Monsieur Segotin's Story
out themselves and laying the country in ruins behind them that they for once became a little careless about one old Belgian labourer. They blew up every house they could, they cut down every tree, they poisoned every well with horse dung and other beastliness—you know what they did as well as I, though I saw it and you have only read. And the method of it all! Every soldier had his orders. Such and such trees to be cut down, such and such houses to be destroyed, such and such wells to be rendered useless. And they had a perfect little time-table for each day of destruction. On such a day such wells to be poisoned, next day so many more, until on the day appointed for departure but one well remained with pure water in it. This the last soldiers to leave were to ruin. Oh yes! it was methodical, that business. But at last it was done and I, from my hole in the ground, saw them go away Eastwards.
"Hell, no doubt, is something like that little town of Bancourt by Bapaume when the Germans left it; but I am not going to be descriptive. That I can leave with confidence to the journalists. It is enough that the British soldiers did at last come peering through the smoke and the stink, coughing and sneezing and cursing because there were no Germans for them.
"And so it was over, and I could once again go about my affairs without the permission of the German military authorities. A satisfactory condition of things for me, my good Monsieur. It was not long
45
