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Probably the two motives which have inspired Germany official and unofficial to print many volumes on Belgian neutrality have been the indignation aroused in neutral countries and the fact that a complete German victory was not obtained in three months of war.
"It seems that the family were Belgians, and I hadn't thought of that. They gave me food and drink all right, but they spilled a little drug of some kind in the drink. The next thing I knew I was bound and gagged and was looking down the muzzle of a revolver held by a ferocious-looking Belgian peasant. He informed me my time had come. I told him I was English, and explained my capture and escape.
I am afraid that, until he learns from experience, the Belgian fielder will stop cricket balls with his head. That the head is the proper thing with which to play ball appears to be in his blood. My head is round, he argues, and hard, just like the ball itself; what part of the human frame more fit and proper with which to meet and stop a ball.
"British troops have been landed in France, and French and English both are hurrying to the support of the Belgians. It is impossible for them to arrive in time to take part in the coming fight, but it is the plan of the Belgians to delay the German advance as long as possible. Believe me, the Germans will find the Belgian defense such a stumbling-block as they have not counted upon."
"The Belgian and Airedales have been boarded out during the winter and have not seen the others for months. So, you see, this is a sort of reunion for them and they have to bark to show their delight. Moreover, they have had a long trip and are tired and hungry. I am going to feed them now and this meal will last most of them until to-morrow at the same hour."
I had no idea of putting my books underground to be mildewed. Besides, if it had been possible I would not have attempted it and it distinctly was impossible. I felt a good deal like the Belgian refugies I had seen, all so well dressed; if my house was going up, it was going up in its best clothes. I had just been uprooted once a horrid operation and I did not propose to do it again so soon.
"Just as I was leaving the fort I saw seven or eight Belgian civilians guarded by our men with fixed bayonets. They were charged with firing on German soldiers. I must say that the lamentations of these men aged from 20 to 50 made a deep impression on me. They had thrown themselves upon their knees, and with raised hands were weeping and beseeching that their lives might be spared.
The need for Y. M. C. A. secretaries overseas and in the camps soon became acute, and Bok was appointed chairman of the Philadelphia Recruiting Committee. As in the case of his Belgian relief work, he at once surrounded himself with an able committee: this time composed of business and professional men trained in a knowledge of human nature in the large, and of wide acquaintance in the city.
Secondly, the behaviour of the German troops in other Belgian cities had aroused grave fears of what would happen when they entered Brussels, and it was generally felt that the presence of the American Minister might deter them from committing the excesses and outrages which up to that time had characterized their advance.
One or two minor matters, such as the preservation of rare animals, might very well fall under the same authority. Upon that Commission the interested nations, that is to say putting them in alphabetical order the Africander, the Briton, the Belgian, the Egyptian, the Frenchman, the Italian, the Indian the Portuguese might all be represented in proportion to their interest.
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