the most prominent German residents the police found large stores of ammunition and hundreds of rifles and German uniforms.  A German company had, as a result of criminal stupidity, been awarded the contract for wiring the forts defending the city—­and when the need arose it was found that the wiring was all but worthless.  A wealthy German had a magnificent country estate the gardens of which ran down to the moat of one of the outlying forts.  One day he suggested to the military authorities that if they would permit him to obtain the necessary water from the moat, he would build a swimming-pool in his garden for the use of the soldiers.  What appeared to be a generous offer was gladly accepted—­but when the day of action came it was found that the moat had been drained dry.  In the grounds of another country place were discovered concrete emplacements for the use of the German siege-guns.  Thus the German residents repaid the hospitality of their adopted city.

When the war-cloud burst every German was promptly expelled from Antwerp.  In a few cases the mob got out of hand and smashed the windows of some German saloons along the water-front, but no Germans were injured or mistreated.  They were merely shipped, bag and baggage, across the frontier.  That, in my opinion at least, is what should have been done with the entire civil population of Antwerp—­provided, of course, that the Government intended to hold the city at all costs.  The civilians seriously hampered the movements of the troops and thereby interfered with the defence; the presence of large numbers of women and children in the city during the bombardment unquestionably caused grave anxiety to the defenders and was probably one of the chief reasons for the evacuation taking place when it did; the masses of civilian fugitives who choked the roads in their mad flight from Antwerp were in large measure responsible for the capture of a considerable portion of the retreating Belgian army and for the fact that other bodies of troops were driven across the frontier and interned in Holland.  So strongly was the belief that Antwerp was impregnable implanted in every Belgian’s mind, however, that up to the very last not one citizen in a thousand would admit that there was a possibility that it could be taken.  The army did not believe that it could be taken.  The General Staff did not believe that it could be taken.  They were destined to have a rude and sad awakening.

III.  The Death In The Air