[A]
[Footnote A: This account agrees substantially with that given in a
letter written by Mme. Tielmans, the Burgomaster's wife, which is
printed in the fifth report of the Belgian Commission. The letter is as
follows:
This is how it happened. About 4 in the afternoon my husband
was giving cigars to the sentinels stationed at the door. I
saw that the General and his aides de camp were looking at us
from the balcony and told him to come indoors. Just then I
looked toward the Grand Place, where more than 2,000 Germans
were encamped, and distinctly saw two columns of smoke
followed by a fusillade. The Germans were firing on the houses
and forcing their way into them. My husband, children,
servant, and myself had just time to dash into the staircase
leading to the cellar. The Germans were even firing into the
passages of the houses. After a few minutes of indescribable
horror, one of the General's aides de camp came down and said:
"The General is dead. Where is the Burgomaster?" My husband
said to me, "This will be serious for me." As he went forward
I said to the aide de camp: "You can see for yourself, Sir,
that my husband did not fire.
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