All hands poured out to meet us and greeted us as prodigal sons. When we had not come back the day before they had about made up their minds that something dreadful had happened to us, and the rejoicing over our return was consequently much greater than if we had not whetted their imaginations just a little. I found that the situation in Brussels had undergone big changes while I was away. General von Jarotzky had been replaced by General von Lütwitz, who is an administrator and has been sent to put things in running order again. There was no inkling of this change when I left and I was a good deal surprised. Guns have been placed at various strategic points commanding the town, and the Germans are ready for anything. Some of the subordinate officers have since told us that Von Jarotzky was a fighting general and had no business staying in a post requiring administrative ability. The new man is cut out particularly for this sort of work and is going to start a regular German administration. Functionaries are being brought from Berlin to take things over, and in a short time we shall to all intents and purposes be living in a German city. The first trains ran to-day in a halting fashion to Liège and the German frontier. Perhaps we shall have a newspaper. Davis* got back yesterday from his trip to the front, and we learned that he had been through a perfectly good experience that will look well when he comes to writing it up, but one that gave him little satisfaction while it was in process. He started off to follow the German army in the hope of locating the English. After leaving Hal, some bright young German officer decided that he was a suspicious looking character and ought to be shot as an English spy. As a preliminary they arrested him and locked him up. Then the war was called off while the jury sat on his case. One of the officers thought it would be a superfluous effort to go through the forms of trying him, but that they should shoot him without further to-do. They began considering his case at eleven in the morning and kept it up until midnight. He was given pretty clearly to understand that his chances were slim and that the usual fate of spies awaited him. He argued at length, and apparently his arguments had some effect, for at three o'clock in the morning he was routed out and told to hit the road toward Brussels. He was ordered to keep religiously to the main road all the way back on pain of being shot on sight, and to report at headquarters here immediately on his arrival. By this time he was perfectly willing to do exactly what was demanded by those in authority and made a bee-line back here on foot. He turned up at the Legation yesterday morning footsore and weary and looking like a tramp, and told his story to an admiring audience. I was still away on my little jaunt and did not get it at first hand. The Minister took him down to call on the General and got them to understand that R. H. D. was not an English spy but on the contrary probably the greatest writer that ever lived, not *EDITORS' NOTE.-The late Richard Harding Davis, in his book, "With the Allies," makes the following interesting comments upon Mr. Gibson: “Hugh Gibson, secretary of the American Legation, was the first person in an official position to visit Antwerp after the Belgian Government moved to that city, and, even with his passes and flag flying from his automobile, he reached Antwerp and returned to Brussels only after many delays and adventures. Not knowing the Belgians were advancing from the north, Gibson and his American flag were several times under fire, and on the days he chose for his excursion his route led him past burning towns and dead and wounded and between the lines of both forces actively engaged." 'Gibson is one of the few men who, after years in the diplomatic service, refuses to take himself seriously. He is always smiling, cheerful, always amusing, but when the dignity of his official position is threatened he can be serious enough. When he was chargé d'affaires in Havana a young Cuban journalist assaulted him. That journalist is still in jail. In Brussels a German officer tried to bluepencil a cable Gibson was sending to the State Department. Those who witnessed the incident say it was like a buzz-saw cutting soft pine." "Gibson saw more of actual warfare than did any or all of our twenty-eight military men in Paris. It was his duty to pass frequently through the firing lines on his way to Antwerp and London, He was constantly under fire. Three times his automobile was hit by bullets. These 'trips were so hazardous that Whitlock urged that he should not take them. THE DISTRICT BETWEEN BRUSSELS AND ANTWERP In which Mr. Gibson made the trip through the hostile lines during the German invasion of Belgium in August, 1914 excepting Shakespeare or Milton. The General said he had read some of his short stories and that he would not have him shot. Just the same he was not keen about having him follow the operations. He is now ordered to remain in this immediate neighborhood until further orders. To-day he had several interviews with the General in an attempt to get permission to leave the country, but had no luck. The last we saw of Davis, he came in late this afternoon to tell us that he did not know what to do next. He said that he had been through six wars but that he had never been so scared as he was at that time. If he is allowed to get out of Belgium I think that he will not darken the door of General von Lüttwitz for some time to come. I was surprised to learn that Hans von Harwarth, who used to be military attaché in Washington and whom I knew very well, is here as Adjutant to our new Governor. I have not yet had time to get over to see him but shall try to do so to-morrow. I am glad to have somebody like that here to do business with. with. He is a real white man and I anticipate a much better time with him than with any other officer they could send here in that capacity. I. OUR SOLDIERS IN PARIS Marching to the railroad station on July 5th to leave for the training camp where they have been receiving their final instruction in trench fighting Parading in the court of the Invalides, where the remains of Napoleon lie. These men are regulars and among the first of our troops to reach France |