"And you know what that means!" I saw playing the damn fool with him would be waste of time.
"I followed your army," I told him, "because it's my business to follow armies and because yours is the best-looking army I ever saw." He made me one of his mocking bows.
"We thank you," he said, grinning.

"But you have seen too much." "I haven't seen anything," I said, "that everybody in Brussels hasn't seen for three days." He shook his head reproachfully and with a gesture signified the group of officers.
"You have seen enough in this road," he said, "to justify us in shooting you now." The sense of drama told him it was a good exit line, and he returned to the group of officers.

I now saw what had happened.

At Enghien I had taken the wrong road.

I remembered that, to confuse the Germans, the names on the sign-post at the edge of the town had been painted out, and that instead of taking the road to Soignes I was on the road to Ath.