We had planned to be back the same
evening, and went prepared only for an afternoon's drive in a
couple of hired street carriages. It was seven weeks before
we again saw Brussels. On the following day (August 24) Davis
started for Mons. He wore the khaki uniform which he had worn
in many campaigns. Across his breast was a narrow bar of silk
ribbon indicating the campaigns in which he had served as a
correspondent. He so much resembled a British officer that he
was arrested as a British derelict and was informed that he
would be shot at once.
He escaped only by offering to walk to Brand Whitlock, in
Brussels, reporting to each officer he met on the way. His
plan was approved, and as a hostage on parole he appeared
before the American minister, who quickly established his
identity as an American of good standing, to the satisfaction
of the Germans.
In the following few months our trails were widely separated.
I read of his arrest by German officers on the road to Mons;
later I read the story of his departure from Brussels by train
to Holland--a trip which carried him through Louvain while the
town still was burning; and still later I read that he was
with the few lucky men who were in Rheims during one of the
early bombardments that damaged the cathedral.
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