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128 WITH THE GERMAN ARMIES IN THE WEST
back the opposing forces. We run into Libramont station
alongside a huge troop train which, like ours, is bound for
Sedan. All carriages are decorated with green branches, as if
on the way to a midsummer fete. Sentences chalked on the
sides of the carriages testify to the high spirits of the passengers
:
—" To dinner in Paris,—now waiting " ;
" Every shot a
Russian,—every thrust a Frenchman,—the Serbs must die,"
—
and such like jokes. Amidst the jovial song and merry talk
of the soldiers the train then rolls away to an unknown fate.
After an hour’s halt it is our turn to follow in its track. We
run through fields in which fragrant stacks of oats are stand-
ing in rows like soldiers. A road-bridge of stonework cross-
ing the line has been blown up by the enemy before they
retired, clearly in order to block the railway line passing
beneath. The Engineers are now busy repairing it. Other-
wise there are not many traces of warfare to be seen from the
railway in Belgian Luxemburg.
From Libramont our course lies to the south-west. At a
small station we stop once more immediately abreast of a
troop train, and glide slowly past it. It consists of third-class
carriages, the interiors of which are exposed to our view, one
by one, through the open doors. On every imaginable pro-
jection the soldiers have suspended their knapsacks, rifles,
tunics and cartridge-belts, all in picturesque and almost im-
pressive disorder. Some are lying stretched full length on the
seats, with their noses in the air, fast asleep ; others sit with
crossed legs, smoking, chatting or looking out on the scene
outside. Officers and non-commissioned officers occupy the
first and second class compartments. They are cavalry.
The train also comprises " H.Gr." carriages filled with horses.
There are eight in each carriage, four on each side, with their
heads turned towards each other and they are separated from
the central doorway, with sliding doors, by bars suspended
on short chains. The halters are fastened to the bars. Between
the bars—that is in the middle of the carriage—is a table on
trestles, and two benches. On these some men are seated at
their midday meal—cold coffee and savoury sausage sand-
wiches.
Bertrix ! Another stop of one hour. Through the window
one overhears involuntarily a few scraps of the soldiers*
conversation. " Have you heard that the Belgians are said to
have a secret wireless station near Arlon, which it is impossible
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