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TO BELGIUM 199
For three weeks Miiller and Fuchs had shared the rough
and the smooth together in their entrenched artillery position.
At first they had suffered great hardships from rain and wet,
but once they and their men had had time to dig themselves
in properly, like moles under the earth, all had been well
—
especially when they had found some small stoves in neigh-
bouring villages and installed them in their burrows. They
soon became so accustomed to the shell fire that they slept
like logs even when the air was filled with thunder and the
impact caused the ground to tremble around them—that is,
of course, if it was their turn to sleep ! On Sunday, the 4th
October, the day we heard Pastor Marguth preach, divine
service had been held in the church at Cernay. Miiller and
Fuchs were there, and they told me that it was one of the most
moving scenes they had ever witnessed. Too much light was
not allowed, and on the altar alone a couple of candles were
burning. But it was full moon and clear weather. The moon-
light streamed in through the windows and illumined the aisle
and pillars and the weather-beaten faces of the soldiers who
had come in from their trenches or transport wagons. Mean-
while French shells were falling in the village, and there was
a horrible rending and roaring from the explosions and the
collapsing houses. But the chaplain did not permit himself
to be disturbed. He seemed not to notice the pandemonium
outside. He spoke without a quiver in his voice of the peace
in God and the duty to one’s country. The soldiers listened
immovable, and when the strains of the last hymn had died
away and the lights had been put out they dispersed down the
little streets and alleys, weirdly illumined by the moonlight
and the fire from the burning houses.
Thus the journey to Sedan was greatly shortened, and for
my part I should have liked it to be double as long. But the
mail van pulled up at the railway station, and there I had to
say good-bye to my two interesting companions. On the
platform stood Major von Plato at his post, jolly and cheerful
as usual.
" Tell me, my dear Major, is there any decent means of
getting to Namur without having to encumber an officer’s
car ?
"
" There are no direct trains to Namur, but in twenty minutes
there will be an ambulance train which can take you some
distance into Belgium, and once you get so far, no doubt
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