The general had just received reports that Antwerp was in flames and the greater part of the city already demolished by the huge forty-two-centimetre guns of the Germans.

The fate of King Albert's army was worrying him exceedingly and he was therefore in little mood for conversation.
The American consul could do little to assist them.

After the matter was explained to him, he said: "I advise you to wait a few days for your decision.

Perhaps a day--an hour--will change the whole angle of the war.

Strange portents are in the air; no one knows what will happen next.