Building seems to come as
naturally to them as to the Italians, though their staple is brick, not
marble.
Before I leave the subject of the inundations, I ought to say that
across the stretch of muddy water the Belgians hold a good many little
islets and pieces of ground, which, for some reason or other, are a few
feet higher than the rest of the reclaimed plain. Communication with
these is kept, not by boats, but by paths of duck-board which lie across
the flooded lands. The Germans, however, recognise that they have been
completely outwitted by the inundation, and that it is no use to attempt
to attack the Belgians. Accordingly things are very quiet on this line.
It happened, however, that as we walked back across the fields, having
followed the same plan as in the morning of sending our car round to
meet us at a safe place, the Germans chose to throw a few shells, and I
had therefore, when I reached the place of safety, the feeling, good to
the civilian heart, that I had been shelled both before and after
luncheon in one day--though I admit that the shelling was not of a very
serious description. It did, however, justify the steel helmet and the
gas-mask.
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