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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/33480-8.txt b/33480-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..683fd19 --- /dev/null +++ b/33480-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5368 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Under Fire For Servia, by Colonel James Fiske + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Under Fire For Servia + +Author: Colonel James Fiske + +Illustrator: E. A. Furman + +Release Date: August 21, 2010 [EBook #33480] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER FIRE FOR SERVIA *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Under Fire For Servia + + World's War Series, Volume 4 + + By Colonel James Fiske + + +Illustrated by E. A. FURMAN + +THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +CHICAGO AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK + +Copyright, 1915 +By The Saalfield Publishing Co. + + +[Illustration: In a moment they were alone in the heavens, racing toward +Servia.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I Dick Makes a Friend + + II A Surprising Offer + + III The Police Raid + + IV The Refuge + + V Under Fire + + VI Across the Save + + VII The Wounded Captain + + VIII A New Exploit + + IX Back to Semlin + + X A Daring Decision + + XI Craft against Craft + + XII In the Nick of Time + + XIII Face to Face + + XIV The Explosion + + XV The Tables Turned + + XVI Belgrade + + XVII Between the Lines + + XVIII The Flight + + XIX Hallo's Last Card + + + + +Under Fire For Servia + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DICK MAKES A FRIEND + + +The American consul in the small but highly important city of Semlin, in +Hungary, was a busy man. He was probably one of the first men in the +world who knew how great was the danger of war between Austria-Hungary +and the little kingdom of Servia after the assassination of the heir to +the Austrian throne in the summer of 1914. Now, since the Austrian +ultimatum to Servia had aroused all Europe to the peril, refugees had +doubled the consul's work. All the Americans in Servia, and there had +been quite a number there that summer, seemed to be pouring through +Semlin. Indeed, all the Americans gathered there from all the Balkan +states, and from Turkey as well, since the great trunk railway, the +famous Orient line, crossed the Save river at Belgrade, and Semlin was +therefore a border town, where in many cases passports had to be +examined. + +So it was a hard matter for any stranger to see the consul in person +unless he could prove that his business was of the greatest importance. +His office force did all it could to give him the time he needed to +catch up with his duties, but on a sunny morning late in July there came +a visitor who refused to be put off. The consul heard him as he sat at +his desk, writing frantically. + +"I tell you I've got to see him!" That was what the consul heard, in a +voice that caused him to sit straight in his chair in astonishment. For +the voice was that of an American boy. Clear, penetrating, self-reliant, +it rang out like a call from home. The consul smiled and touched a bell +on his desk. And a minute later Dick Warner faced him, bearing out what +his voice had already told about him. + +"You want to see me?" said the consul. "Well, sir, what can I do for +you? Lost your folks? Want money to get home? Something like that, eh?" +a note of condescension in his voice. + +"No, sir. I just want to get permission to stay here in Semlin. The +police say that I'm English, and that I'll have to go away. But that's +because Mike Hallo has a pull." + +"Michael Hallo, the great merchant?" the consul frowned. + +"I don't know anything about his being a great merchant, sir, but I know +that he's a great crook! I've chased him here from New York, and now +that I've found him, I'm not going to let him frighten me into going +away before he makes good!" + +"Tell me about this, my boy," said the consul. "It sounds as if it +should be interesting." + +"That's what I want to do, sir. My name's Dick Warner, and my father's +dead. He and Mike Hallo were partners in New York, and they had a good +business. We always had lots of money until my father died. Then, right +away after that, Mike Hallo said the business began to go wrong and lost +money. And, after a while, it got so bad, he said, that it had to be +closed down, and there wasn't any more money coming in. He sold out, and +gave my mother a little money and said he was going home." + +"That might have happened," said the consul. + +"Sure--only it didn't, you see! My mother was soft, and she believed +everything Mike Hallo told her. And I wasn't old enough to know anything +about it. So he got away with it all right, and went home. But then we +began to find things out. We found that the business hadn't been losing +money at all, and that he hadn't really sold it. He had another crook +running it, and sending him all the profits, only the law couldn't do +anything about that, because there'd been a sort of fake sale, and they +said this other man had bought it legally. Do you see how that could be, +sir?" + +"Yes, very easily. I'd have to know more about the facts to understand +it properly, but I can understand that it's possible." + +"I thought you would, sir. Well, that was how it was. We knew he'd +cheated us. A lawyer that was a friend of my dad's said he thought Mike +Hallo would still be away ahead of the game, even if he paid my mother a +hundred thousand dollars, or perhaps a hundred and fifty thousand! And +we--why, my mother's got about five hundred a year left to look after +herself and my little sister, and we used to have ever so much when dad +was alive! So I just came over here to find Mike and try to make him +come through." + +"Good for you!" exclaimed the consul, carried away for the moment. But +then he frowned thoughtfully. "Look here, Dick, I believe your story, +right through. You're not the sort of boy that would get things twisted. +But if you couldn't make Hallo disgorge in New York, how can you hope to +do it here, where he has all sorts of influence--pull, as you call it? +And how did you get here, anyway? It costs money to travel from New York +to Semlin." + +"I had a good job, and saved up my money, sir. And then I worked my way +across the ocean as a steward. I'd studied languages a good deal, too, +and I got another job then, traveling with a rich family that wanted to +have someone to buy tickets and tell how much things cost in the shops, +so that they wouldn't get cheated. I came as far as Buda-Pesth with +them, and then they paid my way to Belgrade so that I could reserve +rooms for them there. You see, I can talk German and Magyar and Servian +and Russian, as well as French and English and Italian." + +"For heaven's sake!" said the consul, in amazement. "My boy, I'm not so +sure that you won't be able to give Hallo a bad time, after all! You +must have a gift of tongues. I don't know half the languages you do, and +I'm supposed to, too, in my work." + +"Oh, I've always been pretty good at languages, sir. And if you like to +know how to talk other languages, you can find people that speak them +all in New York. I know a little Turkish, too--not so very much, but +enough to get along. And I forgot about the Greek." + +The consul roared with laughter. + +"By George!" he said. "I'll back you to make it hot for Hallo!" But then +he grew more serious. "I don't know, though," he went on. "You're in +hard luck, Dick. In ordinary times I think you'd have a good chance. But +these aren't ordinary times. Come here!" + +He led the way to the window. From it they could see the broad Danube, +the great, sluggish river that was wending its slow way to the Black +Sea, and the narrower, cleaner Save, directly before them, which flowed +into the bigger stream here and lost its own identity. Across the Save +was a steel bridge, over which a train was now running. And at the other +end of the bridge was a city of white houses, with minarets and spires, +and on top of a high, flat topped hill stood an old, white fortress. + +"Look there, above the bridge," he said. "Do you see that monitor?" + +"Yes, sir. And there are two more out in the Danube." + +"Exactly! Well, at any moment those monitors may begin bombarding +Belgrade, the capital of Servia. I don't know at what moment war will +break out, but I know that it won't be delayed very long." + +"It won't be much of a war, will it, sir?" asked Dick. "Servia's too +small to have a chance with Austria-Hungary, I thought." + +"Maybe. But you must remember that Servia has just been through two +great wars. She smashed the Turks in her great battles with them, and +then she smashed the Bulgarians, who had beaten the Turks too, and were +supposed to have the most efficient army of its size in all Europe. You +see, the Servian army has been doing a lot of fighting in these last few +years. Every man in it is a veteran, and knows just what war is. A man +like that is worth more than one who has to get used to the idea of a +campaign, and has never been under fire. And--maybe Austria wouldn't +have to fight Servia alone." + +Dick stared at him. + +"Maybe Russia will help Servia. I think she will. Then all of Europe +will get into the war, sooner or later. If Austria has to fight Russia +on the other side, she won't be able to spare her whole army or anything +like it to fight Servia. And three hundred thousand Servians won't be +beaten by that many Austrians, I can tell you!" + +"Well, but I don't see what that's got to do with Hallo, after all, sir. +He's not a soldier, is he?" + +"No. He's past the age of military service. But this is what it will +mean, Dick. In time of war ordinary affairs can't be attended to the way +they are in times of peace. Even legal, admitted debts, that a man is +perfectly willing to pay, can't be collected. Special laws and rules are +made, just for war. It would make it much easier for Hallo to dodge you. +And he has a pull, as you say." + +"Yes, but so have you, haven't you, sir?" + +"I hope so," said the consul, with a smile. "Of a different sort from +his, too. But I'm afraid it isn't the sort that can help you very much +just now, Dick. Still, we'd better do what we can. You want to stay +here. Have you got a passport? It would simplify matters for you." + +"No, sir. They told me at home I didn't need it." + +"That's what they are always saying," said the consul, looking annoyed. +"They never seem to understand, at home, that Europe isn't just like +America. Here war is likely to break out at any moment, and then a +passport is a necessity. It's been that way for years. Still, I suppose +you've got some sort of proof that you're an American citizen? Your +birth certificate or something of the sort?" + +"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't. I haven't got anything except my Boy +Scout certificate." + +"Let me see that." + +Dick produced, rather proudly, the pocket card that showed him to be a +first-class scout, a member of a star patrol of a good New York troop, +and recorded his many honor badges. + +"This is fine," said the consul, returning it. "But it doesn't prove +that you're an American, my boy." + +Dick looked at him in dismay. + +"But you believe that I am, don't you, sir?" + +"I certainly do! There isn't a boy of any other country in the world +that could have come here as you have done! But what I believe doesn't +count. If Hallo is trying to have you expelled, I'd have to be able to +prove definitely that you were an American, instead of just saying that +I believed it. In ordinary times--but, as I've told you already, these +aren't ordinary times. And I know a little something about this Hallo. +I've had trouble with him myself." + +"You have, sir?" + +"Yes. He exports things to America, and it's part of my duty to certify +to values and so on, for the customs. I've thought once or twice that he +was trying to cheat. I'm sure of this--that his pull is mighty strong. +But I tell you what I'll do. I'll cable for proofs of your identity. +Your scoutmaster should be able to get them. We'll hope Hallo won't +hurry too much. Now be off, but come back at six, and we'll have dinner +together." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A SURPRISING OFFER + + +Plucky and self-reliant as Dick Warner really was, he felt a good deal +better when he emerged from Consul Denniston's office than when he had +been trying to get by the barrier of clerks fifteen minutes earlier. +Then he had been a good many thousand miles from home, and not only +friendless in a strange and alien country, but possessed of a determined +and unscrupulous enemy as well. He had told only the truth about Hallo, +but he did not know everything, by any means, about the rich Hungarian +who had cheated his widowed mother. + +He had not been very long in Semlin, however, without making the +discovery that here, in the old Hungarian town that faced the capital of +Servia across the river Save, Mike Hallo was a far more important person +than he had ever been in New York. The firm of Warner and Hallo had been +a good, sound one in New York, and both partners had been comfortably +well off. But in Semlin means that had not seemed very great in New York +made a man the equivalent of a millionaire in America. Hallo lived in +one of the finest houses of the city, and seemed to be looked up to and +respected. + +"Gee!" Dick had said to himself. "They seem to think as much of him here +as people in New York do of J. P. Morgan or Andy Carnegie!" + +Dick was boarding in Semlin. The extravagance of a hotel, he felt, was +not for him. He had a considerable sum of money, which he always carried +with him, in gold, wrapped in a belt, which never left him, but he knew +this money might have to last him a long time, and if he could help it +he was certainly not going to have to seek charity to get home. He +wanted to paddle his own canoe; that was his favorite motto. + +Dick hadn't seen Mike Hallo, to speak to him, since he had come to +Semlin. He had seen him at a distance when Mike had been driving in an +open carriage, and Mike had seen him, too. Dick had caught the flush on +the sallow cheeks, and the look of hate that had sprung into his +father's partner's narrow, beady eyes. Oh, yes, Mike knew he was in +Semlin! And Dick did not underestimate the man's cleverness. It was just +as sure as it could be that Hallo understood very well why he had come +and what he hoped to do. Dick had tried to follow Mike's thoughts, too. + +"He's a crook--he cheated my mother," Dick had said to himself. "And any +man who would do a thing like that has got a yellow streak in him a mile +wide. So it's a cinch he's afraid of me. He may think I can't do +anything to hurt him, and all that, but he won't take any chances if he +can help it, because he's a coward. He'll know he's in the wrong, even +if he thinks he's got the law fixed, so that he couldn't be pinched, +even if he went back to New York. But down at bottom, just because he +himself knows that he's in the wrong, he'll be afraid. And he'll hate +me, too, because he's done me an injury." + +As a matter of fact, that was good reasoning, and showed that Dick had +it in him to become a good judge of human nature. A man's worst enemy is +always the one to whom he has done the greatest injury. It is much +easier to forgive someone who has done one an injury than to retain a +liking for the person one has hurt or cheated. + +That morning, before he had gone to the consulate, the Semlin police had +visited Dick. First they had asked for his passport and when he couldn't +produce one, had told him that, as an English subject, he must leave the +town within twenty-four hours. + +"You go tell Mike Hallo I'm not afraid of him, even if he gets the whole +Hungarian army after me!" Dick had said. + +The policemen had only professed utter ignorance concerning Hallo, but +Dick had not been deceived. He had not lived in New York without coming +to the conclusion that a man with a great deal of money can command a +good many things not at the disposal of ordinary people, and he was +perfectly sure that it was Mike Hallo who was behind this sudden +activity of the police in Semlin. + +"He's a dirty sneak," he said to himself. "But I've got to get busy and +call on Uncle Sam to help, or I'm apt to be chased out of here before I +get a good crack at Mike. Even if I'm not afraid of him and the whole +Hungarian army, it's a cinch that it wouldn't take more than a couple of +Hungarian cops to put me on a train and see that I stayed there." + +So, if he had not been frightened, Dick had been a good deal worried +when he went to the consulate. His travels about Europe had shown him +that over here things were allowed that would have been impossible at +home, and that there is something more than a pretty line or two of +poetry about the verse that sings of the land of the free. There wasn't +much freedom, he had long since decided for himself, in countries like +Austria and Hungary. Those who had influence with officials, like the +police, or with the army, could do very much as they pleased, and those +who didn't had to toe the mark whenever anyone in uniform told them to +do so whether they liked it or no. + +That was why he was able to leave the consulate with a light heart and a +song on his lips. He had found a friend, and it seemed to him that a +friend was a pretty good thing to have found here on the banks of the +Danube, four thousand miles and more from the apartment on Washington +Heights where his mother and his little sister, for whose sakes he had +made his adventurous journey, were waiting for him. About Consul +Denniston, busy as he was, and rather stern though his aspect had been +in the beginning, there was something that made Dick feel that he would +go through a good deal for the sake of anyone he had decided to +befriend. So in the street Dick snapped his fingers at Semlin and the +whole Austrian empire. + +"That for Mike Hallo!" he said. "Well, I think I'll go and try to see +the old boy! Wonder if he'll see me? They can't hang me for trying!" + +He knew where Hallo was to be found. His office was in the warehouse +that he owned. His trade was largely one with Russia and Roumania. +Barges laden with products of all sorts from the interior came consigned +to him, and were transshipped here at Semlin to the river steamers and +other vessels that went down the Danube toward the sea. And so his +warehouse was down by the river, whence an excellent view of the old, +mysterious looking city of Belgrade could be had. Dick knew something of +history, and he remembered that for centuries the high tide of the +Turkish invasion had come as far as this and stopped. Christian and Turk +in turn had held Belgrade and Semlin, and great battles had been fought +many and many a time on the ground that he now trod. + +But he forgot about ancient history when finally he stood outside of +Hallo's warehouse. He went in boldly, not asking anyone for directions, +until he came to a boy of about his own age on guard outside his own +door. This boy took one look at him, and then, to his surprise, spoke to +him in English. + +"What can I do for you?" he asked, very politely. + +"I'd like to see Mr. Hallo," said Dick. + +"Right in here," said the other boy. "He's not busy just now." + +"He will be, when he sees me," said Dick, and walked in. + +Hallo was sitting at a table, looking over some papers. At the sound of +Dick's entrance he looked up, and for just a moment Dick saw the same +look of mingled fear and hatred in his eyes that he had caught when he +had seen him driving. But then that look vanished, and Hallo, with an +obvious effort, greeted Dick with the bluff heartiness that Dick +remembered so well as his customary manner in the days before his +father's death. + +"Well, well, Dick Warner! My old friend's son! I am glad to see you, +Dick! What brings you here, so far from New York?" + +"Business, Mr. Hallo." + +"You are starting young, Dick! May I ask what sort of business? And can +I help you, or is this just a friendly visit to a man who held you on +his knee when you were a baby back in New York?" + +"Oh, cut that out, Mr. Hallo!" said Dick, disgusted. "You know mighty +well why I'm here. I want to know what you're going to do about the way +you cheated my mother. You told her the business in New York had failed, +and she believed you. Now are you going to do the right thing?" + +"I don't understand, Dick," said Hallo. Plainly he was trying to be very +patient, and his whole manner was that of a kindly, genial man assailed +by a bad little boy, but determined not to lose his temper. "Your +father's estate was settled in the regular way. No one regretted his +death more than I. The way things went afterward proved how important he +was to the business. I lost a great deal of money in the failure, you +know." + +"You didn't!" said Dick. "Oh, we've got the goods on you, Mike Hallo! +And I'll tell you something, too. Maybe there's nothing I can do to you +here. I don't know yet--not until I've hired a lawyer who knows all +about the sort of law you have here. But I know this much. You'll be +wanting to come back to America sometime--you'll have to, on account of +your business. And we've found out enough to fix it so that you'll be +arrested the minute you step off the steamer on to American soil!" + +This was a pure bluff, but it might be true, at that. What Dick did know +was that Hallo had stolen money, and he was sure that, whether the law +would make it possible to cause his arrest or not, it ought to make that +not only possible, but easy. Beyond question, too, the statement had its +effect. Hallo's small eyes were getting smaller and narrower, and though +the smile was still on his face, he kept it there with an obvious +effort. + +"You hurt me, Richard," he said. "I did all I could for your mother. I +tried in every possible way to cover up the mistakes your father made +before he died--" + +"You said just now that if he had lived things would have been all +right! You don't want to mix up your stories that way, Mike! It won't +sound well when they get you into court and try you!" retorted Dick, +his temper quickly rising. + +"I see that there is no use in talking to you," said Hallo, looking as +if he felt more sorry than angry. "I regret very much that your mother +is not so well off as she was once, but it is not my fault, and I am +afraid that I am too busy to talk any more to you about this matter +until you are in a better frame of mind. How long shall you be in +Semlin?" + +"You ought to know," said Dick. "How long can I hold out against your +pull? If that goes back on you, you've still got the answer. Because I'm +going to stay here until you either have me run out of town or come +through with a check for the money you stole--and a check that I can get +certified at the bank, too, before I take the train." + +Hallo tried to look bewildered, and as if he did not understand what +Dick meant, but the attempt was a poor one. His anger was rapidly +passing all bounds. + +"So long!" said Dick. "I'll see you again, Mike. I'll give you a tip, +too. You'd better not try any monkey business with me, because Uncle +Sam's right on the job. I'm not very important, you know, back in New +York, but I'm an American! And I guess they'd just as soon send a +gun-boat or two up that big river after me if there wasn't any other way +of fixing things." + +And on that word Dick turned and left the office. He had accomplished as +much and as little as he had expected. He had forced a show-down, so +that now matters between him and Hallo had come to a crisis. He had +never expected Hallo to yield, of course, until he was forced to do so. +In fact, he had done even better than he had hoped. He had expected to +have some difficulty in getting speech with the man at all. + +The boy who had let him into Hallo's office was waiting for him outside. + +"Quick!" he whispered. "I am a friend. Tell me where you live. Perhaps I +shall be able to help you--and you will need help!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE POLICE RAID + + +The strange boy vanished before Dick could ask him what he meant, and he +went on, wondering. His whole manner had been friendly, but it was also +puzzling in the extreme. Instinctively Dick had told him where he was +staying in Semlin, and then the other had disappeared at once. Dick +could make nothing of it. + +"Oh, well, it can't make any difference," he said to himself. "He didn't +want to know for Mike Hallo, because Mike must know all about where I'm +staying, and if he doesn't, he can find out--in a place where the police +get the names of everyone who takes a room for a night." + +So Dick resolved not to worry about the future, but to have a look +around the town. He didn't think much of Semlin. It might be old, but it +was not especially interesting. It seemed to him dirty, for one thing, +and he didn't like dirt. Belgrade, across the river Save, however, +fascinated him. There was something romantic about the great citadel. He +knew that it had withstood siege after siege in the olden times, and the +fact that it probably wouldn't be used as a fortress at all if war broke +out that day didn't detract a bit from the interest of its history. + +"Some fort, all right!" he said to himself. "I can just see those old +Johnnies trying to rush that hill, in days when men fought hand to hand, +instead of laying off a few miles and pounding away at a place with big +guns. If they're going to have another scrap here, I hope I'm around to +see some of it. I'd like to see a war." + +He was to be gratified in that modest wish! + +There was one noticeable thing. Semlin was a garrisoned town; a regiment +of the Austrian army was always there. But now a great many extra troops +were always more or less in evidence. Trains would come in, with +soldiers looking out from every window. The men would detrain, march +through the town, and disappear. After leaving Hallo's office, Dick saw +a full regiment arrive like that, march through the streets, and +disappear to the west. Now he stopped and began doing a sum in mental +arithmetic. + +"Gee!" he said, to himself. "I bet the consul's right! I bet the +Austrians do mean to start something! That makes about fifteen thousand +men I've seen brought in here just since I've been here. I wonder if the +Servians know about it? I should think it would be a pretty good thing +for them to have a few people here in Semlin just sort of keeping their +eyes open." + +Dick did not know to the full how serious the situation was. But then +very few people in Semlin did. Here news was being suppressed. At this +point, where the border brought masses of Servians and Hungarians into +such close contact, it was not considered wise to allow the newspapers +to print all they knew. It was understood that Austria had made certain +demands, but it did not seem to occur to anyone in Semlin that it was +possible for tiny Servia to defy the mighty Austrian empire. But as a +matter of fact, the final steps that led to the great war were being +taken, and war was already regarded as inevitable by those who, like +Consul Denniston, were in a position to know the truth. + +The consul had told him to come back for dinner at six o'clock, and so +Dick had a good deal of time to kill. He determined, therefore, to go +across to Belgrade and see if there was a message there yet from the +Abercrombies, the family with which he had traveled as far as +Buda-Pesth. He was to engage rooms for them when they wrote or +telegraphed to him that they were ready for him to do so, and he decided +that he might as well see if the message had come, though he was pretty +sure that there had not been time yet. + +To his surprise, he found some difficulty in passing the guards at the +centre of the bridge. Luck favored him, however. One of the soldiers was +a Hungarian who had been a waiter at a famous Hungarian restaurant in +New York, and had returned to serve his term with the army. When he +heard Dick say that he was an American, he offered to question him, and +began to ask Dick about New York. + +"He's all right. He knows all the places I know!" said the soldier, +after that. + +And so Dick was able to proceed. In Belgrade, inquiring at the bank the +Abercrombies had named, he found a message, but not the sort of message +he had been looking for. + +"We are going to London as fast as we can get there," ran the message. +"Should advise you to do the same. Situation looks very serious." + +There had been more in the original message, for the blank was plainly +marked "Censored." Dick was indignant at the idea that anyone should +interfere with a telegram sent by as distinguished an American as Judge +Abercrombie, but, after all, he decided there was no one here to blame. +The censoring had been done at Buda-Pesth in all probability. And the +essential fact was there. He was a good deal disappointed, for he had +rather hoped that Judge Abercrombie might be able to help him in his +dealings with Mike Hallo. However, there was no help for it. + +So, having nothing else to do now, he spent a part of the afternoon in +wandering about Belgrade, and making himself familiar with the strange +old town. The older part of the city he found to be much more romantic +when viewed from Semlin. At close quarters it was incredibly dirty, and +the houses were rabbit warrens, inhabited by a wretched mixture of Turks +and mixed breeds. He managed to learn there were not so many Servians; +for Servians are not fond of living in towns. They are farmers and +herders, and by choice they live in the open country, which is why they +are a hardy and long-lived race. + +But the new palace seemed to him a fine building, and he was lucky +enough to see old King Peter, with his white hair and his fine, sturdy +face, drive out of the grounds. A crowd had assembled, knowing that he +was going to drive out, and it cheered the old man to the echo. Dick +remembered how, for many years, King Peter had lived in Paris alone, in +poverty, longing always for the time when he might return to the land +his ancestors had helped to free from Turkish tyranny. And now this old +man was an idolized king, who had led his people in two victorious wars +and to-day was being urged by them to defy a country many times the size +of his own. Dick took off his own hat and cheered with the crowd when +the carriage passed him. + +"I'm not a Servian," he said, to himself, "but he's a real man, and it +won't hurt me to take off my hat to him, I guess." + +Here in Belgrade there was far more excitement over the prospect of war +than there had been in Semlin. Dick decided that this was because here +much more of the truth was known. + +He liked the looks of the newer part of Belgrade, beyond the palace. +Here there were pleasant white houses, in green gardens, and everything +was clean and well kept. The people, too, seemed to him more like real +folks, as he put it. There wasn't a servile respect for a uniform. One +reason for that, had he known it, was that when Servia went to war it +meant that every man, and every boy old enough to carry arms, was +engaged. It was a nation that fought, not just an army. + +So it was with a pleasanter impression of the Servian capital than he +had expected to acquire that Dick returned to Semlin. When he got back +the sun was already low over the hills in the west, and he had just +about time to hurry to his lodgings and change his clothes. + +There he found something that surprised and angered him. In his absence +someone had been through all his few belongings; few because he had of +necessity traveled with little baggage. He could see that everything had +been ransacked, and he guessed that the police had paid his room another +visit in his absence. It hadn't done them any good, for of course he +carried no papers that would have been of the slightest interest to +anyone else, and his money, the only valuable thing he had, was always +in the belt that he wore next to his skin, under all his clothes. + +But he was angry, none the less, and he carried his anger with him to +the consulate, where, arriving promptly, he had to wait a little while +for the consul to finish some business. When he told Mr. Denniston what +had happened the consul frowned. + +"I'm not surprised," he said. "I couldn't prove this, Dick, but I've +learned enough to be perfectly certain that Hallo is behind the police +interest in you. I don't believe that anyone really thinks you are +English, or has the slightest idea that you may be a spy." + +"A spy! What kind of a spy would I make? Is that their line?" + +"In a time like this almost anyone may be accused of being a spy, Dick. +You see, the argument is that it's just the one that's apparently least +likely to be guilty, who can be the most dangerous spy. But, as I say, +in your case it's just an excuse. I have sent a cable message to the +State Department, asking them to satisfy themselves through your +scoutmaster at home that you are an American citizen. When I hear from +that message, you see, you'll have an official standing, and I can do +something. What I am afraid of is that the answer will be delayed. But +come in to dinner. I shall have to leave you right afterward." + +At the dinner table Mr. Denniston explained the situation more in detail +to Dick. + +"Hallo's powerful enough to have his way. That's the size of it," he +said. "I've decided to have you come here, as my guest. They wouldn't +dare to take you from the consulate for that would mean trouble with the +United States. And if I don't read the whole situation mistakenly, they +are going to have enemies enough before long without embroiling +themselves with us, even for the sake of pleasing Mr. Michael Hallo!" + +"I hate to trouble you, sir," said Dick. "But it is most awfully good of +you to invite me, and, of course, I'd be safe here." + +"It's no trouble--I'll be glad to have you. As soon as we've finished +dinner, go and get your things, and then come right back here. They gave +you twenty-four hours, you said, didn't you? And that was this +morning?" returned Mr. Denniston. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then I think you have time enough. But there is no use in leaving +yourself in their power when the time is up. When they move here, they +move very quickly indeed." + +"All right, sir. I'll go along, and get back at once." + +Dick hurried through his dinner, and then went back to his lodgings. In +his room he began packing, but he had not finished his task, light as it +was, when he heard a heavy pounding on the street door, which was at the +bottom of the stairs, directly in line with his own, his room being on +the first floor. He was curious enough to open his door to listen, and +he saw the woman of the house open the street door. + +"In the name of the law," he heard a heavy voice say. "We have come to +take one Richard Warner, calling himself an American, who is accused of +being a spy, and is to be sent immediately to Buda-Pesth. Stand aside!" + +"Yes, sir--yes--right up the stairs, there," stammered the frightened +woman. + +Dick was aghast for a moment. Then, by a sheer instinct of +self-preservation, he flung the door shut, locked and bolted it. It was +stout and would hold for a moment. He rushed to the window. It was an +easy drop to the garden below. But of what use to drop? What chance was +there for him to make his way through the streets to the consulate, +where, could he but reach it, he might find asylum? It might be better +to yield. Though he was not a coward, he knew that the police might +shoot him. + +And then, just as heavy footsteps came up the stairs, a voice spoke in +his ear. + +"Will you trust me?" it said. + +He turned with a start, to see the boy of Hallo's office beside him! + +"Follow me--through the window. I can save you," said this boy. "It is I +they should seek--I _am_ a spy!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE REFUGE + + +There was no time to debate. Dick heard the policemen at the door and he +knew that it would not delay them for more than a minute, at best. The +mysterious boy was already half way out of the window. Dick rushed over, +and saw him land in a flower bed below. A moment more, and he was beside +him. + +"Follow me," said the stranger. "Can you run fast?" + +"Yes, I can," said Dick, speaking in Servian. He wanted to surprise this +boy who had surprised him so thoroughly, and he succeeded. But there was +no time for questions. He suited the action to the word now, and they +ran, the stranger in the lead. But even as they ran, Dick's mind was +active. He had answered in Servian because he had suddenly guessed part +of the mystery. The other's cry, "I am a spy!" had given him a clue. He +concluded that this boy must be a Servian. + +And his start of surprise when he had heard the words in that language, +which very few foreigners can speak, had convinced Dick that he had made +the right guess. He felt better after that. Somehow hitherto he had not +been able to divest himself of an uncomfortable suspicion that this +strange boy might be in some fashion acting against him and in the +interests of Mike Hallo. Yet his manner contradicted that idea; he was +frank and open in his appearance. And, finally, there was no need for +Dick to feel that he was making any serious mistake in following him +now. + +It was certain that the police _were_ working for Hallo, whether they +knew it or not, and it was equally certain that had he not dropped from +the window he would now be in their hands, and perhaps on his way to +Buda-Pesth. As it was, he was free for the moment at least. + +Hot as was their pace, Dick's training as a scout enabled him to keep +track of their direction, roughly at least, and he knew that they were +going toward the river. Had he been a boy of the type too often seen +nowadays, born and brought up in a city, he would have been hopelessly +lost within a minute of the start, for his guide twisted and turned in a +bewildering fashion, plainly with the idea of making pursuit more +difficult for the police. At last the pace slackened, and the Servian +turned into a narrow alley. Dick followed, and they dropped into a +cellar. This was a damp, dark, filthy place, but they were not to stay +there. The Servian pressed a certain spot on what seemed to be a +perfectly blank wall, and it gave. Dick saw that there was a secret +panel, which swung around now and gave them entrance to a second cellar +of a very different aspect, as he saw when his companion struck a match. + +This room, for a room it really was, was lined with match board, and +there was some sort of ventilation, for the air was fresh and pure, and, +moreover, in constant motion. The Servian lighted a lamp that hung from +a bracket on the wall, and then, as the light spread, Dick could see +what manner of refuge it was that they had reached. + +Evidently it was intended for frequent use. There were two or three +chairs, a table, and a big, comfortable looking couch, covered with rugs +and cushions. Books were on the table, and on a shelf that ran around +two sides of the room, and on the table, too, were pens, ink and paper +in abundance. + +"Now we are safe!" said the Servian. "This place has been used for two +or three years, and the police seem never to have suspected its +existence. I suppose you are curious?" + +"I certainly am!" said Dick. "Who are you? And what are you doing here? +And--but go ahead! You'll tell me what you like, I suppose." + +"My name is Stepan Dushan," said the other, with a laugh. "That is a +good Servian name, as I suppose you know. But you must have guessed +before that I am Servian, or you would not have spoken to me in my own +language. How is it that you, an American, over here for the first time, +speak our language so well?" + +"How is it that you know so much about me?" countered Dick, really +amazed. "I never saw you until this morning, in Hallo's place." + +"Nor I you," said Stepan. "But it was my business to know all about +everything that Hallo was doing. He is a very important man just now, +and especially for us Servians. He has a great deal to do with the +government here. He will supply many of the things the Austrian soldiers +will need in the war, and there was a chance that by working for him I +might be able to gain a great deal of valuable information. There are so +few of us Servians, you see, and especially after the wars, that boys +have to do the work of men." + +"I see," said Dick, vaguely, though he was a long way from a clear +understanding yet. + +"That was why I listened to what you had to say to Hallo," the Servian +went on. "Anything might be important, you see. But I soon understood +that this was a different matter. And then I remembered things I had +heard, or had just happened to stumble on, since I had been in his +office, and then I knew all about you, and how he had cheated your +family--the scoundrel!" + +"You do know a lot!" said Dick. He was beginning to be tremendously +impressed by this Servian lad, no older than himself, who nevertheless +was serving his country in such a dangerous and delicate capacity. + +"Oh, I just jumped at the chance of putting a spoke in Hallo's wheel," +said Dushan. "It hasn't been the easiest thing in the world working for +him, obeying his orders, I can tell you. He treats those who work for +him like a dog. You would think he was a noble, instead of a shrewd +peasant who has made money." + +He laughed. + +"I ought not to talk like that," he said. "In Servia we are all +democrats, and a peasant is as good as the next man. But still it was +hard with this Magyar swine! My father--you know my father is in our +army, a general of brigade. I shall be in the army, too, when I am old +enough, if there is to be more war after this. And in the meantime I do +what I can. I am a Boy Scout." + +"A scout? So am I!" exclaimed Dick. + +They had found a common tie when Stepan Dushan said that, and for a +little time they forgot everything in a discussion of scouting and of +the differences between the Servian and American systems. They soon +agreed that, though there had to be many differences, the fundamental +idea was the same, and that the original impulse of the Boy Scout +movement had spread because there must be, after all, a great deal in +common between all boys everywhere. + +"There are scouts here in Hungary. In Buda-Pesth there are several +troops, you know," said the Servian. + +"I saw them there," Dick nodded. "And in Germany, too, but the German +scouts are rather different. I say, this is splendid, Steve! You don't +mind my making it Steve, do you, instead of Stepan? That sounds so +strange to me." + +"I don't mind a bit," said the Servian. "Well, I got you away from the +police, but I'm puzzled as to what to do for you next. We can't stay +here very long, because some of the men who are doing the really +dangerous work may want to use this place any minute, and I don't think +they'd like it if we stayed. I suppose I could manage to get you out of +Semlin, but you'd have to go to Buda-Pesth, and you want to stay within +reach of Hallo, don't you?" + +Dick's jaws snapped together. + +"I certainly do," he said, doggedly. "I hate to give a thing up when +I've once started to try to do it, don't you?" + +"Ye-es. I'm trying to think, Dick. There is a way, of course. I can +smuggle you over to Belgrade when it gets dark. But if you once get into +Servia just now, there's no knowing when you'll get out again. When the +fighting starts--and it's going to start soon, perhaps to-night, perhaps +to-morrow--things are going to move quickly. We haven't wanted war, we +Servians. We've had enough to last us a lifetime since we attacked +Turkey. But we're ready for it." + +Dick said nothing. It seemed plain that his new found friend was still +pondering an idea. + +"You've no idea how I hate that man Hallo!" he burst out in a minute. +"Sometime, if we are to be together, I'll tell you why. The rest of the +reasons, that is. But I'd give anything to help you beat him, Dick, and +I do think there's a way. Only it will be risky. You'd have to come with +me to Belgrade. And you'd have to stay with me and probably help Servia, +and I don't suppose an American, who's got nothing to do with our +troubles, would want to do that?" + +"I'd do pretty nearly anything rather than go home beaten," said Dick, +grimly. "And there's another thing, too, Steve. Do you think there's a +chance that this may mean a European war, with Germany and France and +Russia mixed up in it? That's what Mr. Denniston, the American consul +here, seems to think." + +"Yes, I'm afraid it will mean just that," said Dushan, gravely. "Russia +will help us if Austria attacks us. We know that already. Then Germany +must help Austria and France must help Russia, and England must help +them both. And there will be the great war--the war Austria threatened +us with when she took away Albania, that thousands of our Servians had +died to win for the fatherland! We gave way then, just as we gave way +when she enslaved millions of Serbs in Bosnia, so that there might be +peace in Europe. But this time Austria has gone too far, when she tries +to take away the independence our fathers bought from the Turks with +their blood! Servia cannot give way again. And Russia will not let her +be wiped out by Austria." + +"Then I'll stay here," said Dick, cheerfully. "Because there isn't a +chance for me to get home. I haven't got money enough. I got here by +working my way, and in time of war there'd be no chance for me to do +that." + +"There is something in that," said Stepan. But he seemed doubtful still. +"I don't want you to come in without knowing what there is to be +risked," he went on. "It is going to be dangerous, hard work. But I +really think that at the end there will be a chance for you to get what +you came for. I think that I can show you a way to beat Hallo and force +him to make restitution. Don't ask me why I think so, because I'm not +ready to tell you yet. And it might spoil everything if I told you too +soon." + +"You've done so much for me now that there's no reason why you should do +more," said Dick. "And as for helping Servia, why shouldn't I? When my +own country was little and poor, and fighting for its life against +England, we got help from all sorts of people who believed in freedom +and hated tyranny. So I don't see any reason why an American scout +shouldn't do anything that's in his power for Servia." + +They struck hands then. + +"We must wait until dark," said Stepan. "Until it is really dark, full +night. Then it will be very easy to get over the river, unless things +have changed greatly since last night. I am glad you are going to stay, +Dick. We are in the right, and we are going to win. There's no other +way." + +"I think so, too," said Dick. "Steve, there's just one thing. I know +that Austria has treated Servia badly, and that she should not have +annexed lands in which there were so many Serbs. But that murder in +Serajevo was an awful thing--" + +"It was frightful!" declared Stepan, passionately. "Every true Servian +will tell you the same thing! But it is a wicked Austrian lie to say +that Servia had anything to do with it! It was Austrian subjects who +were, perhaps, Serbs in blood, who planned it. We Servians did all we +could. Our government learned that trouble was brewing, and our minister +in Vienna begged the Archduke Franz Ferdinand to stay away or at least +to take especial precautions. The Serbs in Bosnia hated him because they +thought he was the man who planned the annexation. But to say that the +Servian government knew what was planned is to say what the Austrian +government knows to be false. + +"No, that is only an excuse. Austria is afraid of us, of our patriotism. +She has determined to crush us before we are too strong. She is +trembling because of her memory of how we crushed the Turks." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +UNDER FIRE + + +It was after midnight when Steve finally decided that it was safe to +venture from their retreat. And then they did not emerge by the way in +which they had entered it. + +"This place has saved the life of many a Servian patriot in these last +few years," said Steve. "I think the Austrians have come near to finding +it once or twice. They have pursued some of our people to the very +entrance. But what has always puzzled them is that we never go out by +the way in which we come in. And one entrance we have never used except +for flight, and then only in a grave emergency. No Austrian pursuer has +ever seen that, or come near it. It is the one by which we shall escape +now. Keep still. That is all that is necessary. Keep still and follow +me." + +Dick had guessed already that there were other entrances. He was not +prepared, however, for the elaborate system of rooms and passages that +were revealed as he followed Steve, who had now possessed himself of an +electric flashlight, and had given Dick one also. + +"We could almost have stood a siege down here," explained Steve. +"Here--we seem to be in a dead alley, don't we?" + +They had passed from the room in which they had waited to another, where +Dick had seen a plentiful supply of provisions and of drinking water in +great bottles. From this they had gone into a narrow passage, dark and +damp. Now Steve flashed his light on a blank wall. But a touch at the +right place brought a handle into view. This, when it was pulled, showed +that there was really a door, cunningly made so that it seemed to be a +part of the wall, with no cracks to betray it. And behind this was +another door of solid steel. + +"It would not be easy to get through that door, you see, even if they +penetrated the secret of the first one," said Steve. "That door is made +of armor plate, of tempered steel. It is the same sort of steel that is +used for the protection of a great battleship. Even a shell from a +cannon would not go through it very easily, and bullets would only be +hurled back if they struck it." + +He touched a spring and the door revolved on its own axis, staying open +just long enough for them to pass through, and then closing. + +"The action is automatic," said Steve. "That would make it safe even if +one were pursued, for the pursuer would be caught as the door closed; he +would not be so close as to be able to get through." + +"You people didn't overlook anything, it seems to me," said Dick. "You +must have been getting ready for war for a long time." + +"For years," said Steve, quietly. "Ever since King Peter came to the +throne and refused any longer to betray the country to Austria, as his +predecessor did always. We stand in Austria's way. Until we became +powerful by beating Turkey and Bulgaria, which attacked us as the +result of an Austrian trick, it mattered less. But ever since the end +of the second war last year we have known that Austria was only looking +for an excuse to attack us. And so we have tried to be ready. It was our +only chance." + +"But you say you won't have to fight Austria alone. The Russians will +come to Servia's aid, won't they?" + +"In a way, yes. But they will not be able to send troops to fight with +our armies. They may attack Austria, and so keep some of her soldiers +busy elsewhere. But that is all. We do not touch Austria anywhere. She +might send troops through Roumania, and Roumania, it is true, is +friendly toward us. But that would bring her into the war, and she will +not be ready for that for a time. At least Turkey would bar her from +sending troops by sea to Antivari, for they would have to pass through +the Dardanelles, and that is impossible since Turkey is the friend of +Germany. + +"And there is another point. Austria has been making ready. She can +strike quickly. Russia is slow. It will be two months before she makes +herself felt, even if she declares war at once. For two months Austria +can devote herself almost entirely to us. And the odds in her favor are +so great that anything might happen in that time, if we had not prepared +for her. As it is, there is almost nothing of Austria's plans and +preparations that we do not know." + +While Steve talked they were walking through what seemed almost like a +tunnel. Now he flashed his light, looked about, and dropped his voice. + +"Now we must begin to be careful," he said. "We are getting near the +light. This is like a rabbit's warren, but soon we shall be in the open. +Sure as we are that the Austrians know nothing of this place, we never +take chances." + +"We must be a long way from the cellar we first went into," said Dick. +"Even if we've circled around, and here where there are no stars, I +can't tell about that. We've walked a long distance, I should say." + +"You're right," said Steve, with a low and discreet chuckle. "Oh, this +is a fine tunnel! Do you know what we did a few minutes ago? We walked +right under a police station!" + +The tunnel seemed to dip now, and then to rise again. And in a few +moments cold air was blowing on their faces; cold, that is, by +comparison with the heat of the subterranean workings in which they had +been buried. Then they came out, stooping, and passing through a well +designed covering of shrubs and bushes, on the sandy beach of the river. +Dick gasped a little at that, and at seeing that they had evidently got +out of the town altogether. Before him now lay the lights of Belgrade, +but he noticed one thing at once. The lights had shrunk; there were +fewer than there had been the night before. + +Steve had gone ahead now, scouting to see if the coast were clear, but +he returned in a moment, jubilant. + +"All safe!" he said. "I knew it would be, of course, but there is no +need to take chances. Now we're all right so far. But we've got quite a +walk before us yet. We'll still be very cautious." + +"Which way?" asked Dick. + +"West, along the bank of the Save here. Look, do you see that monitor +there? If her searchlight swings this way, drop down. She might not pay +any attention, but we don't want to be noticed at all, and it's better +to be on the safe side." + +"Why are there so few lights in Belgrade?" asked Dick. "I know it's +late, but other nights, when I've looked over, it was much brighter." + +"I'm not sure," said Steve, looking anxious. "You see, it's hours since +I've had any news. The war may have come already, Dick. I hope not, +because I should feel that we were more sure of getting across before +the declaration. Still we have a good chance, even if it has begun." + +Three times, as they walked along the river bank, Steve made a long +detour inland. + +"The Austrians have patrols along the river," he said. "But they don't +take that sort of work very seriously. They are trusting the monitors +and their searchlights. You see, their lights are swinging pretty +steadily, and they cover the whole river and the Servian shore." + +"And don't they think that there's likely to be danger on this side?" + +"They're right, too, of course. Spies, yes. But we couldn't threaten +them very seriously in any way that would make it necessary for them to +be very careful here." + +"I wish we knew what was going on, don't you? Doesn't it seem funny to +be right in the middle of something that's going to make history and to +think that people thousands of miles away really know more about it than +we do?" + +"Yes. But soon we'll know all there is to be known. When we're once over +the river, then we can ask questions and get true answers, which is more +than people in Semlin have been doing lately. Yes, I'm just as anxious +for some news as you are. I rather wish now that I'd gone out while we +were waiting for it to be late enough to start. But I suppose it was +better that I didn't. You'd have been helpless there if anything had +happened to keep me from coming back," remarked Stepan. + +"If you'd been caught, you mean?" + +"Ye--es, I suppose that's what I mean. Although really I don't think +there was ever any great danger of that. When I got a job from Hallo, it +was sure that no one suspected me, because he's so busy with government +contracts that he had to be careful. I'm supposed to be a Hungarian, +from Buda-Pesth. And it isn't as if I'd been trying to find out things +in a general way. All I had to do was to pick up the information that it +was so easy to get in Hallo's place. There were all sorts of things to +be learned there, and a lot was made easy for me because Hallo and +others didn't think, I suppose, that I would know what certain papers +and estimates meant." + +"How did you know enough to be able to do all that sort of thing, +Steve?" + +"Well, there were a lot of things I didn't understand, myself. But I +didn't have to. I just copied down everything I saw that seemed to have +anything to do with military matters in any way, and sent everything I +got to the general staff at home. They knew the meaning of everything, +you see. It wasn't any one thing, perhaps; it was what I and a lot of +others who were at work over here were able to report that counted. They +could put one thing with another, and, altogether, it was worth +something. I don't know how much. But I do know, for instance, that +Hallo has sent supplies of various sorts to particular places. There's a +regular arsenal on the Austrian side, near Schabatz, and there are big +depots of supplies at a lot of places along the Drina." + +"Oh, I understand better now. Hallo is supplying food and things that +the soldiers will need?" + +"Food, and shoes, mostly. He's the biggest contractor for those, but he +is handling about everything. Medical supplies, uniforms, horseshoes, +saddles, and a tremendous lot of petrol--gasoline. And he's making a big +profit, too. He's one of several big army contractors who have been +eager for this war, and have had a lot to do with bringing it on, +because they hoped to grow richer out of their contracts. War meant big +profits." + +"Men like that ought to have to do some of the fighting themselves, I +think! But they never do. They stay behind, and let others do the work. +I've heard about that sort of thing at home in America. And some of them +didn't even behave honestly. They sold bad beef for the soldiers, and +rotten leather, and shoddy cloth for uniforms." + +Steve chuckled. + +"I'll tell you something about Hallo," he said. "But remember not to +tell anyone else, even if you get a chance, until the time comes. He's +doing something like that, too. He thinks he's been very clever, and +that there's no chance for anyone to find him out. But I've got the +proof, and perhaps there'll be a chance for you to use what I know to +make him do what's right for your mother, Dick. As it is, you see, I +wouldn't give him away, because it's good for us to have the Austrians +badly equipped. Hello, we're getting near our ferry! Do you see that +blasted tree there--the one that was struck by lightning?" + +"Yes," said Dick, peering through the darkness. + +"Well, just below that there ought to be a boat and a man with it. We'll +soon know if we can row or if we'll have to swim for it. It's a long +swim, and I'm not anxious to go that way." + +But the boat was there, and beside it a Servian who greeted Steve +happily, and looked at Dick appraisingly. + +"He is with me," said Steve. "Jump in, Dick! Hurry, Mischa!" + +In a moment they were out in the stream. And then things began to +happen. There was a sputtering of fire from the bank they had left, and +Mischa, the ferryman, staggered and collapsed. A bullet had reached him! +The oars fell into the water, and they were adrift. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ACROSS THE SAVE + + +The fact that they lost their oars was what saved them. For now, its +attention evidently attracted by the sudden outburst of firing, the +nearest monitor sent its searchlight flashing down upon them, and the +little boat, with its helpless burden, was plainly visible from the +shore. With a quick and ready wit, the two scouts leaped to their feet, +at the risk of upsetting the boat, and waved their hands, in token of +their helplessness. They were seen at once, and there was a sharp cry +from the shore, and an order to cease firing. + +"We're in luck," said Steve, quietly, as he sat down again in the boat. +"That's an Austrian officer. If he had been Hungarian, he wouldn't have +stopped firing just because he saw we were helpless. But he must have +come lately from Vienna. He hasn't had time to get the border hatred of +us into his system yet." + +Dick already knew that there was particularly bad and bitter blood +between Servians and Hungarians, but he made no comment. By this time he +was heart and soul with Servia in the war that must have begun, but this +was partly because of his swiftly formed friendship for Steve Dushan, +and partly because Servia seemed to be the under dog. Yet he knew that +there were probably two sides to the question, and even the way Mike +Hallo had behaved had not filled him with a prejudice against the whole +Hungarian nation. + +Now that the immediate danger was over, there was time for them to look +to the wounded ferryman. Dick thought he was dead. He had never seen a +man shot before, but when he turned the man's body over, Steve laughed, +not callously, but happily. + +"Good for old Mischa!" he said. "I thought a man who fought at Kumanovo +and helped to storm Adrianople after the Bulgarians yelled for help +wouldn't go out so easily! See? It's only a scratch! The bullet grazed +his head. Dip your handkerchief in the water, and we'll have him all +right in no time." + +The cold water, as a matter of fact, did revive Mischa almost at once, +and he sat up, rueful at the loss of his oars. When he was told that a +bullet had grazed his scalp and stunned him, he actually grinned. + +"So that is what it feels like to be shot!" he said. "Good! Now I shan't +be afraid the next time there is going to be a battle, as I was at +Kumanovo. What next?" + +"I think everyone is wondering about that," said Dick, with a grin. +"They don't seem to want to come out after us, and we certainly can't +row ashore without oars, even if we wanted to. And I suppose if she's +cleared for action, that monitor isn't carrying so many boats that +she'll want to send one for us." + +"I wish her searchlight would break down!" said Steve, venomously. "Then +our fellows on the other side might help us. Mischa, I've got to get +over if we can do it. It's very important for me to report what I +discovered during the day. Has war been declared yet?" + +"It has not been formally declared," said Mischa. "But the King and all +the government have gone all the way back to Nish, and most of the +troops have marched away to the west, toward Schabatz and Losnitza. +There is only a small garrison left in Belgrade." + +"To Nish, eh?" said Steve, frowning a little. "That was not the plan of +which I heard. The withdrawal was to be only to Kragujevac. They must +mean to draw the Austrians on. But I am sorry. I hoped for an invasion." + +Suddenly to the east there was a dull roar. The three in the boat stared +at one another, and at the same moment there came a wild outburst of +cheering from the soldiers on the Austrian bank of the river. + +"What is that?" asked Dick. As he spoke the sound was repeated. + +"Cannon," said Mischa. + +"Yes, cannon!" repeated Steve, his face lighted up. "The first gun of +the war! Who knows how many echoes that shot will have? They said that +in your country a shot was fired once that was heard around the world. I +believe that this is just such a shot, Dick!" + +"Where is the firing?" + +"It must be from one of the Austrian batteries near Semlin. They are +bombarding the city of Belgrade, I suppose." + +And then there was a deafening roar, a sound far greater than the firing +of even the heaviest guns of modern warfare would make, and to the east, +toward the Danube, there was a great flash of fire. Instantly the +searchlight swung away from them and pointed in the opposite direction, +and as the beams of light were concentrated on the spot where the flash +had been, the three observers in the boat saw a strange and wonderful +sight. The lights played full on the great steel railway bridge across +the Save, and in their white glare they could see the beams collapsing, +the piers melting away, while the whole central span of the bridge +collapsed in utter ruin, leaving a gap where the river now flowed +unbridged. + +"Yes, the war has come!" said Steve impressively. "That was to be our +first act--the destruction of the bridge. They will not send their +troops into Servia so easily as that!" + +"P--ss--t!" + +A sharp hiss came to their ears, seemingly from the water. And not only +seemingly. Looking down, they saw the upturned face of a swimmer. Mischa +hailed him joyfully. + +"Peter!" he said. + +"Take this rope. We saw what had happened," said the swimmer, "and so I +swam out, and waited until their accursed searchlight was not playing on +you. We will draw you ashore. If they fire, lie low in the boat, and +they will never hit you. But you are safe now unless the searchlight +comes back again. They can never see you in this darkness." + +"Good man, Peter!" said Steve, his voice hushed. "Swim back, now. We +have the rope. It is better for you not to come into the boat now." + +Peter did not answer, but turned at once and began cutting the water +with long, powerful strokes. Nevertheless, though he made good progress, +he disturbed the water very little, and he had not gone more than a few +yards before it was almost impossible for even those in the boat to see +him. Only a faint rippling of the water behind him marked his trail. + +"That was good work," said Dick, admiringly. "We'll get ashore safely +yet, Steve! And a minute ago it certainly didn't seem possible." + +There was a tug at the rope a moment later. The searchlights were still +turned downstream, and now there was a brisk cannonading from the Semlin +batteries. There had been no more explosions. It was plain, as, indeed, +they had already been able to see, that the Servian sappers who had +mined the railway bridge had done their work well. + +"Down in the boat now!" said Dushan. "They are drawing on the rope, and +they'll begin pulling us along in a moment. I'm going to try to keep +her as she is, but it may be hard if they pull too fast. If they will +keep their searchlight away for just five minutes, we shall be all +right." + +"You'd better make that rope fast to something in the boat instead of +just holding on to it," said Dick. "If you don't, you might lose your +hold. Remember how Mischa lost his oars." + +"That's a good idea, Dick. I didn't think of it. Here, it's looped +around one of the thwarts now. That ought to hold it all right, if they +do hit me." + +Then they all dropped, and in a moment the boat was being drawn along +swiftly through the water. It proved impossible to keep her bow on to +the Servian shore, but there seemed no reason to fear anything from the +Austrians behind them. Yet suddenly a bullet whistled over their heads, +following the crack of a rifle. + +"Never mind that!" said Dick. "They just want us to know that they're +still thinking about us, that's all!" + +But the shot had another motive, as they soon guessed. It had been fired +in an interval of silence, when there was no firing from the batteries +at Semlin--to which, incidentally, the Servians had as yet made no reply +from Belgrade--and it was soon apparent that it had been fired to +attract the attention of the monitor. In a moment the searchlight came +winking back, and instinctively, as the great beam of light swept over +them, all crouched lower still in the bottom of the boat. There were +quick wits on the Servian side, for the dragging of the rope stopped at +once, and their motion with it. + +For a moment nothing happened. + +"Perhaps they won't notice that we've moved," said Steve, hopefully. + +But that was a vain hope. More faintly now, they could hear shouting +from the Austrian bank, and then Dick understood as a volley rang out +and a hail of bullets swept over them and pattered into the water near +by. + +"They saw that we had disappeared. That's enough to make them +suspicious!" he cried. "Shake that rope! Maybe they'll understand that +we want them to pull again." + +But that was unnecessary. The pull on the rope had been resumed, and +they were moving fast again. + +Once more the Austrian rifles spoke, and this time half a dozen bullets +pattered against the side of the boat. Some came through, but she was +stoutly built, and these had lost most of their force. But the +searchlight followed them, and now there was a loud roar near by. This +was followed in a moment by a dull explosion that seemed to be within a +few feet of them. The boat rocked violently and a shower of spray +descended, wetting them all. + +"Stay down!" cried Steve. "That's a shell from the monitor!" + +"Gee! They're anxious enough to get us, aren't they?" exclaimed Dick. +"That was a close call, Steve! But I'll bet it was just a lucky shot! +We're too small a target, and we're moving pretty fast! I don't believe +they will really hit us." + +"Too close to be comfortable," agreed Steve. "It feels funny, doesn't +it, being under fire? I never was before." + +"And I don't care if I never am again," rejoined Dick. "I'm frightened, +and I don't care who knows it!" + +"So am I!" admitted Steve, a little tremulously. "And I hoped I wouldn't +be! I wanted to be a soldier, but a coward can't be a soldier." + +Before Dick, who didn't think that it was cowardly to be afraid, could +answer, another shell plumped into the water beyond them, and again +showered them with spray, while it set the boat to rocking. But in a way +even this danger was a source of safety, for the upheaval of the water +had spoiled the aim of the rifleman each time, and though they dared not +rise to look, they felt that they must be very near the Servian shore by +this time. And then big Mischa laughed aloud. + +"You need not be afraid, Stepan Ivanovitch," he said. "You need not be +afraid that you are a coward, I mean. I am afraid at first every time I +am under fire, and so are most soldiers. Ask your father, now that you +have been under fire yourself. It soon wears off, that fear. But the +bravest men need not be ashamed to admit they are afraid when the first +bullets sing in their ears, or when they hear the shells burst near +them!" + +Twice more, in a few moments, shells dropped in the water near them. But +either luck was with them, or the monitor's target practice was poor, +for neither damaged the boat. And now they could hear the encouraging +shouts of the Servians from the shore. Then there came an explosion +louder than any of the rest, and the boat seemed to go to pieces under +them. The water rushed in. Luckily, no one of them was hurt, but all +were thrown into the water. They began to swim lustily, striking out +blindly for the shore, until Mischa raised his voice in a great laugh, +and seized one of them in each arm. + +"Here, I'll carry you ashore!" he cried. + +They were safe! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE WOUNDED CAPTAIN + + +Safe, but only for the moment. The searchlight had been following them, +and now it played on them and the Servians, a little party of five or +six men, who had dragged them thus to safety. + +"Look out! Scatter!" cried one of these, the only one who was in +uniform. "They'll try another shell, just to get even, now that you've +got away from them." + +They scattered at once, flinging themselves to the ground after running +a few paces. And, sure enough, a shell struck close to the brink of the +water, half burying itself in the sand before it exploded and sent sand +and dirt flying all over them. The fire of the riflemen carried across +the river, too, from the other bank, but the bullets had little force +left after carrying so far. + +Dick, lying face down, his back to the river, and within a few paces of +Steve, lifted his head a little, and looked about him. He saw that a +little way back from the water's edge the ground began to rise quite +sharply, culminating in what was almost a bluff, but was still easily to +be climbed. And where the ground began to rise, there was a sturdy +growth of bushes and young trees, too, that would afford good shelter. +If they could only get so far! It was easy to see. The searchlight from +the monitor was playing all over and around them, making the scene weird +in the extreme but serving them, in a way, by making their path as clear +as it would have been in broad daylight. + +Then the searchlight winked out and swung away for a moment. In that +instant the man who had given the first order rose and began running +toward the shrubbery. + +"Come on!" he cried, turning and stopping, while he waved his hands. +"The light will be back in a moment!" + +They obeyed willingly, and swept up the slope in a wild rush. The +searchlight swung back again, and now a shell burst high in the air +above them. In a moment there was a curious tearing sound, and then a +pitapat on the ground about them. Dick guessed it was shrapnel, though +he had, of course, never been under shrapnel fire before. That was not +from the monitor, he knew. It meant that the Austrians on the other side +must have got a light field piece into action after some delay. + +But he was not hit, and in a minute he was at the top of the rise, +panting. Steve Dushan came up to him. + +"All right, Dick?" he cried. "I didn't have any idea of bringing you +into anything as hot as this. You might better have stayed and taken +your chance in Semlin! Perhaps your consul could have helped you." + +"I don't care! We're all right now," said Dick. He laughed nervously. +"I'm not sorry a bit!" he declared. "It's the most exciting thing that +ever happened to me! Now that it's all over I--yes, I believe I have +enjoyed it!" + +"So have I! I mean it, too, Dick! I'm not saying that just to make +myself think I'm brave, because I was awfully frightened all the time. +But now that it's over, it's something to look back at, isn't it? It +isn't everyone who's under fire, after all." + +Then they heard Mischa calling. + +"Captain!" he cried. "Captain Obrenovitch!" + +There was no answer. And suddenly Dick knew that there would be none. +His mind recalled something that he had only half grasped as he ran up +the hill, with the patter of the bursting shrapnel, with its load of +slugs and bullets, nails and pieces of iron, all about him. He had seen +a man stumble, the one man in uniform. + +"Is Captain Obrenovitch the one who was in uniform?" he asked. + +"Yes, Dick. Why? Was he hit? Did you see him go down?" + +"I'm afraid so, yes. Here, I'm going to find out!" + +Before Steve realized what he was doing, Dick had turned and plunged +back in the direction from which he had just come. + +"Dick!" cried Stepan. "Where are you going? What are you doing?" + +"I'm going after him!" Dick shouted back. + +"Wait! That's madness! Let me go with you!" + +But if he heard, Dick made no answer. He did hear, but he paid no +attention, and scarcely understood the words. All that Dick knew was +that he had run away from a man who had been wounded because he had +braved death to save his, Dick's, life. He had seen him fall, as he +understood now, and he had not stopped to see if he could help! Dick +felt a surge of shame. He felt as if he could never respect himself +again unless he tried to make atonement now for having run on! It was +fantastic, quixotic, absurd perhaps, but it was Dick Warner's way, as +anyone who had known him at home in New York would have realized at +once! + +"I saw him fall. I know just where he is," Dick told himself again and +again, as he ran on, stumbling over roots, tripping repeatedly in his +hasty descent of the slope that had seemed so hard to climb a few +moments before. "It's up to me to find him and make up to him for +sticking to that rope!" + +That was Dick's thought. He owed his life to this man Obrenovitch, whose +very face he would not know if he saw him now. And that life, he felt, +would be of no use to him if he kept it at the expense of leaving his +debt of gratitude to Obrenovitch unpaid. + +The Servian captain had fallen out in the open, and Dick came to him at +last. The searchlight was still playing. It lit up the body for a +moment, and then winked away again. But Dick had his own pocket +flashlight out in a second, and in its light he saw that the captain, if +he was not dead, was in a bad way. Like all scouts, Dick knew something +of the first aid, and a very hasty glance showed him just what had +happened. Obrenovitch lay straight out, and the blood was gushing out +from his leg above the knee. One of the great arteries had been cut. In +a few minutes he would bleed to death if help did not come to him. + +"Oh, I hope I'm in time!" cried Dick. + +And then he wasted no more of the precious seconds. He knew that +Obrenovitch, as an officer, in uniform, and in time of war, would have +somewhere about him a Red Cross packet containing the absolute +essentials of first aid treatment. In a moment he had found this packet +and torn it open. He was close to the river, and in a twinkling he found +two small, flat stones. These he pressed into the open wounds where the +bullet had passed in and out, and then he drew a tight bandage about +them. + +All this time, be it remembered, he was under heavy fire. Bullets +pattered about him constantly. Once a stick he was using in an effort to +improvise a still better tourniquet was shot right out of his hand. But +he never faltered. Fortunately the shooting was wild. The searchlight +had not picked him up, and so he was not a real target for the enemy, as +he might have been had they seen him in the glare of the great light. + +The blood soon ceased to flow, and then Dick leaned over to listen for +the beating of the captain's heart. He caught it in a moment. It was +faint, but regular enough. + +"I think he'll do all right now," said Dick to himself, with intense +satisfaction. + +And then he had time to think of himself, and to realize that he was +tired and shaky about the knees. He collapsed for a moment, and lay +beside the wounded and unconscious officer. But he realized something +that was like a tonic; he had not been afraid, not once, while his work +remained unfinished! Perhaps it was just because he had been too busy in +his fight with the death that was reaching out to seize the Servian. +Whatever the reason, it was something to make him proud and happy, and +to fill him with a tingling sensation that was worth a night's sleep, +almost, in making him forget his own exhaustion. + +"Now to get him away!" said Dick to himself. "There's no use in staying +here. Something is sure to hit one or both of us if I do." + +But Obrenovitch was rather a heavy man. Dick could have dragged him +along, but he was afraid that that would start the bleeding of the wound +afresh, and he knew that if the Servian lost even a little more of the +blood that he had already shed so freely nothing could save him. + +For a moment Dick was near to despair. There seemed nothing to do but +stay there and hope that the Austrian fire would slacken. Even so, +however, things were bad enough, for it was highly important, as Dick +understood very well, to get the Servian officer into a doctor's hands +as soon as possible. His improvised bandage and tourniquet would do very +well for an hour or so, but better treatment was necessary, since it was +dangerous to arrest the circulation of the blood, what there was left of +it, too long. And then Dick heard footsteps, the most welcome sound he +had ever heard, he thought--except for the hail that followed a moment +later. + +"Dick! Where are you?" + +It was Stepan Dushan. He had come after Dick, determined not to let a +stranger outdo him in courage! + +"Here!" cried Dick. "I found him! I believe he'll pull through, if we +can get him away. I've been puzzling my brains trying to think how to do +it. But now we can make a stretcher." + +"How? We haven't any material, Dick!" + +"Haven't they taught you that?" said Dick. "All our scouts know how to +turn that trick! Stay here! I'll be back in a minute." + +Dick always carried his big knife, which had been a present from his +scoutmaster as a reward for a particularly good piece of work that Dick +had once done at home. Now, with its biggest blade, he managed to cut +away two stout branches of a tree, and to strip them of leaves and +twigs. Though they were thin, he knew that the live, green wood was +stout, and that while it might bend and give, it would not readily +break. He returned with the two poles, and called to Steve. + +"Take off your coat and give it to me, Steve," he directed. + +Steve obeyed, and Dick laid the coat, and his own, which he now took +off, on the ground. Then he passed the poles through the sleeves of the +two coats, having laid them end to end, and then he proceeded to button +both coats. + +"Now do you see?" he said. "Isn't that a fine stretcher for a home-made +one? Take his feet now, and lift him very carefully. He's too tall, but +if we pass our hands and arms under him, we can support his head and his +feet when we start to carry him. It'll be a hard job, but it's the only +chance. It's better to let him take the risk of being carried that way +than to leave him here. He hasn't any chance at all here, and he will +have some this way. How soon can we get him to a doctor?" + +"Very soon, once we're up the hill," said Steve. "The men can help +there. They didn't know I had come back, but they will soon miss us and +come back to see what has happened. Mischa has been my father's servant +for years, and he would go through fire and water for me, I know." + +"Good! Steve, have you noticed? They've stopped firing!" + +"About time, too! What a lot of ammunition they have wasted! Well, they +have plenty! We haven't, and when we shoot it will be when we're pretty +sure that there are Austrians in the way!" + +"Yes. Steady, now--careful! Don't jolt him even a little--it won't take +much to start that bleeding up again." + +Tenderly, carefully, they lifted the wounded man and got him on the +stretcher. Then with the utmost care, lest they disturb the rough +bandaging, they raised it. And when they had it up and were about to +start, in broken step, to make the movement smoother, there came a +fearful test of their nerve. A dull roar sounded behind them, and above +their heads a whistling, shrieking sound, that they had learned to know +well that night! It was the hiss of a shell, and in a moment it burst. +But it had overshot the mark, and when it burst, though their hands +shook, they held their firm grip on the stretcher, and that last, +wanton shot had no more effect than its predecessors. It was the last. +They finished the ascent safely. And there they found Mischa and the +rest, who relieved them and carried the stretcher to the road a few +hundred yards beyond, where, by great good luck, they met a marching +regiment, with a real surgeon. + +Their work for Obrenovitch was done. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A NEW EXPLOIT + + +Dick dropped into the background when they encountered the soldiers, and +let Stepan do the talking. Now that the strain was over, he was feeling +very tired and he wanted only to get to a place where he could sleep. +But Stepan would not allow him to escape so easily. He told everyone +within hearing of Dick's feat in going back to look for the wounded +captain. The surgeon, bending over the bandages and making little +adjustments, looked up quickly. + +"Whoever applied this tourniquet saved this man's life," he said, +briskly. "He would have bled to death in a very little time. As it is, +he will do very well, if the wound has not been infected, and there was +so much blood that I doubt if there was any great danger of that." + +Then the colonel of the regiment appeared, and drew aside Stepan, whom +he evidently knew. When they returned the colonel spoke to Dick very +quietly. + +"This is not the time to try to thank you for what you have done +to-night," he said. "I can only tell you that, if I live long enough, I +shall see that your heroism is properly known and fittingly rewarded. +You have helped to bring Stepan Dushan to this side in safety, too, for +he tells me that your cool behavior in the boat under the Austrian fire +had a good deal to do with getting you all ashore. Now I shall send you +to Belgrade, since Stepan Dushan tells me that you have reasons for +wishing to stay with us for a time. You have earned the right to do as +you please." + +Captain Obrenovitch was being sent back to Belgrade, and Steve and Dick +volunteered to care for him on the way, since that would make it +unnecessary to detail a hospital corps man to act as orderly. They had +already proved that they could be trusted in any emergency that might +arise. And so in a few minutes the column began the march again, moving +westward. Dick noticed that no bugles or drums were sounded, and that +the order to march was passed along from company to company, the +officers giving the brief commands in low voices. + +"It's a secret troop movement, of course," said Steve, when Dick +commented on this. "I can explain a little. The Austrians think, or we +hope they do, that we will concentrate in defense of our capital. We +would like to, but, after all, Belgrade is not the historic capital of +Servia. Our chief city in the olden times was Uskub, which we regained +from the Turks in the first war. We have made a capital of Belgrade +because it is the most convenient city and because it is the centre of +most of our trade." + +"And you're going to let them take it?" + +"Oh, I didn't say that!" said Steve, with a grin. "Perhaps they will +take it but they won't hold it very long! No, what I mean is that our +armies will defend Belgrade not by standing a siege, but by attacking +the Austrians in other places. Belgrade will have a small garrison, and +its situation makes it very strong, of course. But if the Austrians +were to enter the city to-morrow it could make no real difference to the +plan of our campaign." + +They were not very far from the city, which they entered, of course, +from the land side. They drove to the military hospital first, and there +Captain Obrenovitch was turned over to those who could complete the work +Dick had begun. Then when it was certain that he was in good hands, and +they had had a confirmation of the regimental surgeon's optimistic +verdict, they were ready to rest. + +"Haven't you got to make a report?" asked Dick, when Steve announced +that they were going to his home to sleep. + +"I've made the important report already," said Steve. "The chief +information I had was military, and Colonel Tchernaieff will give the +facts I had gathered to the staff when he reports at Schabatz. The rest +can wait until morning. I don't know what has happened here yet. I +suppose the information department still has quarters here, but most of +the men will be with the army in the field. I may have to go to Schabatz +in the morning--later in the morning, I mean." + +That was a good correction to make, because it was morning now, and +streaks of light were beginning to appear beyond the Danube. And Dick, +who had lived through the fullest day of his life, was eager to get to +bed. The Austrian bombardment, which it seemed had not been very bad, +had stopped altogether, and the strong probability that it would be +resumed when the sun rose didn't deter Dick from his desire to sleep. + +"We'll be at my house soon," said Steve, who knew how tired Dick was. +"If old Maritza is still there, she will look after us. I don't believe +anyone else will be in the house. My mother and my two young brothers +have probably gone away. My father said they must when the war began." + +Dick found that his friend's house was in that new quarter of Belgrade +that he had admired so much when he had made his trip across from +Semlin. And the inside of the house was as pleasant as its outer +aspect. It was not luxurious. Few houses in Servia are, since Servia is +a country where great wealth is practically unknown. But so, for that +matter, is extreme poverty. Most of the Servian people make enough for a +living, and not a great deal more, and so they have remained a simple +people, and have maintained their ability to rise as a nation in arms. + +But Dick wasn't thinking of such things. All he needed to know about +that house or any other was that it contained a bed. Yet first before +they went to bed, both he and Steve took a bath. + +"Heaven only knows when we'll get another chance," said Steve, +cheerfully. "There are going to be exciting doings, my friend Dick, for +a time. We may have to leave here in a great hurry. You know, the +Austrians _may_ find out how easy it would be for them to come over into +Belgrade! It would be a great stroke for them to say they had captured +our capital in the first week of the war, even if they couldn't keep +it." + +"Well, I hope they don't come until we've had a good sleep," said Dick. +And with that he rolled himself into bed and was snoring as soon as his +head touched the pillow. + +When he awoke it was broad daylight. But one thing surprised him. The +window was in the west wall of the room in which he had slept, and yet +the sun was pouring into it! It didn't seem possible, yet it was true. +It was late afternoon, almost evening, and he had slept practically all +day! In his surprise he called out sharply to Steve, who had slept in +the same room, but in a separate bed. But Steve was not there. His bed +was crumpled, but he himself had vanished! + +Dick went to the window and looked out. Everything seemed to be +peaceful. There were not many people about, but he knew that in this +part of Belgrade few people were to be seen at this time of day in any +case. At first he scarcely noticed a sound that came to his ears +regularly, almost as regularly and monotonously as the ticking of a +watch. Then he realized what it was; the sound of cannon. The +bombardment, then, was still going on. He wondered about its success. + +He looked out toward the business quarter of Belgrade. In a good many +places black smoke was rising, shot through with yellow fumes. There was +no wind, fortunately; he guessed that these pillars of smoke were from +fires started by the Austrian shells. Had there been a gale to fan them +they might have done serious damage. He was still looking out when the +door burst open and Stepan Dushan came in. + +"Hello! You're awake at last, are you?" he cried. "Well, you had sleep +enough when you once started! You looked so comfortable that I didn't +have the heart to wake you when the time came for me to get up." + +"I'm glad you didn't," said Dick, honestly. "I'm feeling fine now, and +if you'll give me some breakfast I'll tackle my weight in wildcats! But +if I'd had five minutes less sleep it wouldn't have been enough! I don't +believe I was ever tired enough to sleep through a bombardment before." + +"This isn't much of a bombardment," said Stepan, contemptuously. "I +don't believe there'll be much damage done. Come on out--though I'll see +that you get some breakfast first. I think I'll have something +interesting to tell you before long." + +"All right. But why don't you tell me now?" asked Dick. + +"Bad luck to talk about things until they're done," said Steve, with a +grin. "Don't you know that in America?" + +"All right," said Dick. "But just when are you going to know?" + +"Pretty soon--but that's no sign that you'll know it as soon as I do, +you know. How would you like to go back to Semlin?" + +"I'm game, if you'll tell me why." + +"That's just what I'm afraid I won't be able to do. That is, it would be +a whole lot better if you didn't know." + +"Oh, all right! I don't care, anyhow! I've enlisted for the war. By the +way, what's happened to your scout troop? I thought perhaps there'd be +some good work here in Belgrade for it to do." + +"There will be, only there isn't any troop any more. About everyone in +it is with the army, except the very little chaps. I think they'd have +let me fight this time if there wasn't other work for me to do. You see +we lost so many men against Turkey and Bulgaria that we haven't really +enough men to fill the ranks. We have regiments that aren't half +filled--or we did have until this started. By this time, though, I think +there aren't many short battalions left. The old men and the boys will +fight, and they say that some of the country regiments have a lot of +women in them." + +"Women? Fighting with the men? That's not allowed, is it?" + +"How can you stop it?" asked Steve, with a shrug. "You don't know much +about us yet, Dick, my friend. You don't know what it is to have lived +with the Turks for centuries. I have read about your American women on +the plains, in the times when the Indians went on the war-path. Most of +them could handle a rifle, couldn't they? And they were pretty good +shots, too!" + +"Yes, but that's different--" + +"Not so very different. I don't believe your Indians were ever worse +than the Bashi-Bazouks. They hated us Servians, you see, because we were +infidels and Christians. And so for hundreds of years they harried us, +burned our homes, carried off our women, killed our men. That sort of +thing gets into the blood after a time. For centuries we Serbs have +stood between all Europe and the Turks. They never wiped us out, though +they beat us by sheer weight of numbers. But here, and in Bosnia, that +the Austrians stole, and in the Black Mountains--Montenegro--a few Serbs +have always held out. + +"That's why we aren't so civilized as some of the other countries of +Europe. We haven't had the time to be civilized. We have had to fight +just to keep alive. We have had to fight the Turks for life itself, and +when they did not kill, they burned our fields with the standing grain, +summer after summer, so that the harvest was lost. Yet once there was a +great Serb empire that stretched from the Black Sea to the Aegean--" +Stepan's eyes flashed, and there was a look in them that might have been +worn by his great ancestor and namesake, the last of the great medieval +Servian Tsars. + +"There is a day that we still mark every year," he went on. "The day of +the battle of Kossovo, when the Turks annihilated us--though that was +more than five hundred years ago. But in the last war we had our +revenge, on the great day of Kumanovo, when, though the Turks +outnumbered us, we drove them before us and crushed them. + +"But I spoke of the women, and I am wandering from the point! We do not +want the women to fight, but they come from the villages, where whole +companies are recruited from relatives, since we still have almost a +patriarchal system. The woman wears men's clothes, and she marches with +her husband or her brothers. The officers do not know, and--they fight +well. They have known what it is, some of those women, to see their +homes burned and their mothers slain by Turks. They know that a free +Servia means more than a name!" + +"I hadn't thought about it just that way," said Dick. "But I see that +you are right. It is just the same thing as with our pioneers. The women +of those days did fight the Indians, and for just such reasons. I'm +going to get you to tell me more about Servian history some time. You +know, until the Balkan War Servia and Bulgaria weren't much more than +names to us in America or to most of us. We were surprised and mighty +pleased, of course, when you smashed the Turks the way you did." + +"Everyone was surprised," said Stepan. His face grew dark. "And there is +another thing we hold against Austria. We were good friends, we little +states of the Balkans. We had fought a great war, and we would have +continued to be good friends had it not been for Austria. But she +stepped in when peace was to be made, and said what we could have and +what we must not touch. She would not give us the window on the sea that +we had paid for with our blood. And she tricked Bulgaria into attacking +us and so starting the second war." + +"How was that?" + +"She thought Bulgaria was strong enough to beat us, and she promised to +help if Bulgaria were too weak. Everyone thought, you see, that the +Bulgarian troops were the best in the Balkans. They forgot that we +helped them to win Adrianople, and that we and the Greeks won our great +victories unaided. And then, when we crushed Bulgaria within two weeks, +Austria broke her word, and Bulgaria was left helpless. We acted in self +defence, but we were sorry." + +"I supposed that Servia hated Bulgaria now, Steve. And Greece, too." + +"As to Greece, I cannot say. Her people are not Slavs. But we and the +Bulgarians are blood brothers. We would not have fought except for +Austrian trickery and Austrian lying--that they call diplomacy." + +"Will Bulgaria fight again in this war?" + +"I do not know. There is a great effort being made to revive the Balkan +League and add Roumania to it. Roumania is stronger than any of us now, +because, though she helped us at the end of the war with Bulgaria, she +did no real fighting at all, and it did not exhaust her to gain what she +did from the wars. If we can win what Austria denied us before, and +Bosnia and Herzegovina, perhaps, as well, we will not grudge Bulgaria +what we had to keep from her in Macedonia after the war with Turkey, and +we will help her, too, to recover Adrianople. You remember that the +Turks took that back from her when we had beaten her down." + +"So Bulgaria may be on your side?" + +"Yes. And I think it very likely, because she is near us and far from +Austria, which might offer to help her. If she attacked us, too, Greece +would come to our aid. But that depends on many things. If Russia helps +us, that will make a difference. And it is a question of what Italy will +do, also. But this is not getting us anywhere. You are game to come with +me?" + +"Yes." + +"Then let us start. We are going to get a motor boat on the Danube--not +on the Save--and try to run the gauntlet of the Austrian monitors. I +think it is safe enough, because they believe that they have the river +entirely under their control. I think it will be easier to get into +Semlin than it was to get out last night." + +"Well, I'm ready whenever you give the word." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BACK TO SEMLIN + + +It was beginning to grow dark when they set out from Steve's house. + +Maritza, the old servant who seemed to idolize Steve, had given them a +wonderful meal. Dick liked the old peasant woman. She reminded him of +the stories he had read of old southern mammies. It was plain that she +was wholly devoted to the Dushan family, and that she would do anything +for them. But in spite of that, she ordered Steve around as if he had +been a child of her own, and Steve, who seemed to Dick to possess a +goodly share of independence, accepted her orders with the utmost +meekness. + +"She was with the family before I was born," he explained. "I can +remember how she used to order me about when I was a little chap. And +she's pretty nearly as bad with my father, too. I can tell you he does +what he's told. It's a wonder she hasn't insisted on going with him in +the campaign, just to make sure that he changes his shoes when his feet +get wet and wears heavy clothes when it's cold!" + +Dick laughed, but he could understand Maritza's attitude well enough. +She had mothered him, too, and, despite his excitement, which made him +inclined to slight his meal, had insisted on his eating generously. + +"I don't know what mischief you two boys will be up to to-night," she +had said, "but if you've got a good hot meal in your stomachs you'll be +in a better condition for it, whatever it is." + +As they left the house, Steve explained that they had a long walk before +them. + +"Horses are at a premium," he said. "Otherwise we might have ridden, +because I could have got them. But they are so badly needed in the field +that everyone has given up all the animals that are at all fit for +service." + +"You don't use cavalry very much, though, do you?" + +"No, not as a rule. Our men fight better on foot, and a great deal of +our fighting is done in mountainous country that is all split up with +ravines and clumps of woods. It was so, at least, against the Turks and +the Bulgarians. But in this war there will be some chance for cavalry, +at first, anyhow. And, besides, the horses are needed for the guns." + +"Oh, yes! I didn't think of that. You don't use motor cars much, I +suppose?" + +"We can't. We haven't the roads. If the French get in, they and the +Germans will use cars a great deal, I suppose, for all sorts of things. +But our roads are too bad for that. It's just as well, because the +Austrians have had so much more money to spend than we that they are far +ahead of us. They've got better heavy guns than we, too, but I don't +think they'll get much more chance to use them. We are not going to shut +ourselves up in fortresses. And when it comes to field pieces we can +hold our own with them a good deal better." + +"Field guns will be the ones most used, won't they?" + +"We think so. We've got light guns that are easy to move about, and +we've got the men who know how to handle them, too. Our men are all +veterans, and that is going to make a lot of difference. They know what +it is to have hard fighting, and if things go against them at first it +won't bother them. My father says that the experience we have had in +actual war will be worth five army corps." + +"Who is the commander-in-chief?" + +"General Pushkin. Everyone agrees that he was the one great soldier that +the Balkan wars produced. He won his battles against the Turks easily, +and without the loss of great numbers of men, and when the Bulgarians +attacked, we and the Greeks fought the campaign according to his +strategy. The German military attaché said that General Pushkin was fit +to command the greatest army in the world. He said he was a military +genius of the first rank, and one of the greatest soldiers developed in +Europe since the time of von Moltke." + +"Then he must be good, because the Germans know a good soldier when they +see him." + +"He has done everything that has been required of him so far. This war +with Austria will be his great test--only he doesn't regard it as a +test, but as an opportunity. My father says that that is the true mark +of a man's character. He says the weak man, who hasn't got it in him to +succeed, thinks of a difficult thing he has to do, or to try to do, as a +trial, a test, and that the big man, who is sure to amount to something, +simply looks at it as a chance to show what he has in him." + +"I know what you mean." Dick nodded. "My own father used to say that, +too. That was the trouble with Mike Hallo, I guess. If things looked +hard he was always complaining, and my father used to get pretty sore at +him sometimes. My father just gritted his teeth and went to work. I +remember hearing them talk about the panic a few years ago. An awful lot +of business houses were smashed then, but my father pulled through, +though Hallo wanted to quit. He said they would only be throwing good +money after bad if they kept on." + +They had been walking briskly while they talked, and it was not long +before they came to the flat, marshy ground near the banks of the +Danube. Here it was a sluggish, thick, yellow stream, flowing along +impressively because of its bulk, but lacking every element of beauty +and romance. + +"This doesn't look much like the beautiful blue Danube, does it, Steve?" +Dick suggested. + +"No," said Steve, with a laugh. "It's not pretty--not here. There is +some fine scenery between here and the coast, though, where it marks the +boundary between Roumania and Bulgaria. And it's all historic. On the +Bulgarian side further down, the ground is high, with a sharp ascent +from the river. There was some fierce fighting in the Russo-Turkish +war--the war that freed Bulgaria, you know, and really helped a lot to +make Servia free, too. At one place the Russians crossed in boats and +stormed the heights, with the Turks above, firing down on them." + +"They must have been brave in those days!" + +"The Russians? There are no braver troops in Europe--there never have +been!" + +"They didn't do very well against the Japanese." + +"It wasn't the fault of the soldiers. Their generals were poor, and +everything was badly managed. I think that if the Germans despise the +Russian army they are making a great mistake. Russia learned many +lessons in the war with Japan, and when she fights again, soldiers will +be in command, not politicians. Here we are; this is the boat." + +Dick looked curiously at the little craft. She was painted a dull, +leaden grey, and he could guess that at a very short distance it would +be almost impossible to detect her. In other ways, too, she was +especially designed for the business she was intended for. + +"Isn't she a little beauty?" said Steve, enthusiastically. "See--that's +armor plate, very thin, of course, but tough and strong, that covers her +entirely on the outside. Then she's decked over with armor plate, too, +so that one can be inside and expose practically nothing. The engine is +sheathed the same way, and all the essential working parts. She can pass +through a rain of bullets without being hurt; it would take a shell to +make any real impression on her, and she's so fast that it would be a +hard job for a man to get her with one." + +"I never saw anything like her," said Dick. "You say she's fast, too?" + +"Twenty-five miles an hour easily, Dick! That's fast enough for anything +she's ever likely to have to do. The Austrians have launches, armed and +armored ones, but nothing that's in a class with this boat for speed and +power." + +"She doesn't carry any guns, though?" + +"No. She's meant to run away, not to fight. There are a couple of rifles +and automatic pistols and ammunition aboard, but really she is a scout, +pure and simple, and she would only fight to escape. You see, with such +a lot of armor plate and defensive equipment generally, they had to +figure pretty carefully on weight, or they'd have lost speed. And +speed's the most important thing with a boat like this. All aboard, now! +We'll be off in a minute!" + +Dick took his place aboard, and found that there was plenty of room +under the plate of steel that covered almost the whole length of the +little boat. Then Steve followed him, and in a moment the engine was +purring and they were moving away. + +"That's the quietest motor I ever heard in a power boat," said Dick. + +"Exhaust under water and a special muffler as well," said Steve. "She'd +be useless if she gave herself away when she was a mile from anyone, +wouldn't she?" + +"It means less speed, though." + +"Yes, that's so. But it doesn't make difference enough to make up for +the safety it gives. You see, we could pass within a cable length of one +of those Austrian monitors now and they'd never know it. We'll have to +do just about that, too, before the night's over, I'm afraid." + +"Where are you going to land, Steve? In Semlin itself?" + +"No. That would be too risky and there's no need for it. I'm going to +keep right on up the Danube, past the mouth of the Save, and we'll land +above the town and circle back. They'll keep a very sharp lookout now +along the river bank in Semlin, but I don't think they'll be so careful +on this side. They'll trust to their river patrol and the mines." + +"You think the river will be mined?" + +"Oh, surely!" + +"Wouldn't it be a good thing for your side to do some mining, too?" + +"It's probably been done already, especially in the Save. We have only +one or two small gun-boats, which wouldn't have a chance in a fight with +the Austrians on water. But I think we'll be able to make them see that +it isn't any too safe for their monitors. We can't beat the Austrians +by main strength, so we'll have to use all the tricks we can. I think +they'll find out before very long that there are more ways of killing a +dog than by shooting him." + +Now they were out in midstream. Perhaps a mile above them, as they swung +diagonally across the river, an Austrian monitor, painted a dun color so +that she was almost the hue of the river, was swinging at anchor, squat +and ugly, but menacing and business-like in her appearance, too. Steve +did not lay his course up the middle of the broad stream, however. +Instead, he slipped well over to the east bank, and began moving swiftly +upstream when he was under the shadow of the eastern bank, here rising +fairly well. + +If anyone on the monitor observed them there was no sign of it. They +passed her, and another of the same type. On the Hungarian shore, above +them, occasionally they could hear the calling of sentries. The +Austrians were guarding the river carefully, and Steve chuckled a little +as he heard these evidences of careful watching. Then they passed the +mouth of the Save, and were wholly in Austrian or, rather, Hungarian +territory. For now the bank on both sides was part of the Dual Monarchy. + +At the confluence of the two rivers a blaze of light swept the water +constantly, but there was still dense shadow under the eastern bank of +the Danube, for the chief concern of the Austrians seemed to be for a +dash of some sort down the Save. Danger from the other direction seemed +not to be thought of at all. + +Once past that pool of light, it was a matter of ten minutes of fast +running. Then Steve swerved sharply and cut across the river, to run +into a little, sheltered inlet, and under a door that was raised at a +blast from a peculiar compressed air whistle. They were in a small +boathouse--a perfect concealment for the little motor boat. The house +was built right over the water, and there was no danger now that +prowlers would find her. + +Inside, as the boat glided under the door, which slipped down into +place beside her, was a man in Austrian uniform, a fact that startled +Dick tremendously at first. Steve noticed this, and grinned. + +"Don't be afraid," he said. "This man is a good Serb, though he is not a +Servian. He is one of us, but he is an Austrian subject, and forced to +serve in their army--which he does willingly enough, since he can help +us greatly by doing so. There are many such Serbs in Austrian uniform +to-day, but most of them will be sent to other parts of the theatre of +war, if Austria has brought on a general war." + +The soldier had a boat hook out, and now he drew them to a landing stage +and made the boat fast as they leaped out. + +Steve indulged in a low-toned conversation with the Austrian, and +frowned. Then he turned to Dick. + +"Dick, I don't like to ask you to do this," he said, "but will you stay +here alone for a few minutes? I find I have to join a secret meeting. +They don't know about you yet, and it is absolutely forbidden to +introduce a stranger at such a meeting without notice. You understand? +I'll be back soon." + +"Go ahead!" said Dick. "I don't mind staying here a bit, Steve, and I +see how it is, of course. You can't help it." + +"I thought you'd say that," said Steve, greatly relieved. "All right! +I'll be back just as soon as I can, and it certainly won't be long." + +Then Steve and the soldier went out. For a few moments there was +silence. And then a closet door opened, and Dick, paralyzed with fear +and dismay, saw a face emerge--the face of Mike Hallo! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A DARING DECISION + + +"Where is Milikoff?" Steve Dushan asked the soldier, as soon as they +were outside. They had left the boathouse, of course, by the land side, +and moved swiftly away from the water side. + +"He is at the house by the pond," answered the soldier. "The others were +there too, ten minutes ago. But since then anything may have happened!" + +"Yes," said Stepan, grimly. "It was stupid work--letting Hallo get away, +when once they had him in their grip! Still, there is no use in crying +over spilt milk. We must get him back, that is all. He knows the thing +that we have got to learn, and I think we shall be able to persuade him +to share his knowledge with us!" + +"No doubt," said the soldier, shrugging his shoulders. "The man who +plays with both sides is always weak. It is always a dangerous thing to +run with the hare and ride with the hounds!" + +The country hereabout was flat and waste, low-lying marsh lands, with +here and there a pond coming close to the road. Beside one of these +ponds, which, at a guess, might be useful in winter for the ice it would +carry, stood a small house, from one window of which a light showed. + +"Wait for me here," said Steve to the soldier, and went inside. He +gained admittance by a peculiar knock, and the door was opened for him +at once by a man in the garb of a priest. Stepan laughed at himself for +starting back. + +"Aha, you didn't know me!" said the priest, with a merry laugh. "Now I +know that this is a good disguise!" + +"Yes, it's a good one, Milikoff," said Stepan. "But what is this about +Hallo? Did you actually let him escape after holding him here?" + +"Yes," growled Milikoff, all his pleasure in the excellence of his +disguise vanishing. "He has been here fifty times before; that was the +chance we took, since we had to meet him somewhere. He came alone +to-night, and we were able to seize him very easily. And then, just as I +saw that it was nearly time for you to come, he had gone!" + +"How did he get away?" + +"He fooled us all by showing something none of us thought he had--a +little courage! He dropped from the window above. That was how we knew +he was gone, for he broke a pane of glass in one of the greenhouse beds +as he dropped. We rushed out--" + +"You were so near as that, and still he got away?" said Stepan, with a +groan. + +"Oh, we were out after him at once!" said Milikoff. "He ran toward the +river, and we were after him. We drove him in. We have that much +consolation, Stepan--we drove him into the water, and though we watched +a long time for him to come up, there was no sign of him. I think he +drowned like the rat he was!" + +"You think so, and it does seem probable. But we can't be sure! And, +even so, he is worth more to us alive than dead. For the time, at least. +He is a wretched traitor--treacherous to both sides. I wouldn't mind +his death, because he has sent hundreds of men better than himself to +death of late. But I wish we had been able to hold him and use him. He +would have been afraid of us, I think, when he discovered how much we +knew!" + +"It would have been enough for him to see you, Stepan, and know that you +were one of us, I think. He would have guessed very quickly what you +were doing during all those weeks when you were so close to him. That is +what has saved us. If it had not been for you we would have trusted him, +I think, with his tale of how the Austrian government had wronged him, +and his pretence that he was one of a group that wanted a free and +independent Hungary!" + +Stepan was thinking hard. + +"Where are the others?" he asked. + +"They are busy in the town. We are almost ready to blow up the arsenal, +and perhaps we shall be able to finish the tunnel and plant the mine +to-night." + +"That will be good," Stepan nodded, "unless Hallo has warned them. It +was he who gave us the information as to just where we should have to +place the mine, and he must have guessed what use we would make of it." + +"Perhaps so. But they have not moved any of the stores. If we can +explode our mine, we shall strike a good blow for Servia." + +"We may say that without boasting, Milikoff. The reserve ammunition for +two corps is here. They have been careless because they did not expect +anything like a general engagement for some time, especially when the +government moved to Nish. But I am uneasy still about Hallo." + +"I think you need not be, Stepan. I tell you we were right on his heels, +and there was no way for him to escape. He went into the water beyond a +doubt, and I do not believe that he was strong enough to swim the +Danube. Besides, we would have seen him had he done that, and shot him." + +"I don't think he swam the Danube, I'm quite sure he could not have +managed that. What I am afraid of is that he doubled on his tracks in +some fashion and got ashore." + +"But that was even more impossible, I tell you! We expected him to try +to do that, and we watched out especially to make it too hard for him to +do it, even though he is as slippery as an eel." + +"And still I should like to make sure, I think. I shall have to go into +Semlin." + +"To look for him? It will be risky." + +"Perhaps, but it can't be helped. I doubt if it will be so risky, +though. I'm not sure that even Hallo suspects yet that I was more than I +seemed." + +"Wouldn't your sudden disappearance just at this critical time give it +away to him?" + +"I don't think so, because I was very careful to arrange a good excuse. +I have talked for two or three weeks of the illness of my uncle in +Buda-Pesth, and have said that if he became worse perhaps I might have +to go home very suddenly. And I left a note in the office when I came +out yesterday, because I was sure I would not be back, saying I had been +called away. I didn't say I was going to Buda-Pesth--just that I was +called away." + +"Well, if no one else had any reason to suspect you, you will be safe +enough, for you won't see Hallo." + +"I am going, anyhow. But first, Milikoff--you are to stay here, I +suppose?" + +"Yes, until daybreak, at least." + +"Good! I left a friend at the boathouse--an American, but one who is +with us, heart and soul, and has proved it at the risk of his life +already. I want him to come here and wait for me." + +"You are sure he is all right? We have to be careful, Stepan." + +"If you can trust me, you can trust Dick Warner," said Stepan. + +"That is enough. Let him come!" + +"Right! I will send Vanya." + +He stepped to the door and called to the Serb in the Austrian uniform, +who was waiting outside. + +"Vanya," he said, "will you go back to the boathouse and return with +the friend I left there? Tell him that I want him to come, and show him +the way." + +"At once," said the soldier, and was off. + +Stepan returned and found Milikoff studying some papers. + +"You had better keep a guard at the boathouse when you have a man to +send there," suggested Stepan. "Vanya will be on duty before long, I +suppose?" + +"Yes. We shall not be able to use him again. Not at once, at least. I am +surprised that we have had the chance to use him at all. But, as a +matter of fact, two Serbo-Croatian regiments are here, or near here." + +"The Austrians are in a tight place," said Stepan, with a laugh. "They +know that they may have to fight Italy, and so they are sending the +Italian troops from the Trentino and Trieste to the Galician frontier, +to fight the Russians. And they have to use every regiment. They might +as well keep their Serbs and Croats here--they will fight as readily +against Servia as against Russia. If they could spare first line troops +for garrison work and for watching the Italian border, they might +manage. But they cannot. That duty they must leave to the reserves and +the old men. I believe their plan is to surround the troops that may be +disaffected with Hungarians and true Austrians who can be depended upon +absolutely." + +"They can depend upon their Hungarian levies now," said Milikoff. "But +for how long will that be true? If a few battles are lost, if Russian +troops pour through the passes of the Carpathians and the Cossacks come +within sight of Buda-Pesth? After all, Hungary is an independent +kingdom, and a part of the Austrian empire only of her own free will. +Her army is her own, and she has her own parliament and her own +ministers. There is no reason why she should not have a king of her own +again when she chooses. We may see the rise of another Kossuth, who +would force Hungary to make peace with Russia and with Servia. At least +you may live to see it." + +"Do you really think so?" asked Stepan, eagerly. "That would be +glorious! Oh, we are lucky, after all, Milikoff, we Servians! Our +country may be small, but it is our own. We do not have to rule a score +of different subject races. All those who live under our flag do so +willingly. We do not have to drive our soldiers into the ranks with +whips and threats of shooting." + +"No! And after this war, if God is still with us, as he has been, our +brothers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Albania, too, will come under our +flag. The old Serb kingdom will be fully restored. Montenegro will join +us, and we shall have borders that are made by the limits of the Serb +race." + +"There has been talk of annexing part of Hungary when we win," said +Stepan. + +"Slavonia we can take, because it is peopled by our kin, Stepan. But we +want no Magyars under our rule. Let them keep their country. Or else we +should face the troubles we have brought upon them." + +Stepan looked at his watch and tossed his head impatiently. + +"Time for me to be off," he said. "Why are they so long? I want to see +Dick before I go, but I can't wait much longer--" + +He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Vanya, the soldier who +had gone to fetch Dick. + +"He is not there!" he cried. "The boathouse is empty--except for the +boat in which you came!" + +Stepan and Milikoff stared at one another, aghast. + +"This is Hallo's work!" said Stepan, furiously. "He has a grudge against +this friend of mine! Ah, I see it all now, Milikoff--how he escaped! He +went into the water--you are right! But tell me, now--was it near the +boathouse?" + +"Yes, now that I remember, it was." + +"Then can't you see what happened? He dived and swam under the door. It +would be easy enough for anyone who could swim at all well and knew the +ground. Heavens, he must have been in there when we first came in with +the boat!" + +And now their dismay knew no bounds. Milikoff saw that Stepan was right; +it was exactly what must have happened. + +"I'm a dolt--a fool!" he cried, bitterly. "That I never thought to +search the boathouse!" + +"Who would have thought?" said Stepan. "But it is no time to think of +what is done and can't be undone. Now, more than ever, I must go after +him. I have to try to save my friend, and it is doubly imperative now +that we should catch Hallo." + +"Let me come with you!" + +"No. Your work is too important for you to take risks. I will go +alone." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CRAFT AGAINST CRAFT + + +In the boathouse where Stepan had left him, Dick knew almost as soon as +he saw Mike Hallo's narrow eyes appear around the closet door, that Mike +had not seen him as yet. But he was too frightened to take any advantage +of that consciously. Dick had proved that he was not a coward, and yet +he was afraid of Hallo. He knew that the man hated him, and, for some +reason, feared him. And here, where he would be so completely in his +power, there would be nothing to restrain Hallo. He would not even have +to call in the police to help him; he could get rid of a boy who +threatened him without a witness. And Dick knew enough of Mike Hallo to +feel that he would not be deterred by any scruples. + +In another moment Mike's little eyes, peering around the dimly lighted +room, but not yet well enough accustomed to even that much light after +the utter darkness of the closet, would have fallen on Dick. But fear +loosened Dick's hold on the electric flashlight that, by pure chance, +happened to be in his hand. He started with dismay and tried to catch +it, succeeding partly, so that it made only the faintest of noises as it +struck a button of his coat. But that was enough. Hallo heard it, and +started. + +Yet it was that trifling accident that saved Dick. For Hallo, startled, +and nervous himself, as of course he had good cause to be, better cause +than Dick could guess, darted back into his closet at once. For a moment +as Dick stared at it with fixed eyes, the closet door remained ajar. +Then very slowly, very quietly, it was drawn to, until it clicked, and +was firmly closed. On the instant, then, Dick moved. + +He took the chance of being heard, and made a swift dash for the boat. +His reason was a twofold one. For one thing, it offered the only +possible place of concealment, aside from the closet that Mike Hallo had +already preëmpted for himself, and it contained the weapons of which +Steve had told him. Dick knew how to use a pistol, and he felt that with +a gun of some sort in his possession he would have a chance at least +with Hallo, even if he were armed. He would not hesitate to shoot, he +told himself, if he had to. He had reason enough to believe that Hallo +would not spare him, and in self-defence he would be justified in taking +any means to save himself. + +But he did not think it was particularly likely that it would come to +anything so desperate now as a hand-to-hand struggle. He was recovering +his nerve, and the panic that had possessed him when he had first seen +Hallo's face had passed. Once he was in the boat, well concealed by the +steel hood, he felt that the odds were in his favor, rather than against +him, and he could stop to think and reason, which he had certainly not +been able to do in the first moment of shocked surprise. + +He felt the main thing that favored him was that Hallo was at least as +badly frightened as he was himself. And that, after all, stood to +reason. The very fact that the man was here at all seemed to Dick proof +that he knew the character of this place, and that he was here as a spy. +Then he would naturally be startled by a sudden sound, for he would +think that it betokened the return of one of the Servian spies who used +this as a hiding place and refuge. + +"He would know, of course," Dick thought, "that they wouldn't hesitate +any more over shooting him than if he were a mad dog. They couldn't, +because he isn't threatening only their safety by being here, but their +whole plan. And men who are brave enough to be spies in time of war +aren't thinking of themselves at all, but of their country." + +This was comforting reasoning for Dick, because it made it vastly +improbable that Hallo would come out to look for him. He would be +concerned with the problem of escaping himself; he would not think of +looking for anyone else, but of preventing someone who was looking for +him from finding him. So it seemed likely to Dick that he would escape +any sort of personal encounter with Hallo, and he was glad of that. He +had the same feeling that Stepan had expressed to Milikoff, although, of +course, he knew nothing of that talk, nor of how Hallo had happened to +come to this place. It seemed to him that Hallo would be worth more to +the Servians alive than dead, and it was certain that the only chance +for the success of the mission that had brought him from New York to +Semlin would be gone if anything happened to Hallo. + +From his position, crouched down in the bottom of the boat, Dick could +see the closet door. And, as it began to move again, after five nerve +racking minutes, Dick clutched his revolver, feeling that it was a +pretty good thing to have as an ally, even if it was so unlikely that he +would have occasion to use it. His fear had passed away altogether by +this time, and a bold plan was beginning to come into his mind. But its +execution depended upon Hallo and what that swindler might do next. + +For just a second, as Hallo came out into the boathouse, Dick thought of +starting up suddenly, covering him with a revolver, and forcing him to +surrender. But he decided against that. Mike Hallo, as he knew, was not +without a certain crude sort of physical courage. If he was armed--as it +was practically certain that he was--he might be able to put up a good +struggle. And, though Dick was no longer afraid for himself, he felt +that it would involve too great a risk of letting the man get clear away +if he followed his impulse. + +So he kept perfectly still, instead, while Hallo came out and finally +stood in the middle of the part of the boathouse that had a floor. He +leaned forward, like a bird dog when it is in doubt, and seemed to be +sniffing the air, though Dick knew that he was really only listening +with concentrated attention. He was listening, not for a real noise, but +for those almost inevitable sounds that the quietest person must make. +It seemed extraordinary to Dick that Mike could not hear his breathing, +or the beating of his heart, which sounded so abnormally loud to him. +But hear them Mike did not, evidently, for after a moment he relaxed and +heaved a sigh of relief. + +"I'm getting jumpy," he said to himself, aloud, in English. "I guess +that wasn't anything I heard before. Just a board creaking, maybe!" + +Dick grinned and maintained his silence. And then Hallo, after walking +about for half a minute, looked toward the boat. + +"If only I knew how to run that!" he said, still aloud. + +But, fortunately for Dick, and for Servia, as it was to turn out, he +knew nothing of the intricate mechanism of the boat, and so he did not +even come over to the water's edge for a closer inspection. Instead, he +made for the door, flung it open, and strode out as it banged to behind +him. + +Dick was after him like a flash, but with his hand on the knob some +instinct made him let go and shrink back against the wall. His instinct +served him well indeed, for as he did so the door was flung open +violently, and Hallo stood in it, looking all about the boathouse a +second time. + +"Not a soul!" he said aloud. "I must have been dreaming when I heard +that noise!" + +And all the time Dick was within a foot of him, his pistol gripped +tight, ready for anything that might happen! + +This time he did not close the door, but turned and walked away. That +very action proved that he was no longer afraid that anyone was behind +him, for he would not have turned his back had there been any lingering +doubt. + +And now Dick, giving him a good start, stole after him. He had hesitated +as to whether or not he should do so. He had promised to wait for +Stepan's return, and he did not like to go without some explanation. But +it seemed to him that it was of the utmost importance for him to follow +Hallo. + +"He's not supposed to be here or to know anything about this place," he +said to himself. "And now he may do anything, or go anywhere. He may +betray all sorts of secrets. I don't know how long he was in that +closet before we came, nor how much he heard--nor what the things he +heard meant to him. I didn't understand, but that's no reason for +thinking that he didn't. Yes, I'll have to take the chance of worrying +Steve and upsetting his plans. I'm going after Mike Hallo. He's my +quarry to-night!" + +Dick knew that he was taking chances, and perhaps big chances, when he +set out to follow Hallo. But he did not stop to think very much about +them. He did not have time to think of anything but the work in hand, +for Hallo, not content with walking fast, had broken into a run. + +Dick understood the reason for that when, in his turn, he heard +footsteps; that was what had frightened his man into beginning to run. +And Dick ran too, not knowing that the steps were those of Vanya, the +soldier, who was on his way to the boathouse with the message from +Stepan. + +Hallo had all the advantage. He knew the country and Dick did not. +Moreover, he could set the pace, and Dick had to follow. To lose sight +of Hallo even for a moment meant to risk losing him altogether. And +Dick, moreover, dared not follow too closely. He had to be far enough +behind to make it impossible for Hallo to learn of his pursuit by +stopping suddenly, or making a quick turn. + +It was a wild chase that Dick had. Hallo, for a man of his size and +years--he was well over forty--made surprisingly good time, and gave +Dick, as a matter of fact, all he could do to keep him in sight. And the +way was long. Dick was greatly relieved when they came at last from open +country into a section where houses were closer together and streets +began to take form. In a measure his own risk was greater as they +approached the town, but it was also possible for him to get much closer +to the man he was trailing, since shelter was so much more frequent. The +danger here was of running into the police, but Dick did not greatly +fear that. + +"I needn't worry about the ordinary policemen," he told himself. "I +don't believe they know me at all. I could probably go up to any of +them and ask the time, or the way to the railway station, and get away +with it all right. It's only the ones who were on my track after I'd +been to Hallo's office that I've got to look out for, and I'm not sure +that even they would know me." + +And now Hallo himself unwittingly made it safer and easier for his +dogged pursuer, for instead of going toward the central part of Semlin, +where policemen would be more numerous, and where the men who had gone +to make the arrest at Dick's lodgings were almost sure to be posted, he +circled through the poorer quarter toward the commercial district by the +river. + +"Oh, this is fine!" thought Dick. "I'll bet he's going to his office +before he makes any report. I wonder if Stepan will think of him when +I'm missing?" + +Dick had to move up very close here, for the streets were crowded with +people, and it would have been easy for him to lose his man in the +jumble of figures. Several times now Hallo, as he neared his office, +was stopped by passersby. He shook them off impatiently when they tried +to detain him, however, and once Dick was near enough to hear him say, +in an impatient tone: "Let me go! I have an appointment to keep at my +warehouse." + +And now Dick had a new inspiration. He determined to take a chance. And +instead of following Hallo, he seized the opportunity when someone had +stopped the Hungarian for a moment, and darted well ahead. He got a good +start, and turned the corner of the block leading to the warehouse well +ahead of Hallo. In a moment he was inside. Luck was with him, and he hid +himself behind a big packing case in Hallo's room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IN THE NICK OF TIME + + +Crouched behind the packing case, Dick waited, wondering what was to +come next. Now that he was here, he felt that he had done a foolish +thing, and one only likely to lead to more trouble. There was so little +chance for him to accomplish anything of value, and he was not even sure +that Hallo would come here at all. Perhaps he was going somewhere else, +and he had simply walked into a trap without even a chance of getting +any results. + +Yet luck had been with him so far in good measure. He had been almost +marvelously lucky in the boathouse. That Hallo had not seen him there +had been due only to fortune, and scarcely at all, in the first perilous +moment, to any action of his own. And he had been lucky again in his +trip into the city with Hallo ahead of him. In war time, as he knew, +people were likely to be suspicious of any stranger, even of one acting +in the most ordinary fashion. And his behavior, as he dodged and trailed +after Hallo, had been more than suspicious. + +And finally, too, his getting into Hallo's office and finding a place to +conceal himself so well had been luck of the greatest sort. He had taken +a wild chance when he darted ahead of his man, for he might well have +found the door closed and locked, and have been caught by Hallo before +he could have got away. But he had staked everything on the hazard that +there ought to be a night watchman, as there would be, he knew, in any +American warehouse. And a night watchman there was. He had seen the +light of a man's lantern, as he came up to the door, from a second floor +window. The door had been open, and so he had slipped in. + +The very fact that the door was open, too, encouraged him. It seemed to +him to make it certain that Hallo was expected some time that night. And +then a sound of brisk footsteps on the uncarpeted floor just outside the +office set his pulses leaping. Was it Hallo? + +He could not tell, and he dared not emerge from his shelter enough to +see. In a moment the room was light, but Dick was still hidden, and the +movements of whoever had come in were hidden from him, too. But he was +sure of one thing after a very few moments. It was not Hallo with whom +he now shared the room. The newcomer's movements were too brisk, too +quick, for Hallo, who was slow moving, rather heavy footed, though agile +enough when it was necessary. Consumed by curiosity, Dick gradually +edged over so that he might have a chance to steal a look around the +edge of the big packing case without being seen himself. + +He succeeded at last, and just as he looked around, the door was opened. +Hallo came in, and Dick darted back--but not until he had seen that the +other occupant of the room was Stepan Dushan! Now he felt that he was +amply justified for what he had done. Steve was here, and between them +there should be a chance to do something, he thought! + +"What are you doing here?" growled Hallo, as he saw Stepan. + +"I came to try to catch up with my work, sir," said Stepan, meekly. +"Since I could not be here to-day during the day, I thought it would be +better if I got ready for to-morrow, so that in the morning no time +would be lost." + +"H'mph!" growled Hallo. He hesitated for a moment; then, half satisfied, +sat down at his desk. + +"Did you have a fall, sir?" asked Stepan, and Dick almost choked with +laughter at his tone. "You're all covered with mud. Shall I get a brush +and try to take some of it off?" + +"No! Attend to your work!" roared Hallo. "Or here--clear out of here! +I'm going to be busy, and I want to be alone." + +It seemed to Dick that Stepan was hesitating, that he was on the verge +of refusing to obey, and so of giving everything away. But he yielded, +after just a moment's pause. + +"Very well, sir," he said. "I'll go down to the stock-room and make the +tally from last night's sheets." + +"All right. Be off!" said Hallo, ungraciously. + +And now one thing filled Dick's mind. How much had Hallo seen or heard +while he was hidden in the closet of the boathouse? Did he know Stepan's +real work, and the part he was playing in these stirring times? If he +did, and had concealed his knowledge, it meant that he was laying a trap +for Stepan, and it meant, too, that he was a good actor, for he had +managed to conceal his knowledge admirably if he really possessed it. + +Nothing that Dick knew of Hallo made it seem at all likely that he could +dissemble well enough to keep from betraying his knowledge, if he had +it. But Dick felt that it would not be safe to assume that, because his +father had trusted Hallo to a great extent, and had supposed him to be +an honorable business man, and there had certainly never been anything +in his conduct to suggest that he would behave as he had done. And, +moreover in New York he had seemed a plodding, stolid business man, and +had never seemed to have it in him to play a part in the sort of +intrigue that so evidently occupied much of his time in Semlin. + +For a time the room was absolutely quiet. Dick wondered where Steve had +gone. He was sure, somehow, that his chum was within reach, probably +within hearing, waiting like himself for Hallo to do something. And Dick +guessed, too, that Steve must have discovered by this time that the +boathouse was empty, and thought that perhaps it was in search of him +that Steve was here. That worried him, but for the time there was +nothing to be done; he could only wait. The one preparation he could +make for whatever might be coming was to get very close to the edge of +his shelter, so that he could with little risk peep out from time to +time. Each time that he looked out he saw Hallo, head bent low over the +table, writing furiously. + +Then came the break in the tension. Outside, echoing on the flags, came +hurried footsteps. Dick listened eagerly. They turned in and came +clattering up the steps. He dared not risk a peep just then to see who +was coming. For the time, he decided, his ears must do the work of his +eyes as well as their own share. He heard Hallo spring up, overturning +his chair. + +"You! Here?" cried Hallo, in a low voice. "Are you mad, man?" + +"No. I had to come," said the newcomer. "It was impossible to send word, +and you had to know--someone had to know! I suppose it was risky for me +to come here, but they are all at work. All except Milikoff, and I don't +know where he is." + +"He led a band of assassins who tried to kill me earlier in the +evening," growled Hallo. "But there are others, at least two others, +here somewhere. They came in this evening, from the other side." + +"From the other side?" said the stranger, in amazement. "But how could +that be? The river front is guarded so that a strange fly could hardly +cross from Belgrade to Semlin!" + +"Don't you know of the boathouse near Milikoff's place?" + +Hallo's tone was suddenly menacing. Dick could imagine that he was +leaning forward, pushing his heavy jaw into the face of the other man. +He remembered that trick of the Hungarian's. + +"Boathouse--near Milikoff's? No!" stammered the other. "I never heard of +it before!" + +"H'mph!" Hallo's voice expressed doubt, distrust. "Perhaps not! Well, I +came upon it by chance to-night, and it saved my life. They seized me +to-night when I was in conference with them--the treacherous hounds! But +they are Servians! I might have expected it! I escaped, and they chased +me! They chased me right into the Danube! I swam, while they peppered +the water. They had those new silencers, so that it was safe to shoot. +And by the merest chance, when I was nearly exhausted, I suddenly saw a +door in front of me, as I was trying to swim ashore in an inlet, in the +hope of escaping after I had landed. I dived, and came up in a +boathouse. The door could be raised, you see, to admit a boat. There +was a closet, and I hid." + +"That is news to me! I never heard that there was such a place!" + +"I drew the closet door to when I heard a man come in. Soon afterward a +motor boat entered, and two men landed from her. I could hear their +voices dully--that closet door was thick, and it was so hot and close +inside that I was almost suffocated. I do not know who they were except +that I think Vanya, the soldier, was the man who opened for them. Later, +when they had gone, I got out and came here." + +"It is good that you came. Master, it is to-night that they plan to +strike a great blow. They have dug a tunnel beneath the arsenal. I am +almost sure that it is to-night they have chosen to explode a great mine +that will destroy the arsenal completely, with all the stores and guns +it contains!" + +Hallo swore savagely. + +"You have done well!" he said. "Eh, there is time yet, you think, to +stop them? How is it that you do not know more concerning their plans?" + +"They do not trust me wholly. I know only what I can learn by spying and +ferreting about. They tell me almost nothing. But I am sure that I am +right. Look--I will draw you a plan that will show you where the tunnel +is. I think that if you hasten you can catch most of them like rats in a +trap. Milikoff is not there. He is the most dangerous of all, save one." + +"Who is more dangerous than Milikoff?" + +"The boy Stepan Dushan!" + +"Stepan Dushan! I do not believe there is such a boy! You tell me of +him, but you can never show him to me!" + +For a moment Dick could not understand. But then he smiled at his own +stupidity. Of course Steve was known to Mike Hallo under an assumed +name; he would never have used his own, so obviously that of a Servian. + +"It makes no difference whether you believe me or not, I am telling you +the truth," said the newcomer with a show of spirit. "He is young, but +he has done more to discover the truth than any of them. He has brought +information of the concentration of the Austrian troops along the Drina. +It is through him that they learned where the stores and supplies were +being massed in the mountains there. I told you yesterday of the plans +that were made for a Servian raid, but it was too late. A raiding column +crossed the Drina last night and destroyed most of the stores you had +collected." + +"There has been a leak somewhere in my own place!" said Hallo, savagely. +"Even the men who executed the orders did not know where those supplies +were going! I trusted no one!" + +"That is just the bad part of it, master," said the spy. "They will be +saying next that you yourself gave away the truth to the Servians." + +"Who will believe them?" + +"If it is known that you have been in touch with Milikoff?" + +"It is known, fool! It is known that I am treating with them simply to +gain information of their plans. But now--it is no time for talk. We +must move quickly, or they will explode their mine." + +He lifted his voice in a sudden shout. + +"Jan!" he cried. "Jan!" + +And then Dick's heart sank. That must be meant for Steve--and to answer +meant deadly peril for Stepan Dushan, since the spy, who had so plainly +been betraying Servian secrets to Hallo, knew Stepan. Dick edged +forward, waiting, wondering. Now he caught a glimpse of the spy, and +then he drew back, as he saw that both Hallo and the other man had come +very close to him. They stood just by the box that sheltered him. + +"Jan!" cried Hallo again. + +"Here I am!" said Stepan's voice. And then, "Serge!" + +"Stepan Dushan! That is Stepan Dushan!" shrieked the spy. + +Then, before anything more could happen, Dick had an inspiration. He +threw his whole weight against the heavy packing case, straining, +pushing. It trembled, gave, and then crashed down, bearing Hallo and the +spy down beneath its crushing weight, sending them down, stunned and +helpless. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +FACE TO FACE + + +"You, Dick? Thank God!" cried Stepan. Then his face flushed, and he came +forward, furiously. He dragged the spy out, looked at his face, and then +spurned him with his foot. + +"You saved my life, I think, Dick," he said, simply. "I never suspected +this! Treachery in our ranks. I had not supposed that any Servian would +sell his country. Mike Hallo, of course, we never trusted--but this man! +Well, he will pay in one way or another." + +"I knew what was going to happen. I was here and heard them talking." + +"I didn't even know he had come. I had made some discoveries below, and +was hard at work. I knew that Hallo would not leave without my +knowledge. He would not have wanted to leave me here alone in the +warehouse. But, Dick, how did you get here? How did you come to leave +the boathouse? I asked you to wait there, you know." + +"How did you know I had gone?" + +"Vanya, the soldier, told us. I sent him to fetch you. And when we +learned that you had gone, we suspected that Hallo had had some part in +it, for by then I had been told that he had escaped after they had +caught him. But you don't know about that--" + +"Don't I though? I was there listening, while he told this other fellow +all about it. He was in the boathouse when we landed, Steve!" + +"Ah! I knew it! I told Milikoff so! That was how he escaped! But how did +you come here--free?" + +Dick told his story as quickly as he could; told of how he had escaped +from detection in the boathouse because Hallo had been even more +frightened than he himself, if anything, and of his wild chase after the +Hungarian. + +"I was afraid I had done wrong in going--afraid that I should have +stayed in the boathouse and waited for you to come. Did you come here +after me, Steve? Wasn't that your purpose?" + +"Yes, in a way. I thought that Hallo had something to do with your +disappearance, and I never dreamed of your being able to fool him as you +did! But I should have come in any case. Milikoff and I had decided that +before we knew that you had vanished. And if you hadn't been here, Dick, +they would have killed me, I think, when this wretched traitor told +Hallo that I had been deceiving him." + +"He told him more than that, though Hallo did not know it was you of +whom they talked, Steve. This spy told him that you were the most +dangerous of all--and Hallo said he didn't believe there was any such +person as Stepan Dushan!" + +They both laughed, and Steve laughed still more when he heard of Hallo's +mystification and fury about the revelation of the hiding places of the +stores on the Drina. + +"That was what made us sure that Austria had decided for war," he said. +"We knew that she would not prepare for an invasion there so secretly +otherwise. That was why we knew that it would be useless to agree to her +terms, even if that had been possible." + +"Hallo said no one but himself knew about those stores." + +"He was nearly right--but a miss is as good as a mile," said Stepan, +with a laugh. "He knew--and the staff knew--and I knew! I found out all +about those things by reading his private letters, Dick. That was the +part I hated most about the work. I had to read all his letters after we +became sure of what he was doing. It made me feel wretched at first, as +if I were doing something very dishonorable." + +"But you weren't doing it for a dishonorable reason, Steve. Still I can +see how you felt." + +"But I didn't feel that way very long, Dick, because I soon found out +what a miserable cheat and swindler he was! You were surprised, you +know, when you found out that I knew all about you." + +"I certainly was! I never was so much surprised in all my life!" said +Dick very quickly. + +"Well, I may have some more surprises for you still, Dick. I'm not sure, +but I do know some things I haven't told you yet." + +"You do, Steve? Why can't you tell me now?" + +"I can, but I want to make sure that they will be of some use to you +before I do. If I told you some things I know, they might make you +change your plans, and then they might not be of any value, after all. +They might only put you off. You see, when I first found out these +things about the way he had treated you, I didn't know you and didn't +have any reason at all to suppose that I ever would, or that I'd ever +even see you. New York's a long way off--and, of course, I was more +interested in what was going on here, because I knew that this war might +come along at any moment, and I was here just to see what I could do for +Servia and to interfere with the things we had reason to suppose Mike +Hallo was doing for the Austrians." + +"Of course. I can understand that, Steve. There wasn't any reason for +you to do as much as you did, and to take all the interest you did in +me, when you didn't know anything about me." + +"Well, at first I just wanted to help you because I hated him so. I +thought there was a chance to spoil the trick he was trying to play on +you. When I found that he was planning to get rid of you by having you +arrested before you could get back to the American consulate I wanted to +trip him up." + +"You certainly did a lot for me, Steve. I don't know whether I'll ever +be able to get anything out of him, but if I do it will be due to you. +If they had ever got me out of here and away to Buda-Pesth, I'd never +have been able to come back, even if they had not managed to trump up +some charge against me and kept me in prison for a long time." + +"Oh, they would have done that, Dick, of course. That was the idea. And +it's very easy for them to manage such things here. As easy as it used +to be in France before the revolution there." + +"What are we going to do now, Steve?" + +Dick looked down at the helpless figures of the two men on the floor. +Neither of the scouts had paid much attention to them as yet, but now +they leaned down and examined them. + +"They're not badly hurt," said Steve, contemptuously. "They saw the +crate falling and so did I. And they tried to jump. So it didn't fall +full on top of them, but struck glancing blows on their heads and almost +pushed them out of the way. I don't see how you ever got it going at +all, all by yourself! It looks terribly heavy." + +"I think it was because it wasn't very well balanced, Steve. If it had +been turned the other way probably I couldn't have budged it. But the +heavy end was on top, which made it go over. I sort of jumped at it, and +that gave it the start." + +"I'm afraid we'll have to leave them here," said Steve. "I wish there +was some way for us to take them along, but I don't see how we can. We +might be able to drag Hallo with us, but we wouldn't get very far." + +"I suppose not. He has lots of friends, hasn't he? I saw ever so many +people stop and speak to him when I was following him on the way here." + +"I don't think he's got many friends, but there are a lot of people who +know him, all right. Still, it isn't that--it would be making ourselves +conspicuous by having him with us at all." + +"It would be a good thing to take him, though, if we could, wouldn't +it?" + +"Oh, yes. The best thing in the world! If we could only get him to our +boat and carry him back to Belgrade!" + +"Steve, how about the men who are working in the tunnel under the +arsenal?" + +"What do you mean? What do you know about the tunnel under the arsenal?" + +Steve was startled and dismayed, but Dick laughed at him. + +"That's all I know," he said. "Just that there is such a thing, Steve. +You needn't be frightened--I haven't been spying around. But this man +that came here to see Mike Hallo knew all about it. He told him the mine +was going to be sprung to-night, and that they must hasten to stop it." + +"That ends the last doubt! He is a traitor!" said Steve. "He surely will +have to pay the price of treachery, too, when there is an opportunity." + +"Do you mean that they will kill him?" + +"What else can be done? It is his life against a nation, Dick. A man +like that may cause a thousand deaths by betraying a single secret. +But--about the men in the tunnel. I might have known that there was some +good reason for your knowing. Yes, it is true. There are men working +there, and they will try to explode their mine and blow up the arsenal +to-night." + +"Can't you reach them? I think that two or three men might get Hallo +through the town and to the boathouse. They could pretend that he was +drunk, and that they were helping him along, if he was still +unconscious." + +"Dick, I think you've hit on the right idea again! I'll try to get them. +But suppose they come to first?" + +"If we tied them up?" was Dick's suggestion. + +"It would be risky. The watchman may come here at any moment after he +hears no more voices." + +"Yes, that's so. How long would it take you to go?" + +"To go and come back? Twenty minutes, perhaps." + +"Then go! Don't delay any longer, and I will stay here and keep watch." + +"In here? No, it is too dangerous. I am afraid now, if they learn what +you have done for us, they will be able to make a real charge against +you, and that even your consul could not help you to escape severe +punishment." + +"I would not wait here--not in here, Steve. I would watch outside. Look! +Do you see these grains of corn?" + +He picked up a handful of the kernels from a sample basket on the table. + +"Yes. What about them, Dick?" + +"I will keep watch. If he comes out, I will follow him and every three +or four feet I will let a little of this corn drop, so that it will mark +a trail for you to follow. Do you see the idea?" + +"Yes, and that is magnificent, Dick! That is the best chance we shall +ever have of catching him. It will be better for him to come out, for he +will lead you away from the busier part of the city, perhaps, so that it +will be easier for us to take him! I'm off! I think we have a chance to +get the scoundrel this time, thanks to you!" + +They slipped out together, leaving the two unconscious men. + +"I think Hallo will come to before long," said Dick. "The other will +take longer for he seemed to be more badly stunned, or else he's not as +strong as Hallo. Will Mike leave him there, do you think?" + +"Yes. Why not? He will be thinking of his own precious skin, you may be +sure. Good luck, Dick! I'll be back just as soon as I can!" + +"Yes--hurry! But I think we'll be all right." + +Dick took his place in a dark doorway on the opposite side of the +street and began his vigil. The seconds seemed to drag by endlessly, but +Dick never took his eyes from the entrance of the warehouse. And at +last--he had really been waiting less than ten minutes!--he was +rewarded. Hallo came out holding his hand to his head, staggering a +little as he walked. Dick gave him a start, and then crossed and +followed. He dropped his corn as he went, and his hand was on the +automatic pistol in his pocket, which somehow gave him a sense of +security. + +Hallo turned a corner; Dick hurried a little. And, as he rounded the +corner in his turn, there was Hallo--waiting! At the sight of Dick he +almost screamed, but choked the cry. + +"So it's you, is it?" he cried. He made a savage rush, his arms +outstretched like those of a gorilla. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE EXPLOSION + + +But the sight of the wicked looking little gun in Dick's hand stopped +his rush. Mouthing his words, venomous hate in his eyes, he checked +himself. + +"What do you want, you little devil?" he said, grittingly. + +"Turn around!" said Dick, savagely. Somehow that wild rush that had +stopped just as the man's cruel arms were about to close about him had +aroused something in Dick that he had never felt before. For the first +time he knew what it meant to see red. He felt that he would like to +have Hallo down and beat him with his fists, with the butt of his +pistol--with anything, if it would only hurt his enemy enough! + +Hallo tried to meet his eyes for a moment. Then he turned round, so that +his back was to Dick. The scout pressed the muzzle of the little +automatic, that, despite its tiny proportions, was still such a deadly +weapon, into the small of Hallo's back. + +"Do you feel that?" he said. "And do you know that I can't miss when +you're so close to me? Don't think I am afraid to shoot because I tell +you right now, Mike Hallo, that I'll fire the first time you don't do +exactly as I say." + +"You'll pay for this!" said Hallo, furiously. "This isn't America, with +its lynchings, where people can take the law into their own hands." + +"You needn't sneer at America!" said Dick, with cold anger in his voice. +"You earned a good living there, and made a small fortune--and you stole +another! Now, then, step forward! Slowly--and go straight ahead until I +tell you to turn." + +With a snarl Hallo obeyed. And Dick, as he went along behind him, +keeping the pistol in such a position that he could use it on the +instant, began to talk to him. + +"You're a joke, Mike Hallo," he said, contemptuously. "The next time you +try to swindle someone, don't pick an American family. You thought you +were safe here, because we didn't have the money to hire big lawyers to +go after you, didn't you? You never expected to see me here in Semlin. +And when you did, you thought you'd fixed me by getting them to arrest +me!" + +"I had nothing to do with that," protested Hallo. His blustering, savage +mood seemed to be passing, and he was disposed to cringe. + +"Oh, no!" said Dick. "Of course not! You didn't want me to be driven out +of Semlin! You wanted me to stay here and get back the money you stole +from my father. You don't care anything about money, either, I suppose? +Oh, no! You don't care any more about money than you do about your right +hand! You wouldn't do anything to turn a dishonest penny except murder +and treason and robbery, would you?" + +"Dick, I've always been friendly to you and your family," said Hallo, +tremulously. "I'm half an American. I tell you what I'll do. We'll let +bygones be bygones. I lost more than your family did in the failure, +back there in New York, of course. But I've done pretty well since I +came home here to Hungary." + +"I should think so!" said Dick. "How much has the Austrian government +paid you for the spy's work you have done? Why, you even cheated your +government! You're not even a patriot!" + +For the first time, seemingly, Hallo guessed that Dick might have +something to do with the enemies he really feared--the Servians with +whom he had been playing fast and loose for weeks. + +"What do you mean by that?" he cried, turning half around in his +eagerness. + +Dick jammed the pistol into his ribs to remind him of it. + +"Go on! Keep your face turned away from me! I don't like the looks of +it!" he said, viciously. + +"Do you know Stepan Dushan?" asked Hallo. + +"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" said Dick. + +"See here, Dick, there's no use in your being angry at me any more. +Perhaps I was mistaken. I will tell you, in any case, what I will do. I +will overlook everything that you have done here in Semlin, and I will +arrange to have the police charge against you withdrawn. That is a very +serious matter, let me tell you. If I did not have a great deal of +influence with the big people here it would be quite impossible to +arrange it. And I will give you, besides, twenty-five thousand dollars!" + +Dick laughed. + +"Go on," he said. "Walk faster!" + +"Thirty-five thousand--" + +"If you offered a million, I would believe you just as easily," said +Dick. "I know you for just what you are, Mike Hallo! You're a low down +liar and cheat and swindler, and I wouldn't believe you under oath. If I +accepted your proposition, you'd never pay me a cent, and you'd do your +best to get me into prison here besides." + +"No--no--I'm telling you the truth, Dick! I will do it, I swear it! Do +you think I have no gratitude? It is of the greatest possible importance +that I should be free at once to attend to some pressing business!" + +"It isn't half so important as you think, Mike," said Dick, with a +laugh. "And you're attending to some very pressing business right now, +too. The most pressing business you ever had in your life is to keep +right on walking the way I tell you to and moving as fast as you can, +too." + +"But, Dick, I tell you I shall be ruined if you make me go on! How can I +pay back the money you came for if I am ruined?" + +"I don't know--and I'm not trying to guess riddles to-night. It seems to +agree with you pretty well to be ruined, though. You made a lot of money +out of being ruined in New York, didn't you?" + +"Dick, I have known you since you were a baby! Your father was my best +friend--" + +"Don't remind me of that!" said Dick, angrily. He had been a little +amused by Hallo's desperate pleading, but this reference to his father, +whom the man before him had treated so outrageously, revived his anger. +"The best chance you've got to get through right now is for me to forget +about how friendly you were with my father and how you began to cheat +him as soon as he was dead and couldn't watch you any longer!" + +"Dick, I will make a last appeal! In the safe in my office there is +money--a great sum of money! You can have all of it--every florin! There +is much more there than you ever said I owed your mother! The +combination of the safe is written in the pocket book in my right hand +pocket. Take it out--go back and get the money. I will write out an +order for you to take it--I will write out an admission that I cheated +your family! Only, let me go before it is too late!" + +"No--nothing doing! Straight ahead!" + +Perhaps there was a certain note of finality in Dick's voice; perhaps +Hallo was just trying to think of some new temptation to put before him. +He was silent, at any rate and so, for a minute, was Dick. Dick was +really greatly amused by Hallo's pleadings. And now he could not resist +a dig. It was revenge, and he took it without delay. + +"This ought to be a lesson to you, Mr. Hallo," he said. "I remember that +when I was a little bit of a chap you were always telling me +that--saying that this thing or that ought to be a lesson to me. Do you +remember?" + +Hallo did not answer. + +"You did, anyhow. Well, this ought to teach you that a business man +ought always to act so that people trust him. You haven't, you see. +People know you're a liar and a cheat, and so they don't believe you +even when you are telling the truth. You may have meant to do all the +things you've promised me to-night, but how could I take a chance on you +when I knew the truth about the way you've acted before? A reputation's +a good thing--I've always heard that, and now I know it." + +Dick chuckled, but Hallo made no sound of any sort. Dick could imagine, +however, the workings of his mind, and he did not envy the helpless man +in front of him. Neither was he sorry for him. If Hallo was in a bad +way, he had himself to thank for it. Dick could respect him, in a way, +for his dealings with the Servians and the whole conduct of the man in +his relations with the Austrian authorities and the enemy. He might be a +good patriot. All the things he had done in connection with the sale of +supplies to the army and the attempts he had made to break up the +Servian system of espionage might be perfectly legitimate. + +Even though Dick was heart and soul on the Servian side, he could +respect any sincerely patriotic Austrian or Hungarian. But he doubted +whether Hallo was capable of being either sincere or patriotic; he had +an idea that the man was a patriot simply because he saw a chance to +make money out of his patriotism. + +"He is in a bad way, though," Dick thought. "They'll blame him for all +the things that have gone wrong, and if he has acted here the way he did +in New York, they'll believe that he did it deliberately too. They won't +give him the benefit of the doubt; they'll be sure he was a traitor, +instead of just a fool, and he will suffer for it too." + +Dick was keeping his pistol carefully concealed. Whenever anyone came in +sight, to whom Hallo might have appealed for aid, he reminded him of the +existence of the pistol by tickling his ribs with it. But very few +people were abroad. It was late, and Dick was purposely choosing +unfrequented streets. + +For more than the first time Dick was deeply grateful for his excellent +bump of locality, which his service with the Boy Scouts had done so much +to develop. It was comparatively easy for him to follow the course he +had planned, and he knew that with every step they were getting further +from the heart of Semlin and nearer the boathouse which was his +destination. There was every reason to suppose, too, that he would not +have to handle Hallo single-handed much longer. Behind him, when he +glanced back from time to time, the trail was plainly marked by the +little scatterings of corn. + +"I'm glad it's night time," he reflected, with a grin. "In daylight +there would be birds after that corn, and it wouldn't serve as a trail +for very long. But it's good fun; it's like a paper chase, or hare and +hounds. Only this time the hare wants to be caught!" + +Then he thought of Hallo, and decided that at least one of the hares +wasn't anxious to be caught at all. + +"Still he doesn't know what I'm doing, I guess," thought Dick, "There's +no use in spoiling the pleasure of this little walk for him by telling +him, either. He'll know soon enough, if I have any luck." + +They were in open country by this time, with very few houses in sight. +Suddenly Hallo broke out. + +"Where are you taking me?" he cried, fearfully. + +"Oh, you're beginning to recognize the route now, are you? Yes, we're +going back to the place you came away from in such a hurry not so very +long ago!" + +"You were there!" said Hallo; suddenly, "I thought I knew your voice--in +the boathouse! That was you who came in the launch?" + +"I don't have to answer," said Dick. "Hurry along! You slow up when you +talk. And your talk isn't interesting enough to make it worth while to +delay." + +"I--" + +Whatever Hallo meant to say was never finished. For suddenly the ground +shook, and there was a dreadful roar. A huge flash lit up the sky, and +behind them bedlam seemed to break loose. There was a succession of +reports, like repeated volleys of rifle fire, and sometimes a louder +roar. + +"There goes the arsenal, so you can quit worrying," said Dick. "Even if +I let you go now, you couldn't prevent that, could you? Oh, I knew what +you were driving at, all the time!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE TABLES TURNED + + +But even Dick, for all the wild mood of anger that had held him since he +had had Hallo in his power, had to consent to a halt now. If the +Servians planned not only to inflict a severe blow on the Austrians by +the destruction of war material, but to spread terror as well, they +succeeded admirably. For there was not one explosion alone; there was a +series of explosions. And fire spread from the arsenal, too. + +"The shells are going off, you see," said Dick, a little awed. "They're +exploding in all directions. I suppose there will be a good deal of +damage. And those cartridges must be sending an awful lot of bullets +around promiscuously." + +"I don't think many people will be hurt," said Hallo. Like Dick, he was +awed by the spectacle, and the terrible magnificence of it for the +moment seemed to have driven from his mind all thought of anything but +the explosion itself. "There are very few houses about the arsenal; they +are mostly public buildings of one sort and another. It's not the sort +of neighborhood people choose to live in. Even in time of peace there +may be an accident in an arsenal at any moment--and just as bad an +explosion as this one." + +But then, suddenly, Hallo seemed to remember his position. + +"You will pay for this!" he cried. "It is your doing, because if you had +let me go I should have stopped that! You are in league with the Servian +spies who have been working here for months, who planned the murder of +the Archduke in Serajevo--" + +"Why don't you say I killed him?" suggested Dick. "Forward march, again! +The show is over!" + +"Oh, your time will come--and you will cry to me for help then! The +police only had suspicions before, but now they will have facts, and all +the consuls and ambassadors in the world won't be able to help you! It +won't be a matter for the police at all, my lad! It will be a +court-martial that will try you." + +"Perhaps. We shall see. Hello, what's this?" + +Dick had just been thinking to himself that it was highly fortunate that +they had passed the settled district to the northeast of Semlin before +the explosion, since he could easily imagine the outpouring there must +have been into the streets at that terrific sound. But now there was a +sound of rushing feet, and around a corner, perhaps a quarter of a mile +in front of them, a body of men appeared--troops, coming at the double +quick. + +"Here, this way!" said Dick, sharply. + +He pointed to a clump of trees beside the road, and forced the reluctant +Hallo to go in before him. The pistol was giving him fine support for it +was very evident that Hallo did not mean to take chances. Dick did not +know, as a matter of fact, whether he would be able to fire if the +necessity arose. To shoot even Mike Hallo in cold blood, and when the +man was helpless to all intents, was something he could not contemplate +without a shudder. + +In fact it was partly because Hallo was his enemy that he felt that he +was likely to hesitate, and at a moment when hesitation was likely to be +dangerous, if not fatal. + +"I'd feel differently if I didn't have anything against him, +personally," said Dick to himself. "As it is, I'd never be sure, if I +shot him, whether I was doing it in self-defence or because it was a +good chance to get even with him for the things he's done to me and to +my family." + +Fortunately, however, Hallo did not put him to the test. Dick realized +that it was a dangerous minute. The seconds that elapsed while the +soldiers were passing in the road were the longest he had ever spent. A +single shout from Hallo would have settled matters. In such times, and +with a reminder of the dangers of the situation such as the destruction +of the arsenal, there would have been an immediate investigation, and, +whatever happened to Hallo himself, Dick would be in a bad case, and he +fully realized his situation. + +Dick allowed plenty of time for the soldiers to pass. It did not take +long, as a matter of fact, and he decided that there could have been +only a small detachment, not more than a company of infantry probably. +Hallo might have told him that there were comparatively few troops in +Semlin, and that the greater part of the Austrian forces along the +border were placed at two points, Schabatz, on the Save, and Losnitza, +on the Drina, since it was at those two points that the invasion of +Servia was to be begun, according to the plan of the Austrian General +Staff. + +The bombardment of Belgrade was not intended to cover a subsequent +attack, but to serve as a feint, in the hope that a large number of +Servian troops would be retained for the defense of the capital. +Belgrade was of no use to the Austrians. By holding Semlin they could +cut the railway and had every advantage that the occupation of Belgrade +could have given them, except the sentimental value of having +possession of the enemy's capital. Later in the war the Austrians were +to make the grave mistake of occupying Belgrade for just such +sentimental reasons, and the mistake was to be proved by the sacrifice +of an army. + +"All right, we can go back to the road again," said Dick, when he had +allowed more than enough time for a rear guard to pass. "Your friends +have held us up. See if you can't move a little faster to make up for +the delay!" and he prodded him with his revolver for emphasis. + +Dick had scattered his corn steadily and now, as they went back to the +road, he kicked the kernels that marked their digression aside, since he +knew that Stepan and the others, if they were following, would only +waste time by following the detour into the woods. He had brought a +plentiful supply, and he was glad of it, since he was traveling further +with Hallo than he had thought it at all likely that he could. For some +time he had been listening eagerly for some indication that Stepan and +his friends were approaching, but there had been none. He was not ready +to be worried about them yet, however dangerous as he knew their work +had been, since it was easy to imagine a dozen trifling things that +might have delayed them. + +And yet he could think of more serious things, too. There might have +been a premature explosion of the mine, and he shuddered at the thought +of what the fate of the Servians must have been if that was what had +happened. Or they might have been caught as they emerged from the +tunnel. Or--but he shook off such ideas. There was no reason yet to +suppose that everything was not all right. And the important thing was +to get Hallo to the boathouse. It was absolutely vital, now that Hallo +knew about that refuge, and also the identity of his former office boy, +that Hallo should not escape to use his knowledge, since he could do +incalculable mischief to the cause that Dick had now made his own. + +Hallo went along stumbling, groaning, growling. Finally Dick did begin +to feel sorry for him. After all, the man was in bad condition. He had +been painfully hurt by the crashing down of the big packing case, and +his fright and escape through the water had weakened and tired him, even +before that. Now he seemed to be in the last stages of exhaustion, and +when he began to plead with Dick on account of his weariness, rather +than with promises or threats, he was on the right track. Perhaps that +feeling threw Dick off his guard for a moment. At any rate, when Hallo +finally made his bid for freedom he chose the most, perhaps the only, +opportune moment. + +Dick had taken his eyes off him for a moment, and had loosened his hold +on the butt of his automatic. And just then Hallo stopped suddenly, +whipped back his foot, and tripped Dick neatly and successfully. Dick +went down; before he could reach for the pistol, Hallo was on top of +him. Exhausted though he was, Hallo outweighed Dick still as much as +ever, and he was strong as well. Dick fought well, but the surprise had +been complete. As he reached for the pistol, Hallo seized his arm and +in a moment was twisting it around behind his back in a cruel hammer +lock hold--that deadliest of wrestling grips, that means a broken arm +for the victim unless he yields. The struggle was over in a moment, and +the positions were now completely reversed. + +Hallo had the pistol, and he was in as absolute command as Dick had been +while he still held it. + +"Ah!" said Hallo. "I said your time would come, Dick, my lad! And it +has! You're in my power now! I could kill you, do you know that?" + +Dick did not answer; he was thinking too hard. And there was nothing for +him to say, anyhow. He had been neatly tricked, and, though he was badly +frightened and ready to admit it to himself, it was impossible not to +admire Hallo, so adroit had he been in seizing his one chance of escape. + +"Yes, I could kill you easily enough," Hallo repeated. "And no one would +blame me. I have proof that you are a spy, and it is a praiseworthy +thing to kill a spy. But I shall not. I shall be generous to you, Dick, +even if you did not remember our old friendship. I shall take you back +with me, and turn you over to the soldiers, and they will try you +fairly, and let the American consul defend you, and then they will shoot +you." + +A perfect frenzy of revenge seemed to seize the Hungarian as Dick +maintained his silence. + +"Oh, they will know how to make you talk!" he cried. "Keep still, then, +if you like! I don't care! You would come here after me? You would try +to make me pay back the money you say I took? Well, then, I did take it! +And why not? I could use it better than your foolish family! Ah, Dick, +it does not pay to monkey with the buzz-saw, as your father used to say! +Does it? I am a buzz-saw--yes, that is what I am! Now, then, march! But +turn the other way!" + +"I'm not afraid of you," said Dick, breaking his silence at last and +speaking in a contemptuous voice. "I think you're pretty brave, though, +Mike. I didn't think so a little while ago. I thought you were a great +coward. But if you have the courage to go to the army authorities after +the destruction of the arsenal, you are a brave man, and I respect you +for that, even if you are a thief!" + +Hallo stared at him stupidly for a moment. + +"Eh? What is that?" he said. "No matter! March! You are trying to bluff +me, as you Americans say, and you cannot do it! They will know the truth +when I tell them. They will believe me. They will not think that I had +anything to do with that." + +"You say so--but you don't believe what you're saying yourself," said +Dick. "When they hear about how you have been going on, they will think +it funny that you did not know about this plot in time to warn them. Do +you think they will try us at the same time?" + +But he stepped out, just the same, for Hallo was beginning to look +dangerous. He looked frightened, too, and Dick felt that it was not at +all certain that Hallo would force him to go all the way. When he had +had time to think for a little of what the attitude of the Austrian +commander was likely to be, Dick thought military headquarters in Semlin +would be about the last place that he would seek! + +Even so, however, there did not seem to be much to make Dick hopeful. +For it was just as likely that Hallo would shoot him if he decided to +stay away from Semlin as that he would let him go. + +But then there came just the interruption for which Dick had prayed. +Ahead of them appeared half a dozen figures walking swiftly, at their +head a smaller man or boy, his eyes on the ground. Dick's heart gave a +leap. + +"Into the field there!" said Hallo, with a growl. + +Dick obeyed, scattering the last kernels of corn. And five minutes later +a wild rush, led by Stepan Dushan, caught them. Once more the tables +were turned, and Hallo was a prisoner for the third time that night! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BELGRADE + + +Now there was plain sailing before them. The Servians were all armed, +and they had proved that night, if it needed proof, that they had the +sort of courage that enables a man to take the one chance of escape in a +hundred when a desperate thing is to be done. No ordinary obstacle could +possibly keep them from the boathouse now. + +Relieved of his care of Hallo, Dick fell into step beside Stepan. + +"You saved the day for us," said Stepan. "If you had not been there, he +would have caught me--and he would have been in time to save the arsenal +from destruction. That is going to prove the most important feat of the +war, I do believe. There will be great news soon unless I am greatly +mistaken. Now tell me of what happened after I left you." + +"There isn't much to tell," said Dick. "He was clever enough to think +that he might be followed and trapped me--but, after all, it was better +so. I should have had to try to stop him if he had gone into a house, +and the place might not have been so quiet and deserted as the one he +chose." + +Dick went on to tell of the strange walk that he and Hallo had taken, +and Steve laughed heartily. But his face was grave when Dick had +finished. + +"It seems trifling enough now," he said, "but it was no laughing matter, +Dick. You were in terrible danger all the time, of course, and anyone +less cool and clear headed would never have come through so well. Having +Hallo gives us a breathing spell. We may be able to use the boathouse +still. If he had got away, even after the arsenal was blown up, we could +never have used it. We may not have to. I think most of our work here in +Semlin was finished to-night. Soon the armies in the field will be doing +the work, and the time for the spies will have passed." + +At the boathouse Milikoff joined them, his face glowing. + +"All here? Not a man lost? That makes it so much the better!" he +exclaimed, happily. "And--what? You have Hallo again? Welcome back, +Hallo! This is splendid!" + +"I think we had better get away," said Stepan. "After this business +to-night, there will be a most searching examination, and it would be +dangerous for any of us to stay here. We cannot carry many in the motor +boat, but there will be time for her to make three trips, and that will +be enough. I shall run her back first, and take my friend Dick Warner +and Hallo. One other can come. You, Milikoff?" + +"No. I shall go on the last trip," said Milikoff. "Let one of the men +bring her back. It will be your part to see that Hallo is looked after +in Belgrade." + +So they ventured out into the yellow Danube again. This time the voyage +promised to be more dangerous. The destruction of the arsenal had +aroused all the forces defending Semlin to a high pitch, and +searchlights danced incessantly about, winking first one way, then +another. There was still a blaze of light at the confluence of the Save +and the Danube, but more searchlights seemed to be in use, and the +Austrians were not as perfunctory as they had been, but flashed them +here, there, and anywhere. + +However, Steve was a skillful handler of the swift little craft. Darting +forward when the flashing of a light left a space dark, turning this way +and that, coming almost to a full stop when the river ahead was suddenly +lighted, he played hide and seek amid the great, flashing beams of +light. And at last they were well beyond them, and could sweep across +the river and come to the safe haven of the little wharf on the Servian +shore. + +A few explanations then, and Steve reluctantly turned over the boat he +had guided so well to another, while he and Dick, with Hallo and one of +the other men who had come with them, tumbled into a military automobile +that was waiting. There was a swift rush to the citadel, where Steve +turned over his prisoner. + +"He's a slippery customer," Dick said, in warning. + +"He won't get away from us," the officer promised. + +And then--sleep! Sleep that was almost as welcome as it had been the +night before or, rather, the morning before. For again they had been +busy through all the hours of darkness, and it was daylight before they +got to bed. + +This time, when Dick awoke at last, Steve was still there, and he yawned +luxuriously when Dick woke him up. + +"Nothing to do to-day!" he said. "At least, nothing that I know of now! +It's a real holiday, Dick. I can tell you it feels good, too. I wouldn't +have missed the chance to do what I've been able to do for Servia, but +I'm tired now." + +"I should think you would be," said Dick. "You haven't only had to work +hard, but there's been the chance always that you would be caught." + +"I know. But I didn't think much about it, Dick. I was too busy. The +chief danger was that Hallo would find me looking through his papers +some time. He might not have suspected that I was a spy, but that would +certainly have ended any chance there was for me to get more news." + +They got up then, and enjoyed a great meal at their leisure, while old +Maritza looked on and kept their plates full, and scolded Stepan for +having caught cold the night before. She said he must have caught cold, +because he was hoarse, and laughed at him when he said it was only +because he had been so tired. + +"You say there's nothing for us to do?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, but I didn't mean it. There's plenty to do, only it's stupid +compared to the sort of thing we have done. There are errands of all +sorts to be run, and I believe that there is a good deal of help to be +given to the poor people. It's mostly their houses that have been +knocked about in the bombardment, you see. We don't have to do it, of +course. The rest of the scouts here have been busy that way, and I'm +excused from that sort of work because I was detailed to this special +service. Still I think I'll lend a hand until there is more work for me +from the Intelligence Department." + +"When will that be, do you suppose?" + +"Oh, there's no telling. It depends on the way the campaign runs. Now, +for a time, it's all a question of how General Pushkin's plans work out. +And he has two plans. Russia has declared war, and that means that +Austria can't concentrate a great force against us. But the question is +whether she will try to crush us before she turns against Russia, or +whether she will just hold both Russia and Servia safe. If she throws a +great army against us, General Pushkin won't risk a decisive battle. +He'll go back into the hills and worry them until they have to detach +troops for the other front. If the Russians begin coming down through +the passes of the Carpathians into Hungary, you'll see the Austrians +sending troops back to meet them in a hurry. It wouldn't make so much +difference, from a military point of view, even if the Russians got to +Buda-Pesth. But it would pretty nearly cause a revolution in Hungary, +and a separate peace." + +So when they had finished their meal, they went down toward the river. +The desultory, useless bombardment was still going on, but it was not +doing great damage, though it seemed to Dick that it was. A great many +important buildings had been struck, and were in ruins, and in the lower +quarters of the city there were plenty of evidences of war. But Steve +pointed out that none of this could have any effect upon Servia's +ability to hold out. + +"It is all provided for in the plans of the general staff," he said. "As +long as our field army is in good shape, they can hammer away at +Belgrade as much as they like." + +Some important work was still being done. Money and papers of value were +being removed from the quarters where there was danger from the Austrian +cannon, and scouts, who seemed to be numerous, were guarding the +transfers. Others, whom Dick and Steve joined, were going through the +unaffected parts of the city to find houses that had room for the poor +people who had been driven from their homes by the enemy's fire. One +spirit seemed to move all classes; there was a universal readiness to +make sacrifices of any sort for the common good. + +"We have room for one family of five," would be the greeting, as they +knocked at a door, as soon as the inmates of the house saw Stepan's +uniform, which Dick saw him wear for the first time that day. + +So it went everywhere. Dick went to see the American consul, and told +his story, and the official assured him that he would find a means of +sending word of his safety to Consul Denniston in Semlin. + +"I've got ways of sending such messages, of course," the consul +explained. "They can't interfere with the messages of an American +consul. I saw Mr. Denniston a little while before the bridge was +destroyed, and he was quite worried about you. He'll be glad to know +that you are safe so far. I suppose, by the way, that you are strictly +neutral, as an American should be?" + +Dick hesitated, and the consul roared with laughter. + +"You don't have to answer that question!" he said. "I've got to be +neutral, worse luck! But, even so, sometimes I think I'll resign, just +so that I can take a chance with the side I'm on." + +"Which side is that, sir?" asked Dick, innocently. + +Once more the consul laughed. + +"I refuse to answer!" he said. "You might send a report back to +Washington and get me into trouble. But perhaps you can guess." + +The times that followed were uneventful enough in Belgrade, though +beyond the limits of the belabored Servian capital great things were +happening. There were scenes of wonderful rejoicing when it became known +that Russia had thrown herself to the aid of the little Slav state, and +still more wonderful scenes when the Servians learned that England and +France, as well, had been enlisted in their quarrel. They knew now that +they would not be made again a sacrifice to the peace of Europe, and +that Austria's attempt to bully them had precipitated the great war. + +Closer at hand, however, was the actual fighting between the Servians +and Austrians. On the Danube and the Save there were minor skirmishes. +Servian forts fired on Austrian vessels. In the Save, near the wrecked +bridge, a Servian mine destroyed an Austrian monitor. And along the line +of the border there was constant skirmishing. Red Cross flags began to +fly from many houses in Belgrade, and there was a constant stream of +wounded men. Not many came at once, or in any one day, but every day saw +some additions to the wounded who were being cared for. + +"But this doesn't look like a real battle yet, Steve," said Dick. "These +men have been wounded in outpost affairs, when at the most only a few +hundred men were engaged on either side." + +"Wait," said Stepan. "The great battles will come." + +And come they did. The news came first from Schabatz, as a wild rumor. +Belgrade was incredulous. The first reports were of a complete Servian +victory, of Austrian troops in panic-stricken flight. It seemed too good +to be true. But every hour not only confirmed these first reports, but +added to them. The Austrians had not alone been beaten; they had been +utterly routed, and were in full retreat in their own territory. + +Then Servian victories came thick and fast. Even while batches of +Austrian prisoners were being brought in, Servian troops in great +strength followed, and there was a daring, magnificent raid across the +Save, in which the Austrian monitors were driven out into the Danube and +away by the terrific fire of the splendidly handled big guns of the +Servians. For two or three splendid days Servian troops held Semlin, +before the exigencies of the strategy of the campaign forced them to +give up their prize and let the Austrians, now heavily reënforced, +reënter their capital city. + +"We couldn't stay, but we showed them what we could do, didn't we?" said +Stepan, exultingly. + +"Yes. But isn't there danger that they may come on now in great force?" + +"They are sure to do that," said Stepan, his eyes burning brightly. "It +is what we hope. Now the second stage of the campaign will begin. They +have already sent great reënforcements into Bosnia, and the army that we +and Montenegro sent against Serajevo has had to retire. Remember, Dick, +we are not fighting this war alone. Russia is at war, too. It was our +aim to compel the Austrians to withdraw many troops from Galicia and +Bukowina and the passes of the Carpathians. Now they have done that, and +we shall see. They are beginning to advance across the Drina toward +Valjevo. We shall see soon what the result is to be." + +That prophecy was soon made good. For now the Austrians poured across +the northern and western borders of little Servia in overwhelming +force, and the Servian armies, muttering, fighting as they went, fell +back before them. Behind Belgrade, to the south of the city, the Servian +army that had won the great victory of Schabatz gave ground, lest it be +taken in the rear by the Austrian advance from Valjevo, and that +movement changed the whole aspect of affairs. That army had been the +real protection of Belgrade. As soon as it retreated the Austrians +marched into the city. But it had taken them five months, instead of as +many days, to accomplish their end. + +"We are to stay," Stepan had said, when it was certain that Belgrade +must fall. And they had stayed, unmolested by the small Austrian force +of occupation. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +BETWEEN THE LINES + + +The Austrian occupation made surprisingly little difference in the outer +aspect of Belgrade. The bombardment, which had been maintained +spasmodically and at intervals ever since the outbreak of war, ceased, +of course. There were a good many Austrian soldiers about, but these +were not the trim, soldierly looking men one might have expected to see. +Dick commented on this. + +"They're reservists, and last line men, at that," said Stepan. "A lot of +them wear spectacles, you'll notice, and they're the older men, who +aren't fit to work in the field. A lot of those chaps would keel over if +they had to spend a night in a trench half full of water, or to march +twenty miles without a halt. But they are all right for this sort of +work. You can't count on them for fighting, but they do the work that +would otherwise take up a lot of fighting men." + +"Will there be anything for us to do, Stepan?" + +"I think a great deal. I haven't heard anything yet, except that we are +to stay." + +"Do you think it's safe for me? I don't think I care much, but I mean if +they were looking for me in Semlin, isn't there a chance that I'll be +picked up now?" + +"I don't think so. That was Hallo's doing, you see. He's disappeared, +and so there's nothing to urge them to go after you." + +"Where is Hallo? I was afraid that perhaps he would have been found and +set free when the Austrians came." + +"Not a bit of it! He's too valuable to be allowed to get off so +easily--or to be shot either," answered Steve. + +"Then he was taken away?" + +"Yes. He's being very carefully looked after in the interior now--in +Nissa or Nish, probably. Dick, suppose you go and see your consul here +again--Mr. Hampton. I'd like to know what he thinks about things. And +you can consult him, too, about your own position," Steve replied. + +"So you're still here, are you?" said Mr. Hampton. "I thought you might +have run away with the Servians. But you did well to stay. I'm afraid +the Austrians are going right through this country now, the way a circus +acrobat goes through a paper hoop. It's the old story--the little +country is left to perish, like Belgium and Servia, while the big +fellows attend to their own knitting." + +"You think the Servian retreat is serious, then, sir?" + +"I think it's the beginning of the end, my boy--and if I wasn't afraid +that it wouldn't sound neutral, I'd say I was sorry for it, too! They've +made a game fight, and they deserved better luck. But look at the map +for yourself! The Austrians have the whole grain growing section. The +Servian army will starve to death if the Austrians don't force it to +fight and wipe it out." + +"I see. It does look bad when you look at it that way, sir," said Dick +rather slowly. + +"And there's no other way of looking at it. Pushkin has shot his bolt. +He won a fine victory at Schabatz, but he's up against the Austrians in +overwhelming numbers now. He's been running away mighty well, too, but +he can't keep that up forever. He'll have to fight when they get him +cornered, just as the French did in 1870 at Sedan. And that will be the +end of organized Servian resistance." + +"I hope not, but it does look like it, sir. I'd like to see him turn the +tables, though." + +Stepan listened with a good deal of interest to Dick's report of his +conversation with the consul. + +"That's the outside view--yes," said Stepan. "It's the Austrian view, +too! What did he say about you, Dick?" + +"Oh, he said I'd better stay here for a time. Mr. Denniston had spoken +to him about me, he said, and they agreed that I had better wait here in +Belgrade until things were more settled. Mr. Denniston told him that +there was still a formal charge against me in Semlin, but that he was +trying to get it withdrawn. After that he will arrange for me to get +home, he says. He is very kind." + +"Yes. But you don't want to go home until you have settled matters with +Hallo, do you?" + +"No, I don't. But I suppose there's very little chance of my being able +to do that now. And I guess I ought to get back and start in doing +whatever I can, instead of spending any more time trying to run after a +will-o'-the-wisp like the money Hallo stole from us." + +"We shall see," said Stepan, with a twinkle in his eye. "But in the +meantime you are still ready to stand by us if there is anything to be +done, aren't you, Dick?" + +"You bet I am! As long as I can't get home, I want to be doing something +if I can." + +"Well, I think there'll be something to do, all right, before very long. +And here's something you want to remember. There are other ways of +getting back to America from here than through Buda-Pesth and Vienna. +The railway from Nish to Salonica is open, and there are steamers from +Salonica to Athens, and from Athens to New York." + +"Yes, but the railway from here to Nish isn't open, Steve. And I haven't +the money to go that way, anyhow." + +"Perhaps that will be arranged. Wait and see," said Stepan, +mysteriously. + +"You've got something up your sleeve," said Dick, indignantly. But he +could not remain angry long with Stepan. "Oh, I'm not going to plague +you with questions, Steve! I know you--and you'll tell me what's in the +air as soon as you get ready. I suppose it's got something to do with +those mysterious absences of yours in the last two weeks before the +Austrians came?" + +"Perhaps you're right, Dick. You'll know soon, never fear!" + +Two more days dragged by without news from the interior, save for the +Austrian bulletins announcing the continued progress of their army that +was operating from Losnitza as a base, and driving toward the centre of +Servia and the ultimate fortress of Nish. + +But on the evening of the second day when Dick had finally taken his +place at the table, upon old Maritza's insistence, without waiting any +longer for Stepan, Steve arrived, with an air of great secrecy and +importance. + +"Hurry, Maritza, and give me a good dinner!" he said. "I don't know when +you will see us again!" + +"What new madness is this?" asked Maritza, crossly. But, like Dick, she +knew well enough that she would learn nothing from Stepan until he was +ready to tell her. So she obeyed, grumbling. + +"Ready? Go and put on your warmest clothes, then!" said Stepan. +"Better--I will lend you some of mine. You have none that are warm +enough!" + +"None that are warm enough? What nonsense! It isn't very cold--and I +have a thick overcoat!" + +"But you can't wear that! Come, I will show you." + +Dick roared with laughter when he and Steve were finally arrayed to +Stepan's satisfaction. First each had put on two suits of thick woolen +underwear, and two pairs of thick woolen socks apiece. The socks were so +thick that they had to have resort to shoes that belonged to Stepan's +father, since they could not get on their own. Then heavy winter suits +of Steve's, with a sweater apiece under the coats, and on their heads +fur caps, with ear muffs. + +"Are we going to the North Pole?" asked Dick. + +"Never mind! I'll promise you that before long you will wish that you +had warmer clothes still!" + +"I don't believe it, Steve! I don't see how it's possible! I'm +suffocating now--and I've been out, and know how cold it is." + +Stepan did not answer. Instead, he led the way downstairs, and going +into the garden, peered out until a cart came up, driven by a peasant. +This cart apparently contained potatoes--and in reality, too, although +in a few moments the two scouts were hidden under the load. + +"This is a loyal peasant--and one of our best spies!" said Stepan. "The +Austrians trust him because he seems to be so stupid, and so we can pass +through the line of sentries to the south. If we tried to walk we would +be turned back. He is taking these potatoes to the advanced positions of +the Austrians." + +"That's fine, only I'd like to know what we are going to do after we +have passed the sentries! We shall be within two Austrian lines even +then, shan't we?" + +"We certainly shall--but we shan't stay there!" + +"Oh, I give it up! I never was good at guessing riddles, anyhow!" + +"Sh-h! We can't tell when we're near the sentries, and we'd better keep +quiet now." + +After a little time the cart stopped with a jolt, and they heard the +peasant driver, as he seemed to be, exchanging rough jests with the +sentries. Then there was a grounding of arms, and they passed on. For +perhaps fifteen minutes they continued to jolt along, and for the first +time Dick was glad, despite the heat, that he was wearing such thick +garments, since they saved him, he was convinced, a good many bruises. +He decided that that must be the reason they had worn them. Then the +cart stopped and the driver began to make a way for them to get out, +which they were glad to do. + +"All right--good luck and good-night, Ivan!" said Stepan. + +"And to you, good luck and the grace of God, Stepan Ivanovitch!" said +the driver. "There is nothing more that I can do?" + +"No. Good-bye!" + +The cart rumbled off, and Stepan turned off to the right. Dick asked no +questions, but went along, satisfied that the mystery must soon be +solved. And indeed it was. They were on level ground now, but soon they +began to descend, and found themselves in a rather wide ravine. There +was a sudden challenge: "Who goes there?" delivered in Servian! + +"Kossovo!" answered Stepan. + +"Pass," said the sentry, who was not in uniform, and carried a revolver +instead of a rifle. + +And then, a few paces further on, they came to a strange mass covered +with canvas. A man stepped out of the shadow, flashing an electric torch +in their faces. + +"Stepan? That is good!" he said. + +Stepan went forward and drew off the canvas cover, and Dick saw what was +underneath--a monoplane, as he had guessed! + +"That is a captured Austrian 'plane," said Stepan. "Now do you +understand? Are you willing to take the risk of flying in it with me?" + +"I wouldn't miss it!" said Dick. "But I didn't know you knew how to run +one!" + +"He is one of our very few qualified aviators," said the man who had +been on guard. "And every day now for weeks he has been coming here to +study the controls and all the details of this machine. It is in +perfect order, ready to take the air." + +"And an Austrian monoplane! Why, we can fly over their lines!" exclaimed +Dick. "How splendid! But what are you to do, Steve?" + +"You will soon know. Get aboard! Your seat is there. Strap him in, +Dmitri, while I see to the tank." + +"Everything is right," said Dmitri. "But make sure for yourself--that is +a good rule." + +In a minute Stepan was satisfied and had taken his place beside Dick. +Then the motor was started, the propeller began to turn, and in a few +moments they rose from the ground, soared above the trees, and were in +full flight. + +"Now you see why we had to be warm!" said Stepan. "We are in for a long +flight. But up first! We must fly high!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE FLIGHT + + +They rose higher and higher, climbing in spirals, until Dick had +completely lost his bearings. The night was cloudy, and there were no +stars to help him, and before long they had passed through the first +layer of low hanging clouds, so that he was denied the aid of lights and +towns below. Then when they had thus made it impossible for anyone below +to detect them, Stepan gave his motor full play and the real flight +began. Dick thought he had never in his life known a sensation so +glorious as this swift gliding along through the air. But he soon +appreciated the comfort that came from the thick clothes upon which his +chum had insisted. Despite the weight of the things, he was far from +being hot in that long night flight. + +Sometimes he slept. He was aroused once when they descended, but the +country was wholly unfamiliar to him, and they were soon off again. But +with morning came a stunning surprise. The sun was visible now, and Dick +saw that they had been flying northeast! He had supposed that they would +head for the Servian army, but he guessed now, as he saw snow capped +mountains before them, that they had taken an entirely different course. +And his surprise was vastly increased when a strange sound assailed his +ears. + +"Ah!" cried Stepan, exulting. "It is all right!" + +Dick followed Stepan's pointing finger with his eyes, and now he saw the +source of the firing that had so astonished him. It was in front of him, +on the plain between them and the mountains, which were far away still, +though they seemed so near. + +"What troops are those? And where are we?" he cried. + +"We have flown across Hungary in the night, and those are Hungarian +regiments, giving way before the advance of Russian troops who have come +through the passes from Galicia!" cried Stepan. "But that is not what +counts! Look down there--to the right!" + +Dick looked. What he saw was a small village that had suddenly become a +city. Trains were drawing in, and a dozen or more sidings contained +strings of cars that had evidently arrived during the night. As they +looked a train stopped and soldiers poured from it. + +"Do you understand? Can you realize what that means, Dick?" cried +Stepan. "They are sending reënforcements from Servia! Those troops were +among those who were attacking us. The Russian invasion through the +passes has brought them back! That is what we came for--to learn if that +were so!" + +"Oh, I do understand now!" cried Dick, as a great light burst on his +mind. He saw it all. This was what Servia had been hoping for; a +weakening of the forces massed against her. No wonder it had been +all-important to know if the reënforcement had really been sent! Then +his eye wandered, and he saw something coming through the air--another +aeroplane was approaching them. + +"Look out, Stepan! Here comes one of their machines!" he cried. + +Stepan seized his glass on the instant. + +"Yes!" he said. "That is bad luck for it is one of their newer, faster +machines! We must try to get away! Here, take this rifle. If she comes +so near that she discovers who we really are, we must fight. Aim for the +tank. A bullet through that will send them down quickly! But don't fire +until I give the word. It is better to run than to fight, if we can." + +And now, as if he had not seen the hostile aeroplane, Stepan turned and +began to race south, in the direction whence they had come. There +followed the most exciting of possible contests--a real race between +aeroplanes, not for a prize or a trophy, but with life itself, or +liberty at least, as the price of victory or the penalty of defeat. + +With the slower, clumsier machine, Stepan still made a wonderful +showing. He went up, then down, twisting this way and that, +manoeuvering with brilliant skill. The other machine followed, +however, and it was gaining constantly, thanks to its better motor. +Still it did not fire a shot, for it must have been difficult for the +pilot to know what possessed the machine that he chased. It was so +obviously an Austrian monoplane, yet its actions were suspicious. + +At last Stepan reduced his speed. At the moment they were above the +rival birdman, who was climbing to get on a level. + +"Now--and aim for the tank!" cried Stepan. + +Dick fired. His first bullet went wide, and cut through the wing. But +the next one found its mark. They could hear the sharp ping as it struck +the metal tank, even above the roar of the two racing engines. And then +another--and all three before the enemy could reply. + +"Good! We are saved!" cried Stepan. + +For the Austrian machine staggered like a bird hit on the wing, reeled, +and then plunged downward. One bullet sang past them, dangerously close, +but that was all. In a moment they were alone in the heavens, racing +toward Servia, while behind them the roar of battle continued. + +On and on they flew. They passed over Belgrade and Semlin late in the +afternoon, when the sun was sinking. It was dark when they crossed a +plain from which great numbers of troops stared up at them. But they +were flying very high and very fast, and though two more Austrian +aeroplanes began to pursue, there was no danger that they would be +caught. And at last, weary, exhausted, they came to earth in the Servian +camp. + +"Come with me," said Stepan. Willing hands were caring for the +aeroplane, and now a staff officer came up. + +"You are Stepan Dushan?" he asked. "I am to take you to the general!" + +"My companion, too," insisted Stepan. + +And so Dick was present when Stepan made his report to the veteran +general who commanded the Servian army. He saw the light that came into +the leader's eyes when he heard of the arrival of the Austrian troops in +Hungary and listened, with admiration, to the sharp fusillade of orders +which interrupted Stepan's narrative. + +"Now we know what to do!" said the general. "Now we shall fall upon +them. The battle will begin to-night! They have been trying to force a +battle. Well, they shall have it! Go, now, sleep. In the morning there +will be great sights for your eyes!" + +And in the morning, indeed, Dick and Stepan were present when King +Peter, his snowy hair bared to the wind, rode before his troops. + +"The time has come, my children!" said the old king. "The time has come +for us to drive the invader from Servian soil! We have had to retreat, +and it has been hard! But now--now we can strike! This is the dawn of +Servia's greatest day, in victory or defeat! Your old king has come now +to see you conquer--or to die among you!" + +What a cheer there was as the king spoke! What a roar greeted him! With +what eagerness did the troops hail the order to advance! + +Already the cannon were thundering. Soon now rifle fire in sullen, +crackling volleys broke upon the air. And that day the Austrians learned +that they had walked into a trap; that Servia's army had retreated, not +because it was beaten, not because it was afraid, but that it might +fight, when the time for battle came, on its own chosen ground. From the +east came the army that had guarded Belgrade for so long, striking at +the Austrian flank. And once more an Austrian defeat became a rout. Once +more the Servians pursued. + +Dick and Stepan could see only a little of the great struggle. But that +little was enough to teach them that they were looking upon history in +the making. The battle was one of those crushing, decisive struggles +that seldom occur. With defeat the last hope of a successful Austrian +invasion of little Servia seemed to be shattered and when the sun went +down there was no longer any doubt of the issue. + +The Austrians had fought well and bravely, but the Servians had fought +with the courage of despair and the cool precision of trained soldiers +used to victory, as well. The stars that night looked down upon the +abject flight of the Austrian army, split in two parts, scattering its +arms, its equipment, everything that would retard the search for safety +from the furious pursuit of the Servians. + +"We let them have Belgrade--for a few days!" said Stepan, drunk with +happiness. "But now we want it for ourselves--our capital is the place +to celebrate a victory!" + +And so it proved. Two divisions of the beaten Austrians were caught at +the Danube, where Servian guns had smashed to pieces a bridge of boats +cunningly contrived for retreat. And while they were making their last +feeble resistance, a brigade of Servians marched into Belgrade. Flags +flew everywhere and the people hailed the return of their own troops +deliriously. When the king himself rode in, disdaining the carriage that +had been provided for his use on account of his age, the city seemed to +go mad. The thunder of the guns to the east died away; the Austrians who +had been cut off had had enough of fighting and had surrendered. The +Servians were the victors. + +"It is wonderful! It will surprise the world!" said Dick. "Why, Mr. +Hampton said that everyone believed Servia had lost her last chance, and +that the country was about to be overrun, like Belgium!" + +Dick met General Dushan, Steve's father. And it was the general, his +eyes filled with tears of pride over the exploits of his son, who told +them of a great honor that awaited them. + +"The king has ordered me to bring you both before him," he said. "He has +heard of the part you played in the destruction of the Semlin arsenal +and he has learned that it was that feat that made the great victory of +Schabatz possible. If the Austrians had had ammunition enough to serve +their guns, they would have beaten us there." + +Dick was embarrassed and timid when he was called upon to stand forth +and meet King Peter. But the old man, simple and, democratic, soon put +him at his ease. He held out his hand and gripped Dick's, and then he +spoke to him in English. + +"Servia thanks you, through me, her king," he said. "I wish you to wear +this decoration with our gratitude! And I have heard of the mission that +brought you to Semlin--so fortunately for us. General Dushan knows my +pleasure in that matter." + +"Come with me, both of you," said General Dushan. He took them to the +citadel, and there, in a little while, Hallo was brought before the +general, his hands linked with steel handcuffs. + +"Michael Hallo," said General Dushan, sternly, "you have been tried and +found guilty, and sentenced to death as a spy and a traitor. But His +Majesty has been pleased to grant you a reprieve--on a certain +condition. If you will sign an order to Richard Warner upon the State +Bank here for the payment of a sum equivalent to two hundred thousand +dollars, you will be confined as a political prisoner until the end of +the war, and then released. Do you agree?" + +There was hate in Hallo's eyes, but he was helpless--and he agreed, to +save his life. + +"I told you it would be arranged," said Stepan, three days later, when +Mr. Denniston, the consul in Semlin, had arranged for the transfer of +Dick's money to New York. "And now you are going to Salonica, with an +escort to the border--and I am going all the way to Athens to see you +off! Think of us sometimes--and when the war is over, I will visit you +in New York!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +HALLO'S LAST CARD + + +"I'm going to give you drafts on New York, Dick," Mr. Denniston had +said. "In ordinary times, that wouldn't be the best way--I'd simply +arrange for transfer of your money by mail or cable. But now, in war +times, with the mails badly held up and most of the cables cut, that is +more difficult. There might be months of delay in getting the money if +we trusted to ordinary arrangements." + +"I see, sir," said Dick, though he did not understand the details of +international banking any too well. + +"You've had such a hard time getting this, and you've done so splendidly +that I'd hate to think there was any chance of some slip making trouble +for you now," the consul went on. "But with these drafts you'll be all +right. Take good care of them--but I needn't tell you that, I suppose." + +"Hardly!" said Dick, with a laugh. "But no one else could cash them, +even if I lost them, I suppose?" + +"Not if payment were stopped. The only danger would be if you lost them +in such a way that whoever got them forged your signature and then kept +you from being able to warn the people in New York not to pay them. But +of course there'd be a long delay and it's just possible that you might +lose heavily. So guard them carefully--just as if they were actual +money. I'll give you a money belt to put them in--" + +"I have one myself, thanks," said Dick. + +"General Dushan has arranged for your trip, I understand," said the +consul. "How do you go?" + +"Through Nisha to the Greek border--no, to the Bulgarian line, I +believe," said Dick. "They decided that that was safer than the direct +route to Athens. I sail from Salonica. Stepan Dushan says there are +raiding bands of Albanians south of Uskub and getting near to Monastir, +and that that section isn't safe, anyhow--that it hasn't settled down +properly since the last wars." + +"It's true enough," said Mr. Denniston, with a faint frown. "That whole +region is unsettled. You see, Servia took a good deal of territory +Bulgaria claimed and there are a good many Bulgarians living in it. I +hope that Servia will see its way, if it gets what it wants from Bosnia +and Herzegovina, to give that section back to Bulgaria. That's the only +way we can have a real and lasting peace here in the Balkans--and Heaven +knows we need it, after three great wars in as many years!" + +All arrangements were made finally. After the great victory that had +driven the Austrians from her soil, Servia was like a man panting for +breath. The whole country was resting, gathering its strength after that +tremendous effort. But there was a good deal of activity, nevertheless. +The ruin the invaders had wrought was being repaired. Railroads had to +be rebuilt; ammunition and stores brought up. For the Austrians, badly +beaten though they had been, were likely to come again. + +So it had seemed best for Dick and his chum, with the escort of hardy +Servian cavalrymen General Dushan provided, to ride to the border. + +"It'll take us longer, of course," said Stepan, "but not so much. The +railroad is torn to pieces, and even where trains are running, the +military service has the right of way." + +"I'd just as soon ride, anyhow," said Dick. "It gives one a much better +chance to see the country." + +So it was arranged, and they started from Belgrade before the sun was up +on a morning of mist and heavy clouds. Later the sun swept the mist and +clouds away, and they rode through a devastated, horrible country. The +ravages of war were visible on all sides. + +"Ah, well!" said Stepan, with a sigh, as he looked out at the ruin of +what had been a smiling, happy land, "the ones who are coming after us +will live in peace! Those who have been driven from their homes and +have died have suffered for them. Servia will be able to live after this +war without feeling that Austria may move at any minute to crush her. +And that is worth some suffering!" + +"Everything's so quiet here I don't see why we need an escort at all, +Stepan," said Dick. "We haven't seen anyone who'd harm a fly--if it was +a Servian fly." + +"That's true so far," said Stepan, but a grim look came into his eyes. +"We shall come, though, to a country where we may meet more trouble. I +hope we shall not need the escort--but one can never tell. And I haven't +wanted to alarm you, Dick, but this Hallo has a reputation for not +giving things up easily. You have a great sum of what he may think is +his money, though he stole it from your family. He will not let you get +home with that if he finds a way to stop you." + +"But how can he do that while he is a prisoner in Belgrade?" laughed +Dick. + +"He is a prisoner--yes," said Stepan, somberly. "But there are many who +have worked for him who are not prisoners. Oh, I may be wrong, and I +shouldn't worry you without reason, Dick! But I don't want you to feel +too secure; I don't want you to think that all the danger is over. It +won't be until we are safely in Salonica." + +They had to bid farewell to their escort at last. The troopers went with +them to a lonely spot, marked only by a border monument and two small +houses--quarters of the Servian and Bulgarian frontier guards. Here +there was peace but not friendship. The memories of the bitter summer of +1913, when the allies who had been fighting the Turks, side by side, +turned against one another in one of the bloodiest and sharpest wars in +history, were all too fresh. The Bulgarians scowled at the sight of the +Servian uniforms; they subjected the two scouts to a close scrutiny when +they crossed the line, but their papers were in order and they were +allowed to proceed. + +Now, however, there seemed to be something sinister in the very air. +Scowling faces met them wherever they came upon peasants or soldiers, +and soldiers seemed almost unduly numerous. Then after a few hours of +riding, they saw no more soldiers. In their places, however, they +encountered bands of men in the national Bulgarian costume, rough, +hard-faced men with modern rifles, who seemed to be riding aimlessly. +Stepan ground his teeth at the sight of them. + +"They're not soldiers, oh, no!" he said. "You see they're not in +uniform. But do you notice how they sit their horses, and how they ride +in files? Undisciplined men never did that! Those bands are the ones +that cross over, raiding our borderlands. But what can we do? We have +enough without fighting Bulgaria, too, so we have to accept apologies +the Sofia government makes. If possible we want Bulgaria on our side. +But--! The treacherous dogs!" + +"Don't get so excited, Stepan," advised Dick. "I believe you hate them +more than you do the Austrians!" + +"I'll be glad when we cross over into Greece," grumbled Stephan. "The +Greeks are our allies and our friends. The only reason they have not +come to our aid is that they must watch Bulgaria. That helps us, of +course--Bulgaria dares not move while Greece is ready." + +It was late in the afternoon when they first noticed that they were no +longer traveling alone. Two Bulgarian merchants--so Stepan said, judging +from their appearance--passed them, riding wiry little horses; a little +later they overtook them, and after that the two Bulgarians stayed about +a hundred yards behind them, no matter how often they altered their +pace. + +"I don't like their looks," said Stepan. "I wish we didn't have to sleep +to-night on Bulgarian soil. Their inns--Dick, why should we sleep in an +inn? Let us buy provisions and spend the night out of doors! It will be +cold, but we have faced worse hardships than that together!" + +"I'm game!" laughed Dick. "Any inn we find on this road is sure to be +dirty, anyhow. It'll be a last adventure to think of, after all the +rest!" + +So it was agreed. In the first village they reached they stopped and +bought provisions. After dark they hobbled their horses and built a +lean-to shelter and a big camp-fire. The two Bulgarians passed them as +they began; soon one rode back. + +"I thought so!" said Stepan. "They're watching us, Dick." + +Dick looked at him curiously. There was a strange light in Stepan's +eyes. It was as if he could see things that are hidden from ordinary +sight. And before he could answer Stepan sprang to his feet. + +"Come!" he said. "Tear your shirt up into strips--I'm going to muffle +the feet of the horses." + +He went to work with a will, and Dick followed his example, smiling to +himself. He knew Stepan too well to argue with him in such a mood. But +that there was serious danger he could not believe for a moment. + +"Come!" said Stepan again, when they had finished. He took his horse and +led it into the field. They were in wooded country but the trees were +not thick, and they could pick a way through them. + +Dick looked back at the blazing fire regretfully. + +"Are you going on--now?" he asked. + +"For your sake," said Stepan, curtly. And Dick said no more. + +"A mile away there is another road. We have maps of all this region, of +course, and I studied them," said Stepan. "If we can reach a place I +have just thought of we may be safe." + +They came undisturbed to the parallel road. Then they mounted. + +"The horses are pretty tired," suggested Dick. + +"I'm sorry for them, but I can't help that," said Stepan. "Come +on--ride!" + +From the start he set a hot pace. Before long Dick felt his horse was +growing more and more tired and finally he protested. + +"Slow up, then, if you like!" said Stepan, fiercely. "Don't you know by +this time that I don't speak of danger unless it is real? Perhaps you +want to be caught by these people! But they know me--and I know what +they would do to me! I don't intend to have them catch me, I can tell +you!" + +"Then why did you come with me?" asked Dick, angrily. He had never seen +his friend in such a mood before. Stepan's tone made him so angry that +he was almost able to forget how much he owed him. + +Stepan didn't answer. But just then, as they still rode on, forcing +their pace, they came to a turn in the road. A lone figure, mounted on a +big horse, was standing guard. At sight of them he leaned forward, then +cried out sharply, "Halt!" + +For answer Stepan spurred his horse on; Dick's followed. A shot rang +out; then another, and another, but no bullets came near them. + +"He's signalling. Now will you believe I was right?" asked Stepan +bitterly. + +The thunder of hoofs sounded on the road behind them. They sped on, but +suddenly Dick's horse lurched and almost threw him over its head, Dick +pulled him up; the poor brute was limping. + +"He can't go on!" said Dick. "Stepan--" + +"Then you'll have to shift for yourself!" shouted Stepan, brutally. +"I've done all I can for you!" + +And, leaving Dick dumbfounded, he spurred on and was soon visible only +as a cloud of dust! Dick could scarcely believe his eyes and ears. That +Stepan, his trusted friend, who had shared every imaginable peril with +him, could desert him so now! But he had not long to think. The pursuers +whose horses they had heard were on him in a minute more. Without a +struggle, since the odds were overwhelming--ten or twelve men assailed +him--he let himself be dragged from his horse and bound. + +One man came to him and searched him. When he found the belt he gave a +cry of triumph. The next moment he was examining the drafts. + +"Another one was with you?" he said, in excellent English and with a +marked American accent. Dick started. This looked like Hallo's work, +certainly. "Where is he?" + +"He's gone--to save himself," said Dick, bitterly. + +"Ah, well--you are the one we want," said his captor, who was plainly +the leader of the band. "Now, my young friend, endorse these drafts, in +blank, at once!" + +"I will not!" said Dick, hotly. "And you can tell Hallo so, too!" + +"You will not?" said the other, smoothly. "Then I will tell you what +will happen. I give you an hour--because I have lived in New York, and +done well there. I like you Americans. If you have not signed then, I +shall sign for you." + +"That will be forgery--and I shall stop payment!" + +"So? Suppose, when I leave you here, I leave you under the earth? There +are many graves in the Balkans in these days--new graves! One more or +less will matter little. Do you think it will ever give up its +secret--the one that shall hold you?" + +Something in the man's cool tone made Dick shiver. It carried +conviction--it made him believe that this was no idle threat. And yet he +felt that he could not yield. Oh, if only Stepan had not left him! He +was glad, now that his anger had cooled, that his chum was not involved +in this new trouble. And yet--he would have felt better had Stepan been +beside him, to share this peril, as he had shared so many others. + +"It is eleven o'clock now," said the brigand. "If at midnight you have +not signed--!" + +"That's enough," said Dick. "I'll think it over." + +"Light a fire--it is chilly," directed the chief of Dick's captors. "I +am a kindly man. I would not want this hour to prove a chilly one for +you." + +Strange and weird indeed Dick found the scene. There were eleven men, he +found, when he could count them. All wore the Bulgarian national +costume; all looked like soldiers, but he thought all were not +Bulgarians. There were Turks and Albanians among them. And then, +suddenly, one man pitched forward, very quietly, and lay still. The +others started toward him; two or three of them fell. They fell as Dick +had seen men fall when they were struck by bullets, though he had heard +no sound of a shot, but only a faint noise, like the cough of an animal. + +Then wild panic spread among his captors. They blazed away in all +directions with their guns; for the moment they forgot him. And then +silent, fierce figures were suddenly among them, cutting, stabbing--and +Stepan's cry rang out. + +"Dick! Dick! Are you safe?" he shouted. + +It was all over in a moment. Stepan, the tears streaming down his +cheeks, released Dick. + +"I lamed your horse--I had to pretend to desert you so that they would +believe you and let me go!" he cried. "I knew our horses were too tired +for us to escape unless we could delay them. A few miles from here is a +little colony of Serbs. We, you see, have to do something to get +warning of the border raids. They have guns with silencers--I knew I +could get help. Now we must ride for the Greek line, but we can make it +now!" + +On through the night they rode, leaving the dead and wounded behind, +while those who had been captured unhurt were tied and gagged. And +before daylight they came to a Greek frontier post. Greek soldiers +greeted them; there was a captain who had served with Stepan's father +against Bulgaria. + +"The road to Salonica is safe and open now!" he told them. + +And so it proved. Dick had recovered his papers and a week later, his +adventures over, he sailed from Athens, and waved to Stepan, standing on +the deck, until he could no longer see him. He was homeward bound. + +Hallo had played his last card--and lost. + + +The End. + + + + +MARY A. BYRNE'S BOOKS + + +THE FAIRY CHASER + + "Telling of two boys who go into the vegetable and + flower-raising business instead of humdrum commercial pursuits. + The characters and situations are realistic."--_PHILADELPHIA + TELEGRAPH_ + + +LITTLE DAME TROT + + One of the most pleasing of juveniles, made pathetic by the + strength with which the author pictures the central figure, a + little girl made miserable by her mother's strict adherence to + a pet "method" of training. + + +THE LITTLE WOMAN IN THE SPOUT + + "This pleasing story may have been developed from real life, + from real children, so true a picture does it portray of + girlish life and sports."--_GRAND RAPIDS HERALD_ + + +ROY AND ROSYROCKS + + A glowing Christmas tale, fresh and natural in situations, that + will interest both boys and girls. + + It tells how two poor children anticipate the joys of the + holiday, and how heartily they enter into doing their part to + make the day merry for themselves and others. + + +PEGGY-ALONE + + The chronicles of the Happy-Go-Luckys, a crowd of girls who did + not depend upon riches for good times. This club was very + stretchible as to membership, so they elected Peggy-Alone from + pity of her loneliness. Freed from governess, nurse and + solicitous mother, she has the jolliest summer of her life. + + + + +THE BRADEN BOOKS + + +FAR PAST THE FRONTIER + +_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN + + The sub-title "Two Boy Pioneers" indicates the nature of this + story--that it has to do with the days when the Ohio Valley and + the Northwest country were sparsely settled. Such a topic is an + unfailing fund of interest to boys, especially when involving a + couple of stalwart young men who leave the East to make their + fortunes and to incur untold dangers. + + "Strong, vigorous, healthy, manly."--_Seattle Times._ + + +CONNECTICUT BOYS IN THE WESTERN RESERVE + +_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN + + The author once more sends his heroes toward the setting sun. + "In all the glowing enthusiasm of youth, the youngsters seek + their fortunes in the great, fertile wilderness of northern + Ohio, and eventually achieve fair success, though their + progress is hindered and sometimes halted by adventures + innumerable. It is a lively, wholesome tale, never dull, and + absorbing in interest for boys who love the fabled life of the + frontier."--_Chicago Tribune._ + + +THE TRAIL of THE SENECA + +_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN + + In which we follow the romantic careers of John Jerome and + Return Kingdom a little farther. + + These two self-reliant boys are living peaceably in their cabin + on the Cuyahoga when an Indian warrior is found dead in the + woods nearby. The Seneca accuses John of witchcraft. This means + death at the stake if he is captured. They decide that the + Seneca's charge is made to shield himself, and set out to prove + it. Mad Anthony, then on the Ohio, comes to their aid, but all + their efforts prove futile and the lone cabin is found in ashes + on their return. + + +CAPTIVES THREE + +_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN + + A tale of frontier life, and how three children--two boys and a + girl--attempt to reach the settlements in a canoe, but are + captured by the Indians. A common enough occurrence in the days + of our great-grandfathers has been woven into a thrilling + story. + + + + +FICTION FOR GIRLS + + +BETTY, The SCRIBE + +_By_ LILIAN TURNER + +_Drawings by_ KATHARINE HAYWARD GREENLAND + + Betty is a brilliant, talented, impulsive seventeen-year-old + girl, who is suddenly required to fill her mother's place at + the head of a household, with a literary, impractical father to + manage. + + Betty writes, too, and every time she mounts her Pegasus + disaster follows for home duties are neglected. Learning of one + of these lapses, her elder sister comes home. Betty storms and + refuses to share the honors until she remembers that this means + long hours free to devote to her beloved pen. She finally moves + to the city to begin her career in earnest, and then--well, + then comes the story. + + "Miss Turner is Miss Alcott's true successor. The same healthy, + spirited tone is visible which boys and girls recognized in + LITTLE MEN and LITTLE WOMEN."--_The Bookman_ + + +Elizabeth Hobart at Exeter Hall + +_By_ JEAN K. BAIRD + +_Illustrated by_ R. G. VOSBURGH + + A spirited Story of every-day boarding-school life that girls + like to read. Full of good times and girlish fun. + + Elizabeth enters the school and loses no time in becoming one + of the leading spirits. She entertains at a midnight spread, + which is recklessly conducted under the very nose of the + preceptress, who is "scalped" in order to be harmless, for + every one knows she would never venture out minus her front + hair; she champions an ostracized student; and leads in a + daring plan to put to rout the Seniors' program for class day. + + + + +BOOKS FOR BOYS + + +WINFIELD SERIES: + + LARRY BARLOW'S AMBITION + A YOUNG INVENTOR'S PLUCK + + These two books of adventure for boys, by the popular author of + the ROVER BOYS' SERIES, have attained an enviable reputation, + and are read by thousands and thousands of boys everywhere. + + +CASTLEMON SERIES: + + A STRUGGLE FOR A FORTUNE + WINGED ARROW'S MEDICINE + THE FIRST CAPTURE + + HARRY CASTLEMON ranks among the best of the writers of juvenile + fiction. His various books are in constant and large demand by + the boys who have learned to look for his name as author as a + guaranty of a good story. + + +BONEHILL SERIES: + + THE BOY LAND BOOMER + THREE YOUNG RANCHMEN + + Stories of western life that are full of adventure, which read + as if they happened day before yesterday. + + +RATHBORNE SERIES: + + DOWN THE AMAZON + ADRIFT ON A JUNK + YOUNG VOYAGERS OF THE NILE + YOUNG CASTAWAYS + + For boys who have had their fill of adventures on land, the + RATHBORNE books are ever welcome. They make one feel the salt + breeze, and hear the shouts of the sailor boys. + + +OTIS SERIES: + + TEDDY + TELEGRAPH TOM + MESSENGER No. 48 + DOWN THE SLOPE + + JAMES OTIS writes for wide-awake American boys, and his + audience read his tales with keen appreciation. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Under Fire For Servia, by Colonel James Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER FIRE FOR SERVIA *** + +***** This file should be named 33480-8.txt or 33480-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/8/33480/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Under Fire For Servia + +Author: Colonel James Fiske + +Illustrator: E. A. Furman + +Release Date: August 21, 2010 [EBook #33480] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER FIRE FOR SERVIA *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>Under Fire For Servia</h1> + +<h3>World's War Series, Volume 4</h3> + +<h2>By Colonel James Fiske</h2> + + +<h3>Illustrated by E. A. FURMAN</h3> + +<h3>THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY<br /> +CHICAGO AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK</h3> + +<h3>Copyright, 1915<br /> +By The Saalfield Publishing Co.</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/front.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<h3>In a moment they were alone in the heavens, racing toward Servia.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I. Dick Makes a Friend</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II. A Surprising Offer</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III. The Police Raid</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV. The Refuge</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V. Under Fire</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI. Across the Save</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII. The Wounded Captain</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII. A New Exploit</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX. Back to Semlin</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X. A Daring Decision</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI. Craft against Craft</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII. In the Nick of Time</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII. Face to Face</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV. The Explosion</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV. The Tables Turned</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI. Belgrade</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII. Between the Lines</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII. The Flight</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX. Hallo's Last Card</a><br /><br /> +<a href="#MARY_A_BYRNES_BOOKS">MARY A. BYRNE'S BOOKS</a><br /> +<a href="#THE_BRADEN_BOOKS">THE BRADEN BOOKS</a><br /> +<a href="#FICTION_FOR_GIRLS">FICTION FOR GIRLS</a><br /> +<a href="#BOOKS_FOR_BOYS">BOOKS FOR BOYS</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>Under Fire For Servia</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>DICK MAKES A FRIEND</h3> + + +<p>The American consul in the small but highly important city of Semlin, in +Hungary, was a busy man. He was probably one of the first men in the +world who knew how great was the danger of war between Austria-Hungary +and the little kingdom of Servia after the assassination of the heir to +the Austrian throne in the summer of 1914. Now, since the Austrian +ultimatum to Servia had aroused all Europe to the peril, refugees had +doubled the consul's work. All the Americans in Servia, and there had +been quite a number there that summer, seemed to be pouring through +Semlin. Indeed, all the Americans gathered there from all the Balkan +states, and from Turkey as well, since the great trunk railway, the +famous Orient line, crossed the Save river at Belgrade, and Semlin was +therefore a border town, where in many cases passports had to be +examined.</p> + +<p>So it was a hard matter for any stranger to see the consul in person +unless he could prove that his business was of the greatest importance. +His office force did all it could to give him the time he needed to +catch up with his duties, but on a sunny morning late in July there came +a visitor who refused to be put off. The consul heard him as he sat at +his desk, writing frantically.</p> + +<p>"I tell you I've got to see him!" That was what the consul heard, in a +voice that caused him to sit straight in his chair in astonishment. For +the voice was that of an American boy. Clear, penetrating, self-reliant, +it rang out like a call from home. The consul smiled and touched a bell +on his desk. And a minute later Dick Warner faced him, bearing out what +his voice had already told about him.</p> + +<p>"You want to see me?" said the consul. "Well, sir, what can I do for +you? Lost your folks? Want money to get home? Something like that, eh?" +a note of condescension in his voice.</p> + +<p>"No, sir. I just want to get permission to stay here in Semlin. The +police say that I'm English, and that I'll have to go away. But that's +because Mike Hallo has a pull."</p> + +<p>"Michael Hallo, the great merchant?" the consul frowned.</p> + +<p>"I don't know anything about his being a great merchant, sir, but I know +that he's a great crook! I've chased him here from New York, and now +that I've found him, I'm not going to let him frighten me into going +away before he makes good!"</p> + +<p>"Tell me about this, my boy," said the consul. "It sounds as if it +should be interesting."</p> + +<p>"That's what I want to do, sir. My name's Dick Warner, and my father's +dead. He and Mike Hallo were partners in New York, and they had a good +business. We always had lots of money until my father died. Then, right +away after that, Mike Hallo said the business began to go wrong and lost +money. And, after a while, it got so bad, he said, that it had to be +closed down, and there wasn't any more money coming in. He sold out, and +gave my mother a little money and said he was going home."</p> + +<p>"That might have happened," said the consul.</p> + +<p>"Sure—only it didn't, you see! My mother was soft, and she believed +everything Mike Hallo told her. And I wasn't old enough to know anything +about it. So he got away with it all right, and went home. But then we +began to find things out. We found that the business hadn't been losing +money at all, and that he hadn't really sold it. He had another crook +running it, and sending him all the profits, only the law couldn't do +anything about that, because there'd been a sort of fake sale, and they +said this other man had bought it legally. Do you see how that could be, +sir?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, very easily. I'd have to know more about the facts to understand +it properly, but I can understand that it's possible."</p> + +<p>"I thought you would, sir. Well, that was how it was. We knew he'd +cheated us. A lawyer that was a friend of my dad's said he thought Mike +Hallo would still be away ahead of the game, even if he paid my mother a +hundred thousand dollars, or perhaps a hundred and fifty thousand! And +we—why, my mother's got about five hundred a year left to look after +herself and my little sister, and we used to have ever so much when dad +was alive! So I just came over here to find Mike and try to make him +come through."</p> + +<p>"Good for you!" exclaimed the consul, carried away for the moment. But +then he frowned thoughtfully. "Look here, Dick, I believe your story, +right through. You're not the sort of boy that would get things twisted. +But if you couldn't make Hallo disgorge in New York, how can you hope to +do it here, where he has all sorts of influence—pull, as you call it? +And how did you get here, anyway? It costs money to travel from New York +to Semlin."</p> + +<p>"I had a good job, and saved up my money, sir. And then I worked my way +across the ocean as a steward. I'd studied languages a good deal, too, +and I got another job then, traveling with a rich family that wanted to +have someone to buy tickets and tell how much things cost in the shops, +so that they wouldn't get cheated. I came as far as Buda-Pesth with +them, and then they paid my way to Belgrade so that I could reserve +rooms for them there. You see, I can talk German and Magyar and Servian +and Russian, as well as French and English and Italian."</p> + +<p>"For heaven's sake!" said the consul, in amazement. "My boy, I'm not so +sure that you won't be able to give Hallo a bad time, after all! You +must have a gift of tongues. I don't know half the languages you do, and +I'm supposed to, too, in my work."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I've always been pretty good at languages, sir. And if you like to +know how to talk other languages, you can find people that speak them +all in New York. I know a little Turkish, too—not so very much, but +enough to get along. And I forgot about the Greek."</p> + +<p>The consul roared with laughter.</p> + +<p>"By George!" he said. "I'll back you to make it hot for Hallo!" But then +he grew more serious. "I don't know, though," he went on. "You're in +hard luck, Dick. In ordinary times I think you'd have a good chance. But +these aren't ordinary times. Come here!"</p> + +<p>He led the way to the window. From it they could see the broad Danube, +the great, sluggish river that was wending its slow way to the Black +Sea, and the narrower, cleaner Save, directly before them, which flowed +into the bigger stream here and lost its own identity. Across the Save +was a steel bridge, over which a train was now running. And at the other +end of the bridge was a city of white houses, with minarets and spires, +and on top of a high, flat topped hill stood an old, white fortress.</p> + +<p>"Look there, above the bridge," he said. "Do you see that monitor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. And there are two more out in the Danube."</p> + +<p>"Exactly! Well, at any moment those monitors may begin bombarding +Belgrade, the capital of Servia. I don't know at what moment war will +break out, but I know that it won't be delayed very long."</p> + +<p>"It won't be much of a war, will it, sir?" asked Dick. "Servia's too +small to have a chance with Austria-Hungary, I thought."</p> + +<p>"Maybe. But you must remember that Servia has just been through two +great wars. She smashed the Turks in her great battles with them, and +then she smashed the Bulgarians, who had beaten the Turks too, and were +supposed to have the most efficient army of its size in all Europe. You +see, the Servian army has been doing a lot of fighting in these last few +years. Every man in it is a veteran, and knows just what war is. A man +like that is worth more than one who has to get used to the idea of a +campaign, and has never been under fire. And—maybe Austria wouldn't +have to fight Servia alone."</p> + +<p>Dick stared at him.</p> + +<p>"Maybe Russia will help Servia. I think she will. Then all of Europe +will get into the war, sooner or later. If Austria has to fight Russia +on the other side, she won't be able to spare her whole army or anything +like it to fight Servia. And three hundred thousand Servians won't be +beaten by that many Austrians, I can tell you!"</p> + +<p>"Well, but I don't see what that's got to do with Hallo, after all, sir. +He's not a soldier, is he?"</p> + +<p>"No. He's past the age of military service. But this is what it will +mean, Dick. In time of war ordinary affairs can't be attended to the way +they are in times of peace. Even legal, admitted debts, that a man is +perfectly willing to pay, can't be collected. Special laws and rules are +made, just for war. It would make it much easier for Hallo to dodge you. +And he has a pull, as you say."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but so have you, haven't you, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I hope so," said the consul, with a smile. "Of a different sort from +his, too. But I'm afraid it isn't the sort that can help you very much +just now, Dick. Still, we'd better do what we can. You want to stay +here. Have you got a passport? It would simplify matters for you."</p> + +<p>"No, sir. They told me at home I didn't need it."</p> + +<p>"That's what they are always saying," said the consul, looking annoyed. +"They never seem to understand, at home, that Europe isn't just like +America. Here war is likely to break out at any moment, and then a +passport is a necessity. It's been that way for years. Still, I suppose +you've got some sort of proof that you're an American citizen? Your +birth certificate or something of the sort?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't. I haven't got anything except my Boy +Scout certificate."</p> + +<p>"Let me see that."</p> + +<p>Dick produced, rather proudly, the pocket card that showed him to be a +first-class scout, a member of a star patrol of a good New York troop, +and recorded his many honor badges.</p> + +<p>"This is fine," said the consul, returning it. "But it doesn't prove +that you're an American, my boy."</p> + +<p>Dick looked at him in dismay.</p> + +<p>"But you believe that I am, don't you, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly do! There isn't a boy of any other country in the world +that could have come here as you have done! But what I believe doesn't +count. If Hallo is trying to have you expelled, I'd have to be able to +prove definitely that you were an American, instead of just saying that +I believed it. In ordinary times—but, as I've told you already, these +aren't ordinary times. And I know a little something about this Hallo. +I've had trouble with him myself."</p> + +<p>"You have, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He exports things to America, and it's part of my duty to certify +to values and so on, for the customs. I've thought once or twice that he +was trying to cheat. I'm sure of this—that his pull is mighty strong. +But I tell you what I'll do. I'll cable for proofs of your identity. +Your scoutmaster should be able to get them. We'll hope Hallo won't +hurry too much. Now be off, but come back at six, and we'll have dinner +together."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>A SURPRISING OFFER</h3> + + +<p>Plucky and self-reliant as Dick Warner really was, he felt a good deal +better when he emerged from Consul Denniston's office than when he had +been trying to get by the barrier of clerks fifteen minutes earlier. +Then he had been a good many thousand miles from home, and not only +friendless in a strange and alien country, but possessed of a determined +and unscrupulous enemy as well. He had told only the truth about Hallo, +but he did not know everything, by any means, about the rich Hungarian +who had cheated his widowed mother.</p> + +<p>He had not been very long in Semlin, however, without making the +discovery that here, in the old Hungarian town that faced the capital of +Servia across the river Save, Mike Hallo was a far more important person +than he had ever been in New York. The firm of Warner and Hallo had been +a good, sound one in New York, and both partners had been comfortably +well off. But in Semlin means that had not seemed very great in New York +made a man the equivalent of a millionaire in America. Hallo lived in +one of the finest houses of the city, and seemed to be looked up to and +respected.</p> + +<p>"Gee!" Dick had said to himself. "They seem to think as much of him here +as people in New York do of J. P. Morgan or Andy Carnegie!"</p> + +<p>Dick was boarding in Semlin. The extravagance of a hotel, he felt, was +not for him. He had a considerable sum of money, which he always carried +with him, in gold, wrapped in a belt, which never left him, but he knew +this money might have to last him a long time, and if he could help it +he was certainly not going to have to seek charity to get home. He +wanted to paddle his own canoe; that was his favorite motto.</p> + +<p>Dick hadn't seen Mike Hallo, to speak to him, since he had come to +Semlin. He had seen him at a distance when Mike had been driving in an +open carriage, and Mike had seen him, too. Dick had caught the flush on +the sallow cheeks, and the look of hate that had sprung into his +father's partner's narrow, beady eyes. Oh, yes, Mike knew he was in +Semlin! And Dick did not underestimate the man's cleverness. It was just +as sure as it could be that Hallo understood very well why he had come +and what he hoped to do. Dick had tried to follow Mike's thoughts, too.</p> + +<p>"He's a crook—he cheated my mother," Dick had said to himself. "And any +man who would do a thing like that has got a yellow streak in him a mile +wide. So it's a cinch he's afraid of me. He may think I can't do +anything to hurt him, and all that, but he won't take any chances if he +can help it, because he's a coward. He'll know he's in the wrong, even +if he thinks he's got the law fixed, so that he couldn't be pinched, +even if he went back to New York. But down at bottom, just because he +himself knows that he's in the wrong, he'll be afraid. And he'll hate +me, too, because he's done me an injury."</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, that was good reasoning, and showed that Dick had +it in him to become a good judge of human nature. A man's worst enemy is +always the one to whom he has done the greatest injury. It is much +easier to forgive someone who has done one an injury than to retain a +liking for the person one has hurt or cheated.</p> + +<p>That morning, before he had gone to the consulate, the Semlin police had +visited Dick. First they had asked for his passport and when he couldn't +produce one, had told him that, as an English subject, he must leave the +town within twenty-four hours.</p> + +<p>"You go tell Mike Hallo I'm not afraid of him, even if he gets the whole +Hungarian army after me!" Dick had said.</p> + +<p>The policemen had only professed utter ignorance concerning Hallo, but +Dick had not been deceived. He had not lived in New York without coming +to the conclusion that a man with a great deal of money can command a +good many things not at the disposal of ordinary people, and he was +perfectly sure that it was Mike Hallo who was behind this sudden +activity of the police in Semlin.</p> + +<p>"He's a dirty sneak," he said to himself. "But I've got to get busy and +call on Uncle Sam to help, or I'm apt to be chased out of here before I +get a good crack at Mike. Even if I'm not afraid of him and the whole +Hungarian army, it's a cinch that it wouldn't take more than a couple of +Hungarian cops to put me on a train and see that I stayed there."</p> + +<p>So, if he had not been frightened, Dick had been a good deal worried +when he went to the consulate. His travels about Europe had shown him +that over here things were allowed that would have been impossible at +home, and that there is something more than a pretty line or two of +poetry about the verse that sings of the land of the free. There wasn't +much freedom, he had long since decided for himself, in countries like +Austria and Hungary. Those who had influence with officials, like the +police, or with the army, could do very much as they pleased, and those +who didn't had to toe the mark whenever anyone in uniform told them to +do so whether they liked it or no.</p> + +<p>That was why he was able to leave the consulate with a light heart and a +song on his lips. He had found a friend, and it seemed to him that a +friend was a pretty good thing to have found here on the banks of the +Danube, four thousand miles and more from the apartment on Washington +Heights where his mother and his little sister, for whose sakes he had +made his adventurous journey, were waiting for him. About Consul +Denniston, busy as he was, and rather stern though his aspect had been +in the beginning, there was something that made Dick feel that he would +go through a good deal for the sake of anyone he had decided to +befriend. So in the street Dick snapped his fingers at Semlin and the +whole Austrian empire.</p> + +<p>"That for Mike Hallo!" he said. "Well, I think I'll go and try to see +the old boy! Wonder if he'll see me? They can't hang me for trying!"</p> + +<p>He knew where Hallo was to be found. His office was in the warehouse +that he owned. His trade was largely one with Russia and Roumania. +Barges laden with products of all sorts from the interior came consigned +to him, and were transshipped here at Semlin to the river steamers and +other vessels that went down the Danube toward the sea. And so his +warehouse was down by the river, whence an excellent view of the old, +mysterious looking city of Belgrade could be had. Dick knew something of +history, and he remembered that for centuries the high tide of the +Turkish invasion had come as far as this and stopped. Christian and Turk +in turn had held Belgrade and Semlin, and great battles had been fought +many and many a time on the ground that he now trod.</p> + +<p>But he forgot about ancient history when finally he stood outside of +Hallo's warehouse. He went in boldly, not asking anyone for directions, +until he came to a boy of about his own age on guard outside his own +door. This boy took one look at him, and then, to his surprise, spoke to +him in English.</p> + +<p>"What can I do for you?" he asked, very politely.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to see Mr. Hallo," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Right in here," said the other boy. "He's not busy just now."</p> + +<p>"He will be, when he sees me," said Dick, and walked in.</p> + +<p>Hallo was sitting at a table, looking over some papers. At the sound of +Dick's entrance he looked up, and for just a moment Dick saw the same +look of mingled fear and hatred in his eyes that he had caught when he +had seen him driving. But then that look vanished, and Hallo, with an +obvious effort, greeted Dick with the bluff heartiness that Dick +remembered so well as his customary manner in the days before his +father's death.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, Dick Warner! My old friend's son! I am glad to see you, +Dick! What brings you here, so far from New York?"</p> + +<p>"Business, Mr. Hallo."</p> + +<p>"You are starting young, Dick! May I ask what sort of business? And can +I help you, or is this just a friendly visit to a man who held you on +his knee when you were a baby back in New York?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, cut that out, Mr. Hallo!" said Dick, disgusted. "You know mighty +well why I'm here. I want to know what you're going to do about the way +you cheated my mother. You told her the business in New York had failed, +and she believed you. Now are you going to do the right thing?"</p> + +<p>"I don't understand, Dick," said Hallo. Plainly he was trying to be very +patient, and his whole manner was that of a kindly, genial man assailed +by a bad little boy, but determined not to lose his temper. "Your +father's estate was settled in the regular way. No one regretted his +death more than I. The way things went afterward proved how important he +was to the business. I lost a great deal of money in the failure, you +know."</p> + +<p>"You didn't!" said Dick. "Oh, we've got the goods on you, Mike Hallo! +And I'll tell you something, too. Maybe there's nothing I can do to you +here. I don't know yet—not until I've hired a lawyer who knows all +about the sort of law you have here. But I know this much. You'll be +wanting to come back to America sometime—you'll have to, on account of +your business. And we've found out enough to fix it so that you'll be +arrested the minute you step off the steamer on to American soil!"</p> + +<p>This was a pure bluff, but it might be true, at that. What Dick did know +was that Hallo had stolen money, and he was sure that, whether the law +would make it possible to cause his arrest or not, it ought to make that +not only possible, but easy. Beyond question, too, the statement had its +effect. Hallo's small eyes were getting smaller and narrower, and though +the smile was still on his face, he kept it there with an obvious +effort.</p> + +<p>"You hurt me, Richard," he said. "I did all I could for your mother. I +tried in every possible way to cover up the mistakes your father made +before he died—"</p> + +<p>"You said just now that if he had lived things would have been all +right! You don't want to mix up your stories that way, Mike! It won't +sound well when they get you into court and try you!" retorted Dick, +his temper quickly rising.</p> + +<p>"I see that there is no use in talking to you," said Hallo, looking as +if he felt more sorry than angry. "I regret very much that your mother +is not so well off as she was once, but it is not my fault, and I am +afraid that I am too busy to talk any more to you about this matter +until you are in a better frame of mind. How long shall you be in +Semlin?"</p> + +<p>"You ought to know," said Dick. "How long can I hold out against your +pull? If that goes back on you, you've still got the answer. Because I'm +going to stay here until you either have me run out of town or come +through with a check for the money you stole—and a check that I can get +certified at the bank, too, before I take the train."</p> + +<p>Hallo tried to look bewildered, and as if he did not understand what +Dick meant, but the attempt was a poor one. His anger was rapidly +passing all bounds.</p> + +<p>"So long!" said Dick. "I'll see you again, Mike. I'll give you a tip, +too. You'd better not try any monkey business with me, because Uncle +Sam's right on the job. I'm not very important, you know, back in New +York, but I'm an American! And I guess they'd just as soon send a +gun-boat or two up that big river after me if there wasn't any other way +of fixing things."</p> + +<p>And on that word Dick turned and left the office. He had accomplished as +much and as little as he had expected. He had forced a show-down, so +that now matters between him and Hallo had come to a crisis. He had +never expected Hallo to yield, of course, until he was forced to do so. +In fact, he had done even better than he had hoped. He had expected to +have some difficulty in getting speech with the man at all.</p> + +<p>The boy who had let him into Hallo's office was waiting for him outside.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" he whispered. "I am a friend. Tell me where you live. Perhaps I +shall be able to help you—and you will need help!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>THE POLICE RAID</h3> + + +<p>The strange boy vanished before Dick could ask him what he meant, and he +went on, wondering. His whole manner had been friendly, but it was also +puzzling in the extreme. Instinctively Dick had told him where he was +staying in Semlin, and then the other had disappeared at once. Dick +could make nothing of it.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, it can't make any difference," he said to himself. "He didn't +want to know for Mike Hallo, because Mike must know all about where I'm +staying, and if he doesn't, he can find out—in a place where the police +get the names of everyone who takes a room for a night."</p> + +<p>So Dick resolved not to worry about the future, but to have a look +around the town. He didn't think much of Semlin. It might be old, but it +was not especially interesting. It seemed to him dirty, for one thing, +and he didn't like dirt. Belgrade, across the river Save, however, +fascinated him. There was something romantic about the great citadel. He +knew that it had withstood siege after siege in the olden times, and the +fact that it probably wouldn't be used as a fortress at all if war broke +out that day didn't detract a bit from the interest of its history.</p> + +<p>"Some fort, all right!" he said to himself. "I can just see those old +Johnnies trying to rush that hill, in days when men fought hand to hand, +instead of laying off a few miles and pounding away at a place with big +guns. If they're going to have another scrap here, I hope I'm around to +see some of it. I'd like to see a war."</p> + +<p>He was to be gratified in that modest wish!</p> + +<p>There was one noticeable thing. Semlin was a garrisoned town; a regiment +of the Austrian army was always there. But now a great many extra troops +were always more or less in evidence. Trains would come in, with +soldiers looking out from every window. The men would detrain, march +through the town, and disappear. After leaving Hallo's office, Dick saw +a full regiment arrive like that, march through the streets, and +disappear to the west. Now he stopped and began doing a sum in mental +arithmetic.</p> + +<p>"Gee!" he said, to himself. "I bet the consul's right! I bet the +Austrians do mean to start something! That makes about fifteen thousand +men I've seen brought in here just since I've been here. I wonder if the +Servians know about it? I should think it would be a pretty good thing +for them to have a few people here in Semlin just sort of keeping their +eyes open."</p> + +<p>Dick did not know to the full how serious the situation was. But then +very few people in Semlin did. Here news was being suppressed. At this +point, where the border brought masses of Servians and Hungarians into +such close contact, it was not considered wise to allow the newspapers +to print all they knew. It was understood that Austria had made certain +demands, but it did not seem to occur to anyone in Semlin that it was +possible for tiny Servia to defy the mighty Austrian empire. But as a +matter of fact, the final steps that led to the great war were being +taken, and war was already regarded as inevitable by those who, like +Consul Denniston, were in a position to know the truth.</p> + +<p>The consul had told him to come back for dinner at six o'clock, and so +Dick had a good deal of time to kill. He determined, therefore, to go +across to Belgrade and see if there was a message there yet from the +Abercrombies, the family with which he had traveled as far as +Buda-Pesth. He was to engage rooms for them when they wrote or +telegraphed to him that they were ready for him to do so, and he decided +that he might as well see if the message had come, though he was pretty +sure that there had not been time yet.</p> + +<p>To his surprise, he found some difficulty in passing the guards at the +centre of the bridge. Luck favored him, however. One of the soldiers was +a Hungarian who had been a waiter at a famous Hungarian restaurant in +New York, and had returned to serve his term with the army. When he +heard Dick say that he was an American, he offered to question him, and +began to ask Dick about New York.</p> + +<p>"He's all right. He knows all the places I know!" said the soldier, +after that.</p> + +<p>And so Dick was able to proceed. In Belgrade, inquiring at the bank the +Abercrombies had named, he found a message, but not the sort of message +he had been looking for.</p> + +<p>"We are going to London as fast as we can get there," ran the message. +"Should advise you to do the same. Situation looks very serious."</p> + +<p>There had been more in the original message, for the blank was plainly +marked "Censored." Dick was indignant at the idea that anyone should +interfere with a telegram sent by as distinguished an American as Judge +Abercrombie, but, after all, he decided there was no one here to blame. +The censoring had been done at Buda-Pesth in all probability. And the +essential fact was there. He was a good deal disappointed, for he had +rather hoped that Judge Abercrombie might be able to help him in his +dealings with Mike Hallo. However, there was no help for it.</p> + +<p>So, having nothing else to do now, he spent a part of the afternoon in +wandering about Belgrade, and making himself familiar with the strange +old town. The older part of the city he found to be much more romantic +when viewed from Semlin. At close quarters it was incredibly dirty, and +the houses were rabbit warrens, inhabited by a wretched mixture of Turks +and mixed breeds. He managed to learn there were not so many Servians; +for Servians are not fond of living in towns. They are farmers and +herders, and by choice they live in the open country, which is why they +are a hardy and long-lived race.</p> + +<p>But the new palace seemed to him a fine building, and he was lucky +enough to see old King Peter, with his white hair and his fine, sturdy +face, drive out of the grounds. A crowd had assembled, knowing that he +was going to drive out, and it cheered the old man to the echo. Dick +remembered how, for many years, King Peter had lived in Paris alone, in +poverty, longing always for the time when he might return to the land +his ancestors had helped to free from Turkish tyranny. And now this old +man was an idolized king, who had led his people in two victorious wars +and to-day was being urged by them to defy a country many times the size +of his own. Dick took off his own hat and cheered with the crowd when +the carriage passed him.</p> + +<p>"I'm not a Servian," he said, to himself, "but he's a real man, and it +won't hurt me to take off my hat to him, I guess."</p> + +<p>Here in Belgrade there was far more excitement over the prospect of war +than there had been in Semlin. Dick decided that this was because here +much more of the truth was known.</p> + +<p>He liked the looks of the newer part of Belgrade, beyond the palace. +Here there were pleasant white houses, in green gardens, and everything +was clean and well kept. The people, too, seemed to him more like real +folks, as he put it. There wasn't a servile respect for a uniform. One +reason for that, had he known it, was that when Servia went to war it +meant that every man, and every boy old enough to carry arms, was +engaged. It was a nation that fought, not just an army.</p> + +<p>So it was with a pleasanter impression of the Servian capital than he +had expected to acquire that Dick returned to Semlin. When he got back +the sun was already low over the hills in the west, and he had just +about time to hurry to his lodgings and change his clothes.</p> + +<p>There he found something that surprised and angered him. In his absence +someone had been through all his few belongings; few because he had of +necessity traveled with little baggage. He could see that everything had +been ransacked, and he guessed that the police had paid his room another +visit in his absence. It hadn't done them any good, for of course he +carried no papers that would have been of the slightest interest to +anyone else, and his money, the only valuable thing he had, was always +in the belt that he wore next to his skin, under all his clothes.</p> + +<p>But he was angry, none the less, and he carried his anger with him to +the consulate, where, arriving promptly, he had to wait a little while +for the consul to finish some business. When he told Mr. Denniston what +had happened the consul frowned.</p> + +<p>"I'm not surprised," he said. "I couldn't prove this, Dick, but I've +learned enough to be perfectly certain that Hallo is behind the police +interest in you. I don't believe that anyone really thinks you are +English, or has the slightest idea that you may be a spy."</p> + +<p>"A spy! What kind of a spy would I make? Is that their line?"</p> + +<p>"In a time like this almost anyone may be accused of being a spy, Dick. +You see, the argument is that it's just the one that's apparently least +likely to be guilty, who can be the most dangerous spy. But, as I say, +in your case it's just an excuse. I have sent a cable message to the +State Department, asking them to satisfy themselves through your +scoutmaster at home that you are an American citizen. When I hear from +that message, you see, you'll have an official standing, and I can do +something. What I am afraid of is that the answer will be delayed. But +come in to dinner. I shall have to leave you right afterward."</p> + +<p>At the dinner table Mr. Denniston explained the situation more in detail +to Dick.</p> + +<p>"Hallo's powerful enough to have his way. That's the size of it," he +said. "I've decided to have you come here, as my guest. They wouldn't +dare to take you from the consulate for that would mean trouble with the +United States. And if I don't read the whole situation mistakenly, they +are going to have enemies enough before long without embroiling +themselves with us, even for the sake of pleasing Mr. Michael Hallo!"</p> + +<p>"I hate to trouble you, sir," said Dick. "But it is most awfully good of +you to invite me, and, of course, I'd be safe here."</p> + +<p>"It's no trouble—I'll be glad to have you. As soon as we've finished +dinner, go and get your things, and then come right back here. They gave +you twenty-four hours, you said, didn't you? And that was this +morning?" returned Mr. Denniston.</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>"Then I think you have time enough. But there is no use in leaving +yourself in their power when the time is up. When they move here, they +move very quickly indeed."</p> + +<p>"All right, sir. I'll go along, and get back at once."</p> + +<p>Dick hurried through his dinner, and then went back to his lodgings. In +his room he began packing, but he had not finished his task, light as it +was, when he heard a heavy pounding on the street door, which was at the +bottom of the stairs, directly in line with his own, his room being on +the first floor. He was curious enough to open his door to listen, and +he saw the woman of the house open the street door.</p> + +<p>"In the name of the law," he heard a heavy voice say. "We have come to +take one Richard Warner, calling himself an American, who is accused of +being a spy, and is to be sent immediately to Buda-Pesth. Stand aside!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir—yes—right up the stairs, there," stammered the frightened +woman.</p> + +<p>Dick was aghast for a moment. Then, by a sheer instinct of +self-preservation, he flung the door shut, locked and bolted it. It was +stout and would hold for a moment. He rushed to the window. It was an +easy drop to the garden below. But of what use to drop? What chance was +there for him to make his way through the streets to the consulate, +where, could he but reach it, he might find asylum? It might be better +to yield. Though he was not a coward, he knew that the police might +shoot him.</p> + +<p>And then, just as heavy footsteps came up the stairs, a voice spoke in +his ear.</p> + +<p>"Will you trust me?" it said.</p> + +<p>He turned with a start, to see the boy of Hallo's office beside him!</p> + +<p>"Follow me—through the window. I can save you," said this boy. "It is I +they should seek—I <i>am</i> a spy!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>THE REFUGE</h3> + + +<p>There was no time to debate. Dick heard the policemen at the door and he +knew that it would not delay them for more than a minute, at best. The +mysterious boy was already half way out of the window. Dick rushed over, +and saw him land in a flower bed below. A moment more, and he was beside +him.</p> + +<p>"Follow me," said the stranger. "Can you run fast?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can," said Dick, speaking in Servian. He wanted to surprise this +boy who had surprised him so thoroughly, and he succeeded. But there was +no time for questions. He suited the action to the word now, and they +ran, the stranger in the lead. But even as they ran, Dick's mind was +active. He had answered in Servian because he had suddenly guessed part +of the mystery. The other's cry, "I am a spy!" had given him a clue. He +concluded that this boy must be a Servian.</p> + +<p>And his start of surprise when he had heard the words in that language, +which very few foreigners can speak, had convinced Dick that he had made +the right guess. He felt better after that. Somehow hitherto he had not +been able to divest himself of an uncomfortable suspicion that this +strange boy might be in some fashion acting against him and in the +interests of Mike Hallo. Yet his manner contradicted that idea; he was +frank and open in his appearance. And, finally, there was no need for +Dick to feel that he was making any serious mistake in following him +now.</p> + +<p>It was certain that the police <i>were</i> working for Hallo, whether they +knew it or not, and it was equally certain that had he not dropped from +the window he would now be in their hands, and perhaps on his way to +Buda-Pesth. As it was, he was free for the moment at least.</p> + +<p>Hot as was their pace, Dick's training as a scout enabled him to keep +track of their direction, roughly at least, and he knew that they were +going toward the river. Had he been a boy of the type too often seen +nowadays, born and brought up in a city, he would have been hopelessly +lost within a minute of the start, for his guide twisted and turned in a +bewildering fashion, plainly with the idea of making pursuit more +difficult for the police. At last the pace slackened, and the Servian +turned into a narrow alley. Dick followed, and they dropped into a +cellar. This was a damp, dark, filthy place, but they were not to stay +there. The Servian pressed a certain spot on what seemed to be a +perfectly blank wall, and it gave. Dick saw that there was a secret +panel, which swung around now and gave them entrance to a second cellar +of a very different aspect, as he saw when his companion struck a match.</p> + +<p>This room, for a room it really was, was lined with match board, and +there was some sort of ventilation, for the air was fresh and pure, and, +moreover, in constant motion. The Servian lighted a lamp that hung from +a bracket on the wall, and then, as the light spread, Dick could see +what manner of refuge it was that they had reached.</p> + +<p>Evidently it was intended for frequent use. There were two or three +chairs, a table, and a big, comfortable looking couch, covered with rugs +and cushions. Books were on the table, and on a shelf that ran around +two sides of the room, and on the table, too, were pens, ink and paper +in abundance.</p> + +<p>"Now we are safe!" said the Servian. "This place has been used for two +or three years, and the police seem never to have suspected its +existence. I suppose you are curious?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly am!" said Dick. "Who are you? And what are you doing here? +And—but go ahead! You'll tell me what you like, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"My name is Stepan Dushan," said the other, with a laugh. "That is a +good Servian name, as I suppose you know. But you must have guessed +before that I am Servian, or you would not have spoken to me in my own +language. How is it that you, an American, over here for the first time, +speak our language so well?"</p> + +<p>"How is it that you know so much about me?" countered Dick, really +amazed. "I never saw you until this morning, in Hallo's place."</p> + +<p>"Nor I you," said Stepan. "But it was my business to know all about +everything that Hallo was doing. He is a very important man just now, +and especially for us Servians. He has a great deal to do with the +government here. He will supply many of the things the Austrian soldiers +will need in the war, and there was a chance that by working for him I +might be able to gain a great deal of valuable information. There are so +few of us Servians, you see, and especially after the wars, that boys +have to do the work of men."</p> + +<p>"I see," said Dick, vaguely, though he was a long way from a clear +understanding yet.</p> + +<p>"That was why I listened to what you had to say to Hallo," the Servian +went on. "Anything might be important, you see. But I soon understood +that this was a different matter. And then I remembered things I had +heard, or had just happened to stumble on, since I had been in his +office, and then I knew all about you, and how he had cheated your +family—the scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>"You do know a lot!" said Dick. He was beginning to be tremendously +impressed by this Servian lad, no older than himself, who nevertheless +was serving his country in such a dangerous and delicate capacity.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just jumped at the chance of putting a spoke in Hallo's wheel," +said Dushan. "It hasn't been the easiest thing in the world working for +him, obeying his orders, I can tell you. He treats those who work for +him like a dog. You would think he was a noble, instead of a shrewd +peasant who has made money."</p> + +<p>He laughed.</p> + +<p>"I ought not to talk like that," he said. "In Servia we are all +democrats, and a peasant is as good as the next man. But still it was +hard with this Magyar swine! My father—you know my father is in our +army, a general of brigade. I shall be in the army, too, when I am old +enough, if there is to be more war after this. And in the meantime I do +what I can. I am a Boy Scout."</p> + +<p>"A scout? So am I!" exclaimed Dick.</p> + +<p>They had found a common tie when Stepan Dushan said that, and for a +little time they forgot everything in a discussion of scouting and of +the differences between the Servian and American systems. They soon +agreed that, though there had to be many differences, the fundamental +idea was the same, and that the original impulse of the Boy Scout +movement had spread because there must be, after all, a great deal in +common between all boys everywhere.</p> + +<p>"There are scouts here in Hungary. In Buda-Pesth there are several +troops, you know," said the Servian.</p> + +<p>"I saw them there," Dick nodded. "And in Germany, too, but the German +scouts are rather different. I say, this is splendid, Steve! You don't +mind my making it Steve, do you, instead of Stepan? That sounds so +strange to me."</p> + +<p>"I don't mind a bit," said the Servian. "Well, I got you away from the +police, but I'm puzzled as to what to do for you next. We can't stay +here very long, because some of the men who are doing the really +dangerous work may want to use this place any minute, and I don't think +they'd like it if we stayed. I suppose I could manage to get you out of +Semlin, but you'd have to go to Buda-Pesth, and you want to stay within +reach of Hallo, don't you?"</p> + +<p>Dick's jaws snapped together.</p> + +<p>"I certainly do," he said, doggedly. "I hate to give a thing up when +I've once started to try to do it, don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Ye-es. I'm trying to think, Dick. There is a way, of course. I can +smuggle you over to Belgrade when it gets dark. But if you once get into +Servia just now, there's no knowing when you'll get out again. When the +fighting starts—and it's going to start soon, perhaps to-night, perhaps +to-morrow—things are going to move quickly. We haven't wanted war, we +Servians. We've had enough to last us a lifetime since we attacked +Turkey. But we're ready for it."</p> + +<p>Dick said nothing. It seemed plain that his new found friend was still +pondering an idea.</p> + +<p>"You've no idea how I hate that man Hallo!" he burst out in a minute. +"Sometime, if we are to be together, I'll tell you why. The rest of the +reasons, that is. But I'd give anything to help you beat him, Dick, and +I do think there's a way. Only it will be risky. You'd have to come with +me to Belgrade. And you'd have to stay with me and probably help Servia, +and I don't suppose an American, who's got nothing to do with our +troubles, would want to do that?"</p> + +<p>"I'd do pretty nearly anything rather than go home beaten," said Dick, +grimly. "And there's another thing, too, Steve. Do you think there's a +chance that this may mean a European war, with Germany and France and +Russia mixed up in it? That's what Mr. Denniston, the American consul +here, seems to think."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm afraid it will mean just that," said Dushan, gravely. "Russia +will help us if Austria attacks us. We know that already. Then Germany +must help Austria and France must help Russia, and England must help +them both. And there will be the great war—the war Austria threatened +us with when she took away Albania, that thousands of our Servians had +died to win for the fatherland! We gave way then, just as we gave way +when she enslaved millions of Serbs in Bosnia, so that there might be +peace in Europe. But this time Austria has gone too far, when she tries +to take away the independence our fathers bought from the Turks with +their blood! Servia cannot give way again. And Russia will not let her +be wiped out by Austria."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll stay here," said Dick, cheerfully. "Because there isn't a +chance for me to get home. I haven't got money enough. I got here by +working my way, and in time of war there'd be no chance for me to do +that."</p> + +<p>"There is something in that," said Stepan. But he seemed doubtful still. +"I don't want you to come in without knowing what there is to be +risked," he went on. "It is going to be dangerous, hard work. But I +really think that at the end there will be a chance for you to get what +you came for. I think that I can show you a way to beat Hallo and force +him to make restitution. Don't ask me why I think so, because I'm not +ready to tell you yet. And it might spoil everything if I told you too +soon."</p> + +<p>"You've done so much for me now that there's no reason why you should do +more," said Dick. "And as for helping Servia, why shouldn't I? When my +own country was little and poor, and fighting for its life against +England, we got help from all sorts of people who believed in freedom +and hated tyranny. So I don't see any reason why an American scout +shouldn't do anything that's in his power for Servia."</p> + +<p>They struck hands then.</p> + +<p>"We must wait until dark," said Stepan. "Until it is really dark, full +night. Then it will be very easy to get over the river, unless things +have changed greatly since last night. I am glad you are going to stay, +Dick. We are in the right, and we are going to win. There's no other +way."</p> + +<p>"I think so, too," said Dick. "Steve, there's just one thing. I know +that Austria has treated Servia badly, and that she should not have +annexed lands in which there were so many Serbs. But that murder in +Serajevo was an awful thing—"</p> + +<p>"It was frightful!" declared Stepan, passionately. "Every true Servian +will tell you the same thing! But it is a wicked Austrian lie to say +that Servia had anything to do with it! It was Austrian subjects who +were, perhaps, Serbs in blood, who planned it. We Servians did all we +could. Our government learned that trouble was brewing, and our minister +in Vienna begged the Archduke Franz Ferdinand to stay away or at least +to take especial precautions. The Serbs in Bosnia hated him because they +thought he was the man who planned the annexation. But to say that the +Servian government knew what was planned is to say what the Austrian +government knows to be false.</p> + +<p>"No, that is only an excuse. Austria is afraid of us, of our patriotism. +She has determined to crush us before we are too strong. She is +trembling because of her memory of how we crushed the Turks."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>UNDER FIRE</h3> + + +<p>It was after midnight when Steve finally decided that it was safe to +venture from their retreat. And then they did not emerge by the way in +which they had entered it.</p> + +<p>"This place has saved the life of many a Servian patriot in these last +few years," said Steve. "I think the Austrians have come near to finding +it once or twice. They have pursued some of our people to the very +entrance. But what has always puzzled them is that we never go out by +the way in which we come in. And one entrance we have never used except +for flight, and then only in a grave emergency. No Austrian pursuer has +ever seen that, or come near it. It is the one by which we shall escape +now. Keep still. That is all that is necessary. Keep still and follow +me."</p> + +<p>Dick had guessed already that there were other entrances. He was not +prepared, however, for the elaborate system of rooms and passages that +were revealed as he followed Steve, who had now possessed himself of an +electric flashlight, and had given Dick one also.</p> + +<p>"We could almost have stood a siege down here," explained Steve. +"Here—we seem to be in a dead alley, don't we?"</p> + +<p>They had passed from the room in which they had waited to another, where +Dick had seen a plentiful supply of provisions and of drinking water in +great bottles. From this they had gone into a narrow passage, dark and +damp. Now Steve flashed his light on a blank wall. But a touch at the +right place brought a handle into view. This, when it was pulled, showed +that there was really a door, cunningly made so that it seemed to be a +part of the wall, with no cracks to betray it. And behind this was +another door of solid steel.</p> + +<p>"It would not be easy to get through that door, you see, even if they +penetrated the secret of the first one," said Steve. "That door is made +of armor plate, of tempered steel. It is the same sort of steel that is +used for the protection of a great battleship. Even a shell from a +cannon would not go through it very easily, and bullets would only be +hurled back if they struck it."</p> + +<p>He touched a spring and the door revolved on its own axis, staying open +just long enough for them to pass through, and then closing.</p> + +<p>"The action is automatic," said Steve. "That would make it safe even if +one were pursued, for the pursuer would be caught as the door closed; he +would not be so close as to be able to get through."</p> + +<p>"You people didn't overlook anything, it seems to me," said Dick. "You +must have been getting ready for war for a long time."</p> + +<p>"For years," said Steve, quietly. "Ever since King Peter came to the +throne and refused any longer to betray the country to Austria, as his +predecessor did always. We stand in Austria's way. Until we became +powerful by beating Turkey and Bulgaria, which attacked us as the +result of an Austrian trick, it mattered less. But ever since the end +of the second war last year we have known that Austria was only looking +for an excuse to attack us. And so we have tried to be ready. It was our +only chance."</p> + +<p>"But you say you won't have to fight Austria alone. The Russians will +come to Servia's aid, won't they?"</p> + +<p>"In a way, yes. But they will not be able to send troops to fight with +our armies. They may attack Austria, and so keep some of her soldiers +busy elsewhere. But that is all. We do not touch Austria anywhere. She +might send troops through Roumania, and Roumania, it is true, is +friendly toward us. But that would bring her into the war, and she will +not be ready for that for a time. At least Turkey would bar her from +sending troops by sea to Antivari, for they would have to pass through +the Dardanelles, and that is impossible since Turkey is the friend of +Germany.</p> + +<p>"And there is another point. Austria has been making ready. She can +strike quickly. Russia is slow. It will be two months before she makes +herself felt, even if she declares war at once. For two months Austria +can devote herself almost entirely to us. And the odds in her favor are +so great that anything might happen in that time, if we had not prepared +for her. As it is, there is almost nothing of Austria's plans and +preparations that we do not know."</p> + +<p>While Steve talked they were walking through what seemed almost like a +tunnel. Now he flashed his light, looked about, and dropped his voice.</p> + +<p>"Now we must begin to be careful," he said. "We are getting near the +light. This is like a rabbit's warren, but soon we shall be in the open. +Sure as we are that the Austrians know nothing of this place, we never +take chances."</p> + +<p>"We must be a long way from the cellar we first went into," said Dick. +"Even if we've circled around, and here where there are no stars, I +can't tell about that. We've walked a long distance, I should say."</p> + +<p>"You're right," said Steve, with a low and discreet chuckle. "Oh, this +is a fine tunnel! Do you know what we did a few minutes ago? We walked +right under a police station!"</p> + +<p>The tunnel seemed to dip now, and then to rise again. And in a few +moments cold air was blowing on their faces; cold, that is, by +comparison with the heat of the subterranean workings in which they had +been buried. Then they came out, stooping, and passing through a well +designed covering of shrubs and bushes, on the sandy beach of the river. +Dick gasped a little at that, and at seeing that they had evidently got +out of the town altogether. Before him now lay the lights of Belgrade, +but he noticed one thing at once. The lights had shrunk; there were +fewer than there had been the night before.</p> + +<p>Steve had gone ahead now, scouting to see if the coast were clear, but +he returned in a moment, jubilant.</p> + +<p>"All safe!" he said. "I knew it would be, of course, but there is no +need to take chances. Now we're all right so far. But we've got quite a +walk before us yet. We'll still be very cautious."</p> + +<p>"Which way?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"West, along the bank of the Save here. Look, do you see that monitor +there? If her searchlight swings this way, drop down. She might not pay +any attention, but we don't want to be noticed at all, and it's better +to be on the safe side."</p> + +<p>"Why are there so few lights in Belgrade?" asked Dick. "I know it's +late, but other nights, when I've looked over, it was much brighter."</p> + +<p>"I'm not sure," said Steve, looking anxious. "You see, it's hours since +I've had any news. The war may have come already, Dick. I hope not, +because I should feel that we were more sure of getting across before +the declaration. Still we have a good chance, even if it has begun."</p> + +<p>Three times, as they walked along the river bank, Steve made a long +detour inland.</p> + +<p>"The Austrians have patrols along the river," he said. "But they don't +take that sort of work very seriously. They are trusting the monitors +and their searchlights. You see, their lights are swinging pretty +steadily, and they cover the whole river and the Servian shore."</p> + +<p>"And don't they think that there's likely to be danger on this side?"</p> + +<p>"They're right, too, of course. Spies, yes. But we couldn't threaten +them very seriously in any way that would make it necessary for them to +be very careful here."</p> + +<p>"I wish we knew what was going on, don't you? Doesn't it seem funny to +be right in the middle of something that's going to make history and to +think that people thousands of miles away really know more about it than +we do?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. But soon we'll know all there is to be known. When we're once over +the river, then we can ask questions and get true answers, which is more +than people in Semlin have been doing lately. Yes, I'm just as anxious +for some news as you are. I rather wish now that I'd gone out while we +were waiting for it to be late enough to start. But I suppose it was +better that I didn't. You'd have been helpless there if anything had +happened to keep me from coming back," remarked Stepan.</p> + +<p>"If you'd been caught, you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Ye—es, I suppose that's what I mean. Although really I don't think +there was ever any great danger of that. When I got a job from Hallo, it +was sure that no one suspected me, because he's so busy with government +contracts that he had to be careful. I'm supposed to be a Hungarian, +from Buda-Pesth. And it isn't as if I'd been trying to find out things +in a general way. All I had to do was to pick up the information that it +was so easy to get in Hallo's place. There were all sorts of things to +be learned there, and a lot was made easy for me because Hallo and +others didn't think, I suppose, that I would know what certain papers +and estimates meant."</p> + +<p>"How did you know enough to be able to do all that sort of thing, +Steve?"</p> + +<p>"Well, there were a lot of things I didn't understand, myself. But I +didn't have to. I just copied down everything I saw that seemed to have +anything to do with military matters in any way, and sent everything I +got to the general staff at home. They knew the meaning of everything, +you see. It wasn't any one thing, perhaps; it was what I and a lot of +others who were at work over here were able to report that counted. They +could put one thing with another, and, altogether, it was worth +something. I don't know how much. But I do know, for instance, that +Hallo has sent supplies of various sorts to particular places. There's a +regular arsenal on the Austrian side, near Schabatz, and there are big +depots of supplies at a lot of places along the Drina."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I understand better now. Hallo is supplying food and things that +the soldiers will need?"</p> + +<p>"Food, and shoes, mostly. He's the biggest contractor for those, but he +is handling about everything. Medical supplies, uniforms, horseshoes, +saddles, and a tremendous lot of petrol—gasoline. And he's making a big +profit, too. He's one of several big army contractors who have been +eager for this war, and have had a lot to do with bringing it on, +because they hoped to grow richer out of their contracts. War meant big +profits."</p> + +<p>"Men like that ought to have to do some of the fighting themselves, I +think! But they never do. They stay behind, and let others do the work. +I've heard about that sort of thing at home in America. And some of them +didn't even behave honestly. They sold bad beef for the soldiers, and +rotten leather, and shoddy cloth for uniforms."</p> + +<p>Steve chuckled.</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you something about Hallo," he said. "But remember not to +tell anyone else, even if you get a chance, until the time comes. He's +doing something like that, too. He thinks he's been very clever, and +that there's no chance for anyone to find him out. But I've got the +proof, and perhaps there'll be a chance for you to use what I know to +make him do what's right for your mother, Dick. As it is, you see, I +wouldn't give him away, because it's good for us to have the Austrians +badly equipped. Hello, we're getting near our ferry! Do you see that +blasted tree there—the one that was struck by lightning?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Dick, peering through the darkness.</p> + +<p>"Well, just below that there ought to be a boat and a man with it. We'll +soon know if we can row or if we'll have to swim for it. It's a long +swim, and I'm not anxious to go that way."</p> + +<p>But the boat was there, and beside it a Servian who greeted Steve +happily, and looked at Dick appraisingly.</p> + +<p>"He is with me," said Steve. "Jump in, Dick! Hurry, Mischa!"</p> + +<p>In a moment they were out in the stream. And then things began to +happen. There was a sputtering of fire from the bank they had left, and +Mischa, the ferryman, staggered and collapsed. A bullet had reached him! +The oars fell into the water, and they were adrift.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>ACROSS THE SAVE</h3> + + +<p>The fact that they lost their oars was what saved them. For now, its +attention evidently attracted by the sudden outburst of firing, the +nearest monitor sent its searchlight flashing down upon them, and the +little boat, with its helpless burden, was plainly visible from the +shore. With a quick and ready wit, the two scouts leaped to their feet, +at the risk of upsetting the boat, and waved their hands, in token of +their helplessness. They were seen at once, and there was a sharp cry +from the shore, and an order to cease firing.</p> + +<p>"We're in luck," said Steve, quietly, as he sat down again in the boat. +"That's an Austrian officer. If he had been Hungarian, he wouldn't have +stopped firing just because he saw we were helpless. But he must have +come lately from Vienna. He hasn't had time to get the border hatred of +us into his system yet."</p> + +<p>Dick already knew that there was particularly bad and bitter blood +between Servians and Hungarians, but he made no comment. By this time he +was heart and soul with Servia in the war that must have begun, but this +was partly because of his swiftly formed friendship for Steve Dushan, +and partly because Servia seemed to be the under dog. Yet he knew that +there were probably two sides to the question, and even the way Mike +Hallo had behaved had not filled him with a prejudice against the whole +Hungarian nation.</p> + +<p>Now that the immediate danger was over, there was time for them to look +to the wounded ferryman. Dick thought he was dead. He had never seen a +man shot before, but when he turned the man's body over, Steve laughed, +not callously, but happily.</p> + +<p>"Good for old Mischa!" he said. "I thought a man who fought at Kumanovo +and helped to storm Adrianople after the Bulgarians yelled for help +wouldn't go out so easily! See? It's only a scratch! The bullet grazed +his head. Dip your handkerchief in the water, and we'll have him all +right in no time."</p> + +<p>The cold water, as a matter of fact, did revive Mischa almost at once, +and he sat up, rueful at the loss of his oars. When he was told that a +bullet had grazed his scalp and stunned him, he actually grinned.</p> + +<p>"So that is what it feels like to be shot!" he said. "Good! Now I shan't +be afraid the next time there is going to be a battle, as I was at +Kumanovo. What next?"</p> + +<p>"I think everyone is wondering about that," said Dick, with a grin. +"They don't seem to want to come out after us, and we certainly can't +row ashore without oars, even if we wanted to. And I suppose if she's +cleared for action, that monitor isn't carrying so many boats that +she'll want to send one for us."</p> + +<p>"I wish her searchlight would break down!" said Steve, venomously. "Then +our fellows on the other side might help us. Mischa, I've got to get +over if we can do it. It's very important for me to report what I +discovered during the day. Has war been declared yet?"</p> + +<p>"It has not been formally declared," said Mischa. "But the King and all +the government have gone all the way back to Nish, and most of the +troops have marched away to the west, toward Schabatz and Losnitza. +There is only a small garrison left in Belgrade."</p> + +<p>"To Nish, eh?" said Steve, frowning a little. "That was not the plan of +which I heard. The withdrawal was to be only to Kragujevac. They must +mean to draw the Austrians on. But I am sorry. I hoped for an invasion."</p> + +<p>Suddenly to the east there was a dull roar. The three in the boat stared +at one another, and at the same moment there came a wild outburst of +cheering from the soldiers on the Austrian bank of the river.</p> + +<p>"What is that?" asked Dick. As he spoke the sound was repeated.</p> + +<p>"Cannon," said Mischa.</p> + +<p>"Yes, cannon!" repeated Steve, his face lighted up. "The first gun of +the war! Who knows how many echoes that shot will have? They said that +in your country a shot was fired once that was heard around the world. I +believe that this is just such a shot, Dick!"</p> + +<p>"Where is the firing?"</p> + +<p>"It must be from one of the Austrian batteries near Semlin. They are +bombarding the city of Belgrade, I suppose."</p> + +<p>And then there was a deafening roar, a sound far greater than the firing +of even the heaviest guns of modern warfare would make, and to the east, +toward the Danube, there was a great flash of fire. Instantly the +searchlight swung away from them and pointed in the opposite direction, +and as the beams of light were concentrated on the spot where the flash +had been, the three observers in the boat saw a strange and wonderful +sight. The lights played full on the great steel railway bridge across +the Save, and in their white glare they could see the beams collapsing, +the piers melting away, while the whole central span of the bridge +collapsed in utter ruin, leaving a gap where the river now flowed +unbridged.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the war has come!" said Steve impressively. "That was to be our +first act—the destruction of the bridge. They will not send their +troops into Servia so easily as that!"</p> + +<p>"P—ss—t!"</p> + +<p>A sharp hiss came to their ears, seemingly from the water. And not only +seemingly. Looking down, they saw the upturned face of a swimmer. Mischa +hailed him joyfully.</p> + +<p>"Peter!" he said.</p> + +<p>"Take this rope. We saw what had happened," said the swimmer, "and so I +swam out, and waited until their accursed searchlight was not playing on +you. We will draw you ashore. If they fire, lie low in the boat, and +they will never hit you. But you are safe now unless the searchlight +comes back again. They can never see you in this darkness."</p> + +<p>"Good man, Peter!" said Steve, his voice hushed. "Swim back, now. We +have the rope. It is better for you not to come into the boat now."</p> + +<p>Peter did not answer, but turned at once and began cutting the water +with long, powerful strokes. Nevertheless, though he made good progress, +he disturbed the water very little, and he had not gone more than a few +yards before it was almost impossible for even those in the boat to see +him. Only a faint rippling of the water behind him marked his trail.</p> + +<p>"That was good work," said Dick, admiringly. "We'll get ashore safely +yet, Steve! And a minute ago it certainly didn't seem possible."</p> + +<p>There was a tug at the rope a moment later. The searchlights were still +turned downstream, and now there was a brisk cannonading from the Semlin +batteries. There had been no more explosions. It was plain, as, indeed, +they had already been able to see, that the Servian sappers who had +mined the railway bridge had done their work well.</p> + +<p>"Down in the boat now!" said Dushan. "They are drawing on the rope, and +they'll begin pulling us along in a moment. I'm going to try to keep +her as she is, but it may be hard if they pull too fast. If they will +keep their searchlight away for just five minutes, we shall be all +right."</p> + +<p>"You'd better make that rope fast to something in the boat instead of +just holding on to it," said Dick. "If you don't, you might lose your +hold. Remember how Mischa lost his oars."</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea, Dick. I didn't think of it. Here, it's looped +around one of the thwarts now. That ought to hold it all right, if they +do hit me."</p> + +<p>Then they all dropped, and in a moment the boat was being drawn along +swiftly through the water. It proved impossible to keep her bow on to +the Servian shore, but there seemed no reason to fear anything from the +Austrians behind them. Yet suddenly a bullet whistled over their heads, +following the crack of a rifle.</p> + +<p>"Never mind that!" said Dick. "They just want us to know that they're +still thinking about us, that's all!"</p> + +<p>But the shot had another motive, as they soon guessed. It had been fired +in an interval of silence, when there was no firing from the batteries +at Semlin—to which, incidentally, the Servians had as yet made no reply +from Belgrade—and it was soon apparent that it had been fired to +attract the attention of the monitor. In a moment the searchlight came +winking back, and instinctively, as the great beam of light swept over +them, all crouched lower still in the bottom of the boat. There were +quick wits on the Servian side, for the dragging of the rope stopped at +once, and their motion with it.</p> + +<p>For a moment nothing happened.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps they won't notice that we've moved," said Steve, hopefully.</p> + +<p>But that was a vain hope. More faintly now, they could hear shouting +from the Austrian bank, and then Dick understood as a volley rang out +and a hail of bullets swept over them and pattered into the water near +by.</p> + +<p>"They saw that we had disappeared. That's enough to make them +suspicious!" he cried. "Shake that rope! Maybe they'll understand that +we want them to pull again."</p> + +<p>But that was unnecessary. The pull on the rope had been resumed, and +they were moving fast again.</p> + +<p>Once more the Austrian rifles spoke, and this time half a dozen bullets +pattered against the side of the boat. Some came through, but she was +stoutly built, and these had lost most of their force. But the +searchlight followed them, and now there was a loud roar near by. This +was followed in a moment by a dull explosion that seemed to be within a +few feet of them. The boat rocked violently and a shower of spray +descended, wetting them all.</p> + +<p>"Stay down!" cried Steve. "That's a shell from the monitor!"</p> + +<p>"Gee! They're anxious enough to get us, aren't they?" exclaimed Dick. +"That was a close call, Steve! But I'll bet it was just a lucky shot! +We're too small a target, and we're moving pretty fast! I don't believe +they will really hit us."</p> + +<p>"Too close to be comfortable," agreed Steve. "It feels funny, doesn't +it, being under fire? I never was before."</p> + +<p>"And I don't care if I never am again," rejoined Dick. "I'm frightened, +and I don't care who knows it!"</p> + +<p>"So am I!" admitted Steve, a little tremulously. "And I hoped I wouldn't +be! I wanted to be a soldier, but a coward can't be a soldier."</p> + +<p>Before Dick, who didn't think that it was cowardly to be afraid, could +answer, another shell plumped into the water beyond them, and again +showered them with spray, while it set the boat to rocking. But in a way +even this danger was a source of safety, for the upheaval of the water +had spoiled the aim of the rifleman each time, and though they dared not +rise to look, they felt that they must be very near the Servian shore by +this time. And then big Mischa laughed aloud.</p> + +<p>"You need not be afraid, Stepan Ivanovitch," he said. "You need not be +afraid that you are a coward, I mean. I am afraid at first every time I +am under fire, and so are most soldiers. Ask your father, now that you +have been under fire yourself. It soon wears off, that fear. But the +bravest men need not be ashamed to admit they are afraid when the first +bullets sing in their ears, or when they hear the shells burst near +them!"</p> + +<p>Twice more, in a few moments, shells dropped in the water near them. But +either luck was with them, or the monitor's target practice was poor, +for neither damaged the boat. And now they could hear the encouraging +shouts of the Servians from the shore. Then there came an explosion +louder than any of the rest, and the boat seemed to go to pieces under +them. The water rushed in. Luckily, no one of them was hurt, but all +were thrown into the water. They began to swim lustily, striking out +blindly for the shore, until Mischa raised his voice in a great laugh, +and seized one of them in each arm.</p> + +<p>"Here, I'll carry you ashore!" he cried.</p> + +<p>They were safe!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE WOUNDED CAPTAIN</h3> + + +<p>Safe, but only for the moment. The searchlight had been following them, +and now it played on them and the Servians, a little party of five or +six men, who had dragged them thus to safety.</p> + +<p>"Look out! Scatter!" cried one of these, the only one who was in +uniform. "They'll try another shell, just to get even, now that you've +got away from them."</p> + +<p>They scattered at once, flinging themselves to the ground after running +a few paces. And, sure enough, a shell struck close to the brink of the +water, half burying itself in the sand before it exploded and sent sand +and dirt flying all over them. The fire of the riflemen carried across +the river, too, from the other bank, but the bullets had little force +left after carrying so far.</p> + +<p>Dick, lying face down, his back to the river, and within a few paces of +Steve, lifted his head a little, and looked about him. He saw that a +little way back from the water's edge the ground began to rise quite +sharply, culminating in what was almost a bluff, but was still easily to +be climbed. And where the ground began to rise, there was a sturdy +growth of bushes and young trees, too, that would afford good shelter. +If they could only get so far! It was easy to see. The searchlight from +the monitor was playing all over and around them, making the scene weird +in the extreme but serving them, in a way, by making their path as clear +as it would have been in broad daylight.</p> + +<p>Then the searchlight winked out and swung away for a moment. In that +instant the man who had given the first order rose and began running +toward the shrubbery.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" he cried, turning and stopping, while he waved his hands. +"The light will be back in a moment!"</p> + +<p>They obeyed willingly, and swept up the slope in a wild rush. The +searchlight swung back again, and now a shell burst high in the air +above them. In a moment there was a curious tearing sound, and then a +pitapat on the ground about them. Dick guessed it was shrapnel, though +he had, of course, never been under shrapnel fire before. That was not +from the monitor, he knew. It meant that the Austrians on the other side +must have got a light field piece into action after some delay.</p> + +<p>But he was not hit, and in a minute he was at the top of the rise, +panting. Steve Dushan came up to him.</p> + +<p>"All right, Dick?" he cried. "I didn't have any idea of bringing you +into anything as hot as this. You might better have stayed and taken +your chance in Semlin! Perhaps your consul could have helped you."</p> + +<p>"I don't care! We're all right now," said Dick. He laughed nervously. +"I'm not sorry a bit!" he declared. "It's the most exciting thing that +ever happened to me! Now that it's all over I—yes, I believe I have +enjoyed it!"</p> + +<p>"So have I! I mean it, too, Dick! I'm not saying that just to make +myself think I'm brave, because I was awfully frightened all the time. +But now that it's over, it's something to look back at, isn't it? It +isn't everyone who's under fire, after all."</p> + +<p>Then they heard Mischa calling.</p> + +<p>"Captain!" he cried. "Captain Obrenovitch!"</p> + +<p>There was no answer. And suddenly Dick knew that there would be none. +His mind recalled something that he had only half grasped as he ran up +the hill, with the patter of the bursting shrapnel, with its load of +slugs and bullets, nails and pieces of iron, all about him. He had seen +a man stumble, the one man in uniform.</p> + +<p>"Is Captain Obrenovitch the one who was in uniform?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Dick. Why? Was he hit? Did you see him go down?"</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid so, yes. Here, I'm going to find out!"</p> + +<p>Before Steve realized what he was doing, Dick had turned and plunged +back in the direction from which he had just come.</p> + +<p>"Dick!" cried Stepan. "Where are you going? What are you doing?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going after him!" Dick shouted back.</p> + +<p>"Wait! That's madness! Let me go with you!"</p> + +<p>But if he heard, Dick made no answer. He did hear, but he paid no +attention, and scarcely understood the words. All that Dick knew was +that he had run away from a man who had been wounded because he had +braved death to save his, Dick's, life. He had seen him fall, as he +understood now, and he had not stopped to see if he could help! Dick +felt a surge of shame. He felt as if he could never respect himself +again unless he tried to make atonement now for having run on! It was +fantastic, quixotic, absurd perhaps, but it was Dick Warner's way, as +anyone who had known him at home in New York would have realized at +once!</p> + +<p>"I saw him fall. I know just where he is," Dick told himself again and +again, as he ran on, stumbling over roots, tripping repeatedly in his +hasty descent of the slope that had seemed so hard to climb a few +moments before. "It's up to me to find him and make up to him for +sticking to that rope!"</p> + +<p>That was Dick's thought. He owed his life to this man Obrenovitch, whose +very face he would not know if he saw him now. And that life, he felt, +would be of no use to him if he kept it at the expense of leaving his +debt of gratitude to Obrenovitch unpaid.</p> + +<p>The Servian captain had fallen out in the open, and Dick came to him at +last. The searchlight was still playing. It lit up the body for a +moment, and then winked away again. But Dick had his own pocket +flashlight out in a second, and in its light he saw that the captain, if +he was not dead, was in a bad way. Like all scouts, Dick knew something +of the first aid, and a very hasty glance showed him just what had +happened. Obrenovitch lay straight out, and the blood was gushing out +from his leg above the knee. One of the great arteries had been cut. In +a few minutes he would bleed to death if help did not come to him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope I'm in time!" cried Dick.</p> + +<p>And then he wasted no more of the precious seconds. He knew that +Obrenovitch, as an officer, in uniform, and in time of war, would have +somewhere about him a Red Cross packet containing the absolute +essentials of first aid treatment. In a moment he had found this packet +and torn it open. He was close to the river, and in a twinkling he found +two small, flat stones. These he pressed into the open wounds where the +bullet had passed in and out, and then he drew a tight bandage about +them.</p> + +<p>All this time, be it remembered, he was under heavy fire. Bullets +pattered about him constantly. Once a stick he was using in an effort to +improvise a still better tourniquet was shot right out of his hand. But +he never faltered. Fortunately the shooting was wild. The searchlight +had not picked him up, and so he was not a real target for the enemy, as +he might have been had they seen him in the glare of the great light.</p> + +<p>The blood soon ceased to flow, and then Dick leaned over to listen for +the beating of the captain's heart. He caught it in a moment. It was +faint, but regular enough.</p> + +<p>"I think he'll do all right now," said Dick to himself, with intense +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>And then he had time to think of himself, and to realize that he was +tired and shaky about the knees. He collapsed for a moment, and lay +beside the wounded and unconscious officer. But he realized something +that was like a tonic; he had not been afraid, not once, while his work +remained unfinished! Perhaps it was just because he had been too busy in +his fight with the death that was reaching out to seize the Servian. +Whatever the reason, it was something to make him proud and happy, and +to fill him with a tingling sensation that was worth a night's sleep, +almost, in making him forget his own exhaustion.</p> + +<p>"Now to get him away!" said Dick to himself. "There's no use in staying +here. Something is sure to hit one or both of us if I do."</p> + +<p>But Obrenovitch was rather a heavy man. Dick could have dragged him +along, but he was afraid that that would start the bleeding of the wound +afresh, and he knew that if the Servian lost even a little more of the +blood that he had already shed so freely nothing could save him.</p> + +<p>For a moment Dick was near to despair. There seemed nothing to do but +stay there and hope that the Austrian fire would slacken. Even so, +however, things were bad enough, for it was highly important, as Dick +understood very well, to get the Servian officer into a doctor's hands +as soon as possible. His improvised bandage and tourniquet would do very +well for an hour or so, but better treatment was necessary, since it was +dangerous to arrest the circulation of the blood, what there was left of +it, too long. And then Dick heard footsteps, the most welcome sound he +had ever heard, he thought—except for the hail that followed a moment +later.</p> + +<p>"Dick! Where are you?"</p> + +<p>It was Stepan Dushan. He had come after Dick, determined not to let a +stranger outdo him in courage!</p> + +<p>"Here!" cried Dick. "I found him! I believe he'll pull through, if we +can get him away. I've been puzzling my brains trying to think how to do +it. But now we can make a stretcher."</p> + +<p>"How? We haven't any material, Dick!"</p> + +<p>"Haven't they taught you that?" said Dick. "All our scouts know how to +turn that trick! Stay here! I'll be back in a minute."</p> + +<p>Dick always carried his big knife, which had been a present from his +scoutmaster as a reward for a particularly good piece of work that Dick +had once done at home. Now, with its biggest blade, he managed to cut +away two stout branches of a tree, and to strip them of leaves and +twigs. Though they were thin, he knew that the live, green wood was +stout, and that while it might bend and give, it would not readily +break. He returned with the two poles, and called to Steve.</p> + +<p>"Take off your coat and give it to me, Steve," he directed.</p> + +<p>Steve obeyed, and Dick laid the coat, and his own, which he now took +off, on the ground. Then he passed the poles through the sleeves of the +two coats, having laid them end to end, and then he proceeded to button +both coats.</p> + +<p>"Now do you see?" he said. "Isn't that a fine stretcher for a home-made +one? Take his feet now, and lift him very carefully. He's too tall, but +if we pass our hands and arms under him, we can support his head and his +feet when we start to carry him. It'll be a hard job, but it's the only +chance. It's better to let him take the risk of being carried that way +than to leave him here. He hasn't any chance at all here, and he will +have some this way. How soon can we get him to a doctor?"</p> + +<p>"Very soon, once we're up the hill," said Steve. "The men can help +there. They didn't know I had come back, but they will soon miss us and +come back to see what has happened. Mischa has been my father's servant +for years, and he would go through fire and water for me, I know."</p> + +<p>"Good! Steve, have you noticed? They've stopped firing!"</p> + +<p>"About time, too! What a lot of ammunition they have wasted! Well, they +have plenty! We haven't, and when we shoot it will be when we're pretty +sure that there are Austrians in the way!"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Steady, now—careful! Don't jolt him even a little—it won't take +much to start that bleeding up again."</p> + +<p>Tenderly, carefully, they lifted the wounded man and got him on the +stretcher. Then with the utmost care, lest they disturb the rough +bandaging, they raised it. And when they had it up and were about to +start, in broken step, to make the movement smoother, there came a +fearful test of their nerve. A dull roar sounded behind them, and above +their heads a whistling, shrieking sound, that they had learned to know +well that night! It was the hiss of a shell, and in a moment it burst. +But it had overshot the mark, and when it burst, though their hands +shook, they held their firm grip on the stretcher, and that last, +wanton shot had no more effect than its predecessors. It was the last. +They finished the ascent safely. And there they found Mischa and the +rest, who relieved them and carried the stretcher to the road a few +hundred yards beyond, where, by great good luck, they met a marching +regiment, with a real surgeon.</p> + +<p>Their work for Obrenovitch was done.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>A NEW EXPLOIT</h3> + + +<p>Dick dropped into the background when they encountered the soldiers, and +let Stepan do the talking. Now that the strain was over, he was feeling +very tired and he wanted only to get to a place where he could sleep. +But Stepan would not allow him to escape so easily. He told everyone +within hearing of Dick's feat in going back to look for the wounded +captain. The surgeon, bending over the bandages and making little +adjustments, looked up quickly.</p> + +<p>"Whoever applied this tourniquet saved this man's life," he said, +briskly. "He would have bled to death in a very little time. As it is, +he will do very well, if the wound has not been infected, and there was +so much blood that I doubt if there was any great danger of that."</p> + +<p>Then the colonel of the regiment appeared, and drew aside Stepan, whom +he evidently knew. When they returned the colonel spoke to Dick very +quietly.</p> + +<p>"This is not the time to try to thank you for what you have done +to-night," he said. "I can only tell you that, if I live long enough, I +shall see that your heroism is properly known and fittingly rewarded. +You have helped to bring Stepan Dushan to this side in safety, too, for +he tells me that your cool behavior in the boat under the Austrian fire +had a good deal to do with getting you all ashore. Now I shall send you +to Belgrade, since Stepan Dushan tells me that you have reasons for +wishing to stay with us for a time. You have earned the right to do as +you please."</p> + +<p>Captain Obrenovitch was being sent back to Belgrade, and Steve and Dick +volunteered to care for him on the way, since that would make it +unnecessary to detail a hospital corps man to act as orderly. They had +already proved that they could be trusted in any emergency that might +arise. And so in a few minutes the column began the march again, moving +westward. Dick noticed that no bugles or drums were sounded, and that +the order to march was passed along from company to company, the +officers giving the brief commands in low voices.</p> + +<p>"It's a secret troop movement, of course," said Steve, when Dick +commented on this. "I can explain a little. The Austrians think, or we +hope they do, that we will concentrate in defense of our capital. We +would like to, but, after all, Belgrade is not the historic capital of +Servia. Our chief city in the olden times was Uskub, which we regained +from the Turks in the first war. We have made a capital of Belgrade +because it is the most convenient city and because it is the centre of +most of our trade."</p> + +<p>"And you're going to let them take it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I didn't say that!" said Steve, with a grin. "Perhaps they will +take it but they won't hold it very long! No, what I mean is that our +armies will defend Belgrade not by standing a siege, but by attacking +the Austrians in other places. Belgrade will have a small garrison, and +its situation makes it very strong, of course. But if the Austrians +were to enter the city to-morrow it could make no real difference to the +plan of our campaign."</p> + +<p>They were not very far from the city, which they entered, of course, +from the land side. They drove to the military hospital first, and there +Captain Obrenovitch was turned over to those who could complete the work +Dick had begun. Then when it was certain that he was in good hands, and +they had had a confirmation of the regimental surgeon's optimistic +verdict, they were ready to rest.</p> + +<p>"Haven't you got to make a report?" asked Dick, when Steve announced +that they were going to his home to sleep.</p> + +<p>"I've made the important report already," said Steve. "The chief +information I had was military, and Colonel Tchernaieff will give the +facts I had gathered to the staff when he reports at Schabatz. The rest +can wait until morning. I don't know what has happened here yet. I +suppose the information department still has quarters here, but most of +the men will be with the army in the field. I may have to go to Schabatz +in the morning—later in the morning, I mean."</p> + +<p>That was a good correction to make, because it was morning now, and +streaks of light were beginning to appear beyond the Danube. And Dick, +who had lived through the fullest day of his life, was eager to get to +bed. The Austrian bombardment, which it seemed had not been very bad, +had stopped altogether, and the strong probability that it would be +resumed when the sun rose didn't deter Dick from his desire to sleep.</p> + +<p>"We'll be at my house soon," said Steve, who knew how tired Dick was. +"If old Maritza is still there, she will look after us. I don't believe +anyone else will be in the house. My mother and my two young brothers +have probably gone away. My father said they must when the war began."</p> + +<p>Dick found that his friend's house was in that new quarter of Belgrade +that he had admired so much when he had made his trip across from +Semlin. And the inside of the house was as pleasant as its outer +aspect. It was not luxurious. Few houses in Servia are, since Servia is +a country where great wealth is practically unknown. But so, for that +matter, is extreme poverty. Most of the Servian people make enough for a +living, and not a great deal more, and so they have remained a simple +people, and have maintained their ability to rise as a nation in arms.</p> + +<p>But Dick wasn't thinking of such things. All he needed to know about +that house or any other was that it contained a bed. Yet first before +they went to bed, both he and Steve took a bath.</p> + +<p>"Heaven only knows when we'll get another chance," said Steve, +cheerfully. "There are going to be exciting doings, my friend Dick, for +a time. We may have to leave here in a great hurry. You know, the +Austrians <i>may</i> find out how easy it would be for them to come over into +Belgrade! It would be a great stroke for them to say they had captured +our capital in the first week of the war, even if they couldn't keep +it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I hope they don't come until we've had a good sleep," said Dick. +And with that he rolled himself into bed and was snoring as soon as his +head touched the pillow.</p> + +<p>When he awoke it was broad daylight. But one thing surprised him. The +window was in the west wall of the room in which he had slept, and yet +the sun was pouring into it! It didn't seem possible, yet it was true. +It was late afternoon, almost evening, and he had slept practically all +day! In his surprise he called out sharply to Steve, who had slept in +the same room, but in a separate bed. But Steve was not there. His bed +was crumpled, but he himself had vanished!</p> + +<p>Dick went to the window and looked out. Everything seemed to be +peaceful. There were not many people about, but he knew that in this +part of Belgrade few people were to be seen at this time of day in any +case. At first he scarcely noticed a sound that came to his ears +regularly, almost as regularly and monotonously as the ticking of a +watch. Then he realized what it was; the sound of cannon. The +bombardment, then, was still going on. He wondered about its success.</p> + +<p>He looked out toward the business quarter of Belgrade. In a good many +places black smoke was rising, shot through with yellow fumes. There was +no wind, fortunately; he guessed that these pillars of smoke were from +fires started by the Austrian shells. Had there been a gale to fan them +they might have done serious damage. He was still looking out when the +door burst open and Stepan Dushan came in.</p> + +<p>"Hello! You're awake at last, are you?" he cried. "Well, you had sleep +enough when you once started! You looked so comfortable that I didn't +have the heart to wake you when the time came for me to get up."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you didn't," said Dick, honestly. "I'm feeling fine now, and +if you'll give me some breakfast I'll tackle my weight in wildcats! But +if I'd had five minutes less sleep it wouldn't have been enough! I don't +believe I was ever tired enough to sleep through a bombardment before."</p> + +<p>"This isn't much of a bombardment," said Stepan, contemptuously. "I +don't believe there'll be much damage done. Come on out—though I'll see +that you get some breakfast first. I think I'll have something +interesting to tell you before long."</p> + +<p>"All right. But why don't you tell me now?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Bad luck to talk about things until they're done," said Steve, with a +grin. "Don't you know that in America?"</p> + +<p>"All right," said Dick. "But just when are you going to know?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty soon—but that's no sign that you'll know it as soon as I do, +you know. How would you like to go back to Semlin?"</p> + +<p>"I'm game, if you'll tell me why."</p> + +<p>"That's just what I'm afraid I won't be able to do. That is, it would be +a whole lot better if you didn't know."</p> + +<p>"Oh, all right! I don't care, anyhow! I've enlisted for the war. By the +way, what's happened to your scout troop? I thought perhaps there'd be +some good work here in Belgrade for it to do."</p> + +<p>"There will be, only there isn't any troop any more. About everyone in +it is with the army, except the very little chaps. I think they'd have +let me fight this time if there wasn't other work for me to do. You see +we lost so many men against Turkey and Bulgaria that we haven't really +enough men to fill the ranks. We have regiments that aren't half +filled—or we did have until this started. By this time, though, I think +there aren't many short battalions left. The old men and the boys will +fight, and they say that some of the country regiments have a lot of +women in them."</p> + +<p>"Women? Fighting with the men? That's not allowed, is it?"</p> + +<p>"How can you stop it?" asked Steve, with a shrug. "You don't know much +about us yet, Dick, my friend. You don't know what it is to have lived +with the Turks for centuries. I have read about your American women on +the plains, in the times when the Indians went on the war-path. Most of +them could handle a rifle, couldn't they? And they were pretty good +shots, too!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but that's different—"</p> + +<p>"Not so very different. I don't believe your Indians were ever worse +than the Bashi-Bazouks. They hated us Servians, you see, because we were +infidels and Christians. And so for hundreds of years they harried us, +burned our homes, carried off our women, killed our men. That sort of +thing gets into the blood after a time. For centuries we Serbs have +stood between all Europe and the Turks. They never wiped us out, though +they beat us by sheer weight of numbers. But here, and in Bosnia, that +the Austrians stole, and in the Black Mountains—Montenegro—a few Serbs +have always held out.</p> + +<p>"That's why we aren't so civilized as some of the other countries of +Europe. We haven't had the time to be civilized. We have had to fight +just to keep alive. We have had to fight the Turks for life itself, and +when they did not kill, they burned our fields with the standing grain, +summer after summer, so that the harvest was lost. Yet once there was a +great Serb empire that stretched from the Black Sea to the Aegean—" +Stepan's eyes flashed, and there was a look in them that might have been +worn by his great ancestor and namesake, the last of the great medieval +Servian Tsars.</p> + +<p>"There is a day that we still mark every year," he went on. "The day of +the battle of Kossovo, when the Turks annihilated us—though that was +more than five hundred years ago. But in the last war we had our +revenge, on the great day of Kumanovo, when, though the Turks +outnumbered us, we drove them before us and crushed them.</p> + +<p>"But I spoke of the women, and I am wandering from the point! We do not +want the women to fight, but they come from the villages, where whole +companies are recruited from relatives, since we still have almost a +patriarchal system. The woman wears men's clothes, and she marches with +her husband or her brothers. The officers do not know, and—they fight +well. They have known what it is, some of those women, to see their +homes burned and their mothers slain by Turks. They know that a free +Servia means more than a name!"</p> + +<p>"I hadn't thought about it just that way," said Dick. "But I see that +you are right. It is just the same thing as with our pioneers. The women +of those days did fight the Indians, and for just such reasons. I'm +going to get you to tell me more about Servian history some time. You +know, until the Balkan War Servia and Bulgaria weren't much more than +names to us in America or to most of us. We were surprised and mighty +pleased, of course, when you smashed the Turks the way you did."</p> + +<p>"Everyone was surprised," said Stepan. His face grew dark. "And there is +another thing we hold against Austria. We were good friends, we little +states of the Balkans. We had fought a great war, and we would have +continued to be good friends had it not been for Austria. But she +stepped in when peace was to be made, and said what we could have and +what we must not touch. She would not give us the window on the sea that +we had paid for with our blood. And she tricked Bulgaria into attacking +us and so starting the second war."</p> + +<p>"How was that?"</p> + +<p>"She thought Bulgaria was strong enough to beat us, and she promised to +help if Bulgaria were too weak. Everyone thought, you see, that the +Bulgarian troops were the best in the Balkans. They forgot that we +helped them to win Adrianople, and that we and the Greeks won our great +victories unaided. And then, when we crushed Bulgaria within two weeks, +Austria broke her word, and Bulgaria was left helpless. We acted in self +defence, but we were sorry."</p> + +<p>"I supposed that Servia hated Bulgaria now, Steve. And Greece, too."</p> + +<p>"As to Greece, I cannot say. Her people are not Slavs. But we and the +Bulgarians are blood brothers. We would not have fought except for +Austrian trickery and Austrian lying—that they call diplomacy."</p> + +<p>"Will Bulgaria fight again in this war?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. There is a great effort being made to revive the Balkan +League and add Roumania to it. Roumania is stronger than any of us now, +because, though she helped us at the end of the war with Bulgaria, she +did no real fighting at all, and it did not exhaust her to gain what she +did from the wars. If we can win what Austria denied us before, and +Bosnia and Herzegovina, perhaps, as well, we will not grudge Bulgaria +what we had to keep from her in Macedonia after the war with Turkey, and +we will help her, too, to recover Adrianople. You remember that the +Turks took that back from her when we had beaten her down."</p> + +<p>"So Bulgaria may be on your side?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. And I think it very likely, because she is near us and far from +Austria, which might offer to help her. If she attacked us, too, Greece +would come to our aid. But that depends on many things. If Russia helps +us, that will make a difference. And it is a question of what Italy will +do, also. But this is not getting us anywhere. You are game to come with +me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then let us start. We are going to get a motor boat on the Danube—not +on the Save—and try to run the gauntlet of the Austrian monitors. I +think it is safe enough, because they believe that they have the river +entirely under their control. I think it will be easier to get into +Semlin than it was to get out last night."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm ready whenever you give the word."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>BACK TO SEMLIN</h3> + + +<p>It was beginning to grow dark when they set out from Steve's house.</p> + +<p>Maritza, the old servant who seemed to idolize Steve, had given them a +wonderful meal. Dick liked the old peasant woman. She reminded him of +the stories he had read of old southern mammies. It was plain that she +was wholly devoted to the Dushan family, and that she would do anything +for them. But in spite of that, she ordered Steve around as if he had +been a child of her own, and Steve, who seemed to Dick to possess a +goodly share of independence, accepted her orders with the utmost +meekness.</p> + +<p>"She was with the family before I was born," he explained. "I can +remember how she used to order me about when I was a little chap. And +she's pretty nearly as bad with my father, too. I can tell you he does +what he's told. It's a wonder she hasn't insisted on going with him in +the campaign, just to make sure that he changes his shoes when his feet +get wet and wears heavy clothes when it's cold!"</p> + +<p>Dick laughed, but he could understand Maritza's attitude well enough. +She had mothered him, too, and, despite his excitement, which made him +inclined to slight his meal, had insisted on his eating generously.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what mischief you two boys will be up to to-night," she +had said, "but if you've got a good hot meal in your stomachs you'll be +in a better condition for it, whatever it is."</p> + +<p>As they left the house, Steve explained that they had a long walk before +them.</p> + +<p>"Horses are at a premium," he said. "Otherwise we might have ridden, +because I could have got them. But they are so badly needed in the field +that everyone has given up all the animals that are at all fit for +service."</p> + +<p>"You don't use cavalry very much, though, do you?"</p> + +<p>"No, not as a rule. Our men fight better on foot, and a great deal of +our fighting is done in mountainous country that is all split up with +ravines and clumps of woods. It was so, at least, against the Turks and +the Bulgarians. But in this war there will be some chance for cavalry, +at first, anyhow. And, besides, the horses are needed for the guns."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I didn't think of that. You don't use motor cars much, I +suppose?"</p> + +<p>"We can't. We haven't the roads. If the French get in, they and the +Germans will use cars a great deal, I suppose, for all sorts of things. +But our roads are too bad for that. It's just as well, because the +Austrians have had so much more money to spend than we that they are far +ahead of us. They've got better heavy guns than we, too, but I don't +think they'll get much more chance to use them. We are not going to shut +ourselves up in fortresses. And when it comes to field pieces we can +hold our own with them a good deal better."</p> + +<p>"Field guns will be the ones most used, won't they?"</p> + +<p>"We think so. We've got light guns that are easy to move about, and +we've got the men who know how to handle them, too. Our men are all +veterans, and that is going to make a lot of difference. They know what +it is to have hard fighting, and if things go against them at first it +won't bother them. My father says that the experience we have had in +actual war will be worth five army corps."</p> + +<p>"Who is the commander-in-chief?"</p> + +<p>"General Pushkin. Everyone agrees that he was the one great soldier that +the Balkan wars produced. He won his battles against the Turks easily, +and without the loss of great numbers of men, and when the Bulgarians +attacked, we and the Greeks fought the campaign according to his +strategy. The German military attaché said that General Pushkin was fit +to command the greatest army in the world. He said he was a military +genius of the first rank, and one of the greatest soldiers developed in +Europe since the time of von Moltke."</p> + +<p>"Then he must be good, because the Germans know a good soldier when they +see him."</p> + +<p>"He has done everything that has been required of him so far. This war +with Austria will be his great test—only he doesn't regard it as a +test, but as an opportunity. My father says that that is the true mark +of a man's character. He says the weak man, who hasn't got it in him to +succeed, thinks of a difficult thing he has to do, or to try to do, as a +trial, a test, and that the big man, who is sure to amount to something, +simply looks at it as a chance to show what he has in him."</p> + +<p>"I know what you mean." Dick nodded. "My own father used to say that, +too. That was the trouble with Mike Hallo, I guess. If things looked +hard he was always complaining, and my father used to get pretty sore at +him sometimes. My father just gritted his teeth and went to work. I +remember hearing them talk about the panic a few years ago. An awful lot +of business houses were smashed then, but my father pulled through, +though Hallo wanted to quit. He said they would only be throwing good +money after bad if they kept on."</p> + +<p>They had been walking briskly while they talked, and it was not long +before they came to the flat, marshy ground near the banks of the +Danube. Here it was a sluggish, thick, yellow stream, flowing along +impressively because of its bulk, but lacking every element of beauty +and romance.</p> + +<p>"This doesn't look much like the beautiful blue Danube, does it, Steve?" +Dick suggested.</p> + +<p>"No," said Steve, with a laugh. "It's not pretty—not here. There is +some fine scenery between here and the coast, though, where it marks the +boundary between Roumania and Bulgaria. And it's all historic. On the +Bulgarian side further down, the ground is high, with a sharp ascent +from the river. There was some fierce fighting in the Russo-Turkish +war—the war that freed Bulgaria, you know, and really helped a lot to +make Servia free, too. At one place the Russians crossed in boats and +stormed the heights, with the Turks above, firing down on them."</p> + +<p>"They must have been brave in those days!"</p> + +<p>"The Russians? There are no braver troops in Europe—there never have +been!"</p> + +<p>"They didn't do very well against the Japanese."</p> + +<p>"It wasn't the fault of the soldiers. Their generals were poor, and +everything was badly managed. I think that if the Germans despise the +Russian army they are making a great mistake. Russia learned many +lessons in the war with Japan, and when she fights again, soldiers will +be in command, not politicians. Here we are; this is the boat."</p> + +<p>Dick looked curiously at the little craft. She was painted a dull, +leaden grey, and he could guess that at a very short distance it would +be almost impossible to detect her. In other ways, too, she was +especially designed for the business she was intended for.</p> + +<p>"Isn't she a little beauty?" said Steve, enthusiastically. "See—that's +armor plate, very thin, of course, but tough and strong, that covers her +entirely on the outside. Then she's decked over with armor plate, too, +so that one can be inside and expose practically nothing. The engine is +sheathed the same way, and all the essential working parts. She can pass +through a rain of bullets without being hurt; it would take a shell to +make any real impression on her, and she's so fast that it would be a +hard job for a man to get her with one."</p> + +<p>"I never saw anything like her," said Dick. "You say she's fast, too?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-five miles an hour easily, Dick! That's fast enough for anything +she's ever likely to have to do. The Austrians have launches, armed and +armored ones, but nothing that's in a class with this boat for speed and +power."</p> + +<p>"She doesn't carry any guns, though?"</p> + +<p>"No. She's meant to run away, not to fight. There are a couple of rifles +and automatic pistols and ammunition aboard, but really she is a scout, +pure and simple, and she would only fight to escape. You see, with such +a lot of armor plate and defensive equipment generally, they had to +figure pretty carefully on weight, or they'd have lost speed. And +speed's the most important thing with a boat like this. All aboard, now! +We'll be off in a minute!"</p> + +<p>Dick took his place aboard, and found that there was plenty of room +under the plate of steel that covered almost the whole length of the +little boat. Then Steve followed him, and in a moment the engine was +purring and they were moving away.</p> + +<p>"That's the quietest motor I ever heard in a power boat," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"Exhaust under water and a special muffler as well," said Steve. "She'd +be useless if she gave herself away when she was a mile from anyone, +wouldn't she?"</p> + +<p>"It means less speed, though."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's so. But it doesn't make difference enough to make up for +the safety it gives. You see, we could pass within a cable length of one +of those Austrian monitors now and they'd never know it. We'll have to +do just about that, too, before the night's over, I'm afraid."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going to land, Steve? In Semlin itself?"</p> + +<p>"No. That would be too risky and there's no need for it. I'm going to +keep right on up the Danube, past the mouth of the Save, and we'll land +above the town and circle back. They'll keep a very sharp lookout now +along the river bank in Semlin, but I don't think they'll be so careful +on this side. They'll trust to their river patrol and the mines."</p> + +<p>"You think the river will be mined?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, surely!"</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't it be a good thing for your side to do some mining, too?"</p> + +<p>"It's probably been done already, especially in the Save. We have only +one or two small gun-boats, which wouldn't have a chance in a fight with +the Austrians on water. But I think we'll be able to make them see that +it isn't any too safe for their monitors. We can't beat the Austrians +by main strength, so we'll have to use all the tricks we can. I think +they'll find out before very long that there are more ways of killing a +dog than by shooting him."</p> + +<p>Now they were out in midstream. Perhaps a mile above them, as they swung +diagonally across the river, an Austrian monitor, painted a dun color so +that she was almost the hue of the river, was swinging at anchor, squat +and ugly, but menacing and business-like in her appearance, too. Steve +did not lay his course up the middle of the broad stream, however. +Instead, he slipped well over to the east bank, and began moving swiftly +upstream when he was under the shadow of the eastern bank, here rising +fairly well.</p> + +<p>If anyone on the monitor observed them there was no sign of it. They +passed her, and another of the same type. On the Hungarian shore, above +them, occasionally they could hear the calling of sentries. The +Austrians were guarding the river carefully, and Steve chuckled a little +as he heard these evidences of careful watching. Then they passed the +mouth of the Save, and were wholly in Austrian or, rather, Hungarian +territory. For now the bank on both sides was part of the Dual Monarchy.</p> + +<p>At the confluence of the two rivers a blaze of light swept the water +constantly, but there was still dense shadow under the eastern bank of +the Danube, for the chief concern of the Austrians seemed to be for a +dash of some sort down the Save. Danger from the other direction seemed +not to be thought of at all.</p> + +<p>Once past that pool of light, it was a matter of ten minutes of fast +running. Then Steve swerved sharply and cut across the river, to run +into a little, sheltered inlet, and under a door that was raised at a +blast from a peculiar compressed air whistle. They were in a small +boathouse—a perfect concealment for the little motor boat. The house +was built right over the water, and there was no danger now that +prowlers would find her.</p> + +<p>Inside, as the boat glided under the door, which slipped down into +place beside her, was a man in Austrian uniform, a fact that startled +Dick tremendously at first. Steve noticed this, and grinned.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid," he said. "This man is a good Serb, though he is not a +Servian. He is one of us, but he is an Austrian subject, and forced to +serve in their army—which he does willingly enough, since he can help +us greatly by doing so. There are many such Serbs in Austrian uniform +to-day, but most of them will be sent to other parts of the theatre of +war, if Austria has brought on a general war."</p> + +<p>The soldier had a boat hook out, and now he drew them to a landing stage +and made the boat fast as they leaped out.</p> + +<p>Steve indulged in a low-toned conversation with the Austrian, and +frowned. Then he turned to Dick.</p> + +<p>"Dick, I don't like to ask you to do this," he said, "but will you stay +here alone for a few minutes? I find I have to join a secret meeting. +They don't know about you yet, and it is absolutely forbidden to +introduce a stranger at such a meeting without notice. You understand? +I'll be back soon."</p> + +<p>"Go ahead!" said Dick. "I don't mind staying here a bit, Steve, and I +see how it is, of course. You can't help it."</p> + +<p>"I thought you'd say that," said Steve, greatly relieved. "All right! +I'll be back just as soon as I can, and it certainly won't be long."</p> + +<p>Then Steve and the soldier went out. For a few moments there was +silence. And then a closet door opened, and Dick, paralyzed with fear +and dismay, saw a face emerge—the face of Mike Hallo!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>A DARING DECISION</h3> + + +<p>"Where is Milikoff?" Steve Dushan asked the soldier, as soon as they +were outside. They had left the boathouse, of course, by the land side, +and moved swiftly away from the water side.</p> + +<p>"He is at the house by the pond," answered the soldier. "The others were +there too, ten minutes ago. But since then anything may have happened!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Stepan, grimly. "It was stupid work—letting Hallo get away, +when once they had him in their grip! Still, there is no use in crying +over spilt milk. We must get him back, that is all. He knows the thing +that we have got to learn, and I think we shall be able to persuade him +to share his knowledge with us!"</p> + +<p>"No doubt," said the soldier, shrugging his shoulders. "The man who +plays with both sides is always weak. It is always a dangerous thing to +run with the hare and ride with the hounds!"</p> + +<p>The country hereabout was flat and waste, low-lying marsh lands, with +here and there a pond coming close to the road. Beside one of these +ponds, which, at a guess, might be useful in winter for the ice it would +carry, stood a small house, from one window of which a light showed.</p> + +<p>"Wait for me here," said Steve to the soldier, and went inside. He +gained admittance by a peculiar knock, and the door was opened for him +at once by a man in the garb of a priest. Stepan laughed at himself for +starting back.</p> + +<p>"Aha, you didn't know me!" said the priest, with a merry laugh. "Now I +know that this is a good disguise!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's a good one, Milikoff," said Stepan. "But what is this about +Hallo? Did you actually let him escape after holding him here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," growled Milikoff, all his pleasure in the excellence of his +disguise vanishing. "He has been here fifty times before; that was the +chance we took, since we had to meet him somewhere. He came alone +to-night, and we were able to seize him very easily. And then, just as I +saw that it was nearly time for you to come, he had gone!"</p> + +<p>"How did he get away?"</p> + +<p>"He fooled us all by showing something none of us thought he had—a +little courage! He dropped from the window above. That was how we knew +he was gone, for he broke a pane of glass in one of the greenhouse beds +as he dropped. We rushed out—"</p> + +<p>"You were so near as that, and still he got away?" said Stepan, with a +groan.</p> + +<p>"Oh, we were out after him at once!" said Milikoff. "He ran toward the +river, and we were after him. We drove him in. We have that much +consolation, Stepan—we drove him into the water, and though we watched +a long time for him to come up, there was no sign of him. I think he +drowned like the rat he was!"</p> + +<p>"You think so, and it does seem probable. But we can't be sure! And, +even so, he is worth more to us alive than dead. For the time, at least. +He is a wretched traitor—treacherous to both sides. I wouldn't mind +his death, because he has sent hundreds of men better than himself to +death of late. But I wish we had been able to hold him and use him. He +would have been afraid of us, I think, when he discovered how much we +knew!"</p> + +<p>"It would have been enough for him to see you, Stepan, and know that you +were one of us, I think. He would have guessed very quickly what you +were doing during all those weeks when you were so close to him. That is +what has saved us. If it had not been for you we would have trusted him, +I think, with his tale of how the Austrian government had wronged him, +and his pretence that he was one of a group that wanted a free and +independent Hungary!"</p> + +<p>Stepan was thinking hard.</p> + +<p>"Where are the others?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"They are busy in the town. We are almost ready to blow up the arsenal, +and perhaps we shall be able to finish the tunnel and plant the mine +to-night."</p> + +<p>"That will be good," Stepan nodded, "unless Hallo has warned them. It +was he who gave us the information as to just where we should have to +place the mine, and he must have guessed what use we would make of it."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps so. But they have not moved any of the stores. If we can +explode our mine, we shall strike a good blow for Servia."</p> + +<p>"We may say that without boasting, Milikoff. The reserve ammunition for +two corps is here. They have been careless because they did not expect +anything like a general engagement for some time, especially when the +government moved to Nish. But I am uneasy still about Hallo."</p> + +<p>"I think you need not be, Stepan. I tell you we were right on his heels, +and there was no way for him to escape. He went into the water beyond a +doubt, and I do not believe that he was strong enough to swim the +Danube. Besides, we would have seen him had he done that, and shot him."</p> + +<p>"I don't think he swam the Danube, I'm quite sure he could not have +managed that. What I am afraid of is that he doubled on his tracks in +some fashion and got ashore."</p> + +<p>"But that was even more impossible, I tell you! We expected him to try +to do that, and we watched out especially to make it too hard for him to +do it, even though he is as slippery as an eel."</p> + +<p>"And still I should like to make sure, I think. I shall have to go into +Semlin."</p> + +<p>"To look for him? It will be risky."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps, but it can't be helped. I doubt if it will be so risky, +though. I'm not sure that even Hallo suspects yet that I was more than I +seemed."</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't your sudden disappearance just at this critical time give it +away to him?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so, because I was very careful to arrange a good excuse. +I have talked for two or three weeks of the illness of my uncle in +Buda-Pesth, and have said that if he became worse perhaps I might have +to go home very suddenly. And I left a note in the office when I came +out yesterday, because I was sure I would not be back, saying I had been +called away. I didn't say I was going to Buda-Pesth—just that I was +called away."</p> + +<p>"Well, if no one else had any reason to suspect you, you will be safe +enough, for you won't see Hallo."</p> + +<p>"I am going, anyhow. But first, Milikoff—you are to stay here, I +suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, until daybreak, at least."</p> + +<p>"Good! I left a friend at the boathouse—an American, but one who is +with us, heart and soul, and has proved it at the risk of his life +already. I want him to come here and wait for me."</p> + +<p>"You are sure he is all right? We have to be careful, Stepan."</p> + +<p>"If you can trust me, you can trust Dick Warner," said Stepan.</p> + +<p>"That is enough. Let him come!"</p> + +<p>"Right! I will send Vanya."</p> + +<p>He stepped to the door and called to the Serb in the Austrian uniform, +who was waiting outside.</p> + +<p>"Vanya," he said, "will you go back to the boathouse and return with +the friend I left there? Tell him that I want him to come, and show him +the way."</p> + +<p>"At once," said the soldier, and was off.</p> + +<p>Stepan returned and found Milikoff studying some papers.</p> + +<p>"You had better keep a guard at the boathouse when you have a man to +send there," suggested Stepan. "Vanya will be on duty before long, I +suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. We shall not be able to use him again. Not at once, at least. I am +surprised that we have had the chance to use him at all. But, as a +matter of fact, two Serbo-Croatian regiments are here, or near here."</p> + +<p>"The Austrians are in a tight place," said Stepan, with a laugh. "They +know that they may have to fight Italy, and so they are sending the +Italian troops from the Trentino and Trieste to the Galician frontier, +to fight the Russians. And they have to use every regiment. They might +as well keep their Serbs and Croats here—they will fight as readily +against Servia as against Russia. If they could spare first line troops +for garrison work and for watching the Italian border, they might +manage. But they cannot. That duty they must leave to the reserves and +the old men. I believe their plan is to surround the troops that may be +disaffected with Hungarians and true Austrians who can be depended upon +absolutely."</p> + +<p>"They can depend upon their Hungarian levies now," said Milikoff. "But +for how long will that be true? If a few battles are lost, if Russian +troops pour through the passes of the Carpathians and the Cossacks come +within sight of Buda-Pesth? After all, Hungary is an independent +kingdom, and a part of the Austrian empire only of her own free will. +Her army is her own, and she has her own parliament and her own +ministers. There is no reason why she should not have a king of her own +again when she chooses. We may see the rise of another Kossuth, who +would force Hungary to make peace with Russia and with Servia. At least +you may live to see it."</p> + +<p>"Do you really think so?" asked Stepan, eagerly. "That would be +glorious! Oh, we are lucky, after all, Milikoff, we Servians! Our +country may be small, but it is our own. We do not have to rule a score +of different subject races. All those who live under our flag do so +willingly. We do not have to drive our soldiers into the ranks with +whips and threats of shooting."</p> + +<p>"No! And after this war, if God is still with us, as he has been, our +brothers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Albania, too, will come under our +flag. The old Serb kingdom will be fully restored. Montenegro will join +us, and we shall have borders that are made by the limits of the Serb +race."</p> + +<p>"There has been talk of annexing part of Hungary when we win," said +Stepan.</p> + +<p>"Slavonia we can take, because it is peopled by our kin, Stepan. But we +want no Magyars under our rule. Let them keep their country. Or else we +should face the troubles we have brought upon them."</p> + +<p>Stepan looked at his watch and tossed his head impatiently.</p> + +<p>"Time for me to be off," he said. "Why are they so long? I want to see +Dick before I go, but I can't wait much longer—"</p> + +<p>He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Vanya, the soldier who +had gone to fetch Dick.</p> + +<p>"He is not there!" he cried. "The boathouse is empty—except for the +boat in which you came!"</p> + +<p>Stepan and Milikoff stared at one another, aghast.</p> + +<p>"This is Hallo's work!" said Stepan, furiously. "He has a grudge against +this friend of mine! Ah, I see it all now, Milikoff—how he escaped! He +went into the water—you are right! But tell me, now—was it near the +boathouse?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, now that I remember, it was."</p> + +<p>"Then can't you see what happened? He dived and swam under the door. It +would be easy enough for anyone who could swim at all well and knew the +ground. Heavens, he must have been in there when we first came in with +the boat!"</p> + +<p>And now their dismay knew no bounds. Milikoff saw that Stepan was right; +it was exactly what must have happened.</p> + +<p>"I'm a dolt—a fool!" he cried, bitterly. "That I never thought to +search the boathouse!"</p> + +<p>"Who would have thought?" said Stepan. "But it is no time to think of +what is done and can't be undone. Now, more than ever, I must go after +him. I have to try to save my friend, and it is doubly imperative now +that we should catch Hallo."</p> + +<p>"Let me come with you!"</p> + +<p>"No. Your work is too important for you to take risks. I will go +alone."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>CRAFT AGAINST CRAFT</h3> + + +<p>In the boathouse where Stepan had left him, Dick knew almost as soon as +he saw Mike Hallo's narrow eyes appear around the closet door, that Mike +had not seen him as yet. But he was too frightened to take any advantage +of that consciously. Dick had proved that he was not a coward, and yet +he was afraid of Hallo. He knew that the man hated him, and, for some +reason, feared him. And here, where he would be so completely in his +power, there would be nothing to restrain Hallo. He would not even have +to call in the police to help him; he could get rid of a boy who +threatened him without a witness. And Dick knew enough of Mike Hallo to +feel that he would not be deterred by any scruples.</p> + +<p>In another moment Mike's little eyes, peering around the dimly lighted +room, but not yet well enough accustomed to even that much light after +the utter darkness of the closet, would have fallen on Dick. But fear +loosened Dick's hold on the electric flashlight that, by pure chance, +happened to be in his hand. He started with dismay and tried to catch +it, succeeding partly, so that it made only the faintest of noises as it +struck a button of his coat. But that was enough. Hallo heard it, and +started.</p> + +<p>Yet it was that trifling accident that saved Dick. For Hallo, startled, +and nervous himself, as of course he had good cause to be, better cause +than Dick could guess, darted back into his closet at once. For a moment +as Dick stared at it with fixed eyes, the closet door remained ajar. +Then very slowly, very quietly, it was drawn to, until it clicked, and +was firmly closed. On the instant, then, Dick moved.</p> + +<p>He took the chance of being heard, and made a swift dash for the boat. +His reason was a twofold one. For one thing, it offered the only +possible place of concealment, aside from the closet that Mike Hallo had +already preëmpted for himself, and it contained the weapons of which +Steve had told him. Dick knew how to use a pistol, and he felt that with +a gun of some sort in his possession he would have a chance at least +with Hallo, even if he were armed. He would not hesitate to shoot, he +told himself, if he had to. He had reason enough to believe that Hallo +would not spare him, and in self-defence he would be justified in taking +any means to save himself.</p> + +<p>But he did not think it was particularly likely that it would come to +anything so desperate now as a hand-to-hand struggle. He was recovering +his nerve, and the panic that had possessed him when he had first seen +Hallo's face had passed. Once he was in the boat, well concealed by the +steel hood, he felt that the odds were in his favor, rather than against +him, and he could stop to think and reason, which he had certainly not +been able to do in the first moment of shocked surprise.</p> + +<p>He felt the main thing that favored him was that Hallo was at least as +badly frightened as he was himself. And that, after all, stood to +reason. The very fact that the man was here at all seemed to Dick proof +that he knew the character of this place, and that he was here as a spy. +Then he would naturally be startled by a sudden sound, for he would +think that it betokened the return of one of the Servian spies who used +this as a hiding place and refuge.</p> + +<p>"He would know, of course," Dick thought, "that they wouldn't hesitate +any more over shooting him than if he were a mad dog. They couldn't, +because he isn't threatening only their safety by being here, but their +whole plan. And men who are brave enough to be spies in time of war +aren't thinking of themselves at all, but of their country."</p> + +<p>This was comforting reasoning for Dick, because it made it vastly +improbable that Hallo would come out to look for him. He would be +concerned with the problem of escaping himself; he would not think of +looking for anyone else, but of preventing someone who was looking for +him from finding him. So it seemed likely to Dick that he would escape +any sort of personal encounter with Hallo, and he was glad of that. He +had the same feeling that Stepan had expressed to Milikoff, although, of +course, he knew nothing of that talk, nor of how Hallo had happened to +come to this place. It seemed to him that Hallo would be worth more to +the Servians alive than dead, and it was certain that the only chance +for the success of the mission that had brought him from New York to +Semlin would be gone if anything happened to Hallo.</p> + +<p>From his position, crouched down in the bottom of the boat, Dick could +see the closet door. And, as it began to move again, after five nerve +racking minutes, Dick clutched his revolver, feeling that it was a +pretty good thing to have as an ally, even if it was so unlikely that he +would have occasion to use it. His fear had passed away altogether by +this time, and a bold plan was beginning to come into his mind. But its +execution depended upon Hallo and what that swindler might do next.</p> + +<p>For just a second, as Hallo came out into the boathouse, Dick thought of +starting up suddenly, covering him with a revolver, and forcing him to +surrender. But he decided against that. Mike Hallo, as he knew, was not +without a certain crude sort of physical courage. If he was armed—as it +was practically certain that he was—he might be able to put up a good +struggle. And, though Dick was no longer afraid for himself, he felt +that it would involve too great a risk of letting the man get clear away +if he followed his impulse.</p> + +<p>So he kept perfectly still, instead, while Hallo came out and finally +stood in the middle of the part of the boathouse that had a floor. He +leaned forward, like a bird dog when it is in doubt, and seemed to be +sniffing the air, though Dick knew that he was really only listening +with concentrated attention. He was listening, not for a real noise, but +for those almost inevitable sounds that the quietest person must make. +It seemed extraordinary to Dick that Mike could not hear his breathing, +or the beating of his heart, which sounded so abnormally loud to him. +But hear them Mike did not, evidently, for after a moment he relaxed and +heaved a sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>"I'm getting jumpy," he said to himself, aloud, in English. "I guess +that wasn't anything I heard before. Just a board creaking, maybe!"</p> + +<p>Dick grinned and maintained his silence. And then Hallo, after walking +about for half a minute, looked toward the boat.</p> + +<p>"If only I knew how to run that!" he said, still aloud.</p> + +<p>But, fortunately for Dick, and for Servia, as it was to turn out, he +knew nothing of the intricate mechanism of the boat, and so he did not +even come over to the water's edge for a closer inspection. Instead, he +made for the door, flung it open, and strode out as it banged to behind +him.</p> + +<p>Dick was after him like a flash, but with his hand on the knob some +instinct made him let go and shrink back against the wall. His instinct +served him well indeed, for as he did so the door was flung open +violently, and Hallo stood in it, looking all about the boathouse a +second time.</p> + +<p>"Not a soul!" he said aloud. "I must have been dreaming when I heard +that noise!"</p> + +<p>And all the time Dick was within a foot of him, his pistol gripped +tight, ready for anything that might happen!</p> + +<p>This time he did not close the door, but turned and walked away. That +very action proved that he was no longer afraid that anyone was behind +him, for he would not have turned his back had there been any lingering +doubt.</p> + +<p>And now Dick, giving him a good start, stole after him. He had hesitated +as to whether or not he should do so. He had promised to wait for +Stepan's return, and he did not like to go without some explanation. But +it seemed to him that it was of the utmost importance for him to follow +Hallo.</p> + +<p>"He's not supposed to be here or to know anything about this place," he +said to himself. "And now he may do anything, or go anywhere. He may +betray all sorts of secrets. I don't know how long he was in that +closet before we came, nor how much he heard—nor what the things he +heard meant to him. I didn't understand, but that's no reason for +thinking that he didn't. Yes, I'll have to take the chance of worrying +Steve and upsetting his plans. I'm going after Mike Hallo. He's my +quarry to-night!"</p> + +<p>Dick knew that he was taking chances, and perhaps big chances, when he +set out to follow Hallo. But he did not stop to think very much about +them. He did not have time to think of anything but the work in hand, +for Hallo, not content with walking fast, had broken into a run.</p> + +<p>Dick understood the reason for that when, in his turn, he heard +footsteps; that was what had frightened his man into beginning to run. +And Dick ran too, not knowing that the steps were those of Vanya, the +soldier, who was on his way to the boathouse with the message from +Stepan.</p> + +<p>Hallo had all the advantage. He knew the country and Dick did not. +Moreover, he could set the pace, and Dick had to follow. To lose sight +of Hallo even for a moment meant to risk losing him altogether. And +Dick, moreover, dared not follow too closely. He had to be far enough +behind to make it impossible for Hallo to learn of his pursuit by +stopping suddenly, or making a quick turn.</p> + +<p>It was a wild chase that Dick had. Hallo, for a man of his size and +years—he was well over forty—made surprisingly good time, and gave +Dick, as a matter of fact, all he could do to keep him in sight. And the +way was long. Dick was greatly relieved when they came at last from open +country into a section where houses were closer together and streets +began to take form. In a measure his own risk was greater as they +approached the town, but it was also possible for him to get much closer +to the man he was trailing, since shelter was so much more frequent. The +danger here was of running into the police, but Dick did not greatly +fear that.</p> + +<p>"I needn't worry about the ordinary policemen," he told himself. "I +don't believe they know me at all. I could probably go up to any of +them and ask the time, or the way to the railway station, and get away +with it all right. It's only the ones who were on my track after I'd +been to Hallo's office that I've got to look out for, and I'm not sure +that even they would know me."</p> + +<p>And now Hallo himself unwittingly made it safer and easier for his +dogged pursuer, for instead of going toward the central part of Semlin, +where policemen would be more numerous, and where the men who had gone +to make the arrest at Dick's lodgings were almost sure to be posted, he +circled through the poorer quarter toward the commercial district by the +river.</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is fine!" thought Dick. "I'll bet he's going to his office +before he makes any report. I wonder if Stepan will think of him when +I'm missing?"</p> + +<p>Dick had to move up very close here, for the streets were crowded with +people, and it would have been easy for him to lose his man in the +jumble of figures. Several times now Hallo, as he neared his office, +was stopped by passersby. He shook them off impatiently when they tried +to detain him, however, and once Dick was near enough to hear him say, +in an impatient tone: "Let me go! I have an appointment to keep at my +warehouse."</p> + +<p>And now Dick had a new inspiration. He determined to take a chance. And +instead of following Hallo, he seized the opportunity when someone had +stopped the Hungarian for a moment, and darted well ahead. He got a good +start, and turned the corner of the block leading to the warehouse well +ahead of Hallo. In a moment he was inside. Luck was with him, and he hid +himself behind a big packing case in Hallo's room.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>IN THE NICK OF TIME</h3> + + +<p>Crouched behind the packing case, Dick waited, wondering what was to +come next. Now that he was here, he felt that he had done a foolish +thing, and one only likely to lead to more trouble. There was so little +chance for him to accomplish anything of value, and he was not even sure +that Hallo would come here at all. Perhaps he was going somewhere else, +and he had simply walked into a trap without even a chance of getting +any results.</p> + +<p>Yet luck had been with him so far in good measure. He had been almost +marvelously lucky in the boathouse. That Hallo had not seen him there +had been due only to fortune, and scarcely at all, in the first perilous +moment, to any action of his own. And he had been lucky again in his +trip into the city with Hallo ahead of him. In war time, as he knew, +people were likely to be suspicious of any stranger, even of one acting +in the most ordinary fashion. And his behavior, as he dodged and trailed +after Hallo, had been more than suspicious.</p> + +<p>And finally, too, his getting into Hallo's office and finding a place to +conceal himself so well had been luck of the greatest sort. He had taken +a wild chance when he darted ahead of his man, for he might well have +found the door closed and locked, and have been caught by Hallo before +he could have got away. But he had staked everything on the hazard that +there ought to be a night watchman, as there would be, he knew, in any +American warehouse. And a night watchman there was. He had seen the +light of a man's lantern, as he came up to the door, from a second floor +window. The door had been open, and so he had slipped in.</p> + +<p>The very fact that the door was open, too, encouraged him. It seemed to +him to make it certain that Hallo was expected some time that night. And +then a sound of brisk footsteps on the uncarpeted floor just outside the +office set his pulses leaping. Was it Hallo?</p> + +<p>He could not tell, and he dared not emerge from his shelter enough to +see. In a moment the room was light, but Dick was still hidden, and the +movements of whoever had come in were hidden from him, too. But he was +sure of one thing after a very few moments. It was not Hallo with whom +he now shared the room. The newcomer's movements were too brisk, too +quick, for Hallo, who was slow moving, rather heavy footed, though agile +enough when it was necessary. Consumed by curiosity, Dick gradually +edged over so that he might have a chance to steal a look around the +edge of the big packing case without being seen himself.</p> + +<p>He succeeded at last, and just as he looked around, the door was opened. +Hallo came in, and Dick darted back—but not until he had seen that the +other occupant of the room was Stepan Dushan! Now he felt that he was +amply justified for what he had done. Steve was here, and between them +there should be a chance to do something, he thought!</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here?" growled Hallo, as he saw Stepan.</p> + +<p>"I came to try to catch up with my work, sir," said Stepan, meekly. +"Since I could not be here to-day during the day, I thought it would be +better if I got ready for to-morrow, so that in the morning no time +would be lost."</p> + +<p>"H'mph!" growled Hallo. He hesitated for a moment; then, half satisfied, +sat down at his desk.</p> + +<p>"Did you have a fall, sir?" asked Stepan, and Dick almost choked with +laughter at his tone. "You're all covered with mud. Shall I get a brush +and try to take some of it off?"</p> + +<p>"No! Attend to your work!" roared Hallo. "Or here—clear out of here! +I'm going to be busy, and I want to be alone."</p> + +<p>It seemed to Dick that Stepan was hesitating, that he was on the verge +of refusing to obey, and so of giving everything away. But he yielded, +after just a moment's pause.</p> + +<p>"Very well, sir," he said. "I'll go down to the stock-room and make the +tally from last night's sheets."</p> + +<p>"All right. Be off!" said Hallo, ungraciously.</p> + +<p>And now one thing filled Dick's mind. How much had Hallo seen or heard +while he was hidden in the closet of the boathouse? Did he know Stepan's +real work, and the part he was playing in these stirring times? If he +did, and had concealed his knowledge, it meant that he was laying a trap +for Stepan, and it meant, too, that he was a good actor, for he had +managed to conceal his knowledge admirably if he really possessed it.</p> + +<p>Nothing that Dick knew of Hallo made it seem at all likely that he could +dissemble well enough to keep from betraying his knowledge, if he had +it. But Dick felt that it would not be safe to assume that, because his +father had trusted Hallo to a great extent, and had supposed him to be +an honorable business man, and there had certainly never been anything +in his conduct to suggest that he would behave as he had done. And, +moreover in New York he had seemed a plodding, stolid business man, and +had never seemed to have it in him to play a part in the sort of +intrigue that so evidently occupied much of his time in Semlin.</p> + +<p>For a time the room was absolutely quiet. Dick wondered where Steve had +gone. He was sure, somehow, that his chum was within reach, probably +within hearing, waiting like himself for Hallo to do something. And Dick +guessed, too, that Steve must have discovered by this time that the +boathouse was empty, and thought that perhaps it was in search of him +that Steve was here. That worried him, but for the time there was +nothing to be done; he could only wait. The one preparation he could +make for whatever might be coming was to get very close to the edge of +his shelter, so that he could with little risk peep out from time to +time. Each time that he looked out he saw Hallo, head bent low over the +table, writing furiously.</p> + +<p>Then came the break in the tension. Outside, echoing on the flags, came +hurried footsteps. Dick listened eagerly. They turned in and came +clattering up the steps. He dared not risk a peep just then to see who +was coming. For the time, he decided, his ears must do the work of his +eyes as well as their own share. He heard Hallo spring up, overturning +his chair.</p> + +<p>"You! Here?" cried Hallo, in a low voice. "Are you mad, man?"</p> + +<p>"No. I had to come," said the newcomer. "It was impossible to send word, +and you had to know—someone had to know! I suppose it was risky for me +to come here, but they are all at work. All except Milikoff, and I don't +know where he is."</p> + +<p>"He led a band of assassins who tried to kill me earlier in the +evening," growled Hallo. "But there are others, at least two others, +here somewhere. They came in this evening, from the other side."</p> + +<p>"From the other side?" said the stranger, in amazement. "But how could +that be? The river front is guarded so that a strange fly could hardly +cross from Belgrade to Semlin!"</p> + +<p>"Don't you know of the boathouse near Milikoff's place?"</p> + +<p>Hallo's tone was suddenly menacing. Dick could imagine that he was +leaning forward, pushing his heavy jaw into the face of the other man. +He remembered that trick of the Hungarian's.</p> + +<p>"Boathouse—near Milikoff's? No!" stammered the other. "I never heard of +it before!"</p> + +<p>"H'mph!" Hallo's voice expressed doubt, distrust. "Perhaps not! Well, I +came upon it by chance to-night, and it saved my life. They seized me +to-night when I was in conference with them—the treacherous hounds! But +they are Servians! I might have expected it! I escaped, and they chased +me! They chased me right into the Danube! I swam, while they peppered +the water. They had those new silencers, so that it was safe to shoot. +And by the merest chance, when I was nearly exhausted, I suddenly saw a +door in front of me, as I was trying to swim ashore in an inlet, in the +hope of escaping after I had landed. I dived, and came up in a +boathouse. The door could be raised, you see, to admit a boat. There +was a closet, and I hid."</p> + +<p>"That is news to me! I never heard that there was such a place!"</p> + +<p>"I drew the closet door to when I heard a man come in. Soon afterward a +motor boat entered, and two men landed from her. I could hear their +voices dully—that closet door was thick, and it was so hot and close +inside that I was almost suffocated. I do not know who they were except +that I think Vanya, the soldier, was the man who opened for them. Later, +when they had gone, I got out and came here."</p> + +<p>"It is good that you came. Master, it is to-night that they plan to +strike a great blow. They have dug a tunnel beneath the arsenal. I am +almost sure that it is to-night they have chosen to explode a great mine +that will destroy the arsenal completely, with all the stores and guns +it contains!"</p> + +<p>Hallo swore savagely.</p> + +<p>"You have done well!" he said. "Eh, there is time yet, you think, to +stop them? How is it that you do not know more concerning their plans?"</p> + +<p>"They do not trust me wholly. I know only what I can learn by spying and +ferreting about. They tell me almost nothing. But I am sure that I am +right. Look—I will draw you a plan that will show you where the tunnel +is. I think that if you hasten you can catch most of them like rats in a +trap. Milikoff is not there. He is the most dangerous of all, save one."</p> + +<p>"Who is more dangerous than Milikoff?"</p> + +<p>"The boy Stepan Dushan!"</p> + +<p>"Stepan Dushan! I do not believe there is such a boy! You tell me of +him, but you can never show him to me!"</p> + +<p>For a moment Dick could not understand. But then he smiled at his own +stupidity. Of course Steve was known to Mike Hallo under an assumed +name; he would never have used his own, so obviously that of a Servian.</p> + +<p>"It makes no difference whether you believe me or not, I am telling you +the truth," said the newcomer with a show of spirit. "He is young, but +he has done more to discover the truth than any of them. He has brought +information of the concentration of the Austrian troops along the Drina. +It is through him that they learned where the stores and supplies were +being massed in the mountains there. I told you yesterday of the plans +that were made for a Servian raid, but it was too late. A raiding column +crossed the Drina last night and destroyed most of the stores you had +collected."</p> + +<p>"There has been a leak somewhere in my own place!" said Hallo, savagely. +"Even the men who executed the orders did not know where those supplies +were going! I trusted no one!"</p> + +<p>"That is just the bad part of it, master," said the spy. "They will be +saying next that you yourself gave away the truth to the Servians."</p> + +<p>"Who will believe them?"</p> + +<p>"If it is known that you have been in touch with Milikoff?"</p> + +<p>"It is known, fool! It is known that I am treating with them simply to +gain information of their plans. But now—it is no time for talk. We +must move quickly, or they will explode their mine."</p> + +<p>He lifted his voice in a sudden shout.</p> + +<p>"Jan!" he cried. "Jan!"</p> + +<p>And then Dick's heart sank. That must be meant for Steve—and to answer +meant deadly peril for Stepan Dushan, since the spy, who had so plainly +been betraying Servian secrets to Hallo, knew Stepan. Dick edged +forward, waiting, wondering. Now he caught a glimpse of the spy, and +then he drew back, as he saw that both Hallo and the other man had come +very close to him. They stood just by the box that sheltered him.</p> + +<p>"Jan!" cried Hallo again.</p> + +<p>"Here I am!" said Stepan's voice. And then, "Serge!"</p> + +<p>"Stepan Dushan! That is Stepan Dushan!" shrieked the spy.</p> + +<p>Then, before anything more could happen, Dick had an inspiration. He +threw his whole weight against the heavy packing case, straining, +pushing. It trembled, gave, and then crashed down, bearing Hallo and the +spy down beneath its crushing weight, sending them down, stunned and +helpless.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>FACE TO FACE</h3> + + +<p>"You, Dick? Thank God!" cried Stepan. Then his face flushed, and he came +forward, furiously. He dragged the spy out, looked at his face, and then +spurned him with his foot.</p> + +<p>"You saved my life, I think, Dick," he said, simply. "I never suspected +this! Treachery in our ranks. I had not supposed that any Servian would +sell his country. Mike Hallo, of course, we never trusted—but this man! +Well, he will pay in one way or another."</p> + +<p>"I knew what was going to happen. I was here and heard them talking."</p> + +<p>"I didn't even know he had come. I had made some discoveries below, and +was hard at work. I knew that Hallo would not leave without my +knowledge. He would not have wanted to leave me here alone in the +warehouse. But, Dick, how did you get here? How did you come to leave +the boathouse? I asked you to wait there, you know."</p> + +<p>"How did you know I had gone?"</p> + +<p>"Vanya, the soldier, told us. I sent him to fetch you. And when we +learned that you had gone, we suspected that Hallo had had some part in +it, for by then I had been told that he had escaped after they had +caught him. But you don't know about that—"</p> + +<p>"Don't I though? I was there listening, while he told this other fellow +all about it. He was in the boathouse when we landed, Steve!"</p> + +<p>"Ah! I knew it! I told Milikoff so! That was how he escaped! But how did +you come here—free?"</p> + +<p>Dick told his story as quickly as he could; told of how he had escaped +from detection in the boathouse because Hallo had been even more +frightened than he himself, if anything, and of his wild chase after the +Hungarian.</p> + +<p>"I was afraid I had done wrong in going—afraid that I should have +stayed in the boathouse and waited for you to come. Did you come here +after me, Steve? Wasn't that your purpose?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, in a way. I thought that Hallo had something to do with your +disappearance, and I never dreamed of your being able to fool him as you +did! But I should have come in any case. Milikoff and I had decided that +before we knew that you had vanished. And if you hadn't been here, Dick, +they would have killed me, I think, when this wretched traitor told +Hallo that I had been deceiving him."</p> + +<p>"He told him more than that, though Hallo did not know it was you of +whom they talked, Steve. This spy told him that you were the most +dangerous of all—and Hallo said he didn't believe there was any such +person as Stepan Dushan!"</p> + +<p>They both laughed, and Steve laughed still more when he heard of Hallo's +mystification and fury about the revelation of the hiding places of the +stores on the Drina.</p> + +<p>"That was what made us sure that Austria had decided for war," he said. +"We knew that she would not prepare for an invasion there so secretly +otherwise. That was why we knew that it would be useless to agree to her +terms, even if that had been possible."</p> + +<p>"Hallo said no one but himself knew about those stores."</p> + +<p>"He was nearly right—but a miss is as good as a mile," said Stepan, +with a laugh. "He knew—and the staff knew—and I knew! I found out all +about those things by reading his private letters, Dick. That was the +part I hated most about the work. I had to read all his letters after we +became sure of what he was doing. It made me feel wretched at first, as +if I were doing something very dishonorable."</p> + +<p>"But you weren't doing it for a dishonorable reason, Steve. Still I can +see how you felt."</p> + +<p>"But I didn't feel that way very long, Dick, because I soon found out +what a miserable cheat and swindler he was! You were surprised, you +know, when you found out that I knew all about you."</p> + +<p>"I certainly was! I never was so much surprised in all my life!" said +Dick very quickly.</p> + +<p>"Well, I may have some more surprises for you still, Dick. I'm not sure, +but I do know some things I haven't told you yet."</p> + +<p>"You do, Steve? Why can't you tell me now?"</p> + +<p>"I can, but I want to make sure that they will be of some use to you +before I do. If I told you some things I know, they might make you +change your plans, and then they might not be of any value, after all. +They might only put you off. You see, when I first found out these +things about the way he had treated you, I didn't know you and didn't +have any reason at all to suppose that I ever would, or that I'd ever +even see you. New York's a long way off—and, of course, I was more +interested in what was going on here, because I knew that this war might +come along at any moment, and I was here just to see what I could do for +Servia and to interfere with the things we had reason to suppose Mike +Hallo was doing for the Austrians."</p> + +<p>"Of course. I can understand that, Steve. There wasn't any reason for +you to do as much as you did, and to take all the interest you did in +me, when you didn't know anything about me."</p> + +<p>"Well, at first I just wanted to help you because I hated him so. I +thought there was a chance to spoil the trick he was trying to play on +you. When I found that he was planning to get rid of you by having you +arrested before you could get back to the American consulate I wanted to +trip him up."</p> + +<p>"You certainly did a lot for me, Steve. I don't know whether I'll ever +be able to get anything out of him, but if I do it will be due to you. +If they had ever got me out of here and away to Buda-Pesth, I'd never +have been able to come back, even if they had not managed to trump up +some charge against me and kept me in prison for a long time."</p> + +<p>"Oh, they would have done that, Dick, of course. That was the idea. And +it's very easy for them to manage such things here. As easy as it used +to be in France before the revolution there."</p> + +<p>"What are we going to do now, Steve?"</p> + +<p>Dick looked down at the helpless figures of the two men on the floor. +Neither of the scouts had paid much attention to them as yet, but now +they leaned down and examined them.</p> + +<p>"They're not badly hurt," said Steve, contemptuously. "They saw the +crate falling and so did I. And they tried to jump. So it didn't fall +full on top of them, but struck glancing blows on their heads and almost +pushed them out of the way. I don't see how you ever got it going at +all, all by yourself! It looks terribly heavy."</p> + +<p>"I think it was because it wasn't very well balanced, Steve. If it had +been turned the other way probably I couldn't have budged it. But the +heavy end was on top, which made it go over. I sort of jumped at it, and +that gave it the start."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid we'll have to leave them here," said Steve. "I wish there +was some way for us to take them along, but I don't see how we can. We +might be able to drag Hallo with us, but we wouldn't get very far."</p> + +<p>"I suppose not. He has lots of friends, hasn't he? I saw ever so many +people stop and speak to him when I was following him on the way here."</p> + +<p>"I don't think he's got many friends, but there are a lot of people who +know him, all right. Still, it isn't that—it would be making ourselves +conspicuous by having him with us at all."</p> + +<p>"It would be a good thing to take him, though, if we could, wouldn't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. The best thing in the world! If we could only get him to our +boat and carry him back to Belgrade!"</p> + +<p>"Steve, how about the men who are working in the tunnel under the +arsenal?"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? What do you know about the tunnel under the arsenal?"</p> + +<p>Steve was startled and dismayed, but Dick laughed at him.</p> + +<p>"That's all I know," he said. "Just that there is such a thing, Steve. +You needn't be frightened—I haven't been spying around. But this man +that came here to see Mike Hallo knew all about it. He told him the mine +was going to be sprung to-night, and that they must hasten to stop it."</p> + +<p>"That ends the last doubt! He is a traitor!" said Steve. "He surely will +have to pay the price of treachery, too, when there is an opportunity."</p> + +<p>"Do you mean that they will kill him?"</p> + +<p>"What else can be done? It is his life against a nation, Dick. A man +like that may cause a thousand deaths by betraying a single secret. +But—about the men in the tunnel. I might have known that there was some +good reason for your knowing. Yes, it is true. There are men working +there, and they will try to explode their mine and blow up the arsenal +to-night."</p> + +<p>"Can't you reach them? I think that two or three men might get Hallo +through the town and to the boathouse. They could pretend that he was +drunk, and that they were helping him along, if he was still +unconscious."</p> + +<p>"Dick, I think you've hit on the right idea again! I'll try to get them. +But suppose they come to first?"</p> + +<p>"If we tied them up?" was Dick's suggestion.</p> + +<p>"It would be risky. The watchman may come here at any moment after he +hears no more voices."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's so. How long would it take you to go?"</p> + +<p>"To go and come back? Twenty minutes, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Then go! Don't delay any longer, and I will stay here and keep watch."</p> + +<p>"In here? No, it is too dangerous. I am afraid now, if they learn what +you have done for us, they will be able to make a real charge against +you, and that even your consul could not help you to escape severe +punishment."</p> + +<p>"I would not wait here—not in here, Steve. I would watch outside. Look! +Do you see these grains of corn?"</p> + +<p>He picked up a handful of the kernels from a sample basket on the table.</p> + +<p>"Yes. What about them, Dick?"</p> + +<p>"I will keep watch. If he comes out, I will follow him and every three +or four feet I will let a little of this corn drop, so that it will mark +a trail for you to follow. Do you see the idea?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, and that is magnificent, Dick! That is the best chance we shall +ever have of catching him. It will be better for him to come out, for he +will lead you away from the busier part of the city, perhaps, so that it +will be easier for us to take him! I'm off! I think we have a chance to +get the scoundrel this time, thanks to you!"</p> + +<p>They slipped out together, leaving the two unconscious men.</p> + +<p>"I think Hallo will come to before long," said Dick. "The other will +take longer for he seemed to be more badly stunned, or else he's not as +strong as Hallo. Will Mike leave him there, do you think?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Why not? He will be thinking of his own precious skin, you may be +sure. Good luck, Dick! I'll be back just as soon as I can!"</p> + +<p>"Yes—hurry! But I think we'll be all right."</p> + +<p>Dick took his place in a dark doorway on the opposite side of the +street and began his vigil. The seconds seemed to drag by endlessly, but +Dick never took his eyes from the entrance of the warehouse. And at +last—he had really been waiting less than ten minutes!—he was +rewarded. Hallo came out holding his hand to his head, staggering a +little as he walked. Dick gave him a start, and then crossed and +followed. He dropped his corn as he went, and his hand was on the +automatic pistol in his pocket, which somehow gave him a sense of +security.</p> + +<p>Hallo turned a corner; Dick hurried a little. And, as he rounded the +corner in his turn, there was Hallo—waiting! At the sight of Dick he +almost screamed, but choked the cry.</p> + +<p>"So it's you, is it?" he cried. He made a savage rush, his arms +outstretched like those of a gorilla.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>THE EXPLOSION</h3> + + +<p>But the sight of the wicked looking little gun in Dick's hand stopped +his rush. Mouthing his words, venomous hate in his eyes, he checked +himself.</p> + +<p>"What do you want, you little devil?" he said, grittingly.</p> + +<p>"Turn around!" said Dick, savagely. Somehow that wild rush that had +stopped just as the man's cruel arms were about to close about him had +aroused something in Dick that he had never felt before. For the first +time he knew what it meant to see red. He felt that he would like to +have Hallo down and beat him with his fists, with the butt of his +pistol—with anything, if it would only hurt his enemy enough!</p> + +<p>Hallo tried to meet his eyes for a moment. Then he turned round, so that +his back was to Dick. The scout pressed the muzzle of the little +automatic, that, despite its tiny proportions, was still such a deadly +weapon, into the small of Hallo's back.</p> + +<p>"Do you feel that?" he said. "And do you know that I can't miss when +you're so close to me? Don't think I am afraid to shoot because I tell +you right now, Mike Hallo, that I'll fire the first time you don't do +exactly as I say."</p> + +<p>"You'll pay for this!" said Hallo, furiously. "This isn't America, with +its lynchings, where people can take the law into their own hands."</p> + +<p>"You needn't sneer at America!" said Dick, with cold anger in his voice. +"You earned a good living there, and made a small fortune—and you stole +another! Now, then, step forward! Slowly—and go straight ahead until I +tell you to turn."</p> + +<p>With a snarl Hallo obeyed. And Dick, as he went along behind him, +keeping the pistol in such a position that he could use it on the +instant, began to talk to him.</p> + +<p>"You're a joke, Mike Hallo," he said, contemptuously. "The next time you +try to swindle someone, don't pick an American family. You thought you +were safe here, because we didn't have the money to hire big lawyers to +go after you, didn't you? You never expected to see me here in Semlin. +And when you did, you thought you'd fixed me by getting them to arrest +me!"</p> + +<p>"I had nothing to do with that," protested Hallo. His blustering, savage +mood seemed to be passing, and he was disposed to cringe.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" said Dick. "Of course not! You didn't want me to be driven out +of Semlin! You wanted me to stay here and get back the money you stole +from my father. You don't care anything about money, either, I suppose? +Oh, no! You don't care any more about money than you do about your right +hand! You wouldn't do anything to turn a dishonest penny except murder +and treason and robbery, would you?"</p> + +<p>"Dick, I've always been friendly to you and your family," said Hallo, +tremulously. "I'm half an American. I tell you what I'll do. We'll let +bygones be bygones. I lost more than your family did in the failure, +back there in New York, of course. But I've done pretty well since I +came home here to Hungary."</p> + +<p>"I should think so!" said Dick. "How much has the Austrian government +paid you for the spy's work you have done? Why, you even cheated your +government! You're not even a patriot!"</p> + +<p>For the first time, seemingly, Hallo guessed that Dick might have +something to do with the enemies he really feared—the Servians with +whom he had been playing fast and loose for weeks.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by that?" he cried, turning half around in his +eagerness.</p> + +<p>Dick jammed the pistol into his ribs to remind him of it.</p> + +<p>"Go on! Keep your face turned away from me! I don't like the looks of +it!" he said, viciously.</p> + +<p>"Do you know Stepan Dushan?" asked Hallo.</p> + +<p>"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" said Dick.</p> + +<p>"See here, Dick, there's no use in your being angry at me any more. +Perhaps I was mistaken. I will tell you, in any case, what I will do. I +will overlook everything that you have done here in Semlin, and I will +arrange to have the police charge against you withdrawn. That is a very +serious matter, let me tell you. If I did not have a great deal of +influence with the big people here it would be quite impossible to +arrange it. And I will give you, besides, twenty-five thousand dollars!"</p> + +<p>Dick laughed.</p> + +<p>"Go on," he said. "Walk faster!"</p> + +<p>"Thirty-five thousand—"</p> + +<p>"If you offered a million, I would believe you just as easily," said +Dick. "I know you for just what you are, Mike Hallo! You're a low down +liar and cheat and swindler, and I wouldn't believe you under oath. If I +accepted your proposition, you'd never pay me a cent, and you'd do your +best to get me into prison here besides."</p> + +<p>"No—no—I'm telling you the truth, Dick! I will do it, I swear it! Do +you think I have no gratitude? It is of the greatest possible importance +that I should be free at once to attend to some pressing business!"</p> + +<p>"It isn't half so important as you think, Mike," said Dick, with a +laugh. "And you're attending to some very pressing business right now, +too. The most pressing business you ever had in your life is to keep +right on walking the way I tell you to and moving as fast as you can, +too."</p> + +<p>"But, Dick, I tell you I shall be ruined if you make me go on! How can I +pay back the money you came for if I am ruined?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know—and I'm not trying to guess riddles to-night. It seems to +agree with you pretty well to be ruined, though. You made a lot of money +out of being ruined in New York, didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Dick, I have known you since you were a baby! Your father was my best +friend—"</p> + +<p>"Don't remind me of that!" said Dick, angrily. He had been a little +amused by Hallo's desperate pleading, but this reference to his father, +whom the man before him had treated so outrageously, revived his anger. +"The best chance you've got to get through right now is for me to forget +about how friendly you were with my father and how you began to cheat +him as soon as he was dead and couldn't watch you any longer!"</p> + +<p>"Dick, I will make a last appeal! In the safe in my office there is +money—a great sum of money! You can have all of it—every florin! There +is much more there than you ever said I owed your mother! The +combination of the safe is written in the pocket book in my right hand +pocket. Take it out—go back and get the money. I will write out an +order for you to take it—I will write out an admission that I cheated +your family! Only, let me go before it is too late!"</p> + +<p>"No—nothing doing! Straight ahead!"</p> + +<p>Perhaps there was a certain note of finality in Dick's voice; perhaps +Hallo was just trying to think of some new temptation to put before him. +He was silent, at any rate and so, for a minute, was Dick. Dick was +really greatly amused by Hallo's pleadings. And now he could not resist +a dig. It was revenge, and he took it without delay.</p> + +<p>"This ought to be a lesson to you, Mr. Hallo," he said. "I remember that +when I was a little bit of a chap you were always telling me +that—saying that this thing or that ought to be a lesson to me. Do you +remember?"</p> + +<p>Hallo did not answer.</p> + +<p>"You did, anyhow. Well, this ought to teach you that a business man +ought always to act so that people trust him. You haven't, you see. +People know you're a liar and a cheat, and so they don't believe you +even when you are telling the truth. You may have meant to do all the +things you've promised me to-night, but how could I take a chance on you +when I knew the truth about the way you've acted before? A reputation's +a good thing—I've always heard that, and now I know it."</p> + +<p>Dick chuckled, but Hallo made no sound of any sort. Dick could imagine, +however, the workings of his mind, and he did not envy the helpless man +in front of him. Neither was he sorry for him. If Hallo was in a bad +way, he had himself to thank for it. Dick could respect him, in a way, +for his dealings with the Servians and the whole conduct of the man in +his relations with the Austrian authorities and the enemy. He might be a +good patriot. All the things he had done in connection with the sale of +supplies to the army and the attempts he had made to break up the +Servian system of espionage might be perfectly legitimate.</p> + +<p>Even though Dick was heart and soul on the Servian side, he could +respect any sincerely patriotic Austrian or Hungarian. But he doubted +whether Hallo was capable of being either sincere or patriotic; he had +an idea that the man was a patriot simply because he saw a chance to +make money out of his patriotism.</p> + +<p>"He is in a bad way, though," Dick thought. "They'll blame him for all +the things that have gone wrong, and if he has acted here the way he did +in New York, they'll believe that he did it deliberately too. They won't +give him the benefit of the doubt; they'll be sure he was a traitor, +instead of just a fool, and he will suffer for it too."</p> + +<p>Dick was keeping his pistol carefully concealed. Whenever anyone came in +sight, to whom Hallo might have appealed for aid, he reminded him of the +existence of the pistol by tickling his ribs with it. But very few +people were abroad. It was late, and Dick was purposely choosing +unfrequented streets.</p> + +<p>For more than the first time Dick was deeply grateful for his excellent +bump of locality, which his service with the Boy Scouts had done so much +to develop. It was comparatively easy for him to follow the course he +had planned, and he knew that with every step they were getting further +from the heart of Semlin and nearer the boathouse which was his +destination. There was every reason to suppose, too, that he would not +have to handle Hallo single-handed much longer. Behind him, when he +glanced back from time to time, the trail was plainly marked by the +little scatterings of corn.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad it's night time," he reflected, with a grin. "In daylight +there would be birds after that corn, and it wouldn't serve as a trail +for very long. But it's good fun; it's like a paper chase, or hare and +hounds. Only this time the hare wants to be caught!"</p> + +<p>Then he thought of Hallo, and decided that at least one of the hares +wasn't anxious to be caught at all.</p> + +<p>"Still he doesn't know what I'm doing, I guess," thought Dick, "There's +no use in spoiling the pleasure of this little walk for him by telling +him, either. He'll know soon enough, if I have any luck."</p> + +<p>They were in open country by this time, with very few houses in sight. +Suddenly Hallo broke out.</p> + +<p>"Where are you taking me?" he cried, fearfully.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you're beginning to recognize the route now, are you? Yes, we're +going back to the place you came away from in such a hurry not so very +long ago!"</p> + +<p>"You were there!" said Hallo; suddenly, "I thought I knew your voice—in +the boathouse! That was you who came in the launch?"</p> + +<p>"I don't have to answer," said Dick. "Hurry along! You slow up when you +talk. And your talk isn't interesting enough to make it worth while to +delay."</p> + +<p>"I—"</p> + +<p>Whatever Hallo meant to say was never finished. For suddenly the ground +shook, and there was a dreadful roar. A huge flash lit up the sky, and +behind them bedlam seemed to break loose. There was a succession of +reports, like repeated volleys of rifle fire, and sometimes a louder +roar.</p> + +<p>"There goes the arsenal, so you can quit worrying," said Dick. "Even if +I let you go now, you couldn't prevent that, could you? Oh, I knew what +you were driving at, all the time!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>THE TABLES TURNED</h3> + + +<p>But even Dick, for all the wild mood of anger that had held him since he +had had Hallo in his power, had to consent to a halt now. If the +Servians planned not only to inflict a severe blow on the Austrians by +the destruction of war material, but to spread terror as well, they +succeeded admirably. For there was not one explosion alone; there was a +series of explosions. And fire spread from the arsenal, too.</p> + +<p>"The shells are going off, you see," said Dick, a little awed. "They're +exploding in all directions. I suppose there will be a good deal of +damage. And those cartridges must be sending an awful lot of bullets +around promiscuously."</p> + +<p>"I don't think many people will be hurt," said Hallo. Like Dick, he was +awed by the spectacle, and the terrible magnificence of it for the +moment seemed to have driven from his mind all thought of anything but +the explosion itself. "There are very few houses about the arsenal; they +are mostly public buildings of one sort and another. It's not the sort +of neighborhood people choose to live in. Even in time of peace there +may be an accident in an arsenal at any moment—and just as bad an +explosion as this one."</p> + +<p>But then, suddenly, Hallo seemed to remember his position.</p> + +<p>"You will pay for this!" he cried. "It is your doing, because if you had +let me go I should have stopped that! You are in league with the Servian +spies who have been working here for months, who planned the murder of +the Archduke in Serajevo—"</p> + +<p>"Why don't you say I killed him?" suggested Dick. "Forward march, again! +The show is over!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, your time will come—and you will cry to me for help then! The +police only had suspicions before, but now they will have facts, and all +the consuls and ambassadors in the world won't be able to help you! It +won't be a matter for the police at all, my lad! It will be a +court-martial that will try you."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps. We shall see. Hello, what's this?"</p> + +<p>Dick had just been thinking to himself that it was highly fortunate that +they had passed the settled district to the northeast of Semlin before +the explosion, since he could easily imagine the outpouring there must +have been into the streets at that terrific sound. But now there was a +sound of rushing feet, and around a corner, perhaps a quarter of a mile +in front of them, a body of men appeared—troops, coming at the double +quick.</p> + +<p>"Here, this way!" said Dick, sharply.</p> + +<p>He pointed to a clump of trees beside the road, and forced the reluctant +Hallo to go in before him. The pistol was giving him fine support for it +was very evident that Hallo did not mean to take chances. Dick did not +know, as a matter of fact, whether he would be able to fire if the +necessity arose. To shoot even Mike Hallo in cold blood, and when the +man was helpless to all intents, was something he could not contemplate +without a shudder.</p> + +<p>In fact it was partly because Hallo was his enemy that he felt that he +was likely to hesitate, and at a moment when hesitation was likely to be +dangerous, if not fatal.</p> + +<p>"I'd feel differently if I didn't have anything against him, +personally," said Dick to himself. "As it is, I'd never be sure, if I +shot him, whether I was doing it in self-defence or because it was a +good chance to get even with him for the things he's done to me and to +my family."</p> + +<p>Fortunately, however, Hallo did not put him to the test. Dick realized +that it was a dangerous minute. The seconds that elapsed while the +soldiers were passing in the road were the longest he had ever spent. A +single shout from Hallo would have settled matters. In such times, and +with a reminder of the dangers of the situation such as the destruction +of the arsenal, there would have been an immediate investigation, and, +whatever happened to Hallo himself, Dick would be in a bad case, and he +fully realized his situation.</p> + +<p>Dick allowed plenty of time for the soldiers to pass. It did not take +long, as a matter of fact, and he decided that there could have been +only a small detachment, not more than a company of infantry probably. +Hallo might have told him that there were comparatively few troops in +Semlin, and that the greater part of the Austrian forces along the +border were placed at two points, Schabatz, on the Save, and Losnitza, +on the Drina, since it was at those two points that the invasion of +Servia was to be begun, according to the plan of the Austrian General +Staff.</p> + +<p>The bombardment of Belgrade was not intended to cover a subsequent +attack, but to serve as a feint, in the hope that a large number of +Servian troops would be retained for the defense of the capital. +Belgrade was of no use to the Austrians. By holding Semlin they could +cut the railway and had every advantage that the occupation of Belgrade +could have given them, except the sentimental value of having +possession of the enemy's capital. Later in the war the Austrians were +to make the grave mistake of occupying Belgrade for just such +sentimental reasons, and the mistake was to be proved by the sacrifice +of an army.</p> + +<p>"All right, we can go back to the road again," said Dick, when he had +allowed more than enough time for a rear guard to pass. "Your friends +have held us up. See if you can't move a little faster to make up for +the delay!" and he prodded him with his revolver for emphasis.</p> + +<p>Dick had scattered his corn steadily and now, as they went back to the +road, he kicked the kernels that marked their digression aside, since he +knew that Stepan and the others, if they were following, would only +waste time by following the detour into the woods. He had brought a +plentiful supply, and he was glad of it, since he was traveling further +with Hallo than he had thought it at all likely that he could. For some +time he had been listening eagerly for some indication that Stepan and +his friends were approaching, but there had been none. He was not ready +to be worried about them yet, however dangerous as he knew their work +had been, since it was easy to imagine a dozen trifling things that +might have delayed them.</p> + +<p>And yet he could think of more serious things, too. There might have +been a premature explosion of the mine, and he shuddered at the thought +of what the fate of the Servians must have been if that was what had +happened. Or they might have been caught as they emerged from the +tunnel. Or—but he shook off such ideas. There was no reason yet to +suppose that everything was not all right. And the important thing was +to get Hallo to the boathouse. It was absolutely vital, now that Hallo +knew about that refuge, and also the identity of his former office boy, +that Hallo should not escape to use his knowledge, since he could do +incalculable mischief to the cause that Dick had now made his own.</p> + +<p>Hallo went along stumbling, groaning, growling. Finally Dick did begin +to feel sorry for him. After all, the man was in bad condition. He had +been painfully hurt by the crashing down of the big packing case, and +his fright and escape through the water had weakened and tired him, even +before that. Now he seemed to be in the last stages of exhaustion, and +when he began to plead with Dick on account of his weariness, rather +than with promises or threats, he was on the right track. Perhaps that +feeling threw Dick off his guard for a moment. At any rate, when Hallo +finally made his bid for freedom he chose the most, perhaps the only, +opportune moment.</p> + +<p>Dick had taken his eyes off him for a moment, and had loosened his hold +on the butt of his automatic. And just then Hallo stopped suddenly, +whipped back his foot, and tripped Dick neatly and successfully. Dick +went down; before he could reach for the pistol, Hallo was on top of +him. Exhausted though he was, Hallo outweighed Dick still as much as +ever, and he was strong as well. Dick fought well, but the surprise had +been complete. As he reached for the pistol, Hallo seized his arm and +in a moment was twisting it around behind his back in a cruel hammer +lock hold—that deadliest of wrestling grips, that means a broken arm +for the victim unless he yields. The struggle was over in a moment, and +the positions were now completely reversed.</p> + +<p>Hallo had the pistol, and he was in as absolute command as Dick had been +while he still held it.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Hallo. "I said your time would come, Dick, my lad! And it +has! You're in my power now! I could kill you, do you know that?"</p> + +<p>Dick did not answer; he was thinking too hard. And there was nothing for +him to say, anyhow. He had been neatly tricked, and, though he was badly +frightened and ready to admit it to himself, it was impossible not to +admire Hallo, so adroit had he been in seizing his one chance of escape.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I could kill you easily enough," Hallo repeated. "And no one would +blame me. I have proof that you are a spy, and it is a praiseworthy +thing to kill a spy. But I shall not. I shall be generous to you, Dick, +even if you did not remember our old friendship. I shall take you back +with me, and turn you over to the soldiers, and they will try you +fairly, and let the American consul defend you, and then they will shoot +you."</p> + +<p>A perfect frenzy of revenge seemed to seize the Hungarian as Dick +maintained his silence.</p> + +<p>"Oh, they will know how to make you talk!" he cried. "Keep still, then, +if you like! I don't care! You would come here after me? You would try +to make me pay back the money you say I took? Well, then, I did take it! +And why not? I could use it better than your foolish family! Ah, Dick, +it does not pay to monkey with the buzz-saw, as your father used to say! +Does it? I am a buzz-saw—yes, that is what I am! Now, then, march! But +turn the other way!"</p> + +<p>"I'm not afraid of you," said Dick, breaking his silence at last and +speaking in a contemptuous voice. "I think you're pretty brave, though, +Mike. I didn't think so a little while ago. I thought you were a great +coward. But if you have the courage to go to the army authorities after +the destruction of the arsenal, you are a brave man, and I respect you +for that, even if you are a thief!"</p> + +<p>Hallo stared at him stupidly for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Eh? What is that?" he said. "No matter! March! You are trying to bluff +me, as you Americans say, and you cannot do it! They will know the truth +when I tell them. They will believe me. They will not think that I had +anything to do with that."</p> + +<p>"You say so—but you don't believe what you're saying yourself," said +Dick. "When they hear about how you have been going on, they will think +it funny that you did not know about this plot in time to warn them. Do +you think they will try us at the same time?"</p> + +<p>But he stepped out, just the same, for Hallo was beginning to look +dangerous. He looked frightened, too, and Dick felt that it was not at +all certain that Hallo would force him to go all the way. When he had +had time to think for a little of what the attitude of the Austrian +commander was likely to be, Dick thought military headquarters in Semlin +would be about the last place that he would seek!</p> + +<p>Even so, however, there did not seem to be much to make Dick hopeful. +For it was just as likely that Hallo would shoot him if he decided to +stay away from Semlin as that he would let him go.</p> + +<p>But then there came just the interruption for which Dick had prayed. +Ahead of them appeared half a dozen figures walking swiftly, at their +head a smaller man or boy, his eyes on the ground. Dick's heart gave a +leap.</p> + +<p>"Into the field there!" said Hallo, with a growl.</p> + +<p>Dick obeyed, scattering the last kernels of corn. And five minutes later +a wild rush, led by Stepan Dushan, caught them. Once more the tables +were turned, and Hallo was a prisoner for the third time that night!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>BELGRADE</h3> + + +<p>Now there was plain sailing before them. The Servians were all armed, +and they had proved that night, if it needed proof, that they had the +sort of courage that enables a man to take the one chance of escape in a +hundred when a desperate thing is to be done. No ordinary obstacle could +possibly keep them from the boathouse now.</p> + +<p>Relieved of his care of Hallo, Dick fell into step beside Stepan.</p> + +<p>"You saved the day for us," said Stepan. "If you had not been there, he +would have caught me—and he would have been in time to save the arsenal +from destruction. That is going to prove the most important feat of the +war, I do believe. There will be great news soon unless I am greatly +mistaken. Now tell me of what happened after I left you."</p> + +<p>"There isn't much to tell," said Dick. "He was clever enough to think +that he might be followed and trapped me—but, after all, it was better +so. I should have had to try to stop him if he had gone into a house, +and the place might not have been so quiet and deserted as the one he +chose."</p> + +<p>Dick went on to tell of the strange walk that he and Hallo had taken, +and Steve laughed heartily. But his face was grave when Dick had +finished.</p> + +<p>"It seems trifling enough now," he said, "but it was no laughing matter, +Dick. You were in terrible danger all the time, of course, and anyone +less cool and clear headed would never have come through so well. Having +Hallo gives us a breathing spell. We may be able to use the boathouse +still. If he had got away, even after the arsenal was blown up, we could +never have used it. We may not have to. I think most of our work here in +Semlin was finished to-night. Soon the armies in the field will be doing +the work, and the time for the spies will have passed."</p> + +<p>At the boathouse Milikoff joined them, his face glowing.</p> + +<p>"All here? Not a man lost? That makes it so much the better!" he +exclaimed, happily. "And—what? You have Hallo again? Welcome back, +Hallo! This is splendid!"</p> + +<p>"I think we had better get away," said Stepan. "After this business +to-night, there will be a most searching examination, and it would be +dangerous for any of us to stay here. We cannot carry many in the motor +boat, but there will be time for her to make three trips, and that will +be enough. I shall run her back first, and take my friend Dick Warner +and Hallo. One other can come. You, Milikoff?"</p> + +<p>"No. I shall go on the last trip," said Milikoff. "Let one of the men +bring her back. It will be your part to see that Hallo is looked after +in Belgrade."</p> + +<p>So they ventured out into the yellow Danube again. This time the voyage +promised to be more dangerous. The destruction of the arsenal had +aroused all the forces defending Semlin to a high pitch, and +searchlights danced incessantly about, winking first one way, then +another. There was still a blaze of light at the confluence of the Save +and the Danube, but more searchlights seemed to be in use, and the +Austrians were not as perfunctory as they had been, but flashed them +here, there, and anywhere.</p> + +<p>However, Steve was a skillful handler of the swift little craft. Darting +forward when the flashing of a light left a space dark, turning this way +and that, coming almost to a full stop when the river ahead was suddenly +lighted, he played hide and seek amid the great, flashing beams of +light. And at last they were well beyond them, and could sweep across +the river and come to the safe haven of the little wharf on the Servian +shore.</p> + +<p>A few explanations then, and Steve reluctantly turned over the boat he +had guided so well to another, while he and Dick, with Hallo and one of +the other men who had come with them, tumbled into a military automobile +that was waiting. There was a swift rush to the citadel, where Steve +turned over his prisoner.</p> + +<p>"He's a slippery customer," Dick said, in warning.</p> + +<p>"He won't get away from us," the officer promised.</p> + +<p>And then—sleep! Sleep that was almost as welcome as it had been the +night before or, rather, the morning before. For again they had been +busy through all the hours of darkness, and it was daylight before they +got to bed.</p> + +<p>This time, when Dick awoke at last, Steve was still there, and he yawned +luxuriously when Dick woke him up.</p> + +<p>"Nothing to do to-day!" he said. "At least, nothing that I know of now! +It's a real holiday, Dick. I can tell you it feels good, too. I wouldn't +have missed the chance to do what I've been able to do for Servia, but +I'm tired now."</p> + +<p>"I should think you would be," said Dick. "You haven't only had to work +hard, but there's been the chance always that you would be caught."</p> + +<p>"I know. But I didn't think much about it, Dick. I was too busy. The +chief danger was that Hallo would find me looking through his papers +some time. He might not have suspected that I was a spy, but that would +certainly have ended any chance there was for me to get more news."</p> + +<p>They got up then, and enjoyed a great meal at their leisure, while old +Maritza looked on and kept their plates full, and scolded Stepan for +having caught cold the night before. She said he must have caught cold, +because he was hoarse, and laughed at him when he said it was only +because he had been so tired.</p> + +<p>"You say there's nothing for us to do?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but I didn't mean it. There's plenty to do, only it's stupid +compared to the sort of thing we have done. There are errands of all +sorts to be run, and I believe that there is a good deal of help to be +given to the poor people. It's mostly their houses that have been +knocked about in the bombardment, you see. We don't have to do it, of +course. The rest of the scouts here have been busy that way, and I'm +excused from that sort of work because I was detailed to this special +service. Still I think I'll lend a hand until there is more work for me +from the Intelligence Department."</p> + +<p>"When will that be, do you suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's no telling. It depends on the way the campaign runs. Now, +for a time, it's all a question of how General Pushkin's plans work out. +And he has two plans. Russia has declared war, and that means that +Austria can't concentrate a great force against us. But the question is +whether she will try to crush us before she turns against Russia, or +whether she will just hold both Russia and Servia safe. If she throws a +great army against us, General Pushkin won't risk a decisive battle. +He'll go back into the hills and worry them until they have to detach +troops for the other front. If the Russians begin coming down through +the passes of the Carpathians into Hungary, you'll see the Austrians +sending troops back to meet them in a hurry. It wouldn't make so much +difference, from a military point of view, even if the Russians got to +Buda-Pesth. But it would pretty nearly cause a revolution in Hungary, +and a separate peace."</p> + +<p>So when they had finished their meal, they went down toward the river. +The desultory, useless bombardment was still going on, but it was not +doing great damage, though it seemed to Dick that it was. A great many +important buildings had been struck, and were in ruins, and in the lower +quarters of the city there were plenty of evidences of war. But Steve +pointed out that none of this could have any effect upon Servia's +ability to hold out.</p> + +<p>"It is all provided for in the plans of the general staff," he said. "As +long as our field army is in good shape, they can hammer away at +Belgrade as much as they like."</p> + +<p>Some important work was still being done. Money and papers of value were +being removed from the quarters where there was danger from the Austrian +cannon, and scouts, who seemed to be numerous, were guarding the +transfers. Others, whom Dick and Steve joined, were going through the +unaffected parts of the city to find houses that had room for the poor +people who had been driven from their homes by the enemy's fire. One +spirit seemed to move all classes; there was a universal readiness to +make sacrifices of any sort for the common good.</p> + +<p>"We have room for one family of five," would be the greeting, as they +knocked at a door, as soon as the inmates of the house saw Stepan's +uniform, which Dick saw him wear for the first time that day.</p> + +<p>So it went everywhere. Dick went to see the American consul, and told +his story, and the official assured him that he would find a means of +sending word of his safety to Consul Denniston in Semlin.</p> + +<p>"I've got ways of sending such messages, of course," the consul +explained. "They can't interfere with the messages of an American +consul. I saw Mr. Denniston a little while before the bridge was +destroyed, and he was quite worried about you. He'll be glad to know +that you are safe so far. I suppose, by the way, that you are strictly +neutral, as an American should be?"</p> + +<p>Dick hesitated, and the consul roared with laughter.</p> + +<p>"You don't have to answer that question!" he said. "I've got to be +neutral, worse luck! But, even so, sometimes I think I'll resign, just +so that I can take a chance with the side I'm on."</p> + +<p>"Which side is that, sir?" asked Dick, innocently.</p> + +<p>Once more the consul laughed.</p> + +<p>"I refuse to answer!" he said. "You might send a report back to +Washington and get me into trouble. But perhaps you can guess."</p> + +<p>The times that followed were uneventful enough in Belgrade, though +beyond the limits of the belabored Servian capital great things were +happening. There were scenes of wonderful rejoicing when it became known +that Russia had thrown herself to the aid of the little Slav state, and +still more wonderful scenes when the Servians learned that England and +France, as well, had been enlisted in their quarrel. They knew now that +they would not be made again a sacrifice to the peace of Europe, and +that Austria's attempt to bully them had precipitated the great war.</p> + +<p>Closer at hand, however, was the actual fighting between the Servians +and Austrians. On the Danube and the Save there were minor skirmishes. +Servian forts fired on Austrian vessels. In the Save, near the wrecked +bridge, a Servian mine destroyed an Austrian monitor. And along the line +of the border there was constant skirmishing. Red Cross flags began to +fly from many houses in Belgrade, and there was a constant stream of +wounded men. Not many came at once, or in any one day, but every day saw +some additions to the wounded who were being cared for.</p> + +<p>"But this doesn't look like a real battle yet, Steve," said Dick. "These +men have been wounded in outpost affairs, when at the most only a few +hundred men were engaged on either side."</p> + +<p>"Wait," said Stepan. "The great battles will come."</p> + +<p>And come they did. The news came first from Schabatz, as a wild rumor. +Belgrade was incredulous. The first reports were of a complete Servian +victory, of Austrian troops in panic-stricken flight. It seemed too good +to be true. But every hour not only confirmed these first reports, but +added to them. The Austrians had not alone been beaten; they had been +utterly routed, and were in full retreat in their own territory.</p> + +<p>Then Servian victories came thick and fast. Even while batches of +Austrian prisoners were being brought in, Servian troops in great +strength followed, and there was a daring, magnificent raid across the +Save, in which the Austrian monitors were driven out into the Danube and +away by the terrific fire of the splendidly handled big guns of the +Servians. For two or three splendid days Servian troops held Semlin, +before the exigencies of the strategy of the campaign forced them to +give up their prize and let the Austrians, now heavily reënforced, +reënter their capital city.</p> + +<p>"We couldn't stay, but we showed them what we could do, didn't we?" said +Stepan, exultingly.</p> + +<p>"Yes. But isn't there danger that they may come on now in great force?"</p> + +<p>"They are sure to do that," said Stepan, his eyes burning brightly. "It +is what we hope. Now the second stage of the campaign will begin. They +have already sent great reënforcements into Bosnia, and the army that we +and Montenegro sent against Serajevo has had to retire. Remember, Dick, +we are not fighting this war alone. Russia is at war, too. It was our +aim to compel the Austrians to withdraw many troops from Galicia and +Bukowina and the passes of the Carpathians. Now they have done that, and +we shall see. They are beginning to advance across the Drina toward +Valjevo. We shall see soon what the result is to be."</p> + +<p>That prophecy was soon made good. For now the Austrians poured across +the northern and western borders of little Servia in overwhelming +force, and the Servian armies, muttering, fighting as they went, fell +back before them. Behind Belgrade, to the south of the city, the Servian +army that had won the great victory of Schabatz gave ground, lest it be +taken in the rear by the Austrian advance from Valjevo, and that +movement changed the whole aspect of affairs. That army had been the +real protection of Belgrade. As soon as it retreated the Austrians +marched into the city. But it had taken them five months, instead of as +many days, to accomplish their end.</p> + +<p>"We are to stay," Stepan had said, when it was certain that Belgrade +must fall. And they had stayed, unmolested by the small Austrian force +of occupation.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>BETWEEN THE LINES</h3> + + +<p>The Austrian occupation made surprisingly little difference in the outer +aspect of Belgrade. The bombardment, which had been maintained +spasmodically and at intervals ever since the outbreak of war, ceased, +of course. There were a good many Austrian soldiers about, but these +were not the trim, soldierly looking men one might have expected to see. +Dick commented on this.</p> + +<p>"They're reservists, and last line men, at that," said Stepan. "A lot of +them wear spectacles, you'll notice, and they're the older men, who +aren't fit to work in the field. A lot of those chaps would keel over if +they had to spend a night in a trench half full of water, or to march +twenty miles without a halt. But they are all right for this sort of +work. You can't count on them for fighting, but they do the work that +would otherwise take up a lot of fighting men."</p> + +<p>"Will there be anything for us to do, Stepan?"</p> + +<p>"I think a great deal. I haven't heard anything yet, except that we are +to stay."</p> + +<p>"Do you think it's safe for me? I don't think I care much, but I mean if +they were looking for me in Semlin, isn't there a chance that I'll be +picked up now?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so. That was Hallo's doing, you see. He's disappeared, +and so there's nothing to urge them to go after you."</p> + +<p>"Where is Hallo? I was afraid that perhaps he would have been found and +set free when the Austrians came."</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it! He's too valuable to be allowed to get off so +easily—or to be shot either," answered Steve.</p> + +<p>"Then he was taken away?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He's being very carefully looked after in the interior now—in +Nissa or Nish, probably. Dick, suppose you go and see your consul here +again—Mr. Hampton. I'd like to know what he thinks about things. And +you can consult him, too, about your own position," Steve replied.</p> + +<p>"So you're still here, are you?" said Mr. Hampton. "I thought you might +have run away with the Servians. But you did well to stay. I'm afraid +the Austrians are going right through this country now, the way a circus +acrobat goes through a paper hoop. It's the old story—the little +country is left to perish, like Belgium and Servia, while the big +fellows attend to their own knitting."</p> + +<p>"You think the Servian retreat is serious, then, sir?"</p> + +<p>"I think it's the beginning of the end, my boy—and if I wasn't afraid +that it wouldn't sound neutral, I'd say I was sorry for it, too! They've +made a game fight, and they deserved better luck. But look at the map +for yourself! The Austrians have the whole grain growing section. The +Servian army will starve to death if the Austrians don't force it to +fight and wipe it out."</p> + +<p>"I see. It does look bad when you look at it that way, sir," said Dick +rather slowly.</p> + +<p>"And there's no other way of looking at it. Pushkin has shot his bolt. +He won a fine victory at Schabatz, but he's up against the Austrians in +overwhelming numbers now. He's been running away mighty well, too, but +he can't keep that up forever. He'll have to fight when they get him +cornered, just as the French did in 1870 at Sedan. And that will be the +end of organized Servian resistance."</p> + +<p>"I hope not, but it does look like it, sir. I'd like to see him turn the +tables, though."</p> + +<p>Stepan listened with a good deal of interest to Dick's report of his +conversation with the consul.</p> + +<p>"That's the outside view—yes," said Stepan. "It's the Austrian view, +too! What did he say about you, Dick?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he said I'd better stay here for a time. Mr. Denniston had spoken +to him about me, he said, and they agreed that I had better wait here in +Belgrade until things were more settled. Mr. Denniston told him that +there was still a formal charge against me in Semlin, but that he was +trying to get it withdrawn. After that he will arrange for me to get +home, he says. He is very kind."</p> + +<p>"Yes. But you don't want to go home until you have settled matters with +Hallo, do you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I don't. But I suppose there's very little chance of my being able +to do that now. And I guess I ought to get back and start in doing +whatever I can, instead of spending any more time trying to run after a +will-o'-the-wisp like the money Hallo stole from us."</p> + +<p>"We shall see," said Stepan, with a twinkle in his eye. "But in the +meantime you are still ready to stand by us if there is anything to be +done, aren't you, Dick?"</p> + +<p>"You bet I am! As long as I can't get home, I want to be doing something +if I can."</p> + +<p>"Well, I think there'll be something to do, all right, before very long. +And here's something you want to remember. There are other ways of +getting back to America from here than through Buda-Pesth and Vienna. +The railway from Nish to Salonica is open, and there are steamers from +Salonica to Athens, and from Athens to New York."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but the railway from here to Nish isn't open, Steve. And I haven't +the money to go that way, anyhow."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps that will be arranged. Wait and see," said Stepan, +mysteriously.</p> + +<p>"You've got something up your sleeve," said Dick, indignantly. But he +could not remain angry long with Stepan. "Oh, I'm not going to plague +you with questions, Steve! I know you—and you'll tell me what's in the +air as soon as you get ready. I suppose it's got something to do with +those mysterious absences of yours in the last two weeks before the +Austrians came?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps you're right, Dick. You'll know soon, never fear!"</p> + +<p>Two more days dragged by without news from the interior, save for the +Austrian bulletins announcing the continued progress of their army that +was operating from Losnitza as a base, and driving toward the centre of +Servia and the ultimate fortress of Nish.</p> + +<p>But on the evening of the second day when Dick had finally taken his +place at the table, upon old Maritza's insistence, without waiting any +longer for Stepan, Steve arrived, with an air of great secrecy and +importance.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, Maritza, and give me a good dinner!" he said. "I don't know when +you will see us again!"</p> + +<p>"What new madness is this?" asked Maritza, crossly. But, like Dick, she +knew well enough that she would learn nothing from Stepan until he was +ready to tell her. So she obeyed, grumbling.</p> + +<p>"Ready? Go and put on your warmest clothes, then!" said Stepan. +"Better—I will lend you some of mine. You have none that are warm +enough!"</p> + +<p>"None that are warm enough? What nonsense! It isn't very cold—and I +have a thick overcoat!"</p> + +<p>"But you can't wear that! Come, I will show you."</p> + +<p>Dick roared with laughter when he and Steve were finally arrayed to +Stepan's satisfaction. First each had put on two suits of thick woolen +underwear, and two pairs of thick woolen socks apiece. The socks were so +thick that they had to have resort to shoes that belonged to Stepan's +father, since they could not get on their own. Then heavy winter suits +of Steve's, with a sweater apiece under the coats, and on their heads +fur caps, with ear muffs.</p> + +<p>"Are we going to the North Pole?" asked Dick.</p> + +<p>"Never mind! I'll promise you that before long you will wish that you +had warmer clothes still!"</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it, Steve! I don't see how it's possible! I'm +suffocating now—and I've been out, and know how cold it is."</p> + +<p>Stepan did not answer. Instead, he led the way downstairs, and going +into the garden, peered out until a cart came up, driven by a peasant. +This cart apparently contained potatoes—and in reality, too, although +in a few moments the two scouts were hidden under the load.</p> + +<p>"This is a loyal peasant—and one of our best spies!" said Stepan. "The +Austrians trust him because he seems to be so stupid, and so we can pass +through the line of sentries to the south. If we tried to walk we would +be turned back. He is taking these potatoes to the advanced positions of +the Austrians."</p> + +<p>"That's fine, only I'd like to know what we are going to do after we +have passed the sentries! We shall be within two Austrian lines even +then, shan't we?"</p> + +<p>"We certainly shall—but we shan't stay there!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I give it up! I never was good at guessing riddles, anyhow!"</p> + +<p>"Sh-h! We can't tell when we're near the sentries, and we'd better keep +quiet now."</p> + +<p>After a little time the cart stopped with a jolt, and they heard the +peasant driver, as he seemed to be, exchanging rough jests with the +sentries. Then there was a grounding of arms, and they passed on. For +perhaps fifteen minutes they continued to jolt along, and for the first +time Dick was glad, despite the heat, that he was wearing such thick +garments, since they saved him, he was convinced, a good many bruises. +He decided that that must be the reason they had worn them. Then the +cart stopped and the driver began to make a way for them to get out, +which they were glad to do.</p> + +<p>"All right—good luck and good-night, Ivan!" said Stepan.</p> + +<p>"And to you, good luck and the grace of God, Stepan Ivanovitch!" said +the driver. "There is nothing more that I can do?"</p> + +<p>"No. Good-bye!"</p> + +<p>The cart rumbled off, and Stepan turned off to the right. Dick asked no +questions, but went along, satisfied that the mystery must soon be +solved. And indeed it was. They were on level ground now, but soon they +began to descend, and found themselves in a rather wide ravine. There +was a sudden challenge: "Who goes there?" delivered in Servian!</p> + +<p>"Kossovo!" answered Stepan.</p> + +<p>"Pass," said the sentry, who was not in uniform, and carried a revolver +instead of a rifle.</p> + +<p>And then, a few paces further on, they came to a strange mass covered +with canvas. A man stepped out of the shadow, flashing an electric torch +in their faces.</p> + +<p>"Stepan? That is good!" he said.</p> + +<p>Stepan went forward and drew off the canvas cover, and Dick saw what was +underneath—a monoplane, as he had guessed!</p> + +<p>"That is a captured Austrian 'plane," said Stepan. "Now do you +understand? Are you willing to take the risk of flying in it with me?"</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't miss it!" said Dick. "But I didn't know you knew how to run +one!"</p> + +<p>"He is one of our very few qualified aviators," said the man who had +been on guard. "And every day now for weeks he has been coming here to +study the controls and all the details of this machine. It is in +perfect order, ready to take the air."</p> + +<p>"And an Austrian monoplane! Why, we can fly over their lines!" exclaimed +Dick. "How splendid! But what are you to do, Steve?"</p> + +<p>"You will soon know. Get aboard! Your seat is there. Strap him in, +Dmitri, while I see to the tank."</p> + +<p>"Everything is right," said Dmitri. "But make sure for yourself—that is +a good rule."</p> + +<p>In a minute Stepan was satisfied and had taken his place beside Dick. +Then the motor was started, the propeller began to turn, and in a few +moments they rose from the ground, soared above the trees, and were in +full flight.</p> + +<p>"Now you see why we had to be warm!" said Stepan. "We are in for a long +flight. But up first! We must fly high!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>THE FLIGHT</h3> + + +<p>They rose higher and higher, climbing in spirals, until Dick had +completely lost his bearings. The night was cloudy, and there were no +stars to help him, and before long they had passed through the first +layer of low hanging clouds, so that he was denied the aid of lights and +towns below. Then when they had thus made it impossible for anyone below +to detect them, Stepan gave his motor full play and the real flight +began. Dick thought he had never in his life known a sensation so +glorious as this swift gliding along through the air. But he soon +appreciated the comfort that came from the thick clothes upon which his +chum had insisted. Despite the weight of the things, he was far from +being hot in that long night flight.</p> + +<p>Sometimes he slept. He was aroused once when they descended, but the +country was wholly unfamiliar to him, and they were soon off again. But +with morning came a stunning surprise. The sun was visible now, and Dick +saw that they had been flying northeast! He had supposed that they would +head for the Servian army, but he guessed now, as he saw snow capped +mountains before them, that they had taken an entirely different course. +And his surprise was vastly increased when a strange sound assailed his +ears.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried Stepan, exulting. "It is all right!"</p> + +<p>Dick followed Stepan's pointing finger with his eyes, and now he saw the +source of the firing that had so astonished him. It was in front of him, +on the plain between them and the mountains, which were far away still, +though they seemed so near.</p> + +<p>"What troops are those? And where are we?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"We have flown across Hungary in the night, and those are Hungarian +regiments, giving way before the advance of Russian troops who have come +through the passes from Galicia!" cried Stepan. "But that is not what +counts! Look down there—to the right!"</p> + +<p>Dick looked. What he saw was a small village that had suddenly become a +city. Trains were drawing in, and a dozen or more sidings contained +strings of cars that had evidently arrived during the night. As they +looked a train stopped and soldiers poured from it.</p> + +<p>"Do you understand? Can you realize what that means, Dick?" cried +Stepan. "They are sending reënforcements from Servia! Those troops were +among those who were attacking us. The Russian invasion through the +passes has brought them back! That is what we came for—to learn if that +were so!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I do understand now!" cried Dick, as a great light burst on his +mind. He saw it all. This was what Servia had been hoping for; a +weakening of the forces massed against her. No wonder it had been +all-important to know if the reënforcement had really been sent! Then +his eye wandered, and he saw something coming through the air—another +aeroplane was approaching them.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Stepan! Here comes one of their machines!" he cried.</p> + +<p>Stepan seized his glass on the instant.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" he said. "That is bad luck for it is one of their newer, faster +machines! We must try to get away! Here, take this rifle. If she comes +so near that she discovers who we really are, we must fight. Aim for the +tank. A bullet through that will send them down quickly! But don't fire +until I give the word. It is better to run than to fight, if we can."</p> + +<p>And now, as if he had not seen the hostile aeroplane, Stepan turned and +began to race south, in the direction whence they had come. There +followed the most exciting of possible contests—a real race between +aeroplanes, not for a prize or a trophy, but with life itself, or +liberty at least, as the price of victory or the penalty of defeat.</p> + +<p>With the slower, clumsier machine, Stepan still made a wonderful +showing. He went up, then down, twisting this way and that, +manœuvering with brilliant skill. The other machine followed, +however, and it was gaining constantly, thanks to its better motor. +Still it did not fire a shot, for it must have been difficult for the +pilot to know what possessed the machine that he chased. It was so +obviously an Austrian monoplane, yet its actions were suspicious.</p> + +<p>At last Stepan reduced his speed. At the moment they were above the +rival birdman, who was climbing to get on a level.</p> + +<p>"Now—and aim for the tank!" cried Stepan.</p> + +<p>Dick fired. His first bullet went wide, and cut through the wing. But +the next one found its mark. They could hear the sharp ping as it struck +the metal tank, even above the roar of the two racing engines. And then +another—and all three before the enemy could reply.</p> + +<p>"Good! We are saved!" cried Stepan.</p> + +<p>For the Austrian machine staggered like a bird hit on the wing, reeled, +and then plunged downward. One bullet sang past them, dangerously close, +but that was all. In a moment they were alone in the heavens, racing +toward Servia, while behind them the roar of battle continued.</p> + +<p>On and on they flew. They passed over Belgrade and Semlin late in the +afternoon, when the sun was sinking. It was dark when they crossed a +plain from which great numbers of troops stared up at them. But they +were flying very high and very fast, and though two more Austrian +aeroplanes began to pursue, there was no danger that they would be +caught. And at last, weary, exhausted, they came to earth in the Servian +camp.</p> + +<p>"Come with me," said Stepan. Willing hands were caring for the +aeroplane, and now a staff officer came up.</p> + +<p>"You are Stepan Dushan?" he asked. "I am to take you to the general!"</p> + +<p>"My companion, too," insisted Stepan.</p> + +<p>And so Dick was present when Stepan made his report to the veteran +general who commanded the Servian army. He saw the light that came into +the leader's eyes when he heard of the arrival of the Austrian troops in +Hungary and listened, with admiration, to the sharp fusillade of orders +which interrupted Stepan's narrative.</p> + +<p>"Now we know what to do!" said the general. "Now we shall fall upon +them. The battle will begin to-night! They have been trying to force a +battle. Well, they shall have it! Go, now, sleep. In the morning there +will be great sights for your eyes!"</p> + +<p>And in the morning, indeed, Dick and Stepan were present when King +Peter, his snowy hair bared to the wind, rode before his troops.</p> + +<p>"The time has come, my children!" said the old king. "The time has come +for us to drive the invader from Servian soil! We have had to retreat, +and it has been hard! But now—now we can strike! This is the dawn of +Servia's greatest day, in victory or defeat! Your old king has come now +to see you conquer—or to die among you!"</p> + +<p>What a cheer there was as the king spoke! What a roar greeted him! With +what eagerness did the troops hail the order to advance!</p> + +<p>Already the cannon were thundering. Soon now rifle fire in sullen, +crackling volleys broke upon the air. And that day the Austrians learned +that they had walked into a trap; that Servia's army had retreated, not +because it was beaten, not because it was afraid, but that it might +fight, when the time for battle came, on its own chosen ground. From the +east came the army that had guarded Belgrade for so long, striking at +the Austrian flank. And once more an Austrian defeat became a rout. Once +more the Servians pursued.</p> + +<p>Dick and Stepan could see only a little of the great struggle. But that +little was enough to teach them that they were looking upon history in +the making. The battle was one of those crushing, decisive struggles +that seldom occur. With defeat the last hope of a successful Austrian +invasion of little Servia seemed to be shattered and when the sun went +down there was no longer any doubt of the issue.</p> + +<p>The Austrians had fought well and bravely, but the Servians had fought +with the courage of despair and the cool precision of trained soldiers +used to victory, as well. The stars that night looked down upon the +abject flight of the Austrian army, split in two parts, scattering its +arms, its equipment, everything that would retard the search for safety +from the furious pursuit of the Servians.</p> + +<p>"We let them have Belgrade—for a few days!" said Stepan, drunk with +happiness. "But now we want it for ourselves—our capital is the place +to celebrate a victory!"</p> + +<p>And so it proved. Two divisions of the beaten Austrians were caught at +the Danube, where Servian guns had smashed to pieces a bridge of boats +cunningly contrived for retreat. And while they were making their last +feeble resistance, a brigade of Servians marched into Belgrade. Flags +flew everywhere and the people hailed the return of their own troops +deliriously. When the king himself rode in, disdaining the carriage that +had been provided for his use on account of his age, the city seemed to +go mad. The thunder of the guns to the east died away; the Austrians who +had been cut off had had enough of fighting and had surrendered. The +Servians were the victors.</p> + +<p>"It is wonderful! It will surprise the world!" said Dick. "Why, Mr. +Hampton said that everyone believed Servia had lost her last chance, and +that the country was about to be overrun, like Belgium!"</p> + +<p>Dick met General Dushan, Steve's father. And it was the general, his +eyes filled with tears of pride over the exploits of his son, who told +them of a great honor that awaited them.</p> + +<p>"The king has ordered me to bring you both before him," he said. "He has +heard of the part you played in the destruction of the Semlin arsenal +and he has learned that it was that feat that made the great victory of +Schabatz possible. If the Austrians had had ammunition enough to serve +their guns, they would have beaten us there."</p> + +<p>Dick was embarrassed and timid when he was called upon to stand forth +and meet King Peter. But the old man, simple and, democratic, soon put +him at his ease. He held out his hand and gripped Dick's, and then he +spoke to him in English.</p> + +<p>"Servia thanks you, through me, her king," he said. "I wish you to wear +this decoration with our gratitude! And I have heard of the mission that +brought you to Semlin—so fortunately for us. General Dushan knows my +pleasure in that matter."</p> + +<p>"Come with me, both of you," said General Dushan. He took them to the +citadel, and there, in a little while, Hallo was brought before the +general, his hands linked with steel handcuffs.</p> + +<p>"Michael Hallo," said General Dushan, sternly, "you have been tried and +found guilty, and sentenced to death as a spy and a traitor. But His +Majesty has been pleased to grant you a reprieve—on a certain +condition. If you will sign an order to Richard Warner upon the State +Bank here for the payment of a sum equivalent to two hundred thousand +dollars, you will be confined as a political prisoner until the end of +the war, and then released. Do you agree?"</p> + +<p>There was hate in Hallo's eyes, but he was helpless—and he agreed, to +save his life.</p> + +<p>"I told you it would be arranged," said Stepan, three days later, when +Mr. Denniston, the consul in Semlin, had arranged for the transfer of +Dick's money to New York. "And now you are going to Salonica, with an +escort to the border—and I am going all the way to Athens to see you +off! Think of us sometimes—and when the war is over, I will visit you +in New York!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>HALLO'S LAST CARD</h3> + + +<p>"I'm going to give you drafts on New York, Dick," Mr. Denniston had +said. "In ordinary times, that wouldn't be the best way—I'd simply +arrange for transfer of your money by mail or cable. But now, in war +times, with the mails badly held up and most of the cables cut, that is +more difficult. There might be months of delay in getting the money if +we trusted to ordinary arrangements."</p> + +<p>"I see, sir," said Dick, though he did not understand the details of +international banking any too well.</p> + +<p>"You've had such a hard time getting this, and you've done so splendidly +that I'd hate to think there was any chance of some slip making trouble +for you now," the consul went on. "But with these drafts you'll be all +right. Take good care of them—but I needn't tell you that, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"Hardly!" said Dick, with a laugh. "But no one else could cash them, +even if I lost them, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Not if payment were stopped. The only danger would be if you lost them +in such a way that whoever got them forged your signature and then kept +you from being able to warn the people in New York not to pay them. But +of course there'd be a long delay and it's just possible that you might +lose heavily. So guard them carefully—just as if they were actual +money. I'll give you a money belt to put them in—"</p> + +<p>"I have one myself, thanks," said Dick.</p> + +<p>"General Dushan has arranged for your trip, I understand," said the +consul. "How do you go?"</p> + +<p>"Through Nisha to the Greek border—no, to the Bulgarian line, I +believe," said Dick. "They decided that that was safer than the direct +route to Athens. I sail from Salonica. Stepan Dushan says there are +raiding bands of Albanians south of Uskub and getting near to Monastir, +and that that section isn't safe, anyhow—that it hasn't settled down +properly since the last wars."</p> + +<p>"It's true enough," said Mr. Denniston, with a faint frown. "That whole +region is unsettled. You see, Servia took a good deal of territory +Bulgaria claimed and there are a good many Bulgarians living in it. I +hope that Servia will see its way, if it gets what it wants from Bosnia +and Herzegovina, to give that section back to Bulgaria. That's the only +way we can have a real and lasting peace here in the Balkans—and Heaven +knows we need it, after three great wars in as many years!"</p> + +<p>All arrangements were made finally. After the great victory that had +driven the Austrians from her soil, Servia was like a man panting for +breath. The whole country was resting, gathering its strength after that +tremendous effort. But there was a good deal of activity, nevertheless. +The ruin the invaders had wrought was being repaired. Railroads had to +be rebuilt; ammunition and stores brought up. For the Austrians, badly +beaten though they had been, were likely to come again.</p> + +<p>So it had seemed best for Dick and his chum, with the escort of hardy +Servian cavalrymen General Dushan provided, to ride to the border.</p> + +<p>"It'll take us longer, of course," said Stepan, "but not so much. The +railroad is torn to pieces, and even where trains are running, the +military service has the right of way."</p> + +<p>"I'd just as soon ride, anyhow," said Dick. "It gives one a much better +chance to see the country."</p> + +<p>So it was arranged, and they started from Belgrade before the sun was up +on a morning of mist and heavy clouds. Later the sun swept the mist and +clouds away, and they rode through a devastated, horrible country. The +ravages of war were visible on all sides.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well!" said Stepan, with a sigh, as he looked out at the ruin of +what had been a smiling, happy land, "the ones who are coming after us +will live in peace! Those who have been driven from their homes and +have died have suffered for them. Servia will be able to live after this +war without feeling that Austria may move at any minute to crush her. +And that is worth some suffering!"</p> + +<p>"Everything's so quiet here I don't see why we need an escort at all, +Stepan," said Dick. "We haven't seen anyone who'd harm a fly—if it was +a Servian fly."</p> + +<p>"That's true so far," said Stepan, but a grim look came into his eyes. +"We shall come, though, to a country where we may meet more trouble. I +hope we shall not need the escort—but one can never tell. And I haven't +wanted to alarm you, Dick, but this Hallo has a reputation for not +giving things up easily. You have a great sum of what he may think is +his money, though he stole it from your family. He will not let you get +home with that if he finds a way to stop you."</p> + +<p>"But how can he do that while he is a prisoner in Belgrade?" laughed +Dick.</p> + +<p>"He is a prisoner—yes," said Stepan, somberly. "But there are many who +have worked for him who are not prisoners. Oh, I may be wrong, and I +shouldn't worry you without reason, Dick! But I don't want you to feel +too secure; I don't want you to think that all the danger is over. It +won't be until we are safely in Salonica."</p> + +<p>They had to bid farewell to their escort at last. The troopers went with +them to a lonely spot, marked only by a border monument and two small +houses—quarters of the Servian and Bulgarian frontier guards. Here +there was peace but not friendship. The memories of the bitter summer of +1913, when the allies who had been fighting the Turks, side by side, +turned against one another in one of the bloodiest and sharpest wars in +history, were all too fresh. The Bulgarians scowled at the sight of the +Servian uniforms; they subjected the two scouts to a close scrutiny when +they crossed the line, but their papers were in order and they were +allowed to proceed.</p> + +<p>Now, however, there seemed to be something sinister in the very air. +Scowling faces met them wherever they came upon peasants or soldiers, +and soldiers seemed almost unduly numerous. Then after a few hours of +riding, they saw no more soldiers. In their places, however, they +encountered bands of men in the national Bulgarian costume, rough, +hard-faced men with modern rifles, who seemed to be riding aimlessly. +Stepan ground his teeth at the sight of them.</p> + +<p>"They're not soldiers, oh, no!" he said. "You see they're not in +uniform. But do you notice how they sit their horses, and how they ride +in files? Undisciplined men never did that! Those bands are the ones +that cross over, raiding our borderlands. But what can we do? We have +enough without fighting Bulgaria, too, so we have to accept apologies +the Sofia government makes. If possible we want Bulgaria on our side. +But—! The treacherous dogs!"</p> + +<p>"Don't get so excited, Stepan," advised Dick. "I believe you hate them +more than you do the Austrians!"</p> + +<p>"I'll be glad when we cross over into Greece," grumbled Stephan. "The +Greeks are our allies and our friends. The only reason they have not +come to our aid is that they must watch Bulgaria. That helps us, of +course—Bulgaria dares not move while Greece is ready."</p> + +<p>It was late in the afternoon when they first noticed that they were no +longer traveling alone. Two Bulgarian merchants—so Stepan said, judging +from their appearance—passed them, riding wiry little horses; a little +later they overtook them, and after that the two Bulgarians stayed about +a hundred yards behind them, no matter how often they altered their +pace.</p> + +<p>"I don't like their looks," said Stepan. "I wish we didn't have to sleep +to-night on Bulgarian soil. Their inns—Dick, why should we sleep in an +inn? Let us buy provisions and spend the night out of doors! It will be +cold, but we have faced worse hardships than that together!"</p> + +<p>"I'm game!" laughed Dick. "Any inn we find on this road is sure to be +dirty, anyhow. It'll be a last adventure to think of, after all the +rest!"</p> + +<p>So it was agreed. In the first village they reached they stopped and +bought provisions. After dark they hobbled their horses and built a +lean-to shelter and a big camp-fire. The two Bulgarians passed them as +they began; soon one rode back.</p> + +<p>"I thought so!" said Stepan. "They're watching us, Dick."</p> + +<p>Dick looked at him curiously. There was a strange light in Stepan's +eyes. It was as if he could see things that are hidden from ordinary +sight. And before he could answer Stepan sprang to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Come!" he said. "Tear your shirt up into strips—I'm going to muffle +the feet of the horses."</p> + +<p>He went to work with a will, and Dick followed his example, smiling to +himself. He knew Stepan too well to argue with him in such a mood. But +that there was serious danger he could not believe for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Come!" said Stepan again, when they had finished. He took his horse and +led it into the field. They were in wooded country but the trees were +not thick, and they could pick a way through them.</p> + +<p>Dick looked back at the blazing fire regretfully.</p> + +<p>"Are you going on—now?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"For your sake," said Stepan, curtly. And Dick said no more.</p> + +<p>"A mile away there is another road. We have maps of all this region, of +course, and I studied them," said Stepan. "If we can reach a place I +have just thought of we may be safe."</p> + +<p>They came undisturbed to the parallel road. Then they mounted.</p> + +<p>"The horses are pretty tired," suggested Dick.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry for them, but I can't help that," said Stepan. "Come +on—ride!"</p> + +<p>From the start he set a hot pace. Before long Dick felt his horse was +growing more and more tired and finally he protested.</p> + +<p>"Slow up, then, if you like!" said Stepan, fiercely. "Don't you know by +this time that I don't speak of danger unless it is real? Perhaps you +want to be caught by these people! But they know me—and I know what +they would do to me! I don't intend to have them catch me, I can tell +you!"</p> + +<p>"Then why did you come with me?" asked Dick, angrily. He had never seen +his friend in such a mood before. Stepan's tone made him so angry that +he was almost able to forget how much he owed him.</p> + +<p>Stepan didn't answer. But just then, as they still rode on, forcing +their pace, they came to a turn in the road. A lone figure, mounted on a +big horse, was standing guard. At sight of them he leaned forward, then +cried out sharply, "Halt!"</p> + +<p>For answer Stepan spurred his horse on; Dick's followed. A shot rang +out; then another, and another, but no bullets came near them.</p> + +<p>"He's signalling. Now will you believe I was right?" asked Stepan +bitterly.</p> + +<p>The thunder of hoofs sounded on the road behind them. They sped on, but +suddenly Dick's horse lurched and almost threw him over its head, Dick +pulled him up; the poor brute was limping.</p> + +<p>"He can't go on!" said Dick. "Stepan—"</p> + +<p>"Then you'll have to shift for yourself!" shouted Stepan, brutally. +"I've done all I can for you!"</p> + +<p>And, leaving Dick dumbfounded, he spurred on and was soon visible only +as a cloud of dust! Dick could scarcely believe his eyes and ears. That +Stepan, his trusted friend, who had shared every imaginable peril with +him, could desert him so now! But he had not long to think. The pursuers +whose horses they had heard were on him in a minute more. Without a +struggle, since the odds were overwhelming—ten or twelve men assailed +him—he let himself be dragged from his horse and bound.</p> + +<p>One man came to him and searched him. When he found the belt he gave a +cry of triumph. The next moment he was examining the drafts.</p> + +<p>"Another one was with you?" he said, in excellent English and with a +marked American accent. Dick started. This looked like Hallo's work, +certainly. "Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"He's gone—to save himself," said Dick, bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Ah, well—you are the one we want," said his captor, who was plainly +the leader of the band. "Now, my young friend, endorse these drafts, in +blank, at once!"</p> + +<p>"I will not!" said Dick, hotly. "And you can tell Hallo so, too!"</p> + +<p>"You will not?" said the other, smoothly. "Then I will tell you what +will happen. I give you an hour—because I have lived in New York, and +done well there. I like you Americans. If you have not signed then, I +shall sign for you."</p> + +<p>"That will be forgery—and I shall stop payment!"</p> + +<p>"So? Suppose, when I leave you here, I leave you under the earth? There +are many graves in the Balkans in these days—new graves! One more or +less will matter little. Do you think it will ever give up its +secret—the one that shall hold you?"</p> + +<p>Something in the man's cool tone made Dick shiver. It carried +conviction—it made him believe that this was no idle threat. And yet he +felt that he could not yield. Oh, if only Stepan had not left him! He +was glad, now that his anger had cooled, that his chum was not involved +in this new trouble. And yet—he would have felt better had Stepan been +beside him, to share this peril, as he had shared so many others.</p> + +<p>"It is eleven o'clock now," said the brigand. "If at midnight you have +not signed—!"</p> + +<p>"That's enough," said Dick. "I'll think it over."</p> + +<p>"Light a fire—it is chilly," directed the chief of Dick's captors. "I +am a kindly man. I would not want this hour to prove a chilly one for +you."</p> + +<p>Strange and weird indeed Dick found the scene. There were eleven men, he +found, when he could count them. All wore the Bulgarian national +costume; all looked like soldiers, but he thought all were not +Bulgarians. There were Turks and Albanians among them. And then, +suddenly, one man pitched forward, very quietly, and lay still. The +others started toward him; two or three of them fell. They fell as Dick +had seen men fall when they were struck by bullets, though he had heard +no sound of a shot, but only a faint noise, like the cough of an animal.</p> + +<p>Then wild panic spread among his captors. They blazed away in all +directions with their guns; for the moment they forgot him. And then +silent, fierce figures were suddenly among them, cutting, stabbing—and +Stepan's cry rang out.</p> + +<p>"Dick! Dick! Are you safe?" he shouted.</p> + +<p>It was all over in a moment. Stepan, the tears streaming down his +cheeks, released Dick.</p> + +<p>"I lamed your horse—I had to pretend to desert you so that they would +believe you and let me go!" he cried. "I knew our horses were too tired +for us to escape unless we could delay them. A few miles from here is a +little colony of Serbs. We, you see, have to do something to get +warning of the border raids. They have guns with silencers—I knew I +could get help. Now we must ride for the Greek line, but we can make it +now!"</p> + +<p>On through the night they rode, leaving the dead and wounded behind, +while those who had been captured unhurt were tied and gagged. And +before daylight they came to a Greek frontier post. Greek soldiers +greeted them; there was a captain who had served with Stepan's father +against Bulgaria.</p> + +<p>"The road to Salonica is safe and open now!" he told them.</p> + +<p>And so it proved. Dick had recovered his papers and a week later, his +adventures over, he sailed from Athens, and waved to Stepan, standing on +the deck, until he could no longer see him. He was homeward bound.</p> + +<p>Hallo had played his last card—and lost.</p> + + +<h3><span class="smcap">The End.</span></h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/end.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="MARY_A_BYRNES_BOOKS" id="MARY_A_BYRNES_BOOKS"></a>MARY A. BYRNE'S BOOKS</h2> + + +<h3>THE FAIRY CHASER</h3> + +<blockquote><p>"Telling of two boys who go into the vegetable and +flower-raising business instead of humdrum commercial pursuits. +The characters and situations are realistic."—<i>PHILADELPHIA +TELEGRAPH</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>LITTLE DAME TROT</h3> + +<blockquote><p>One of the most pleasing of juveniles, made pathetic by the +strength with which the author pictures the central figure, a +little girl made miserable by her mother's strict adherence to +a pet "method" of training.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>THE LITTLE WOMAN IN THE SPOUT</h3> + +<blockquote><p>"This pleasing story may have been developed from real life, +from real children, so true a picture does it portray of +girlish life and sports."—<i>GRAND RAPIDS HERALD</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>ROY AND ROSYROCKS</h3> + +<blockquote><p>A glowing Christmas tale, fresh and natural in situations, that +will interest both boys and girls.</p> + +<p>It tells how two poor children anticipate the joys of the +holiday, and how heartily they enter into doing their part to +make the day merry for themselves and others.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>PEGGY-ALONE</h3> + +<blockquote><p>The chronicles of the Happy-Go-Luckys, a crowd of girls who did +not depend upon riches for good times. This club was very +stretchible as to membership, so they elected Peggy-Alone from +pity of her loneliness. Freed from governess, nurse and +solicitous mother, she has the jolliest summer of her life.</p></blockquote> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_BRADEN_BOOKS" id="THE_BRADEN_BOOKS"></a>THE BRADEN BOOKS</h2> + + +<h3>FAR PAST THE FRONTIER</h3> + +<h3><i>By</i> JAMES A. BRADEN</h3> + +<blockquote><p>The sub-title "Two Boy Pioneers" indicates the nature of this +story—that it has to do with the days when the Ohio Valley and +the Northwest country were sparsely settled. Such a topic is an +unfailing fund of interest to boys, especially when involving a +couple of stalwart young men who leave the East to make their +fortunes and to incur untold dangers.</p> + +<p>"Strong, vigorous, healthy, manly."—<i>Seattle Times.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>CONNECTICUT BOYS IN THE WESTERN RESERVE</h3> + +<h3><i>By</i> JAMES A. BRADEN</h3> + +<blockquote><p>The author once more sends his heroes toward the setting sun. +"In all the glowing enthusiasm of youth, the youngsters seek +their fortunes in the great, fertile wilderness of northern +Ohio, and eventually achieve fair success, though their +progress is hindered and sometimes halted by adventures +innumerable. It is a lively, wholesome tale, never dull, and +absorbing in interest for boys who love the fabled life of the +frontier."—<i>Chicago Tribune.</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>THE TRAIL of THE SENECA</h3> + +<h3><i>By</i> JAMES A. BRADEN</h3> + +<blockquote><p>In which we follow the romantic careers of John Jerome and +Return Kingdom a little farther.</p> + +<p>These two self-reliant boys are living peaceably in their cabin +on the Cuyahoga when an Indian warrior is found dead in the +woods nearby. The Seneca accuses John of witchcraft. This means +death at the stake if he is captured. They decide that the +Seneca's charge is made to shield himself, and set out to prove +it. Mad Anthony, then on the Ohio, comes to their aid, but all +their efforts prove futile and the lone cabin is found in ashes +on their return.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>CAPTIVES THREE</h3> + +<h3><i>By</i> JAMES A. BRADEN</h3> + +<blockquote><p>A tale of frontier life, and how three children—two boys and a +girl—attempt to reach the settlements in a canoe, but are +captured by the Indians. A common enough occurrence in the days +of our great-grandfathers has been woven into a thrilling +story.</p></blockquote> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="FICTION_FOR_GIRLS" id="FICTION_FOR_GIRLS"></a>FICTION FOR GIRLS</h2> + + +<h3>BETTY, The SCRIBE</h3> + +<h3><i>By</i> LILIAN TURNER</h3> + +<h3><i>Drawings by</i> <span class="smcap">Katharine Hayward Greenland</span></h3> + +<blockquote><p>Betty is a brilliant, talented, impulsive seventeen-year-old +girl, who is suddenly required to fill her mother's place at +the head of a household, with a literary, impractical father to +manage.</p> + +<p>Betty writes, too, and every time she mounts her Pegasus +disaster follows for home duties are neglected. Learning of one +of these lapses, her elder sister comes home. Betty storms and +refuses to share the honors until she remembers that this means +long hours free to devote to her beloved pen. She finally moves +to the city to begin her career in earnest, and then—well, +then comes the story.</p> + +<p>"Miss Turner is Miss Alcott's true successor. The same healthy, +spirited tone is visible which boys and girls recognized in +LITTLE MEN and LITTLE WOMEN."—<i>The Bookman</i></p></blockquote> + + +<h3>Elizabeth Hobart at Exeter Hall</h3> + +<h3><i>By</i> JEAN K. BAIRD</h3> + +<h3><i>Illustrated by</i> <span class="smcap">R. G. Vosburgh</span></h3> + +<blockquote><p>A spirited Story of every-day boarding-school life that girls +like to read. Full of good times and girlish fun.</p> + +<p>Elizabeth enters the school and loses no time in becoming one +of the leading spirits. She entertains at a midnight spread, +which is recklessly conducted under the very nose of the +preceptress, who is "scalped" in order to be harmless, for +every one knows she would never venture out minus her front +hair; she champions an ostracized student; and leads in a +daring plan to put to rout the Seniors' program for class day.</p></blockquote> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="BOOKS_FOR_BOYS" id="BOOKS_FOR_BOYS"></a>BOOKS FOR BOYS</h2> + + +<h3>WINFIELD SERIES:</h3> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">LARRY BARLOW'S AMBITION<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A YOUNG INVENTOR'S PLUCK<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<blockquote><p>These two books of adventure for boys, by the popular author of +the <span class="smcap">Rover Boys' Series</span>, have attained an enviable reputation, +and are read by thousands and thousands of boys everywhere.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>CASTLEMON SERIES:</h3> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A STRUGGLE FOR A FORTUNE<br /></span> +<span class="i0">WINGED ARROW'S MEDICINE<br /></span> +<span class="i0">THE FIRST CAPTURE<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">Harry Castlemon</span> ranks among the best of the writers of juvenile +fiction. His various books are in constant and large demand by +the boys who have learned to look for his name as author as a +guaranty of a good story.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>BONEHILL SERIES:</h3> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">THE BOY LAND BOOMER<br /></span> +<span class="i0">THREE YOUNG RANCHMEN<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<blockquote><p>Stories of western life that are full of adventure, which read +as if they happened day before yesterday.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>RATHBORNE SERIES:</h3> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">DOWN THE AMAZON<br /></span> +<span class="i0">ADRIFT ON A JUNK<br /></span> +<span class="i0">YOUNG VOYAGERS OF THE NILE<br /></span> +<span class="i0">YOUNG CASTAWAYS<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<blockquote><p>For boys who have had their fill of adventures on land, the +<span class="smcap">Rathborne</span> books are ever welcome. They make one feel the salt +breeze, and hear the shouts of the sailor boys.</p></blockquote> + + +<h3>OTIS SERIES:</h3> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">TEDDY<br /></span> +<span class="i0">TELEGRAPH TOM<br /></span> +<span class="i0">MESSENGER No. 48<br /></span> +<span class="i0">DOWN THE SLOPE<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<blockquote><p><span class="smcap">James Otis</span> writes for wide-awake American boys, and his +audience read his tales with keen appreciation.</p></blockquote> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Under Fire For Servia, by Colonel James Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER FIRE FOR SERVIA *** + +***** This file should be named 33480-h.htm or 33480-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/8/33480/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Under Fire For Servia + +Author: Colonel James Fiske + +Illustrator: E. A. Furman + +Release Date: August 21, 2010 [EBook #33480] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER FIRE FOR SERVIA *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + Under Fire For Servia + + World's War Series, Volume 4 + + By Colonel James Fiske + + +Illustrated by E. A. FURMAN + +THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +CHICAGO AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK + +Copyright, 1915 +By The Saalfield Publishing Co. + + +[Illustration: In a moment they were alone in the heavens, racing toward +Servia.] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I Dick Makes a Friend + + II A Surprising Offer + + III The Police Raid + + IV The Refuge + + V Under Fire + + VI Across the Save + + VII The Wounded Captain + + VIII A New Exploit + + IX Back to Semlin + + X A Daring Decision + + XI Craft against Craft + + XII In the Nick of Time + + XIII Face to Face + + XIV The Explosion + + XV The Tables Turned + + XVI Belgrade + + XVII Between the Lines + + XVIII The Flight + + XIX Hallo's Last Card + + + + +Under Fire For Servia + + + + +CHAPTER I + +DICK MAKES A FRIEND + + +The American consul in the small but highly important city of Semlin, in +Hungary, was a busy man. He was probably one of the first men in the +world who knew how great was the danger of war between Austria-Hungary +and the little kingdom of Servia after the assassination of the heir to +the Austrian throne in the summer of 1914. Now, since the Austrian +ultimatum to Servia had aroused all Europe to the peril, refugees had +doubled the consul's work. All the Americans in Servia, and there had +been quite a number there that summer, seemed to be pouring through +Semlin. Indeed, all the Americans gathered there from all the Balkan +states, and from Turkey as well, since the great trunk railway, the +famous Orient line, crossed the Save river at Belgrade, and Semlin was +therefore a border town, where in many cases passports had to be +examined. + +So it was a hard matter for any stranger to see the consul in person +unless he could prove that his business was of the greatest importance. +His office force did all it could to give him the time he needed to +catch up with his duties, but on a sunny morning late in July there came +a visitor who refused to be put off. The consul heard him as he sat at +his desk, writing frantically. + +"I tell you I've got to see him!" That was what the consul heard, in a +voice that caused him to sit straight in his chair in astonishment. For +the voice was that of an American boy. Clear, penetrating, self-reliant, +it rang out like a call from home. The consul smiled and touched a bell +on his desk. And a minute later Dick Warner faced him, bearing out what +his voice had already told about him. + +"You want to see me?" said the consul. "Well, sir, what can I do for +you? Lost your folks? Want money to get home? Something like that, eh?" +a note of condescension in his voice. + +"No, sir. I just want to get permission to stay here in Semlin. The +police say that I'm English, and that I'll have to go away. But that's +because Mike Hallo has a pull." + +"Michael Hallo, the great merchant?" the consul frowned. + +"I don't know anything about his being a great merchant, sir, but I know +that he's a great crook! I've chased him here from New York, and now +that I've found him, I'm not going to let him frighten me into going +away before he makes good!" + +"Tell me about this, my boy," said the consul. "It sounds as if it +should be interesting." + +"That's what I want to do, sir. My name's Dick Warner, and my father's +dead. He and Mike Hallo were partners in New York, and they had a good +business. We always had lots of money until my father died. Then, right +away after that, Mike Hallo said the business began to go wrong and lost +money. And, after a while, it got so bad, he said, that it had to be +closed down, and there wasn't any more money coming in. He sold out, and +gave my mother a little money and said he was going home." + +"That might have happened," said the consul. + +"Sure--only it didn't, you see! My mother was soft, and she believed +everything Mike Hallo told her. And I wasn't old enough to know anything +about it. So he got away with it all right, and went home. But then we +began to find things out. We found that the business hadn't been losing +money at all, and that he hadn't really sold it. He had another crook +running it, and sending him all the profits, only the law couldn't do +anything about that, because there'd been a sort of fake sale, and they +said this other man had bought it legally. Do you see how that could be, +sir?" + +"Yes, very easily. I'd have to know more about the facts to understand +it properly, but I can understand that it's possible." + +"I thought you would, sir. Well, that was how it was. We knew he'd +cheated us. A lawyer that was a friend of my dad's said he thought Mike +Hallo would still be away ahead of the game, even if he paid my mother a +hundred thousand dollars, or perhaps a hundred and fifty thousand! And +we--why, my mother's got about five hundred a year left to look after +herself and my little sister, and we used to have ever so much when dad +was alive! So I just came over here to find Mike and try to make him +come through." + +"Good for you!" exclaimed the consul, carried away for the moment. But +then he frowned thoughtfully. "Look here, Dick, I believe your story, +right through. You're not the sort of boy that would get things twisted. +But if you couldn't make Hallo disgorge in New York, how can you hope to +do it here, where he has all sorts of influence--pull, as you call it? +And how did you get here, anyway? It costs money to travel from New York +to Semlin." + +"I had a good job, and saved up my money, sir. And then I worked my way +across the ocean as a steward. I'd studied languages a good deal, too, +and I got another job then, traveling with a rich family that wanted to +have someone to buy tickets and tell how much things cost in the shops, +so that they wouldn't get cheated. I came as far as Buda-Pesth with +them, and then they paid my way to Belgrade so that I could reserve +rooms for them there. You see, I can talk German and Magyar and Servian +and Russian, as well as French and English and Italian." + +"For heaven's sake!" said the consul, in amazement. "My boy, I'm not so +sure that you won't be able to give Hallo a bad time, after all! You +must have a gift of tongues. I don't know half the languages you do, and +I'm supposed to, too, in my work." + +"Oh, I've always been pretty good at languages, sir. And if you like to +know how to talk other languages, you can find people that speak them +all in New York. I know a little Turkish, too--not so very much, but +enough to get along. And I forgot about the Greek." + +The consul roared with laughter. + +"By George!" he said. "I'll back you to make it hot for Hallo!" But then +he grew more serious. "I don't know, though," he went on. "You're in +hard luck, Dick. In ordinary times I think you'd have a good chance. But +these aren't ordinary times. Come here!" + +He led the way to the window. From it they could see the broad Danube, +the great, sluggish river that was wending its slow way to the Black +Sea, and the narrower, cleaner Save, directly before them, which flowed +into the bigger stream here and lost its own identity. Across the Save +was a steel bridge, over which a train was now running. And at the other +end of the bridge was a city of white houses, with minarets and spires, +and on top of a high, flat topped hill stood an old, white fortress. + +"Look there, above the bridge," he said. "Do you see that monitor?" + +"Yes, sir. And there are two more out in the Danube." + +"Exactly! Well, at any moment those monitors may begin bombarding +Belgrade, the capital of Servia. I don't know at what moment war will +break out, but I know that it won't be delayed very long." + +"It won't be much of a war, will it, sir?" asked Dick. "Servia's too +small to have a chance with Austria-Hungary, I thought." + +"Maybe. But you must remember that Servia has just been through two +great wars. She smashed the Turks in her great battles with them, and +then she smashed the Bulgarians, who had beaten the Turks too, and were +supposed to have the most efficient army of its size in all Europe. You +see, the Servian army has been doing a lot of fighting in these last few +years. Every man in it is a veteran, and knows just what war is. A man +like that is worth more than one who has to get used to the idea of a +campaign, and has never been under fire. And--maybe Austria wouldn't +have to fight Servia alone." + +Dick stared at him. + +"Maybe Russia will help Servia. I think she will. Then all of Europe +will get into the war, sooner or later. If Austria has to fight Russia +on the other side, she won't be able to spare her whole army or anything +like it to fight Servia. And three hundred thousand Servians won't be +beaten by that many Austrians, I can tell you!" + +"Well, but I don't see what that's got to do with Hallo, after all, sir. +He's not a soldier, is he?" + +"No. He's past the age of military service. But this is what it will +mean, Dick. In time of war ordinary affairs can't be attended to the way +they are in times of peace. Even legal, admitted debts, that a man is +perfectly willing to pay, can't be collected. Special laws and rules are +made, just for war. It would make it much easier for Hallo to dodge you. +And he has a pull, as you say." + +"Yes, but so have you, haven't you, sir?" + +"I hope so," said the consul, with a smile. "Of a different sort from +his, too. But I'm afraid it isn't the sort that can help you very much +just now, Dick. Still, we'd better do what we can. You want to stay +here. Have you got a passport? It would simplify matters for you." + +"No, sir. They told me at home I didn't need it." + +"That's what they are always saying," said the consul, looking annoyed. +"They never seem to understand, at home, that Europe isn't just like +America. Here war is likely to break out at any moment, and then a +passport is a necessity. It's been that way for years. Still, I suppose +you've got some sort of proof that you're an American citizen? Your +birth certificate or something of the sort?" + +"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't. I haven't got anything except my Boy +Scout certificate." + +"Let me see that." + +Dick produced, rather proudly, the pocket card that showed him to be a +first-class scout, a member of a star patrol of a good New York troop, +and recorded his many honor badges. + +"This is fine," said the consul, returning it. "But it doesn't prove +that you're an American, my boy." + +Dick looked at him in dismay. + +"But you believe that I am, don't you, sir?" + +"I certainly do! There isn't a boy of any other country in the world +that could have come here as you have done! But what I believe doesn't +count. If Hallo is trying to have you expelled, I'd have to be able to +prove definitely that you were an American, instead of just saying that +I believed it. In ordinary times--but, as I've told you already, these +aren't ordinary times. And I know a little something about this Hallo. +I've had trouble with him myself." + +"You have, sir?" + +"Yes. He exports things to America, and it's part of my duty to certify +to values and so on, for the customs. I've thought once or twice that he +was trying to cheat. I'm sure of this--that his pull is mighty strong. +But I tell you what I'll do. I'll cable for proofs of your identity. +Your scoutmaster should be able to get them. We'll hope Hallo won't +hurry too much. Now be off, but come back at six, and we'll have dinner +together." + + + + +CHAPTER II + +A SURPRISING OFFER + + +Plucky and self-reliant as Dick Warner really was, he felt a good deal +better when he emerged from Consul Denniston's office than when he had +been trying to get by the barrier of clerks fifteen minutes earlier. +Then he had been a good many thousand miles from home, and not only +friendless in a strange and alien country, but possessed of a determined +and unscrupulous enemy as well. He had told only the truth about Hallo, +but he did not know everything, by any means, about the rich Hungarian +who had cheated his widowed mother. + +He had not been very long in Semlin, however, without making the +discovery that here, in the old Hungarian town that faced the capital of +Servia across the river Save, Mike Hallo was a far more important person +than he had ever been in New York. The firm of Warner and Hallo had been +a good, sound one in New York, and both partners had been comfortably +well off. But in Semlin means that had not seemed very great in New York +made a man the equivalent of a millionaire in America. Hallo lived in +one of the finest houses of the city, and seemed to be looked up to and +respected. + +"Gee!" Dick had said to himself. "They seem to think as much of him here +as people in New York do of J. P. Morgan or Andy Carnegie!" + +Dick was boarding in Semlin. The extravagance of a hotel, he felt, was +not for him. He had a considerable sum of money, which he always carried +with him, in gold, wrapped in a belt, which never left him, but he knew +this money might have to last him a long time, and if he could help it +he was certainly not going to have to seek charity to get home. He +wanted to paddle his own canoe; that was his favorite motto. + +Dick hadn't seen Mike Hallo, to speak to him, since he had come to +Semlin. He had seen him at a distance when Mike had been driving in an +open carriage, and Mike had seen him, too. Dick had caught the flush on +the sallow cheeks, and the look of hate that had sprung into his +father's partner's narrow, beady eyes. Oh, yes, Mike knew he was in +Semlin! And Dick did not underestimate the man's cleverness. It was just +as sure as it could be that Hallo understood very well why he had come +and what he hoped to do. Dick had tried to follow Mike's thoughts, too. + +"He's a crook--he cheated my mother," Dick had said to himself. "And any +man who would do a thing like that has got a yellow streak in him a mile +wide. So it's a cinch he's afraid of me. He may think I can't do +anything to hurt him, and all that, but he won't take any chances if he +can help it, because he's a coward. He'll know he's in the wrong, even +if he thinks he's got the law fixed, so that he couldn't be pinched, +even if he went back to New York. But down at bottom, just because he +himself knows that he's in the wrong, he'll be afraid. And he'll hate +me, too, because he's done me an injury." + +As a matter of fact, that was good reasoning, and showed that Dick had +it in him to become a good judge of human nature. A man's worst enemy is +always the one to whom he has done the greatest injury. It is much +easier to forgive someone who has done one an injury than to retain a +liking for the person one has hurt or cheated. + +That morning, before he had gone to the consulate, the Semlin police had +visited Dick. First they had asked for his passport and when he couldn't +produce one, had told him that, as an English subject, he must leave the +town within twenty-four hours. + +"You go tell Mike Hallo I'm not afraid of him, even if he gets the whole +Hungarian army after me!" Dick had said. + +The policemen had only professed utter ignorance concerning Hallo, but +Dick had not been deceived. He had not lived in New York without coming +to the conclusion that a man with a great deal of money can command a +good many things not at the disposal of ordinary people, and he was +perfectly sure that it was Mike Hallo who was behind this sudden +activity of the police in Semlin. + +"He's a dirty sneak," he said to himself. "But I've got to get busy and +call on Uncle Sam to help, or I'm apt to be chased out of here before I +get a good crack at Mike. Even if I'm not afraid of him and the whole +Hungarian army, it's a cinch that it wouldn't take more than a couple of +Hungarian cops to put me on a train and see that I stayed there." + +So, if he had not been frightened, Dick had been a good deal worried +when he went to the consulate. His travels about Europe had shown him +that over here things were allowed that would have been impossible at +home, and that there is something more than a pretty line or two of +poetry about the verse that sings of the land of the free. There wasn't +much freedom, he had long since decided for himself, in countries like +Austria and Hungary. Those who had influence with officials, like the +police, or with the army, could do very much as they pleased, and those +who didn't had to toe the mark whenever anyone in uniform told them to +do so whether they liked it or no. + +That was why he was able to leave the consulate with a light heart and a +song on his lips. He had found a friend, and it seemed to him that a +friend was a pretty good thing to have found here on the banks of the +Danube, four thousand miles and more from the apartment on Washington +Heights where his mother and his little sister, for whose sakes he had +made his adventurous journey, were waiting for him. About Consul +Denniston, busy as he was, and rather stern though his aspect had been +in the beginning, there was something that made Dick feel that he would +go through a good deal for the sake of anyone he had decided to +befriend. So in the street Dick snapped his fingers at Semlin and the +whole Austrian empire. + +"That for Mike Hallo!" he said. "Well, I think I'll go and try to see +the old boy! Wonder if he'll see me? They can't hang me for trying!" + +He knew where Hallo was to be found. His office was in the warehouse +that he owned. His trade was largely one with Russia and Roumania. +Barges laden with products of all sorts from the interior came consigned +to him, and were transshipped here at Semlin to the river steamers and +other vessels that went down the Danube toward the sea. And so his +warehouse was down by the river, whence an excellent view of the old, +mysterious looking city of Belgrade could be had. Dick knew something of +history, and he remembered that for centuries the high tide of the +Turkish invasion had come as far as this and stopped. Christian and Turk +in turn had held Belgrade and Semlin, and great battles had been fought +many and many a time on the ground that he now trod. + +But he forgot about ancient history when finally he stood outside of +Hallo's warehouse. He went in boldly, not asking anyone for directions, +until he came to a boy of about his own age on guard outside his own +door. This boy took one look at him, and then, to his surprise, spoke to +him in English. + +"What can I do for you?" he asked, very politely. + +"I'd like to see Mr. Hallo," said Dick. + +"Right in here," said the other boy. "He's not busy just now." + +"He will be, when he sees me," said Dick, and walked in. + +Hallo was sitting at a table, looking over some papers. At the sound of +Dick's entrance he looked up, and for just a moment Dick saw the same +look of mingled fear and hatred in his eyes that he had caught when he +had seen him driving. But then that look vanished, and Hallo, with an +obvious effort, greeted Dick with the bluff heartiness that Dick +remembered so well as his customary manner in the days before his +father's death. + +"Well, well, Dick Warner! My old friend's son! I am glad to see you, +Dick! What brings you here, so far from New York?" + +"Business, Mr. Hallo." + +"You are starting young, Dick! May I ask what sort of business? And can +I help you, or is this just a friendly visit to a man who held you on +his knee when you were a baby back in New York?" + +"Oh, cut that out, Mr. Hallo!" said Dick, disgusted. "You know mighty +well why I'm here. I want to know what you're going to do about the way +you cheated my mother. You told her the business in New York had failed, +and she believed you. Now are you going to do the right thing?" + +"I don't understand, Dick," said Hallo. Plainly he was trying to be very +patient, and his whole manner was that of a kindly, genial man assailed +by a bad little boy, but determined not to lose his temper. "Your +father's estate was settled in the regular way. No one regretted his +death more than I. The way things went afterward proved how important he +was to the business. I lost a great deal of money in the failure, you +know." + +"You didn't!" said Dick. "Oh, we've got the goods on you, Mike Hallo! +And I'll tell you something, too. Maybe there's nothing I can do to you +here. I don't know yet--not until I've hired a lawyer who knows all +about the sort of law you have here. But I know this much. You'll be +wanting to come back to America sometime--you'll have to, on account of +your business. And we've found out enough to fix it so that you'll be +arrested the minute you step off the steamer on to American soil!" + +This was a pure bluff, but it might be true, at that. What Dick did know +was that Hallo had stolen money, and he was sure that, whether the law +would make it possible to cause his arrest or not, it ought to make that +not only possible, but easy. Beyond question, too, the statement had its +effect. Hallo's small eyes were getting smaller and narrower, and though +the smile was still on his face, he kept it there with an obvious +effort. + +"You hurt me, Richard," he said. "I did all I could for your mother. I +tried in every possible way to cover up the mistakes your father made +before he died--" + +"You said just now that if he had lived things would have been all +right! You don't want to mix up your stories that way, Mike! It won't +sound well when they get you into court and try you!" retorted Dick, +his temper quickly rising. + +"I see that there is no use in talking to you," said Hallo, looking as +if he felt more sorry than angry. "I regret very much that your mother +is not so well off as she was once, but it is not my fault, and I am +afraid that I am too busy to talk any more to you about this matter +until you are in a better frame of mind. How long shall you be in +Semlin?" + +"You ought to know," said Dick. "How long can I hold out against your +pull? If that goes back on you, you've still got the answer. Because I'm +going to stay here until you either have me run out of town or come +through with a check for the money you stole--and a check that I can get +certified at the bank, too, before I take the train." + +Hallo tried to look bewildered, and as if he did not understand what +Dick meant, but the attempt was a poor one. His anger was rapidly +passing all bounds. + +"So long!" said Dick. "I'll see you again, Mike. I'll give you a tip, +too. You'd better not try any monkey business with me, because Uncle +Sam's right on the job. I'm not very important, you know, back in New +York, but I'm an American! And I guess they'd just as soon send a +gun-boat or two up that big river after me if there wasn't any other way +of fixing things." + +And on that word Dick turned and left the office. He had accomplished as +much and as little as he had expected. He had forced a show-down, so +that now matters between him and Hallo had come to a crisis. He had +never expected Hallo to yield, of course, until he was forced to do so. +In fact, he had done even better than he had hoped. He had expected to +have some difficulty in getting speech with the man at all. + +The boy who had let him into Hallo's office was waiting for him outside. + +"Quick!" he whispered. "I am a friend. Tell me where you live. Perhaps I +shall be able to help you--and you will need help!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE POLICE RAID + + +The strange boy vanished before Dick could ask him what he meant, and he +went on, wondering. His whole manner had been friendly, but it was also +puzzling in the extreme. Instinctively Dick had told him where he was +staying in Semlin, and then the other had disappeared at once. Dick +could make nothing of it. + +"Oh, well, it can't make any difference," he said to himself. "He didn't +want to know for Mike Hallo, because Mike must know all about where I'm +staying, and if he doesn't, he can find out--in a place where the police +get the names of everyone who takes a room for a night." + +So Dick resolved not to worry about the future, but to have a look +around the town. He didn't think much of Semlin. It might be old, but it +was not especially interesting. It seemed to him dirty, for one thing, +and he didn't like dirt. Belgrade, across the river Save, however, +fascinated him. There was something romantic about the great citadel. He +knew that it had withstood siege after siege in the olden times, and the +fact that it probably wouldn't be used as a fortress at all if war broke +out that day didn't detract a bit from the interest of its history. + +"Some fort, all right!" he said to himself. "I can just see those old +Johnnies trying to rush that hill, in days when men fought hand to hand, +instead of laying off a few miles and pounding away at a place with big +guns. If they're going to have another scrap here, I hope I'm around to +see some of it. I'd like to see a war." + +He was to be gratified in that modest wish! + +There was one noticeable thing. Semlin was a garrisoned town; a regiment +of the Austrian army was always there. But now a great many extra troops +were always more or less in evidence. Trains would come in, with +soldiers looking out from every window. The men would detrain, march +through the town, and disappear. After leaving Hallo's office, Dick saw +a full regiment arrive like that, march through the streets, and +disappear to the west. Now he stopped and began doing a sum in mental +arithmetic. + +"Gee!" he said, to himself. "I bet the consul's right! I bet the +Austrians do mean to start something! That makes about fifteen thousand +men I've seen brought in here just since I've been here. I wonder if the +Servians know about it? I should think it would be a pretty good thing +for them to have a few people here in Semlin just sort of keeping their +eyes open." + +Dick did not know to the full how serious the situation was. But then +very few people in Semlin did. Here news was being suppressed. At this +point, where the border brought masses of Servians and Hungarians into +such close contact, it was not considered wise to allow the newspapers +to print all they knew. It was understood that Austria had made certain +demands, but it did not seem to occur to anyone in Semlin that it was +possible for tiny Servia to defy the mighty Austrian empire. But as a +matter of fact, the final steps that led to the great war were being +taken, and war was already regarded as inevitable by those who, like +Consul Denniston, were in a position to know the truth. + +The consul had told him to come back for dinner at six o'clock, and so +Dick had a good deal of time to kill. He determined, therefore, to go +across to Belgrade and see if there was a message there yet from the +Abercrombies, the family with which he had traveled as far as +Buda-Pesth. He was to engage rooms for them when they wrote or +telegraphed to him that they were ready for him to do so, and he decided +that he might as well see if the message had come, though he was pretty +sure that there had not been time yet. + +To his surprise, he found some difficulty in passing the guards at the +centre of the bridge. Luck favored him, however. One of the soldiers was +a Hungarian who had been a waiter at a famous Hungarian restaurant in +New York, and had returned to serve his term with the army. When he +heard Dick say that he was an American, he offered to question him, and +began to ask Dick about New York. + +"He's all right. He knows all the places I know!" said the soldier, +after that. + +And so Dick was able to proceed. In Belgrade, inquiring at the bank the +Abercrombies had named, he found a message, but not the sort of message +he had been looking for. + +"We are going to London as fast as we can get there," ran the message. +"Should advise you to do the same. Situation looks very serious." + +There had been more in the original message, for the blank was plainly +marked "Censored." Dick was indignant at the idea that anyone should +interfere with a telegram sent by as distinguished an American as Judge +Abercrombie, but, after all, he decided there was no one here to blame. +The censoring had been done at Buda-Pesth in all probability. And the +essential fact was there. He was a good deal disappointed, for he had +rather hoped that Judge Abercrombie might be able to help him in his +dealings with Mike Hallo. However, there was no help for it. + +So, having nothing else to do now, he spent a part of the afternoon in +wandering about Belgrade, and making himself familiar with the strange +old town. The older part of the city he found to be much more romantic +when viewed from Semlin. At close quarters it was incredibly dirty, and +the houses were rabbit warrens, inhabited by a wretched mixture of Turks +and mixed breeds. He managed to learn there were not so many Servians; +for Servians are not fond of living in towns. They are farmers and +herders, and by choice they live in the open country, which is why they +are a hardy and long-lived race. + +But the new palace seemed to him a fine building, and he was lucky +enough to see old King Peter, with his white hair and his fine, sturdy +face, drive out of the grounds. A crowd had assembled, knowing that he +was going to drive out, and it cheered the old man to the echo. Dick +remembered how, for many years, King Peter had lived in Paris alone, in +poverty, longing always for the time when he might return to the land +his ancestors had helped to free from Turkish tyranny. And now this old +man was an idolized king, who had led his people in two victorious wars +and to-day was being urged by them to defy a country many times the size +of his own. Dick took off his own hat and cheered with the crowd when +the carriage passed him. + +"I'm not a Servian," he said, to himself, "but he's a real man, and it +won't hurt me to take off my hat to him, I guess." + +Here in Belgrade there was far more excitement over the prospect of war +than there had been in Semlin. Dick decided that this was because here +much more of the truth was known. + +He liked the looks of the newer part of Belgrade, beyond the palace. +Here there were pleasant white houses, in green gardens, and everything +was clean and well kept. The people, too, seemed to him more like real +folks, as he put it. There wasn't a servile respect for a uniform. One +reason for that, had he known it, was that when Servia went to war it +meant that every man, and every boy old enough to carry arms, was +engaged. It was a nation that fought, not just an army. + +So it was with a pleasanter impression of the Servian capital than he +had expected to acquire that Dick returned to Semlin. When he got back +the sun was already low over the hills in the west, and he had just +about time to hurry to his lodgings and change his clothes. + +There he found something that surprised and angered him. In his absence +someone had been through all his few belongings; few because he had of +necessity traveled with little baggage. He could see that everything had +been ransacked, and he guessed that the police had paid his room another +visit in his absence. It hadn't done them any good, for of course he +carried no papers that would have been of the slightest interest to +anyone else, and his money, the only valuable thing he had, was always +in the belt that he wore next to his skin, under all his clothes. + +But he was angry, none the less, and he carried his anger with him to +the consulate, where, arriving promptly, he had to wait a little while +for the consul to finish some business. When he told Mr. Denniston what +had happened the consul frowned. + +"I'm not surprised," he said. "I couldn't prove this, Dick, but I've +learned enough to be perfectly certain that Hallo is behind the police +interest in you. I don't believe that anyone really thinks you are +English, or has the slightest idea that you may be a spy." + +"A spy! What kind of a spy would I make? Is that their line?" + +"In a time like this almost anyone may be accused of being a spy, Dick. +You see, the argument is that it's just the one that's apparently least +likely to be guilty, who can be the most dangerous spy. But, as I say, +in your case it's just an excuse. I have sent a cable message to the +State Department, asking them to satisfy themselves through your +scoutmaster at home that you are an American citizen. When I hear from +that message, you see, you'll have an official standing, and I can do +something. What I am afraid of is that the answer will be delayed. But +come in to dinner. I shall have to leave you right afterward." + +At the dinner table Mr. Denniston explained the situation more in detail +to Dick. + +"Hallo's powerful enough to have his way. That's the size of it," he +said. "I've decided to have you come here, as my guest. They wouldn't +dare to take you from the consulate for that would mean trouble with the +United States. And if I don't read the whole situation mistakenly, they +are going to have enemies enough before long without embroiling +themselves with us, even for the sake of pleasing Mr. Michael Hallo!" + +"I hate to trouble you, sir," said Dick. "But it is most awfully good of +you to invite me, and, of course, I'd be safe here." + +"It's no trouble--I'll be glad to have you. As soon as we've finished +dinner, go and get your things, and then come right back here. They gave +you twenty-four hours, you said, didn't you? And that was this +morning?" returned Mr. Denniston. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Then I think you have time enough. But there is no use in leaving +yourself in their power when the time is up. When they move here, they +move very quickly indeed." + +"All right, sir. I'll go along, and get back at once." + +Dick hurried through his dinner, and then went back to his lodgings. In +his room he began packing, but he had not finished his task, light as it +was, when he heard a heavy pounding on the street door, which was at the +bottom of the stairs, directly in line with his own, his room being on +the first floor. He was curious enough to open his door to listen, and +he saw the woman of the house open the street door. + +"In the name of the law," he heard a heavy voice say. "We have come to +take one Richard Warner, calling himself an American, who is accused of +being a spy, and is to be sent immediately to Buda-Pesth. Stand aside!" + +"Yes, sir--yes--right up the stairs, there," stammered the frightened +woman. + +Dick was aghast for a moment. Then, by a sheer instinct of +self-preservation, he flung the door shut, locked and bolted it. It was +stout and would hold for a moment. He rushed to the window. It was an +easy drop to the garden below. But of what use to drop? What chance was +there for him to make his way through the streets to the consulate, +where, could he but reach it, he might find asylum? It might be better +to yield. Though he was not a coward, he knew that the police might +shoot him. + +And then, just as heavy footsteps came up the stairs, a voice spoke in +his ear. + +"Will you trust me?" it said. + +He turned with a start, to see the boy of Hallo's office beside him! + +"Follow me--through the window. I can save you," said this boy. "It is I +they should seek--I _am_ a spy!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE REFUGE + + +There was no time to debate. Dick heard the policemen at the door and he +knew that it would not delay them for more than a minute, at best. The +mysterious boy was already half way out of the window. Dick rushed over, +and saw him land in a flower bed below. A moment more, and he was beside +him. + +"Follow me," said the stranger. "Can you run fast?" + +"Yes, I can," said Dick, speaking in Servian. He wanted to surprise this +boy who had surprised him so thoroughly, and he succeeded. But there was +no time for questions. He suited the action to the word now, and they +ran, the stranger in the lead. But even as they ran, Dick's mind was +active. He had answered in Servian because he had suddenly guessed part +of the mystery. The other's cry, "I am a spy!" had given him a clue. He +concluded that this boy must be a Servian. + +And his start of surprise when he had heard the words in that language, +which very few foreigners can speak, had convinced Dick that he had made +the right guess. He felt better after that. Somehow hitherto he had not +been able to divest himself of an uncomfortable suspicion that this +strange boy might be in some fashion acting against him and in the +interests of Mike Hallo. Yet his manner contradicted that idea; he was +frank and open in his appearance. And, finally, there was no need for +Dick to feel that he was making any serious mistake in following him +now. + +It was certain that the police _were_ working for Hallo, whether they +knew it or not, and it was equally certain that had he not dropped from +the window he would now be in their hands, and perhaps on his way to +Buda-Pesth. As it was, he was free for the moment at least. + +Hot as was their pace, Dick's training as a scout enabled him to keep +track of their direction, roughly at least, and he knew that they were +going toward the river. Had he been a boy of the type too often seen +nowadays, born and brought up in a city, he would have been hopelessly +lost within a minute of the start, for his guide twisted and turned in a +bewildering fashion, plainly with the idea of making pursuit more +difficult for the police. At last the pace slackened, and the Servian +turned into a narrow alley. Dick followed, and they dropped into a +cellar. This was a damp, dark, filthy place, but they were not to stay +there. The Servian pressed a certain spot on what seemed to be a +perfectly blank wall, and it gave. Dick saw that there was a secret +panel, which swung around now and gave them entrance to a second cellar +of a very different aspect, as he saw when his companion struck a match. + +This room, for a room it really was, was lined with match board, and +there was some sort of ventilation, for the air was fresh and pure, and, +moreover, in constant motion. The Servian lighted a lamp that hung from +a bracket on the wall, and then, as the light spread, Dick could see +what manner of refuge it was that they had reached. + +Evidently it was intended for frequent use. There were two or three +chairs, a table, and a big, comfortable looking couch, covered with rugs +and cushions. Books were on the table, and on a shelf that ran around +two sides of the room, and on the table, too, were pens, ink and paper +in abundance. + +"Now we are safe!" said the Servian. "This place has been used for two +or three years, and the police seem never to have suspected its +existence. I suppose you are curious?" + +"I certainly am!" said Dick. "Who are you? And what are you doing here? +And--but go ahead! You'll tell me what you like, I suppose." + +"My name is Stepan Dushan," said the other, with a laugh. "That is a +good Servian name, as I suppose you know. But you must have guessed +before that I am Servian, or you would not have spoken to me in my own +language. How is it that you, an American, over here for the first time, +speak our language so well?" + +"How is it that you know so much about me?" countered Dick, really +amazed. "I never saw you until this morning, in Hallo's place." + +"Nor I you," said Stepan. "But it was my business to know all about +everything that Hallo was doing. He is a very important man just now, +and especially for us Servians. He has a great deal to do with the +government here. He will supply many of the things the Austrian soldiers +will need in the war, and there was a chance that by working for him I +might be able to gain a great deal of valuable information. There are so +few of us Servians, you see, and especially after the wars, that boys +have to do the work of men." + +"I see," said Dick, vaguely, though he was a long way from a clear +understanding yet. + +"That was why I listened to what you had to say to Hallo," the Servian +went on. "Anything might be important, you see. But I soon understood +that this was a different matter. And then I remembered things I had +heard, or had just happened to stumble on, since I had been in his +office, and then I knew all about you, and how he had cheated your +family--the scoundrel!" + +"You do know a lot!" said Dick. He was beginning to be tremendously +impressed by this Servian lad, no older than himself, who nevertheless +was serving his country in such a dangerous and delicate capacity. + +"Oh, I just jumped at the chance of putting a spoke in Hallo's wheel," +said Dushan. "It hasn't been the easiest thing in the world working for +him, obeying his orders, I can tell you. He treats those who work for +him like a dog. You would think he was a noble, instead of a shrewd +peasant who has made money." + +He laughed. + +"I ought not to talk like that," he said. "In Servia we are all +democrats, and a peasant is as good as the next man. But still it was +hard with this Magyar swine! My father--you know my father is in our +army, a general of brigade. I shall be in the army, too, when I am old +enough, if there is to be more war after this. And in the meantime I do +what I can. I am a Boy Scout." + +"A scout? So am I!" exclaimed Dick. + +They had found a common tie when Stepan Dushan said that, and for a +little time they forgot everything in a discussion of scouting and of +the differences between the Servian and American systems. They soon +agreed that, though there had to be many differences, the fundamental +idea was the same, and that the original impulse of the Boy Scout +movement had spread because there must be, after all, a great deal in +common between all boys everywhere. + +"There are scouts here in Hungary. In Buda-Pesth there are several +troops, you know," said the Servian. + +"I saw them there," Dick nodded. "And in Germany, too, but the German +scouts are rather different. I say, this is splendid, Steve! You don't +mind my making it Steve, do you, instead of Stepan? That sounds so +strange to me." + +"I don't mind a bit," said the Servian. "Well, I got you away from the +police, but I'm puzzled as to what to do for you next. We can't stay +here very long, because some of the men who are doing the really +dangerous work may want to use this place any minute, and I don't think +they'd like it if we stayed. I suppose I could manage to get you out of +Semlin, but you'd have to go to Buda-Pesth, and you want to stay within +reach of Hallo, don't you?" + +Dick's jaws snapped together. + +"I certainly do," he said, doggedly. "I hate to give a thing up when +I've once started to try to do it, don't you?" + +"Ye-es. I'm trying to think, Dick. There is a way, of course. I can +smuggle you over to Belgrade when it gets dark. But if you once get into +Servia just now, there's no knowing when you'll get out again. When the +fighting starts--and it's going to start soon, perhaps to-night, perhaps +to-morrow--things are going to move quickly. We haven't wanted war, we +Servians. We've had enough to last us a lifetime since we attacked +Turkey. But we're ready for it." + +Dick said nothing. It seemed plain that his new found friend was still +pondering an idea. + +"You've no idea how I hate that man Hallo!" he burst out in a minute. +"Sometime, if we are to be together, I'll tell you why. The rest of the +reasons, that is. But I'd give anything to help you beat him, Dick, and +I do think there's a way. Only it will be risky. You'd have to come with +me to Belgrade. And you'd have to stay with me and probably help Servia, +and I don't suppose an American, who's got nothing to do with our +troubles, would want to do that?" + +"I'd do pretty nearly anything rather than go home beaten," said Dick, +grimly. "And there's another thing, too, Steve. Do you think there's a +chance that this may mean a European war, with Germany and France and +Russia mixed up in it? That's what Mr. Denniston, the American consul +here, seems to think." + +"Yes, I'm afraid it will mean just that," said Dushan, gravely. "Russia +will help us if Austria attacks us. We know that already. Then Germany +must help Austria and France must help Russia, and England must help +them both. And there will be the great war--the war Austria threatened +us with when she took away Albania, that thousands of our Servians had +died to win for the fatherland! We gave way then, just as we gave way +when she enslaved millions of Serbs in Bosnia, so that there might be +peace in Europe. But this time Austria has gone too far, when she tries +to take away the independence our fathers bought from the Turks with +their blood! Servia cannot give way again. And Russia will not let her +be wiped out by Austria." + +"Then I'll stay here," said Dick, cheerfully. "Because there isn't a +chance for me to get home. I haven't got money enough. I got here by +working my way, and in time of war there'd be no chance for me to do +that." + +"There is something in that," said Stepan. But he seemed doubtful still. +"I don't want you to come in without knowing what there is to be +risked," he went on. "It is going to be dangerous, hard work. But I +really think that at the end there will be a chance for you to get what +you came for. I think that I can show you a way to beat Hallo and force +him to make restitution. Don't ask me why I think so, because I'm not +ready to tell you yet. And it might spoil everything if I told you too +soon." + +"You've done so much for me now that there's no reason why you should do +more," said Dick. "And as for helping Servia, why shouldn't I? When my +own country was little and poor, and fighting for its life against +England, we got help from all sorts of people who believed in freedom +and hated tyranny. So I don't see any reason why an American scout +shouldn't do anything that's in his power for Servia." + +They struck hands then. + +"We must wait until dark," said Stepan. "Until it is really dark, full +night. Then it will be very easy to get over the river, unless things +have changed greatly since last night. I am glad you are going to stay, +Dick. We are in the right, and we are going to win. There's no other +way." + +"I think so, too," said Dick. "Steve, there's just one thing. I know +that Austria has treated Servia badly, and that she should not have +annexed lands in which there were so many Serbs. But that murder in +Serajevo was an awful thing--" + +"It was frightful!" declared Stepan, passionately. "Every true Servian +will tell you the same thing! But it is a wicked Austrian lie to say +that Servia had anything to do with it! It was Austrian subjects who +were, perhaps, Serbs in blood, who planned it. We Servians did all we +could. Our government learned that trouble was brewing, and our minister +in Vienna begged the Archduke Franz Ferdinand to stay away or at least +to take especial precautions. The Serbs in Bosnia hated him because they +thought he was the man who planned the annexation. But to say that the +Servian government knew what was planned is to say what the Austrian +government knows to be false. + +"No, that is only an excuse. Austria is afraid of us, of our patriotism. +She has determined to crush us before we are too strong. She is +trembling because of her memory of how we crushed the Turks." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +UNDER FIRE + + +It was after midnight when Steve finally decided that it was safe to +venture from their retreat. And then they did not emerge by the way in +which they had entered it. + +"This place has saved the life of many a Servian patriot in these last +few years," said Steve. "I think the Austrians have come near to finding +it once or twice. They have pursued some of our people to the very +entrance. But what has always puzzled them is that we never go out by +the way in which we come in. And one entrance we have never used except +for flight, and then only in a grave emergency. No Austrian pursuer has +ever seen that, or come near it. It is the one by which we shall escape +now. Keep still. That is all that is necessary. Keep still and follow +me." + +Dick had guessed already that there were other entrances. He was not +prepared, however, for the elaborate system of rooms and passages that +were revealed as he followed Steve, who had now possessed himself of an +electric flashlight, and had given Dick one also. + +"We could almost have stood a siege down here," explained Steve. +"Here--we seem to be in a dead alley, don't we?" + +They had passed from the room in which they had waited to another, where +Dick had seen a plentiful supply of provisions and of drinking water in +great bottles. From this they had gone into a narrow passage, dark and +damp. Now Steve flashed his light on a blank wall. But a touch at the +right place brought a handle into view. This, when it was pulled, showed +that there was really a door, cunningly made so that it seemed to be a +part of the wall, with no cracks to betray it. And behind this was +another door of solid steel. + +"It would not be easy to get through that door, you see, even if they +penetrated the secret of the first one," said Steve. "That door is made +of armor plate, of tempered steel. It is the same sort of steel that is +used for the protection of a great battleship. Even a shell from a +cannon would not go through it very easily, and bullets would only be +hurled back if they struck it." + +He touched a spring and the door revolved on its own axis, staying open +just long enough for them to pass through, and then closing. + +"The action is automatic," said Steve. "That would make it safe even if +one were pursued, for the pursuer would be caught as the door closed; he +would not be so close as to be able to get through." + +"You people didn't overlook anything, it seems to me," said Dick. "You +must have been getting ready for war for a long time." + +"For years," said Steve, quietly. "Ever since King Peter came to the +throne and refused any longer to betray the country to Austria, as his +predecessor did always. We stand in Austria's way. Until we became +powerful by beating Turkey and Bulgaria, which attacked us as the +result of an Austrian trick, it mattered less. But ever since the end +of the second war last year we have known that Austria was only looking +for an excuse to attack us. And so we have tried to be ready. It was our +only chance." + +"But you say you won't have to fight Austria alone. The Russians will +come to Servia's aid, won't they?" + +"In a way, yes. But they will not be able to send troops to fight with +our armies. They may attack Austria, and so keep some of her soldiers +busy elsewhere. But that is all. We do not touch Austria anywhere. She +might send troops through Roumania, and Roumania, it is true, is +friendly toward us. But that would bring her into the war, and she will +not be ready for that for a time. At least Turkey would bar her from +sending troops by sea to Antivari, for they would have to pass through +the Dardanelles, and that is impossible since Turkey is the friend of +Germany. + +"And there is another point. Austria has been making ready. She can +strike quickly. Russia is slow. It will be two months before she makes +herself felt, even if she declares war at once. For two months Austria +can devote herself almost entirely to us. And the odds in her favor are +so great that anything might happen in that time, if we had not prepared +for her. As it is, there is almost nothing of Austria's plans and +preparations that we do not know." + +While Steve talked they were walking through what seemed almost like a +tunnel. Now he flashed his light, looked about, and dropped his voice. + +"Now we must begin to be careful," he said. "We are getting near the +light. This is like a rabbit's warren, but soon we shall be in the open. +Sure as we are that the Austrians know nothing of this place, we never +take chances." + +"We must be a long way from the cellar we first went into," said Dick. +"Even if we've circled around, and here where there are no stars, I +can't tell about that. We've walked a long distance, I should say." + +"You're right," said Steve, with a low and discreet chuckle. "Oh, this +is a fine tunnel! Do you know what we did a few minutes ago? We walked +right under a police station!" + +The tunnel seemed to dip now, and then to rise again. And in a few +moments cold air was blowing on their faces; cold, that is, by +comparison with the heat of the subterranean workings in which they had +been buried. Then they came out, stooping, and passing through a well +designed covering of shrubs and bushes, on the sandy beach of the river. +Dick gasped a little at that, and at seeing that they had evidently got +out of the town altogether. Before him now lay the lights of Belgrade, +but he noticed one thing at once. The lights had shrunk; there were +fewer than there had been the night before. + +Steve had gone ahead now, scouting to see if the coast were clear, but +he returned in a moment, jubilant. + +"All safe!" he said. "I knew it would be, of course, but there is no +need to take chances. Now we're all right so far. But we've got quite a +walk before us yet. We'll still be very cautious." + +"Which way?" asked Dick. + +"West, along the bank of the Save here. Look, do you see that monitor +there? If her searchlight swings this way, drop down. She might not pay +any attention, but we don't want to be noticed at all, and it's better +to be on the safe side." + +"Why are there so few lights in Belgrade?" asked Dick. "I know it's +late, but other nights, when I've looked over, it was much brighter." + +"I'm not sure," said Steve, looking anxious. "You see, it's hours since +I've had any news. The war may have come already, Dick. I hope not, +because I should feel that we were more sure of getting across before +the declaration. Still we have a good chance, even if it has begun." + +Three times, as they walked along the river bank, Steve made a long +detour inland. + +"The Austrians have patrols along the river," he said. "But they don't +take that sort of work very seriously. They are trusting the monitors +and their searchlights. You see, their lights are swinging pretty +steadily, and they cover the whole river and the Servian shore." + +"And don't they think that there's likely to be danger on this side?" + +"They're right, too, of course. Spies, yes. But we couldn't threaten +them very seriously in any way that would make it necessary for them to +be very careful here." + +"I wish we knew what was going on, don't you? Doesn't it seem funny to +be right in the middle of something that's going to make history and to +think that people thousands of miles away really know more about it than +we do?" + +"Yes. But soon we'll know all there is to be known. When we're once over +the river, then we can ask questions and get true answers, which is more +than people in Semlin have been doing lately. Yes, I'm just as anxious +for some news as you are. I rather wish now that I'd gone out while we +were waiting for it to be late enough to start. But I suppose it was +better that I didn't. You'd have been helpless there if anything had +happened to keep me from coming back," remarked Stepan. + +"If you'd been caught, you mean?" + +"Ye--es, I suppose that's what I mean. Although really I don't think +there was ever any great danger of that. When I got a job from Hallo, it +was sure that no one suspected me, because he's so busy with government +contracts that he had to be careful. I'm supposed to be a Hungarian, +from Buda-Pesth. And it isn't as if I'd been trying to find out things +in a general way. All I had to do was to pick up the information that it +was so easy to get in Hallo's place. There were all sorts of things to +be learned there, and a lot was made easy for me because Hallo and +others didn't think, I suppose, that I would know what certain papers +and estimates meant." + +"How did you know enough to be able to do all that sort of thing, +Steve?" + +"Well, there were a lot of things I didn't understand, myself. But I +didn't have to. I just copied down everything I saw that seemed to have +anything to do with military matters in any way, and sent everything I +got to the general staff at home. They knew the meaning of everything, +you see. It wasn't any one thing, perhaps; it was what I and a lot of +others who were at work over here were able to report that counted. They +could put one thing with another, and, altogether, it was worth +something. I don't know how much. But I do know, for instance, that +Hallo has sent supplies of various sorts to particular places. There's a +regular arsenal on the Austrian side, near Schabatz, and there are big +depots of supplies at a lot of places along the Drina." + +"Oh, I understand better now. Hallo is supplying food and things that +the soldiers will need?" + +"Food, and shoes, mostly. He's the biggest contractor for those, but he +is handling about everything. Medical supplies, uniforms, horseshoes, +saddles, and a tremendous lot of petrol--gasoline. And he's making a big +profit, too. He's one of several big army contractors who have been +eager for this war, and have had a lot to do with bringing it on, +because they hoped to grow richer out of their contracts. War meant big +profits." + +"Men like that ought to have to do some of the fighting themselves, I +think! But they never do. They stay behind, and let others do the work. +I've heard about that sort of thing at home in America. And some of them +didn't even behave honestly. They sold bad beef for the soldiers, and +rotten leather, and shoddy cloth for uniforms." + +Steve chuckled. + +"I'll tell you something about Hallo," he said. "But remember not to +tell anyone else, even if you get a chance, until the time comes. He's +doing something like that, too. He thinks he's been very clever, and +that there's no chance for anyone to find him out. But I've got the +proof, and perhaps there'll be a chance for you to use what I know to +make him do what's right for your mother, Dick. As it is, you see, I +wouldn't give him away, because it's good for us to have the Austrians +badly equipped. Hello, we're getting near our ferry! Do you see that +blasted tree there--the one that was struck by lightning?" + +"Yes," said Dick, peering through the darkness. + +"Well, just below that there ought to be a boat and a man with it. We'll +soon know if we can row or if we'll have to swim for it. It's a long +swim, and I'm not anxious to go that way." + +But the boat was there, and beside it a Servian who greeted Steve +happily, and looked at Dick appraisingly. + +"He is with me," said Steve. "Jump in, Dick! Hurry, Mischa!" + +In a moment they were out in the stream. And then things began to +happen. There was a sputtering of fire from the bank they had left, and +Mischa, the ferryman, staggered and collapsed. A bullet had reached him! +The oars fell into the water, and they were adrift. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +ACROSS THE SAVE + + +The fact that they lost their oars was what saved them. For now, its +attention evidently attracted by the sudden outburst of firing, the +nearest monitor sent its searchlight flashing down upon them, and the +little boat, with its helpless burden, was plainly visible from the +shore. With a quick and ready wit, the two scouts leaped to their feet, +at the risk of upsetting the boat, and waved their hands, in token of +their helplessness. They were seen at once, and there was a sharp cry +from the shore, and an order to cease firing. + +"We're in luck," said Steve, quietly, as he sat down again in the boat. +"That's an Austrian officer. If he had been Hungarian, he wouldn't have +stopped firing just because he saw we were helpless. But he must have +come lately from Vienna. He hasn't had time to get the border hatred of +us into his system yet." + +Dick already knew that there was particularly bad and bitter blood +between Servians and Hungarians, but he made no comment. By this time he +was heart and soul with Servia in the war that must have begun, but this +was partly because of his swiftly formed friendship for Steve Dushan, +and partly because Servia seemed to be the under dog. Yet he knew that +there were probably two sides to the question, and even the way Mike +Hallo had behaved had not filled him with a prejudice against the whole +Hungarian nation. + +Now that the immediate danger was over, there was time for them to look +to the wounded ferryman. Dick thought he was dead. He had never seen a +man shot before, but when he turned the man's body over, Steve laughed, +not callously, but happily. + +"Good for old Mischa!" he said. "I thought a man who fought at Kumanovo +and helped to storm Adrianople after the Bulgarians yelled for help +wouldn't go out so easily! See? It's only a scratch! The bullet grazed +his head. Dip your handkerchief in the water, and we'll have him all +right in no time." + +The cold water, as a matter of fact, did revive Mischa almost at once, +and he sat up, rueful at the loss of his oars. When he was told that a +bullet had grazed his scalp and stunned him, he actually grinned. + +"So that is what it feels like to be shot!" he said. "Good! Now I shan't +be afraid the next time there is going to be a battle, as I was at +Kumanovo. What next?" + +"I think everyone is wondering about that," said Dick, with a grin. +"They don't seem to want to come out after us, and we certainly can't +row ashore without oars, even if we wanted to. And I suppose if she's +cleared for action, that monitor isn't carrying so many boats that +she'll want to send one for us." + +"I wish her searchlight would break down!" said Steve, venomously. "Then +our fellows on the other side might help us. Mischa, I've got to get +over if we can do it. It's very important for me to report what I +discovered during the day. Has war been declared yet?" + +"It has not been formally declared," said Mischa. "But the King and all +the government have gone all the way back to Nish, and most of the +troops have marched away to the west, toward Schabatz and Losnitza. +There is only a small garrison left in Belgrade." + +"To Nish, eh?" said Steve, frowning a little. "That was not the plan of +which I heard. The withdrawal was to be only to Kragujevac. They must +mean to draw the Austrians on. But I am sorry. I hoped for an invasion." + +Suddenly to the east there was a dull roar. The three in the boat stared +at one another, and at the same moment there came a wild outburst of +cheering from the soldiers on the Austrian bank of the river. + +"What is that?" asked Dick. As he spoke the sound was repeated. + +"Cannon," said Mischa. + +"Yes, cannon!" repeated Steve, his face lighted up. "The first gun of +the war! Who knows how many echoes that shot will have? They said that +in your country a shot was fired once that was heard around the world. I +believe that this is just such a shot, Dick!" + +"Where is the firing?" + +"It must be from one of the Austrian batteries near Semlin. They are +bombarding the city of Belgrade, I suppose." + +And then there was a deafening roar, a sound far greater than the firing +of even the heaviest guns of modern warfare would make, and to the east, +toward the Danube, there was a great flash of fire. Instantly the +searchlight swung away from them and pointed in the opposite direction, +and as the beams of light were concentrated on the spot where the flash +had been, the three observers in the boat saw a strange and wonderful +sight. The lights played full on the great steel railway bridge across +the Save, and in their white glare they could see the beams collapsing, +the piers melting away, while the whole central span of the bridge +collapsed in utter ruin, leaving a gap where the river now flowed +unbridged. + +"Yes, the war has come!" said Steve impressively. "That was to be our +first act--the destruction of the bridge. They will not send their +troops into Servia so easily as that!" + +"P--ss--t!" + +A sharp hiss came to their ears, seemingly from the water. And not only +seemingly. Looking down, they saw the upturned face of a swimmer. Mischa +hailed him joyfully. + +"Peter!" he said. + +"Take this rope. We saw what had happened," said the swimmer, "and so I +swam out, and waited until their accursed searchlight was not playing on +you. We will draw you ashore. If they fire, lie low in the boat, and +they will never hit you. But you are safe now unless the searchlight +comes back again. They can never see you in this darkness." + +"Good man, Peter!" said Steve, his voice hushed. "Swim back, now. We +have the rope. It is better for you not to come into the boat now." + +Peter did not answer, but turned at once and began cutting the water +with long, powerful strokes. Nevertheless, though he made good progress, +he disturbed the water very little, and he had not gone more than a few +yards before it was almost impossible for even those in the boat to see +him. Only a faint rippling of the water behind him marked his trail. + +"That was good work," said Dick, admiringly. "We'll get ashore safely +yet, Steve! And a minute ago it certainly didn't seem possible." + +There was a tug at the rope a moment later. The searchlights were still +turned downstream, and now there was a brisk cannonading from the Semlin +batteries. There had been no more explosions. It was plain, as, indeed, +they had already been able to see, that the Servian sappers who had +mined the railway bridge had done their work well. + +"Down in the boat now!" said Dushan. "They are drawing on the rope, and +they'll begin pulling us along in a moment. I'm going to try to keep +her as she is, but it may be hard if they pull too fast. If they will +keep their searchlight away for just five minutes, we shall be all +right." + +"You'd better make that rope fast to something in the boat instead of +just holding on to it," said Dick. "If you don't, you might lose your +hold. Remember how Mischa lost his oars." + +"That's a good idea, Dick. I didn't think of it. Here, it's looped +around one of the thwarts now. That ought to hold it all right, if they +do hit me." + +Then they all dropped, and in a moment the boat was being drawn along +swiftly through the water. It proved impossible to keep her bow on to +the Servian shore, but there seemed no reason to fear anything from the +Austrians behind them. Yet suddenly a bullet whistled over their heads, +following the crack of a rifle. + +"Never mind that!" said Dick. "They just want us to know that they're +still thinking about us, that's all!" + +But the shot had another motive, as they soon guessed. It had been fired +in an interval of silence, when there was no firing from the batteries +at Semlin--to which, incidentally, the Servians had as yet made no reply +from Belgrade--and it was soon apparent that it had been fired to +attract the attention of the monitor. In a moment the searchlight came +winking back, and instinctively, as the great beam of light swept over +them, all crouched lower still in the bottom of the boat. There were +quick wits on the Servian side, for the dragging of the rope stopped at +once, and their motion with it. + +For a moment nothing happened. + +"Perhaps they won't notice that we've moved," said Steve, hopefully. + +But that was a vain hope. More faintly now, they could hear shouting +from the Austrian bank, and then Dick understood as a volley rang out +and a hail of bullets swept over them and pattered into the water near +by. + +"They saw that we had disappeared. That's enough to make them +suspicious!" he cried. "Shake that rope! Maybe they'll understand that +we want them to pull again." + +But that was unnecessary. The pull on the rope had been resumed, and +they were moving fast again. + +Once more the Austrian rifles spoke, and this time half a dozen bullets +pattered against the side of the boat. Some came through, but she was +stoutly built, and these had lost most of their force. But the +searchlight followed them, and now there was a loud roar near by. This +was followed in a moment by a dull explosion that seemed to be within a +few feet of them. The boat rocked violently and a shower of spray +descended, wetting them all. + +"Stay down!" cried Steve. "That's a shell from the monitor!" + +"Gee! They're anxious enough to get us, aren't they?" exclaimed Dick. +"That was a close call, Steve! But I'll bet it was just a lucky shot! +We're too small a target, and we're moving pretty fast! I don't believe +they will really hit us." + +"Too close to be comfortable," agreed Steve. "It feels funny, doesn't +it, being under fire? I never was before." + +"And I don't care if I never am again," rejoined Dick. "I'm frightened, +and I don't care who knows it!" + +"So am I!" admitted Steve, a little tremulously. "And I hoped I wouldn't +be! I wanted to be a soldier, but a coward can't be a soldier." + +Before Dick, who didn't think that it was cowardly to be afraid, could +answer, another shell plumped into the water beyond them, and again +showered them with spray, while it set the boat to rocking. But in a way +even this danger was a source of safety, for the upheaval of the water +had spoiled the aim of the rifleman each time, and though they dared not +rise to look, they felt that they must be very near the Servian shore by +this time. And then big Mischa laughed aloud. + +"You need not be afraid, Stepan Ivanovitch," he said. "You need not be +afraid that you are a coward, I mean. I am afraid at first every time I +am under fire, and so are most soldiers. Ask your father, now that you +have been under fire yourself. It soon wears off, that fear. But the +bravest men need not be ashamed to admit they are afraid when the first +bullets sing in their ears, or when they hear the shells burst near +them!" + +Twice more, in a few moments, shells dropped in the water near them. But +either luck was with them, or the monitor's target practice was poor, +for neither damaged the boat. And now they could hear the encouraging +shouts of the Servians from the shore. Then there came an explosion +louder than any of the rest, and the boat seemed to go to pieces under +them. The water rushed in. Luckily, no one of them was hurt, but all +were thrown into the water. They began to swim lustily, striking out +blindly for the shore, until Mischa raised his voice in a great laugh, +and seized one of them in each arm. + +"Here, I'll carry you ashore!" he cried. + +They were safe! + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE WOUNDED CAPTAIN + + +Safe, but only for the moment. The searchlight had been following them, +and now it played on them and the Servians, a little party of five or +six men, who had dragged them thus to safety. + +"Look out! Scatter!" cried one of these, the only one who was in +uniform. "They'll try another shell, just to get even, now that you've +got away from them." + +They scattered at once, flinging themselves to the ground after running +a few paces. And, sure enough, a shell struck close to the brink of the +water, half burying itself in the sand before it exploded and sent sand +and dirt flying all over them. The fire of the riflemen carried across +the river, too, from the other bank, but the bullets had little force +left after carrying so far. + +Dick, lying face down, his back to the river, and within a few paces of +Steve, lifted his head a little, and looked about him. He saw that a +little way back from the water's edge the ground began to rise quite +sharply, culminating in what was almost a bluff, but was still easily to +be climbed. And where the ground began to rise, there was a sturdy +growth of bushes and young trees, too, that would afford good shelter. +If they could only get so far! It was easy to see. The searchlight from +the monitor was playing all over and around them, making the scene weird +in the extreme but serving them, in a way, by making their path as clear +as it would have been in broad daylight. + +Then the searchlight winked out and swung away for a moment. In that +instant the man who had given the first order rose and began running +toward the shrubbery. + +"Come on!" he cried, turning and stopping, while he waved his hands. +"The light will be back in a moment!" + +They obeyed willingly, and swept up the slope in a wild rush. The +searchlight swung back again, and now a shell burst high in the air +above them. In a moment there was a curious tearing sound, and then a +pitapat on the ground about them. Dick guessed it was shrapnel, though +he had, of course, never been under shrapnel fire before. That was not +from the monitor, he knew. It meant that the Austrians on the other side +must have got a light field piece into action after some delay. + +But he was not hit, and in a minute he was at the top of the rise, +panting. Steve Dushan came up to him. + +"All right, Dick?" he cried. "I didn't have any idea of bringing you +into anything as hot as this. You might better have stayed and taken +your chance in Semlin! Perhaps your consul could have helped you." + +"I don't care! We're all right now," said Dick. He laughed nervously. +"I'm not sorry a bit!" he declared. "It's the most exciting thing that +ever happened to me! Now that it's all over I--yes, I believe I have +enjoyed it!" + +"So have I! I mean it, too, Dick! I'm not saying that just to make +myself think I'm brave, because I was awfully frightened all the time. +But now that it's over, it's something to look back at, isn't it? It +isn't everyone who's under fire, after all." + +Then they heard Mischa calling. + +"Captain!" he cried. "Captain Obrenovitch!" + +There was no answer. And suddenly Dick knew that there would be none. +His mind recalled something that he had only half grasped as he ran up +the hill, with the patter of the bursting shrapnel, with its load of +slugs and bullets, nails and pieces of iron, all about him. He had seen +a man stumble, the one man in uniform. + +"Is Captain Obrenovitch the one who was in uniform?" he asked. + +"Yes, Dick. Why? Was he hit? Did you see him go down?" + +"I'm afraid so, yes. Here, I'm going to find out!" + +Before Steve realized what he was doing, Dick had turned and plunged +back in the direction from which he had just come. + +"Dick!" cried Stepan. "Where are you going? What are you doing?" + +"I'm going after him!" Dick shouted back. + +"Wait! That's madness! Let me go with you!" + +But if he heard, Dick made no answer. He did hear, but he paid no +attention, and scarcely understood the words. All that Dick knew was +that he had run away from a man who had been wounded because he had +braved death to save his, Dick's, life. He had seen him fall, as he +understood now, and he had not stopped to see if he could help! Dick +felt a surge of shame. He felt as if he could never respect himself +again unless he tried to make atonement now for having run on! It was +fantastic, quixotic, absurd perhaps, but it was Dick Warner's way, as +anyone who had known him at home in New York would have realized at +once! + +"I saw him fall. I know just where he is," Dick told himself again and +again, as he ran on, stumbling over roots, tripping repeatedly in his +hasty descent of the slope that had seemed so hard to climb a few +moments before. "It's up to me to find him and make up to him for +sticking to that rope!" + +That was Dick's thought. He owed his life to this man Obrenovitch, whose +very face he would not know if he saw him now. And that life, he felt, +would be of no use to him if he kept it at the expense of leaving his +debt of gratitude to Obrenovitch unpaid. + +The Servian captain had fallen out in the open, and Dick came to him at +last. The searchlight was still playing. It lit up the body for a +moment, and then winked away again. But Dick had his own pocket +flashlight out in a second, and in its light he saw that the captain, if +he was not dead, was in a bad way. Like all scouts, Dick knew something +of the first aid, and a very hasty glance showed him just what had +happened. Obrenovitch lay straight out, and the blood was gushing out +from his leg above the knee. One of the great arteries had been cut. In +a few minutes he would bleed to death if help did not come to him. + +"Oh, I hope I'm in time!" cried Dick. + +And then he wasted no more of the precious seconds. He knew that +Obrenovitch, as an officer, in uniform, and in time of war, would have +somewhere about him a Red Cross packet containing the absolute +essentials of first aid treatment. In a moment he had found this packet +and torn it open. He was close to the river, and in a twinkling he found +two small, flat stones. These he pressed into the open wounds where the +bullet had passed in and out, and then he drew a tight bandage about +them. + +All this time, be it remembered, he was under heavy fire. Bullets +pattered about him constantly. Once a stick he was using in an effort to +improvise a still better tourniquet was shot right out of his hand. But +he never faltered. Fortunately the shooting was wild. The searchlight +had not picked him up, and so he was not a real target for the enemy, as +he might have been had they seen him in the glare of the great light. + +The blood soon ceased to flow, and then Dick leaned over to listen for +the beating of the captain's heart. He caught it in a moment. It was +faint, but regular enough. + +"I think he'll do all right now," said Dick to himself, with intense +satisfaction. + +And then he had time to think of himself, and to realize that he was +tired and shaky about the knees. He collapsed for a moment, and lay +beside the wounded and unconscious officer. But he realized something +that was like a tonic; he had not been afraid, not once, while his work +remained unfinished! Perhaps it was just because he had been too busy in +his fight with the death that was reaching out to seize the Servian. +Whatever the reason, it was something to make him proud and happy, and +to fill him with a tingling sensation that was worth a night's sleep, +almost, in making him forget his own exhaustion. + +"Now to get him away!" said Dick to himself. "There's no use in staying +here. Something is sure to hit one or both of us if I do." + +But Obrenovitch was rather a heavy man. Dick could have dragged him +along, but he was afraid that that would start the bleeding of the wound +afresh, and he knew that if the Servian lost even a little more of the +blood that he had already shed so freely nothing could save him. + +For a moment Dick was near to despair. There seemed nothing to do but +stay there and hope that the Austrian fire would slacken. Even so, +however, things were bad enough, for it was highly important, as Dick +understood very well, to get the Servian officer into a doctor's hands +as soon as possible. His improvised bandage and tourniquet would do very +well for an hour or so, but better treatment was necessary, since it was +dangerous to arrest the circulation of the blood, what there was left of +it, too long. And then Dick heard footsteps, the most welcome sound he +had ever heard, he thought--except for the hail that followed a moment +later. + +"Dick! Where are you?" + +It was Stepan Dushan. He had come after Dick, determined not to let a +stranger outdo him in courage! + +"Here!" cried Dick. "I found him! I believe he'll pull through, if we +can get him away. I've been puzzling my brains trying to think how to do +it. But now we can make a stretcher." + +"How? We haven't any material, Dick!" + +"Haven't they taught you that?" said Dick. "All our scouts know how to +turn that trick! Stay here! I'll be back in a minute." + +Dick always carried his big knife, which had been a present from his +scoutmaster as a reward for a particularly good piece of work that Dick +had once done at home. Now, with its biggest blade, he managed to cut +away two stout branches of a tree, and to strip them of leaves and +twigs. Though they were thin, he knew that the live, green wood was +stout, and that while it might bend and give, it would not readily +break. He returned with the two poles, and called to Steve. + +"Take off your coat and give it to me, Steve," he directed. + +Steve obeyed, and Dick laid the coat, and his own, which he now took +off, on the ground. Then he passed the poles through the sleeves of the +two coats, having laid them end to end, and then he proceeded to button +both coats. + +"Now do you see?" he said. "Isn't that a fine stretcher for a home-made +one? Take his feet now, and lift him very carefully. He's too tall, but +if we pass our hands and arms under him, we can support his head and his +feet when we start to carry him. It'll be a hard job, but it's the only +chance. It's better to let him take the risk of being carried that way +than to leave him here. He hasn't any chance at all here, and he will +have some this way. How soon can we get him to a doctor?" + +"Very soon, once we're up the hill," said Steve. "The men can help +there. They didn't know I had come back, but they will soon miss us and +come back to see what has happened. Mischa has been my father's servant +for years, and he would go through fire and water for me, I know." + +"Good! Steve, have you noticed? They've stopped firing!" + +"About time, too! What a lot of ammunition they have wasted! Well, they +have plenty! We haven't, and when we shoot it will be when we're pretty +sure that there are Austrians in the way!" + +"Yes. Steady, now--careful! Don't jolt him even a little--it won't take +much to start that bleeding up again." + +Tenderly, carefully, they lifted the wounded man and got him on the +stretcher. Then with the utmost care, lest they disturb the rough +bandaging, they raised it. And when they had it up and were about to +start, in broken step, to make the movement smoother, there came a +fearful test of their nerve. A dull roar sounded behind them, and above +their heads a whistling, shrieking sound, that they had learned to know +well that night! It was the hiss of a shell, and in a moment it burst. +But it had overshot the mark, and when it burst, though their hands +shook, they held their firm grip on the stretcher, and that last, +wanton shot had no more effect than its predecessors. It was the last. +They finished the ascent safely. And there they found Mischa and the +rest, who relieved them and carried the stretcher to the road a few +hundred yards beyond, where, by great good luck, they met a marching +regiment, with a real surgeon. + +Their work for Obrenovitch was done. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +A NEW EXPLOIT + + +Dick dropped into the background when they encountered the soldiers, and +let Stepan do the talking. Now that the strain was over, he was feeling +very tired and he wanted only to get to a place where he could sleep. +But Stepan would not allow him to escape so easily. He told everyone +within hearing of Dick's feat in going back to look for the wounded +captain. The surgeon, bending over the bandages and making little +adjustments, looked up quickly. + +"Whoever applied this tourniquet saved this man's life," he said, +briskly. "He would have bled to death in a very little time. As it is, +he will do very well, if the wound has not been infected, and there was +so much blood that I doubt if there was any great danger of that." + +Then the colonel of the regiment appeared, and drew aside Stepan, whom +he evidently knew. When they returned the colonel spoke to Dick very +quietly. + +"This is not the time to try to thank you for what you have done +to-night," he said. "I can only tell you that, if I live long enough, I +shall see that your heroism is properly known and fittingly rewarded. +You have helped to bring Stepan Dushan to this side in safety, too, for +he tells me that your cool behavior in the boat under the Austrian fire +had a good deal to do with getting you all ashore. Now I shall send you +to Belgrade, since Stepan Dushan tells me that you have reasons for +wishing to stay with us for a time. You have earned the right to do as +you please." + +Captain Obrenovitch was being sent back to Belgrade, and Steve and Dick +volunteered to care for him on the way, since that would make it +unnecessary to detail a hospital corps man to act as orderly. They had +already proved that they could be trusted in any emergency that might +arise. And so in a few minutes the column began the march again, moving +westward. Dick noticed that no bugles or drums were sounded, and that +the order to march was passed along from company to company, the +officers giving the brief commands in low voices. + +"It's a secret troop movement, of course," said Steve, when Dick +commented on this. "I can explain a little. The Austrians think, or we +hope they do, that we will concentrate in defense of our capital. We +would like to, but, after all, Belgrade is not the historic capital of +Servia. Our chief city in the olden times was Uskub, which we regained +from the Turks in the first war. We have made a capital of Belgrade +because it is the most convenient city and because it is the centre of +most of our trade." + +"And you're going to let them take it?" + +"Oh, I didn't say that!" said Steve, with a grin. "Perhaps they will +take it but they won't hold it very long! No, what I mean is that our +armies will defend Belgrade not by standing a siege, but by attacking +the Austrians in other places. Belgrade will have a small garrison, and +its situation makes it very strong, of course. But if the Austrians +were to enter the city to-morrow it could make no real difference to the +plan of our campaign." + +They were not very far from the city, which they entered, of course, +from the land side. They drove to the military hospital first, and there +Captain Obrenovitch was turned over to those who could complete the work +Dick had begun. Then when it was certain that he was in good hands, and +they had had a confirmation of the regimental surgeon's optimistic +verdict, they were ready to rest. + +"Haven't you got to make a report?" asked Dick, when Steve announced +that they were going to his home to sleep. + +"I've made the important report already," said Steve. "The chief +information I had was military, and Colonel Tchernaieff will give the +facts I had gathered to the staff when he reports at Schabatz. The rest +can wait until morning. I don't know what has happened here yet. I +suppose the information department still has quarters here, but most of +the men will be with the army in the field. I may have to go to Schabatz +in the morning--later in the morning, I mean." + +That was a good correction to make, because it was morning now, and +streaks of light were beginning to appear beyond the Danube. And Dick, +who had lived through the fullest day of his life, was eager to get to +bed. The Austrian bombardment, which it seemed had not been very bad, +had stopped altogether, and the strong probability that it would be +resumed when the sun rose didn't deter Dick from his desire to sleep. + +"We'll be at my house soon," said Steve, who knew how tired Dick was. +"If old Maritza is still there, she will look after us. I don't believe +anyone else will be in the house. My mother and my two young brothers +have probably gone away. My father said they must when the war began." + +Dick found that his friend's house was in that new quarter of Belgrade +that he had admired so much when he had made his trip across from +Semlin. And the inside of the house was as pleasant as its outer +aspect. It was not luxurious. Few houses in Servia are, since Servia is +a country where great wealth is practically unknown. But so, for that +matter, is extreme poverty. Most of the Servian people make enough for a +living, and not a great deal more, and so they have remained a simple +people, and have maintained their ability to rise as a nation in arms. + +But Dick wasn't thinking of such things. All he needed to know about +that house or any other was that it contained a bed. Yet first before +they went to bed, both he and Steve took a bath. + +"Heaven only knows when we'll get another chance," said Steve, +cheerfully. "There are going to be exciting doings, my friend Dick, for +a time. We may have to leave here in a great hurry. You know, the +Austrians _may_ find out how easy it would be for them to come over into +Belgrade! It would be a great stroke for them to say they had captured +our capital in the first week of the war, even if they couldn't keep +it." + +"Well, I hope they don't come until we've had a good sleep," said Dick. +And with that he rolled himself into bed and was snoring as soon as his +head touched the pillow. + +When he awoke it was broad daylight. But one thing surprised him. The +window was in the west wall of the room in which he had slept, and yet +the sun was pouring into it! It didn't seem possible, yet it was true. +It was late afternoon, almost evening, and he had slept practically all +day! In his surprise he called out sharply to Steve, who had slept in +the same room, but in a separate bed. But Steve was not there. His bed +was crumpled, but he himself had vanished! + +Dick went to the window and looked out. Everything seemed to be +peaceful. There were not many people about, but he knew that in this +part of Belgrade few people were to be seen at this time of day in any +case. At first he scarcely noticed a sound that came to his ears +regularly, almost as regularly and monotonously as the ticking of a +watch. Then he realized what it was; the sound of cannon. The +bombardment, then, was still going on. He wondered about its success. + +He looked out toward the business quarter of Belgrade. In a good many +places black smoke was rising, shot through with yellow fumes. There was +no wind, fortunately; he guessed that these pillars of smoke were from +fires started by the Austrian shells. Had there been a gale to fan them +they might have done serious damage. He was still looking out when the +door burst open and Stepan Dushan came in. + +"Hello! You're awake at last, are you?" he cried. "Well, you had sleep +enough when you once started! You looked so comfortable that I didn't +have the heart to wake you when the time came for me to get up." + +"I'm glad you didn't," said Dick, honestly. "I'm feeling fine now, and +if you'll give me some breakfast I'll tackle my weight in wildcats! But +if I'd had five minutes less sleep it wouldn't have been enough! I don't +believe I was ever tired enough to sleep through a bombardment before." + +"This isn't much of a bombardment," said Stepan, contemptuously. "I +don't believe there'll be much damage done. Come on out--though I'll see +that you get some breakfast first. I think I'll have something +interesting to tell you before long." + +"All right. But why don't you tell me now?" asked Dick. + +"Bad luck to talk about things until they're done," said Steve, with a +grin. "Don't you know that in America?" + +"All right," said Dick. "But just when are you going to know?" + +"Pretty soon--but that's no sign that you'll know it as soon as I do, +you know. How would you like to go back to Semlin?" + +"I'm game, if you'll tell me why." + +"That's just what I'm afraid I won't be able to do. That is, it would be +a whole lot better if you didn't know." + +"Oh, all right! I don't care, anyhow! I've enlisted for the war. By the +way, what's happened to your scout troop? I thought perhaps there'd be +some good work here in Belgrade for it to do." + +"There will be, only there isn't any troop any more. About everyone in +it is with the army, except the very little chaps. I think they'd have +let me fight this time if there wasn't other work for me to do. You see +we lost so many men against Turkey and Bulgaria that we haven't really +enough men to fill the ranks. We have regiments that aren't half +filled--or we did have until this started. By this time, though, I think +there aren't many short battalions left. The old men and the boys will +fight, and they say that some of the country regiments have a lot of +women in them." + +"Women? Fighting with the men? That's not allowed, is it?" + +"How can you stop it?" asked Steve, with a shrug. "You don't know much +about us yet, Dick, my friend. You don't know what it is to have lived +with the Turks for centuries. I have read about your American women on +the plains, in the times when the Indians went on the war-path. Most of +them could handle a rifle, couldn't they? And they were pretty good +shots, too!" + +"Yes, but that's different--" + +"Not so very different. I don't believe your Indians were ever worse +than the Bashi-Bazouks. They hated us Servians, you see, because we were +infidels and Christians. And so for hundreds of years they harried us, +burned our homes, carried off our women, killed our men. That sort of +thing gets into the blood after a time. For centuries we Serbs have +stood between all Europe and the Turks. They never wiped us out, though +they beat us by sheer weight of numbers. But here, and in Bosnia, that +the Austrians stole, and in the Black Mountains--Montenegro--a few Serbs +have always held out. + +"That's why we aren't so civilized as some of the other countries of +Europe. We haven't had the time to be civilized. We have had to fight +just to keep alive. We have had to fight the Turks for life itself, and +when they did not kill, they burned our fields with the standing grain, +summer after summer, so that the harvest was lost. Yet once there was a +great Serb empire that stretched from the Black Sea to the Aegean--" +Stepan's eyes flashed, and there was a look in them that might have been +worn by his great ancestor and namesake, the last of the great medieval +Servian Tsars. + +"There is a day that we still mark every year," he went on. "The day of +the battle of Kossovo, when the Turks annihilated us--though that was +more than five hundred years ago. But in the last war we had our +revenge, on the great day of Kumanovo, when, though the Turks +outnumbered us, we drove them before us and crushed them. + +"But I spoke of the women, and I am wandering from the point! We do not +want the women to fight, but they come from the villages, where whole +companies are recruited from relatives, since we still have almost a +patriarchal system. The woman wears men's clothes, and she marches with +her husband or her brothers. The officers do not know, and--they fight +well. They have known what it is, some of those women, to see their +homes burned and their mothers slain by Turks. They know that a free +Servia means more than a name!" + +"I hadn't thought about it just that way," said Dick. "But I see that +you are right. It is just the same thing as with our pioneers. The women +of those days did fight the Indians, and for just such reasons. I'm +going to get you to tell me more about Servian history some time. You +know, until the Balkan War Servia and Bulgaria weren't much more than +names to us in America or to most of us. We were surprised and mighty +pleased, of course, when you smashed the Turks the way you did." + +"Everyone was surprised," said Stepan. His face grew dark. "And there is +another thing we hold against Austria. We were good friends, we little +states of the Balkans. We had fought a great war, and we would have +continued to be good friends had it not been for Austria. But she +stepped in when peace was to be made, and said what we could have and +what we must not touch. She would not give us the window on the sea that +we had paid for with our blood. And she tricked Bulgaria into attacking +us and so starting the second war." + +"How was that?" + +"She thought Bulgaria was strong enough to beat us, and she promised to +help if Bulgaria were too weak. Everyone thought, you see, that the +Bulgarian troops were the best in the Balkans. They forgot that we +helped them to win Adrianople, and that we and the Greeks won our great +victories unaided. And then, when we crushed Bulgaria within two weeks, +Austria broke her word, and Bulgaria was left helpless. We acted in self +defence, but we were sorry." + +"I supposed that Servia hated Bulgaria now, Steve. And Greece, too." + +"As to Greece, I cannot say. Her people are not Slavs. But we and the +Bulgarians are blood brothers. We would not have fought except for +Austrian trickery and Austrian lying--that they call diplomacy." + +"Will Bulgaria fight again in this war?" + +"I do not know. There is a great effort being made to revive the Balkan +League and add Roumania to it. Roumania is stronger than any of us now, +because, though she helped us at the end of the war with Bulgaria, she +did no real fighting at all, and it did not exhaust her to gain what she +did from the wars. If we can win what Austria denied us before, and +Bosnia and Herzegovina, perhaps, as well, we will not grudge Bulgaria +what we had to keep from her in Macedonia after the war with Turkey, and +we will help her, too, to recover Adrianople. You remember that the +Turks took that back from her when we had beaten her down." + +"So Bulgaria may be on your side?" + +"Yes. And I think it very likely, because she is near us and far from +Austria, which might offer to help her. If she attacked us, too, Greece +would come to our aid. But that depends on many things. If Russia helps +us, that will make a difference. And it is a question of what Italy will +do, also. But this is not getting us anywhere. You are game to come with +me?" + +"Yes." + +"Then let us start. We are going to get a motor boat on the Danube--not +on the Save--and try to run the gauntlet of the Austrian monitors. I +think it is safe enough, because they believe that they have the river +entirely under their control. I think it will be easier to get into +Semlin than it was to get out last night." + +"Well, I'm ready whenever you give the word." + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BACK TO SEMLIN + + +It was beginning to grow dark when they set out from Steve's house. + +Maritza, the old servant who seemed to idolize Steve, had given them a +wonderful meal. Dick liked the old peasant woman. She reminded him of +the stories he had read of old southern mammies. It was plain that she +was wholly devoted to the Dushan family, and that she would do anything +for them. But in spite of that, she ordered Steve around as if he had +been a child of her own, and Steve, who seemed to Dick to possess a +goodly share of independence, accepted her orders with the utmost +meekness. + +"She was with the family before I was born," he explained. "I can +remember how she used to order me about when I was a little chap. And +she's pretty nearly as bad with my father, too. I can tell you he does +what he's told. It's a wonder she hasn't insisted on going with him in +the campaign, just to make sure that he changes his shoes when his feet +get wet and wears heavy clothes when it's cold!" + +Dick laughed, but he could understand Maritza's attitude well enough. +She had mothered him, too, and, despite his excitement, which made him +inclined to slight his meal, had insisted on his eating generously. + +"I don't know what mischief you two boys will be up to to-night," she +had said, "but if you've got a good hot meal in your stomachs you'll be +in a better condition for it, whatever it is." + +As they left the house, Steve explained that they had a long walk before +them. + +"Horses are at a premium," he said. "Otherwise we might have ridden, +because I could have got them. But they are so badly needed in the field +that everyone has given up all the animals that are at all fit for +service." + +"You don't use cavalry very much, though, do you?" + +"No, not as a rule. Our men fight better on foot, and a great deal of +our fighting is done in mountainous country that is all split up with +ravines and clumps of woods. It was so, at least, against the Turks and +the Bulgarians. But in this war there will be some chance for cavalry, +at first, anyhow. And, besides, the horses are needed for the guns." + +"Oh, yes! I didn't think of that. You don't use motor cars much, I +suppose?" + +"We can't. We haven't the roads. If the French get in, they and the +Germans will use cars a great deal, I suppose, for all sorts of things. +But our roads are too bad for that. It's just as well, because the +Austrians have had so much more money to spend than we that they are far +ahead of us. They've got better heavy guns than we, too, but I don't +think they'll get much more chance to use them. We are not going to shut +ourselves up in fortresses. And when it comes to field pieces we can +hold our own with them a good deal better." + +"Field guns will be the ones most used, won't they?" + +"We think so. We've got light guns that are easy to move about, and +we've got the men who know how to handle them, too. Our men are all +veterans, and that is going to make a lot of difference. They know what +it is to have hard fighting, and if things go against them at first it +won't bother them. My father says that the experience we have had in +actual war will be worth five army corps." + +"Who is the commander-in-chief?" + +"General Pushkin. Everyone agrees that he was the one great soldier that +the Balkan wars produced. He won his battles against the Turks easily, +and without the loss of great numbers of men, and when the Bulgarians +attacked, we and the Greeks fought the campaign according to his +strategy. The German military attache said that General Pushkin was fit +to command the greatest army in the world. He said he was a military +genius of the first rank, and one of the greatest soldiers developed in +Europe since the time of von Moltke." + +"Then he must be good, because the Germans know a good soldier when they +see him." + +"He has done everything that has been required of him so far. This war +with Austria will be his great test--only he doesn't regard it as a +test, but as an opportunity. My father says that that is the true mark +of a man's character. He says the weak man, who hasn't got it in him to +succeed, thinks of a difficult thing he has to do, or to try to do, as a +trial, a test, and that the big man, who is sure to amount to something, +simply looks at it as a chance to show what he has in him." + +"I know what you mean." Dick nodded. "My own father used to say that, +too. That was the trouble with Mike Hallo, I guess. If things looked +hard he was always complaining, and my father used to get pretty sore at +him sometimes. My father just gritted his teeth and went to work. I +remember hearing them talk about the panic a few years ago. An awful lot +of business houses were smashed then, but my father pulled through, +though Hallo wanted to quit. He said they would only be throwing good +money after bad if they kept on." + +They had been walking briskly while they talked, and it was not long +before they came to the flat, marshy ground near the banks of the +Danube. Here it was a sluggish, thick, yellow stream, flowing along +impressively because of its bulk, but lacking every element of beauty +and romance. + +"This doesn't look much like the beautiful blue Danube, does it, Steve?" +Dick suggested. + +"No," said Steve, with a laugh. "It's not pretty--not here. There is +some fine scenery between here and the coast, though, where it marks the +boundary between Roumania and Bulgaria. And it's all historic. On the +Bulgarian side further down, the ground is high, with a sharp ascent +from the river. There was some fierce fighting in the Russo-Turkish +war--the war that freed Bulgaria, you know, and really helped a lot to +make Servia free, too. At one place the Russians crossed in boats and +stormed the heights, with the Turks above, firing down on them." + +"They must have been brave in those days!" + +"The Russians? There are no braver troops in Europe--there never have +been!" + +"They didn't do very well against the Japanese." + +"It wasn't the fault of the soldiers. Their generals were poor, and +everything was badly managed. I think that if the Germans despise the +Russian army they are making a great mistake. Russia learned many +lessons in the war with Japan, and when she fights again, soldiers will +be in command, not politicians. Here we are; this is the boat." + +Dick looked curiously at the little craft. She was painted a dull, +leaden grey, and he could guess that at a very short distance it would +be almost impossible to detect her. In other ways, too, she was +especially designed for the business she was intended for. + +"Isn't she a little beauty?" said Steve, enthusiastically. "See--that's +armor plate, very thin, of course, but tough and strong, that covers her +entirely on the outside. Then she's decked over with armor plate, too, +so that one can be inside and expose practically nothing. The engine is +sheathed the same way, and all the essential working parts. She can pass +through a rain of bullets without being hurt; it would take a shell to +make any real impression on her, and she's so fast that it would be a +hard job for a man to get her with one." + +"I never saw anything like her," said Dick. "You say she's fast, too?" + +"Twenty-five miles an hour easily, Dick! That's fast enough for anything +she's ever likely to have to do. The Austrians have launches, armed and +armored ones, but nothing that's in a class with this boat for speed and +power." + +"She doesn't carry any guns, though?" + +"No. She's meant to run away, not to fight. There are a couple of rifles +and automatic pistols and ammunition aboard, but really she is a scout, +pure and simple, and she would only fight to escape. You see, with such +a lot of armor plate and defensive equipment generally, they had to +figure pretty carefully on weight, or they'd have lost speed. And +speed's the most important thing with a boat like this. All aboard, now! +We'll be off in a minute!" + +Dick took his place aboard, and found that there was plenty of room +under the plate of steel that covered almost the whole length of the +little boat. Then Steve followed him, and in a moment the engine was +purring and they were moving away. + +"That's the quietest motor I ever heard in a power boat," said Dick. + +"Exhaust under water and a special muffler as well," said Steve. "She'd +be useless if she gave herself away when she was a mile from anyone, +wouldn't she?" + +"It means less speed, though." + +"Yes, that's so. But it doesn't make difference enough to make up for +the safety it gives. You see, we could pass within a cable length of one +of those Austrian monitors now and they'd never know it. We'll have to +do just about that, too, before the night's over, I'm afraid." + +"Where are you going to land, Steve? In Semlin itself?" + +"No. That would be too risky and there's no need for it. I'm going to +keep right on up the Danube, past the mouth of the Save, and we'll land +above the town and circle back. They'll keep a very sharp lookout now +along the river bank in Semlin, but I don't think they'll be so careful +on this side. They'll trust to their river patrol and the mines." + +"You think the river will be mined?" + +"Oh, surely!" + +"Wouldn't it be a good thing for your side to do some mining, too?" + +"It's probably been done already, especially in the Save. We have only +one or two small gun-boats, which wouldn't have a chance in a fight with +the Austrians on water. But I think we'll be able to make them see that +it isn't any too safe for their monitors. We can't beat the Austrians +by main strength, so we'll have to use all the tricks we can. I think +they'll find out before very long that there are more ways of killing a +dog than by shooting him." + +Now they were out in midstream. Perhaps a mile above them, as they swung +diagonally across the river, an Austrian monitor, painted a dun color so +that she was almost the hue of the river, was swinging at anchor, squat +and ugly, but menacing and business-like in her appearance, too. Steve +did not lay his course up the middle of the broad stream, however. +Instead, he slipped well over to the east bank, and began moving swiftly +upstream when he was under the shadow of the eastern bank, here rising +fairly well. + +If anyone on the monitor observed them there was no sign of it. They +passed her, and another of the same type. On the Hungarian shore, above +them, occasionally they could hear the calling of sentries. The +Austrians were guarding the river carefully, and Steve chuckled a little +as he heard these evidences of careful watching. Then they passed the +mouth of the Save, and were wholly in Austrian or, rather, Hungarian +territory. For now the bank on both sides was part of the Dual Monarchy. + +At the confluence of the two rivers a blaze of light swept the water +constantly, but there was still dense shadow under the eastern bank of +the Danube, for the chief concern of the Austrians seemed to be for a +dash of some sort down the Save. Danger from the other direction seemed +not to be thought of at all. + +Once past that pool of light, it was a matter of ten minutes of fast +running. Then Steve swerved sharply and cut across the river, to run +into a little, sheltered inlet, and under a door that was raised at a +blast from a peculiar compressed air whistle. They were in a small +boathouse--a perfect concealment for the little motor boat. The house +was built right over the water, and there was no danger now that +prowlers would find her. + +Inside, as the boat glided under the door, which slipped down into +place beside her, was a man in Austrian uniform, a fact that startled +Dick tremendously at first. Steve noticed this, and grinned. + +"Don't be afraid," he said. "This man is a good Serb, though he is not a +Servian. He is one of us, but he is an Austrian subject, and forced to +serve in their army--which he does willingly enough, since he can help +us greatly by doing so. There are many such Serbs in Austrian uniform +to-day, but most of them will be sent to other parts of the theatre of +war, if Austria has brought on a general war." + +The soldier had a boat hook out, and now he drew them to a landing stage +and made the boat fast as they leaped out. + +Steve indulged in a low-toned conversation with the Austrian, and +frowned. Then he turned to Dick. + +"Dick, I don't like to ask you to do this," he said, "but will you stay +here alone for a few minutes? I find I have to join a secret meeting. +They don't know about you yet, and it is absolutely forbidden to +introduce a stranger at such a meeting without notice. You understand? +I'll be back soon." + +"Go ahead!" said Dick. "I don't mind staying here a bit, Steve, and I +see how it is, of course. You can't help it." + +"I thought you'd say that," said Steve, greatly relieved. "All right! +I'll be back just as soon as I can, and it certainly won't be long." + +Then Steve and the soldier went out. For a few moments there was +silence. And then a closet door opened, and Dick, paralyzed with fear +and dismay, saw a face emerge--the face of Mike Hallo! + + + + +CHAPTER X + +A DARING DECISION + + +"Where is Milikoff?" Steve Dushan asked the soldier, as soon as they +were outside. They had left the boathouse, of course, by the land side, +and moved swiftly away from the water side. + +"He is at the house by the pond," answered the soldier. "The others were +there too, ten minutes ago. But since then anything may have happened!" + +"Yes," said Stepan, grimly. "It was stupid work--letting Hallo get away, +when once they had him in their grip! Still, there is no use in crying +over spilt milk. We must get him back, that is all. He knows the thing +that we have got to learn, and I think we shall be able to persuade him +to share his knowledge with us!" + +"No doubt," said the soldier, shrugging his shoulders. "The man who +plays with both sides is always weak. It is always a dangerous thing to +run with the hare and ride with the hounds!" + +The country hereabout was flat and waste, low-lying marsh lands, with +here and there a pond coming close to the road. Beside one of these +ponds, which, at a guess, might be useful in winter for the ice it would +carry, stood a small house, from one window of which a light showed. + +"Wait for me here," said Steve to the soldier, and went inside. He +gained admittance by a peculiar knock, and the door was opened for him +at once by a man in the garb of a priest. Stepan laughed at himself for +starting back. + +"Aha, you didn't know me!" said the priest, with a merry laugh. "Now I +know that this is a good disguise!" + +"Yes, it's a good one, Milikoff," said Stepan. "But what is this about +Hallo? Did you actually let him escape after holding him here?" + +"Yes," growled Milikoff, all his pleasure in the excellence of his +disguise vanishing. "He has been here fifty times before; that was the +chance we took, since we had to meet him somewhere. He came alone +to-night, and we were able to seize him very easily. And then, just as I +saw that it was nearly time for you to come, he had gone!" + +"How did he get away?" + +"He fooled us all by showing something none of us thought he had--a +little courage! He dropped from the window above. That was how we knew +he was gone, for he broke a pane of glass in one of the greenhouse beds +as he dropped. We rushed out--" + +"You were so near as that, and still he got away?" said Stepan, with a +groan. + +"Oh, we were out after him at once!" said Milikoff. "He ran toward the +river, and we were after him. We drove him in. We have that much +consolation, Stepan--we drove him into the water, and though we watched +a long time for him to come up, there was no sign of him. I think he +drowned like the rat he was!" + +"You think so, and it does seem probable. But we can't be sure! And, +even so, he is worth more to us alive than dead. For the time, at least. +He is a wretched traitor--treacherous to both sides. I wouldn't mind +his death, because he has sent hundreds of men better than himself to +death of late. But I wish we had been able to hold him and use him. He +would have been afraid of us, I think, when he discovered how much we +knew!" + +"It would have been enough for him to see you, Stepan, and know that you +were one of us, I think. He would have guessed very quickly what you +were doing during all those weeks when you were so close to him. That is +what has saved us. If it had not been for you we would have trusted him, +I think, with his tale of how the Austrian government had wronged him, +and his pretence that he was one of a group that wanted a free and +independent Hungary!" + +Stepan was thinking hard. + +"Where are the others?" he asked. + +"They are busy in the town. We are almost ready to blow up the arsenal, +and perhaps we shall be able to finish the tunnel and plant the mine +to-night." + +"That will be good," Stepan nodded, "unless Hallo has warned them. It +was he who gave us the information as to just where we should have to +place the mine, and he must have guessed what use we would make of it." + +"Perhaps so. But they have not moved any of the stores. If we can +explode our mine, we shall strike a good blow for Servia." + +"We may say that without boasting, Milikoff. The reserve ammunition for +two corps is here. They have been careless because they did not expect +anything like a general engagement for some time, especially when the +government moved to Nish. But I am uneasy still about Hallo." + +"I think you need not be, Stepan. I tell you we were right on his heels, +and there was no way for him to escape. He went into the water beyond a +doubt, and I do not believe that he was strong enough to swim the +Danube. Besides, we would have seen him had he done that, and shot him." + +"I don't think he swam the Danube, I'm quite sure he could not have +managed that. What I am afraid of is that he doubled on his tracks in +some fashion and got ashore." + +"But that was even more impossible, I tell you! We expected him to try +to do that, and we watched out especially to make it too hard for him to +do it, even though he is as slippery as an eel." + +"And still I should like to make sure, I think. I shall have to go into +Semlin." + +"To look for him? It will be risky." + +"Perhaps, but it can't be helped. I doubt if it will be so risky, +though. I'm not sure that even Hallo suspects yet that I was more than I +seemed." + +"Wouldn't your sudden disappearance just at this critical time give it +away to him?" + +"I don't think so, because I was very careful to arrange a good excuse. +I have talked for two or three weeks of the illness of my uncle in +Buda-Pesth, and have said that if he became worse perhaps I might have +to go home very suddenly. And I left a note in the office when I came +out yesterday, because I was sure I would not be back, saying I had been +called away. I didn't say I was going to Buda-Pesth--just that I was +called away." + +"Well, if no one else had any reason to suspect you, you will be safe +enough, for you won't see Hallo." + +"I am going, anyhow. But first, Milikoff--you are to stay here, I +suppose?" + +"Yes, until daybreak, at least." + +"Good! I left a friend at the boathouse--an American, but one who is +with us, heart and soul, and has proved it at the risk of his life +already. I want him to come here and wait for me." + +"You are sure he is all right? We have to be careful, Stepan." + +"If you can trust me, you can trust Dick Warner," said Stepan. + +"That is enough. Let him come!" + +"Right! I will send Vanya." + +He stepped to the door and called to the Serb in the Austrian uniform, +who was waiting outside. + +"Vanya," he said, "will you go back to the boathouse and return with +the friend I left there? Tell him that I want him to come, and show him +the way." + +"At once," said the soldier, and was off. + +Stepan returned and found Milikoff studying some papers. + +"You had better keep a guard at the boathouse when you have a man to +send there," suggested Stepan. "Vanya will be on duty before long, I +suppose?" + +"Yes. We shall not be able to use him again. Not at once, at least. I am +surprised that we have had the chance to use him at all. But, as a +matter of fact, two Serbo-Croatian regiments are here, or near here." + +"The Austrians are in a tight place," said Stepan, with a laugh. "They +know that they may have to fight Italy, and so they are sending the +Italian troops from the Trentino and Trieste to the Galician frontier, +to fight the Russians. And they have to use every regiment. They might +as well keep their Serbs and Croats here--they will fight as readily +against Servia as against Russia. If they could spare first line troops +for garrison work and for watching the Italian border, they might +manage. But they cannot. That duty they must leave to the reserves and +the old men. I believe their plan is to surround the troops that may be +disaffected with Hungarians and true Austrians who can be depended upon +absolutely." + +"They can depend upon their Hungarian levies now," said Milikoff. "But +for how long will that be true? If a few battles are lost, if Russian +troops pour through the passes of the Carpathians and the Cossacks come +within sight of Buda-Pesth? After all, Hungary is an independent +kingdom, and a part of the Austrian empire only of her own free will. +Her army is her own, and she has her own parliament and her own +ministers. There is no reason why she should not have a king of her own +again when she chooses. We may see the rise of another Kossuth, who +would force Hungary to make peace with Russia and with Servia. At least +you may live to see it." + +"Do you really think so?" asked Stepan, eagerly. "That would be +glorious! Oh, we are lucky, after all, Milikoff, we Servians! Our +country may be small, but it is our own. We do not have to rule a score +of different subject races. All those who live under our flag do so +willingly. We do not have to drive our soldiers into the ranks with +whips and threats of shooting." + +"No! And after this war, if God is still with us, as he has been, our +brothers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Albania, too, will come under our +flag. The old Serb kingdom will be fully restored. Montenegro will join +us, and we shall have borders that are made by the limits of the Serb +race." + +"There has been talk of annexing part of Hungary when we win," said +Stepan. + +"Slavonia we can take, because it is peopled by our kin, Stepan. But we +want no Magyars under our rule. Let them keep their country. Or else we +should face the troubles we have brought upon them." + +Stepan looked at his watch and tossed his head impatiently. + +"Time for me to be off," he said. "Why are they so long? I want to see +Dick before I go, but I can't wait much longer--" + +He was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Vanya, the soldier who +had gone to fetch Dick. + +"He is not there!" he cried. "The boathouse is empty--except for the +boat in which you came!" + +Stepan and Milikoff stared at one another, aghast. + +"This is Hallo's work!" said Stepan, furiously. "He has a grudge against +this friend of mine! Ah, I see it all now, Milikoff--how he escaped! He +went into the water--you are right! But tell me, now--was it near the +boathouse?" + +"Yes, now that I remember, it was." + +"Then can't you see what happened? He dived and swam under the door. It +would be easy enough for anyone who could swim at all well and knew the +ground. Heavens, he must have been in there when we first came in with +the boat!" + +And now their dismay knew no bounds. Milikoff saw that Stepan was right; +it was exactly what must have happened. + +"I'm a dolt--a fool!" he cried, bitterly. "That I never thought to +search the boathouse!" + +"Who would have thought?" said Stepan. "But it is no time to think of +what is done and can't be undone. Now, more than ever, I must go after +him. I have to try to save my friend, and it is doubly imperative now +that we should catch Hallo." + +"Let me come with you!" + +"No. Your work is too important for you to take risks. I will go +alone." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +CRAFT AGAINST CRAFT + + +In the boathouse where Stepan had left him, Dick knew almost as soon as +he saw Mike Hallo's narrow eyes appear around the closet door, that Mike +had not seen him as yet. But he was too frightened to take any advantage +of that consciously. Dick had proved that he was not a coward, and yet +he was afraid of Hallo. He knew that the man hated him, and, for some +reason, feared him. And here, where he would be so completely in his +power, there would be nothing to restrain Hallo. He would not even have +to call in the police to help him; he could get rid of a boy who +threatened him without a witness. And Dick knew enough of Mike Hallo to +feel that he would not be deterred by any scruples. + +In another moment Mike's little eyes, peering around the dimly lighted +room, but not yet well enough accustomed to even that much light after +the utter darkness of the closet, would have fallen on Dick. But fear +loosened Dick's hold on the electric flashlight that, by pure chance, +happened to be in his hand. He started with dismay and tried to catch +it, succeeding partly, so that it made only the faintest of noises as it +struck a button of his coat. But that was enough. Hallo heard it, and +started. + +Yet it was that trifling accident that saved Dick. For Hallo, startled, +and nervous himself, as of course he had good cause to be, better cause +than Dick could guess, darted back into his closet at once. For a moment +as Dick stared at it with fixed eyes, the closet door remained ajar. +Then very slowly, very quietly, it was drawn to, until it clicked, and +was firmly closed. On the instant, then, Dick moved. + +He took the chance of being heard, and made a swift dash for the boat. +His reason was a twofold one. For one thing, it offered the only +possible place of concealment, aside from the closet that Mike Hallo had +already preempted for himself, and it contained the weapons of which +Steve had told him. Dick knew how to use a pistol, and he felt that with +a gun of some sort in his possession he would have a chance at least +with Hallo, even if he were armed. He would not hesitate to shoot, he +told himself, if he had to. He had reason enough to believe that Hallo +would not spare him, and in self-defence he would be justified in taking +any means to save himself. + +But he did not think it was particularly likely that it would come to +anything so desperate now as a hand-to-hand struggle. He was recovering +his nerve, and the panic that had possessed him when he had first seen +Hallo's face had passed. Once he was in the boat, well concealed by the +steel hood, he felt that the odds were in his favor, rather than against +him, and he could stop to think and reason, which he had certainly not +been able to do in the first moment of shocked surprise. + +He felt the main thing that favored him was that Hallo was at least as +badly frightened as he was himself. And that, after all, stood to +reason. The very fact that the man was here at all seemed to Dick proof +that he knew the character of this place, and that he was here as a spy. +Then he would naturally be startled by a sudden sound, for he would +think that it betokened the return of one of the Servian spies who used +this as a hiding place and refuge. + +"He would know, of course," Dick thought, "that they wouldn't hesitate +any more over shooting him than if he were a mad dog. They couldn't, +because he isn't threatening only their safety by being here, but their +whole plan. And men who are brave enough to be spies in time of war +aren't thinking of themselves at all, but of their country." + +This was comforting reasoning for Dick, because it made it vastly +improbable that Hallo would come out to look for him. He would be +concerned with the problem of escaping himself; he would not think of +looking for anyone else, but of preventing someone who was looking for +him from finding him. So it seemed likely to Dick that he would escape +any sort of personal encounter with Hallo, and he was glad of that. He +had the same feeling that Stepan had expressed to Milikoff, although, of +course, he knew nothing of that talk, nor of how Hallo had happened to +come to this place. It seemed to him that Hallo would be worth more to +the Servians alive than dead, and it was certain that the only chance +for the success of the mission that had brought him from New York to +Semlin would be gone if anything happened to Hallo. + +From his position, crouched down in the bottom of the boat, Dick could +see the closet door. And, as it began to move again, after five nerve +racking minutes, Dick clutched his revolver, feeling that it was a +pretty good thing to have as an ally, even if it was so unlikely that he +would have occasion to use it. His fear had passed away altogether by +this time, and a bold plan was beginning to come into his mind. But its +execution depended upon Hallo and what that swindler might do next. + +For just a second, as Hallo came out into the boathouse, Dick thought of +starting up suddenly, covering him with a revolver, and forcing him to +surrender. But he decided against that. Mike Hallo, as he knew, was not +without a certain crude sort of physical courage. If he was armed--as it +was practically certain that he was--he might be able to put up a good +struggle. And, though Dick was no longer afraid for himself, he felt +that it would involve too great a risk of letting the man get clear away +if he followed his impulse. + +So he kept perfectly still, instead, while Hallo came out and finally +stood in the middle of the part of the boathouse that had a floor. He +leaned forward, like a bird dog when it is in doubt, and seemed to be +sniffing the air, though Dick knew that he was really only listening +with concentrated attention. He was listening, not for a real noise, but +for those almost inevitable sounds that the quietest person must make. +It seemed extraordinary to Dick that Mike could not hear his breathing, +or the beating of his heart, which sounded so abnormally loud to him. +But hear them Mike did not, evidently, for after a moment he relaxed and +heaved a sigh of relief. + +"I'm getting jumpy," he said to himself, aloud, in English. "I guess +that wasn't anything I heard before. Just a board creaking, maybe!" + +Dick grinned and maintained his silence. And then Hallo, after walking +about for half a minute, looked toward the boat. + +"If only I knew how to run that!" he said, still aloud. + +But, fortunately for Dick, and for Servia, as it was to turn out, he +knew nothing of the intricate mechanism of the boat, and so he did not +even come over to the water's edge for a closer inspection. Instead, he +made for the door, flung it open, and strode out as it banged to behind +him. + +Dick was after him like a flash, but with his hand on the knob some +instinct made him let go and shrink back against the wall. His instinct +served him well indeed, for as he did so the door was flung open +violently, and Hallo stood in it, looking all about the boathouse a +second time. + +"Not a soul!" he said aloud. "I must have been dreaming when I heard +that noise!" + +And all the time Dick was within a foot of him, his pistol gripped +tight, ready for anything that might happen! + +This time he did not close the door, but turned and walked away. That +very action proved that he was no longer afraid that anyone was behind +him, for he would not have turned his back had there been any lingering +doubt. + +And now Dick, giving him a good start, stole after him. He had hesitated +as to whether or not he should do so. He had promised to wait for +Stepan's return, and he did not like to go without some explanation. But +it seemed to him that it was of the utmost importance for him to follow +Hallo. + +"He's not supposed to be here or to know anything about this place," he +said to himself. "And now he may do anything, or go anywhere. He may +betray all sorts of secrets. I don't know how long he was in that +closet before we came, nor how much he heard--nor what the things he +heard meant to him. I didn't understand, but that's no reason for +thinking that he didn't. Yes, I'll have to take the chance of worrying +Steve and upsetting his plans. I'm going after Mike Hallo. He's my +quarry to-night!" + +Dick knew that he was taking chances, and perhaps big chances, when he +set out to follow Hallo. But he did not stop to think very much about +them. He did not have time to think of anything but the work in hand, +for Hallo, not content with walking fast, had broken into a run. + +Dick understood the reason for that when, in his turn, he heard +footsteps; that was what had frightened his man into beginning to run. +And Dick ran too, not knowing that the steps were those of Vanya, the +soldier, who was on his way to the boathouse with the message from +Stepan. + +Hallo had all the advantage. He knew the country and Dick did not. +Moreover, he could set the pace, and Dick had to follow. To lose sight +of Hallo even for a moment meant to risk losing him altogether. And +Dick, moreover, dared not follow too closely. He had to be far enough +behind to make it impossible for Hallo to learn of his pursuit by +stopping suddenly, or making a quick turn. + +It was a wild chase that Dick had. Hallo, for a man of his size and +years--he was well over forty--made surprisingly good time, and gave +Dick, as a matter of fact, all he could do to keep him in sight. And the +way was long. Dick was greatly relieved when they came at last from open +country into a section where houses were closer together and streets +began to take form. In a measure his own risk was greater as they +approached the town, but it was also possible for him to get much closer +to the man he was trailing, since shelter was so much more frequent. The +danger here was of running into the police, but Dick did not greatly +fear that. + +"I needn't worry about the ordinary policemen," he told himself. "I +don't believe they know me at all. I could probably go up to any of +them and ask the time, or the way to the railway station, and get away +with it all right. It's only the ones who were on my track after I'd +been to Hallo's office that I've got to look out for, and I'm not sure +that even they would know me." + +And now Hallo himself unwittingly made it safer and easier for his +dogged pursuer, for instead of going toward the central part of Semlin, +where policemen would be more numerous, and where the men who had gone +to make the arrest at Dick's lodgings were almost sure to be posted, he +circled through the poorer quarter toward the commercial district by the +river. + +"Oh, this is fine!" thought Dick. "I'll bet he's going to his office +before he makes any report. I wonder if Stepan will think of him when +I'm missing?" + +Dick had to move up very close here, for the streets were crowded with +people, and it would have been easy for him to lose his man in the +jumble of figures. Several times now Hallo, as he neared his office, +was stopped by passersby. He shook them off impatiently when they tried +to detain him, however, and once Dick was near enough to hear him say, +in an impatient tone: "Let me go! I have an appointment to keep at my +warehouse." + +And now Dick had a new inspiration. He determined to take a chance. And +instead of following Hallo, he seized the opportunity when someone had +stopped the Hungarian for a moment, and darted well ahead. He got a good +start, and turned the corner of the block leading to the warehouse well +ahead of Hallo. In a moment he was inside. Luck was with him, and he hid +himself behind a big packing case in Hallo's room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +IN THE NICK OF TIME + + +Crouched behind the packing case, Dick waited, wondering what was to +come next. Now that he was here, he felt that he had done a foolish +thing, and one only likely to lead to more trouble. There was so little +chance for him to accomplish anything of value, and he was not even sure +that Hallo would come here at all. Perhaps he was going somewhere else, +and he had simply walked into a trap without even a chance of getting +any results. + +Yet luck had been with him so far in good measure. He had been almost +marvelously lucky in the boathouse. That Hallo had not seen him there +had been due only to fortune, and scarcely at all, in the first perilous +moment, to any action of his own. And he had been lucky again in his +trip into the city with Hallo ahead of him. In war time, as he knew, +people were likely to be suspicious of any stranger, even of one acting +in the most ordinary fashion. And his behavior, as he dodged and trailed +after Hallo, had been more than suspicious. + +And finally, too, his getting into Hallo's office and finding a place to +conceal himself so well had been luck of the greatest sort. He had taken +a wild chance when he darted ahead of his man, for he might well have +found the door closed and locked, and have been caught by Hallo before +he could have got away. But he had staked everything on the hazard that +there ought to be a night watchman, as there would be, he knew, in any +American warehouse. And a night watchman there was. He had seen the +light of a man's lantern, as he came up to the door, from a second floor +window. The door had been open, and so he had slipped in. + +The very fact that the door was open, too, encouraged him. It seemed to +him to make it certain that Hallo was expected some time that night. And +then a sound of brisk footsteps on the uncarpeted floor just outside the +office set his pulses leaping. Was it Hallo? + +He could not tell, and he dared not emerge from his shelter enough to +see. In a moment the room was light, but Dick was still hidden, and the +movements of whoever had come in were hidden from him, too. But he was +sure of one thing after a very few moments. It was not Hallo with whom +he now shared the room. The newcomer's movements were too brisk, too +quick, for Hallo, who was slow moving, rather heavy footed, though agile +enough when it was necessary. Consumed by curiosity, Dick gradually +edged over so that he might have a chance to steal a look around the +edge of the big packing case without being seen himself. + +He succeeded at last, and just as he looked around, the door was opened. +Hallo came in, and Dick darted back--but not until he had seen that the +other occupant of the room was Stepan Dushan! Now he felt that he was +amply justified for what he had done. Steve was here, and between them +there should be a chance to do something, he thought! + +"What are you doing here?" growled Hallo, as he saw Stepan. + +"I came to try to catch up with my work, sir," said Stepan, meekly. +"Since I could not be here to-day during the day, I thought it would be +better if I got ready for to-morrow, so that in the morning no time +would be lost." + +"H'mph!" growled Hallo. He hesitated for a moment; then, half satisfied, +sat down at his desk. + +"Did you have a fall, sir?" asked Stepan, and Dick almost choked with +laughter at his tone. "You're all covered with mud. Shall I get a brush +and try to take some of it off?" + +"No! Attend to your work!" roared Hallo. "Or here--clear out of here! +I'm going to be busy, and I want to be alone." + +It seemed to Dick that Stepan was hesitating, that he was on the verge +of refusing to obey, and so of giving everything away. But he yielded, +after just a moment's pause. + +"Very well, sir," he said. "I'll go down to the stock-room and make the +tally from last night's sheets." + +"All right. Be off!" said Hallo, ungraciously. + +And now one thing filled Dick's mind. How much had Hallo seen or heard +while he was hidden in the closet of the boathouse? Did he know Stepan's +real work, and the part he was playing in these stirring times? If he +did, and had concealed his knowledge, it meant that he was laying a trap +for Stepan, and it meant, too, that he was a good actor, for he had +managed to conceal his knowledge admirably if he really possessed it. + +Nothing that Dick knew of Hallo made it seem at all likely that he could +dissemble well enough to keep from betraying his knowledge, if he had +it. But Dick felt that it would not be safe to assume that, because his +father had trusted Hallo to a great extent, and had supposed him to be +an honorable business man, and there had certainly never been anything +in his conduct to suggest that he would behave as he had done. And, +moreover in New York he had seemed a plodding, stolid business man, and +had never seemed to have it in him to play a part in the sort of +intrigue that so evidently occupied much of his time in Semlin. + +For a time the room was absolutely quiet. Dick wondered where Steve had +gone. He was sure, somehow, that his chum was within reach, probably +within hearing, waiting like himself for Hallo to do something. And Dick +guessed, too, that Steve must have discovered by this time that the +boathouse was empty, and thought that perhaps it was in search of him +that Steve was here. That worried him, but for the time there was +nothing to be done; he could only wait. The one preparation he could +make for whatever might be coming was to get very close to the edge of +his shelter, so that he could with little risk peep out from time to +time. Each time that he looked out he saw Hallo, head bent low over the +table, writing furiously. + +Then came the break in the tension. Outside, echoing on the flags, came +hurried footsteps. Dick listened eagerly. They turned in and came +clattering up the steps. He dared not risk a peep just then to see who +was coming. For the time, he decided, his ears must do the work of his +eyes as well as their own share. He heard Hallo spring up, overturning +his chair. + +"You! Here?" cried Hallo, in a low voice. "Are you mad, man?" + +"No. I had to come," said the newcomer. "It was impossible to send word, +and you had to know--someone had to know! I suppose it was risky for me +to come here, but they are all at work. All except Milikoff, and I don't +know where he is." + +"He led a band of assassins who tried to kill me earlier in the +evening," growled Hallo. "But there are others, at least two others, +here somewhere. They came in this evening, from the other side." + +"From the other side?" said the stranger, in amazement. "But how could +that be? The river front is guarded so that a strange fly could hardly +cross from Belgrade to Semlin!" + +"Don't you know of the boathouse near Milikoff's place?" + +Hallo's tone was suddenly menacing. Dick could imagine that he was +leaning forward, pushing his heavy jaw into the face of the other man. +He remembered that trick of the Hungarian's. + +"Boathouse--near Milikoff's? No!" stammered the other. "I never heard of +it before!" + +"H'mph!" Hallo's voice expressed doubt, distrust. "Perhaps not! Well, I +came upon it by chance to-night, and it saved my life. They seized me +to-night when I was in conference with them--the treacherous hounds! But +they are Servians! I might have expected it! I escaped, and they chased +me! They chased me right into the Danube! I swam, while they peppered +the water. They had those new silencers, so that it was safe to shoot. +And by the merest chance, when I was nearly exhausted, I suddenly saw a +door in front of me, as I was trying to swim ashore in an inlet, in the +hope of escaping after I had landed. I dived, and came up in a +boathouse. The door could be raised, you see, to admit a boat. There +was a closet, and I hid." + +"That is news to me! I never heard that there was such a place!" + +"I drew the closet door to when I heard a man come in. Soon afterward a +motor boat entered, and two men landed from her. I could hear their +voices dully--that closet door was thick, and it was so hot and close +inside that I was almost suffocated. I do not know who they were except +that I think Vanya, the soldier, was the man who opened for them. Later, +when they had gone, I got out and came here." + +"It is good that you came. Master, it is to-night that they plan to +strike a great blow. They have dug a tunnel beneath the arsenal. I am +almost sure that it is to-night they have chosen to explode a great mine +that will destroy the arsenal completely, with all the stores and guns +it contains!" + +Hallo swore savagely. + +"You have done well!" he said. "Eh, there is time yet, you think, to +stop them? How is it that you do not know more concerning their plans?" + +"They do not trust me wholly. I know only what I can learn by spying and +ferreting about. They tell me almost nothing. But I am sure that I am +right. Look--I will draw you a plan that will show you where the tunnel +is. I think that if you hasten you can catch most of them like rats in a +trap. Milikoff is not there. He is the most dangerous of all, save one." + +"Who is more dangerous than Milikoff?" + +"The boy Stepan Dushan!" + +"Stepan Dushan! I do not believe there is such a boy! You tell me of +him, but you can never show him to me!" + +For a moment Dick could not understand. But then he smiled at his own +stupidity. Of course Steve was known to Mike Hallo under an assumed +name; he would never have used his own, so obviously that of a Servian. + +"It makes no difference whether you believe me or not, I am telling you +the truth," said the newcomer with a show of spirit. "He is young, but +he has done more to discover the truth than any of them. He has brought +information of the concentration of the Austrian troops along the Drina. +It is through him that they learned where the stores and supplies were +being massed in the mountains there. I told you yesterday of the plans +that were made for a Servian raid, but it was too late. A raiding column +crossed the Drina last night and destroyed most of the stores you had +collected." + +"There has been a leak somewhere in my own place!" said Hallo, savagely. +"Even the men who executed the orders did not know where those supplies +were going! I trusted no one!" + +"That is just the bad part of it, master," said the spy. "They will be +saying next that you yourself gave away the truth to the Servians." + +"Who will believe them?" + +"If it is known that you have been in touch with Milikoff?" + +"It is known, fool! It is known that I am treating with them simply to +gain information of their plans. But now--it is no time for talk. We +must move quickly, or they will explode their mine." + +He lifted his voice in a sudden shout. + +"Jan!" he cried. "Jan!" + +And then Dick's heart sank. That must be meant for Steve--and to answer +meant deadly peril for Stepan Dushan, since the spy, who had so plainly +been betraying Servian secrets to Hallo, knew Stepan. Dick edged +forward, waiting, wondering. Now he caught a glimpse of the spy, and +then he drew back, as he saw that both Hallo and the other man had come +very close to him. They stood just by the box that sheltered him. + +"Jan!" cried Hallo again. + +"Here I am!" said Stepan's voice. And then, "Serge!" + +"Stepan Dushan! That is Stepan Dushan!" shrieked the spy. + +Then, before anything more could happen, Dick had an inspiration. He +threw his whole weight against the heavy packing case, straining, +pushing. It trembled, gave, and then crashed down, bearing Hallo and the +spy down beneath its crushing weight, sending them down, stunned and +helpless. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +FACE TO FACE + + +"You, Dick? Thank God!" cried Stepan. Then his face flushed, and he came +forward, furiously. He dragged the spy out, looked at his face, and then +spurned him with his foot. + +"You saved my life, I think, Dick," he said, simply. "I never suspected +this! Treachery in our ranks. I had not supposed that any Servian would +sell his country. Mike Hallo, of course, we never trusted--but this man! +Well, he will pay in one way or another." + +"I knew what was going to happen. I was here and heard them talking." + +"I didn't even know he had come. I had made some discoveries below, and +was hard at work. I knew that Hallo would not leave without my +knowledge. He would not have wanted to leave me here alone in the +warehouse. But, Dick, how did you get here? How did you come to leave +the boathouse? I asked you to wait there, you know." + +"How did you know I had gone?" + +"Vanya, the soldier, told us. I sent him to fetch you. And when we +learned that you had gone, we suspected that Hallo had had some part in +it, for by then I had been told that he had escaped after they had +caught him. But you don't know about that--" + +"Don't I though? I was there listening, while he told this other fellow +all about it. He was in the boathouse when we landed, Steve!" + +"Ah! I knew it! I told Milikoff so! That was how he escaped! But how did +you come here--free?" + +Dick told his story as quickly as he could; told of how he had escaped +from detection in the boathouse because Hallo had been even more +frightened than he himself, if anything, and of his wild chase after the +Hungarian. + +"I was afraid I had done wrong in going--afraid that I should have +stayed in the boathouse and waited for you to come. Did you come here +after me, Steve? Wasn't that your purpose?" + +"Yes, in a way. I thought that Hallo had something to do with your +disappearance, and I never dreamed of your being able to fool him as you +did! But I should have come in any case. Milikoff and I had decided that +before we knew that you had vanished. And if you hadn't been here, Dick, +they would have killed me, I think, when this wretched traitor told +Hallo that I had been deceiving him." + +"He told him more than that, though Hallo did not know it was you of +whom they talked, Steve. This spy told him that you were the most +dangerous of all--and Hallo said he didn't believe there was any such +person as Stepan Dushan!" + +They both laughed, and Steve laughed still more when he heard of Hallo's +mystification and fury about the revelation of the hiding places of the +stores on the Drina. + +"That was what made us sure that Austria had decided for war," he said. +"We knew that she would not prepare for an invasion there so secretly +otherwise. That was why we knew that it would be useless to agree to her +terms, even if that had been possible." + +"Hallo said no one but himself knew about those stores." + +"He was nearly right--but a miss is as good as a mile," said Stepan, +with a laugh. "He knew--and the staff knew--and I knew! I found out all +about those things by reading his private letters, Dick. That was the +part I hated most about the work. I had to read all his letters after we +became sure of what he was doing. It made me feel wretched at first, as +if I were doing something very dishonorable." + +"But you weren't doing it for a dishonorable reason, Steve. Still I can +see how you felt." + +"But I didn't feel that way very long, Dick, because I soon found out +what a miserable cheat and swindler he was! You were surprised, you +know, when you found out that I knew all about you." + +"I certainly was! I never was so much surprised in all my life!" said +Dick very quickly. + +"Well, I may have some more surprises for you still, Dick. I'm not sure, +but I do know some things I haven't told you yet." + +"You do, Steve? Why can't you tell me now?" + +"I can, but I want to make sure that they will be of some use to you +before I do. If I told you some things I know, they might make you +change your plans, and then they might not be of any value, after all. +They might only put you off. You see, when I first found out these +things about the way he had treated you, I didn't know you and didn't +have any reason at all to suppose that I ever would, or that I'd ever +even see you. New York's a long way off--and, of course, I was more +interested in what was going on here, because I knew that this war might +come along at any moment, and I was here just to see what I could do for +Servia and to interfere with the things we had reason to suppose Mike +Hallo was doing for the Austrians." + +"Of course. I can understand that, Steve. There wasn't any reason for +you to do as much as you did, and to take all the interest you did in +me, when you didn't know anything about me." + +"Well, at first I just wanted to help you because I hated him so. I +thought there was a chance to spoil the trick he was trying to play on +you. When I found that he was planning to get rid of you by having you +arrested before you could get back to the American consulate I wanted to +trip him up." + +"You certainly did a lot for me, Steve. I don't know whether I'll ever +be able to get anything out of him, but if I do it will be due to you. +If they had ever got me out of here and away to Buda-Pesth, I'd never +have been able to come back, even if they had not managed to trump up +some charge against me and kept me in prison for a long time." + +"Oh, they would have done that, Dick, of course. That was the idea. And +it's very easy for them to manage such things here. As easy as it used +to be in France before the revolution there." + +"What are we going to do now, Steve?" + +Dick looked down at the helpless figures of the two men on the floor. +Neither of the scouts had paid much attention to them as yet, but now +they leaned down and examined them. + +"They're not badly hurt," said Steve, contemptuously. "They saw the +crate falling and so did I. And they tried to jump. So it didn't fall +full on top of them, but struck glancing blows on their heads and almost +pushed them out of the way. I don't see how you ever got it going at +all, all by yourself! It looks terribly heavy." + +"I think it was because it wasn't very well balanced, Steve. If it had +been turned the other way probably I couldn't have budged it. But the +heavy end was on top, which made it go over. I sort of jumped at it, and +that gave it the start." + +"I'm afraid we'll have to leave them here," said Steve. "I wish there +was some way for us to take them along, but I don't see how we can. We +might be able to drag Hallo with us, but we wouldn't get very far." + +"I suppose not. He has lots of friends, hasn't he? I saw ever so many +people stop and speak to him when I was following him on the way here." + +"I don't think he's got many friends, but there are a lot of people who +know him, all right. Still, it isn't that--it would be making ourselves +conspicuous by having him with us at all." + +"It would be a good thing to take him, though, if we could, wouldn't +it?" + +"Oh, yes. The best thing in the world! If we could only get him to our +boat and carry him back to Belgrade!" + +"Steve, how about the men who are working in the tunnel under the +arsenal?" + +"What do you mean? What do you know about the tunnel under the arsenal?" + +Steve was startled and dismayed, but Dick laughed at him. + +"That's all I know," he said. "Just that there is such a thing, Steve. +You needn't be frightened--I haven't been spying around. But this man +that came here to see Mike Hallo knew all about it. He told him the mine +was going to be sprung to-night, and that they must hasten to stop it." + +"That ends the last doubt! He is a traitor!" said Steve. "He surely will +have to pay the price of treachery, too, when there is an opportunity." + +"Do you mean that they will kill him?" + +"What else can be done? It is his life against a nation, Dick. A man +like that may cause a thousand deaths by betraying a single secret. +But--about the men in the tunnel. I might have known that there was some +good reason for your knowing. Yes, it is true. There are men working +there, and they will try to explode their mine and blow up the arsenal +to-night." + +"Can't you reach them? I think that two or three men might get Hallo +through the town and to the boathouse. They could pretend that he was +drunk, and that they were helping him along, if he was still +unconscious." + +"Dick, I think you've hit on the right idea again! I'll try to get them. +But suppose they come to first?" + +"If we tied them up?" was Dick's suggestion. + +"It would be risky. The watchman may come here at any moment after he +hears no more voices." + +"Yes, that's so. How long would it take you to go?" + +"To go and come back? Twenty minutes, perhaps." + +"Then go! Don't delay any longer, and I will stay here and keep watch." + +"In here? No, it is too dangerous. I am afraid now, if they learn what +you have done for us, they will be able to make a real charge against +you, and that even your consul could not help you to escape severe +punishment." + +"I would not wait here--not in here, Steve. I would watch outside. Look! +Do you see these grains of corn?" + +He picked up a handful of the kernels from a sample basket on the table. + +"Yes. What about them, Dick?" + +"I will keep watch. If he comes out, I will follow him and every three +or four feet I will let a little of this corn drop, so that it will mark +a trail for you to follow. Do you see the idea?" + +"Yes, and that is magnificent, Dick! That is the best chance we shall +ever have of catching him. It will be better for him to come out, for he +will lead you away from the busier part of the city, perhaps, so that it +will be easier for us to take him! I'm off! I think we have a chance to +get the scoundrel this time, thanks to you!" + +They slipped out together, leaving the two unconscious men. + +"I think Hallo will come to before long," said Dick. "The other will +take longer for he seemed to be more badly stunned, or else he's not as +strong as Hallo. Will Mike leave him there, do you think?" + +"Yes. Why not? He will be thinking of his own precious skin, you may be +sure. Good luck, Dick! I'll be back just as soon as I can!" + +"Yes--hurry! But I think we'll be all right." + +Dick took his place in a dark doorway on the opposite side of the +street and began his vigil. The seconds seemed to drag by endlessly, but +Dick never took his eyes from the entrance of the warehouse. And at +last--he had really been waiting less than ten minutes!--he was +rewarded. Hallo came out holding his hand to his head, staggering a +little as he walked. Dick gave him a start, and then crossed and +followed. He dropped his corn as he went, and his hand was on the +automatic pistol in his pocket, which somehow gave him a sense of +security. + +Hallo turned a corner; Dick hurried a little. And, as he rounded the +corner in his turn, there was Hallo--waiting! At the sight of Dick he +almost screamed, but choked the cry. + +"So it's you, is it?" he cried. He made a savage rush, his arms +outstretched like those of a gorilla. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE EXPLOSION + + +But the sight of the wicked looking little gun in Dick's hand stopped +his rush. Mouthing his words, venomous hate in his eyes, he checked +himself. + +"What do you want, you little devil?" he said, grittingly. + +"Turn around!" said Dick, savagely. Somehow that wild rush that had +stopped just as the man's cruel arms were about to close about him had +aroused something in Dick that he had never felt before. For the first +time he knew what it meant to see red. He felt that he would like to +have Hallo down and beat him with his fists, with the butt of his +pistol--with anything, if it would only hurt his enemy enough! + +Hallo tried to meet his eyes for a moment. Then he turned round, so that +his back was to Dick. The scout pressed the muzzle of the little +automatic, that, despite its tiny proportions, was still such a deadly +weapon, into the small of Hallo's back. + +"Do you feel that?" he said. "And do you know that I can't miss when +you're so close to me? Don't think I am afraid to shoot because I tell +you right now, Mike Hallo, that I'll fire the first time you don't do +exactly as I say." + +"You'll pay for this!" said Hallo, furiously. "This isn't America, with +its lynchings, where people can take the law into their own hands." + +"You needn't sneer at America!" said Dick, with cold anger in his voice. +"You earned a good living there, and made a small fortune--and you stole +another! Now, then, step forward! Slowly--and go straight ahead until I +tell you to turn." + +With a snarl Hallo obeyed. And Dick, as he went along behind him, +keeping the pistol in such a position that he could use it on the +instant, began to talk to him. + +"You're a joke, Mike Hallo," he said, contemptuously. "The next time you +try to swindle someone, don't pick an American family. You thought you +were safe here, because we didn't have the money to hire big lawyers to +go after you, didn't you? You never expected to see me here in Semlin. +And when you did, you thought you'd fixed me by getting them to arrest +me!" + +"I had nothing to do with that," protested Hallo. His blustering, savage +mood seemed to be passing, and he was disposed to cringe. + +"Oh, no!" said Dick. "Of course not! You didn't want me to be driven out +of Semlin! You wanted me to stay here and get back the money you stole +from my father. You don't care anything about money, either, I suppose? +Oh, no! You don't care any more about money than you do about your right +hand! You wouldn't do anything to turn a dishonest penny except murder +and treason and robbery, would you?" + +"Dick, I've always been friendly to you and your family," said Hallo, +tremulously. "I'm half an American. I tell you what I'll do. We'll let +bygones be bygones. I lost more than your family did in the failure, +back there in New York, of course. But I've done pretty well since I +came home here to Hungary." + +"I should think so!" said Dick. "How much has the Austrian government +paid you for the spy's work you have done? Why, you even cheated your +government! You're not even a patriot!" + +For the first time, seemingly, Hallo guessed that Dick might have +something to do with the enemies he really feared--the Servians with +whom he had been playing fast and loose for weeks. + +"What do you mean by that?" he cried, turning half around in his +eagerness. + +Dick jammed the pistol into his ribs to remind him of it. + +"Go on! Keep your face turned away from me! I don't like the looks of +it!" he said, viciously. + +"Do you know Stepan Dushan?" asked Hallo. + +"You'd like to know, wouldn't you?" said Dick. + +"See here, Dick, there's no use in your being angry at me any more. +Perhaps I was mistaken. I will tell you, in any case, what I will do. I +will overlook everything that you have done here in Semlin, and I will +arrange to have the police charge against you withdrawn. That is a very +serious matter, let me tell you. If I did not have a great deal of +influence with the big people here it would be quite impossible to +arrange it. And I will give you, besides, twenty-five thousand dollars!" + +Dick laughed. + +"Go on," he said. "Walk faster!" + +"Thirty-five thousand--" + +"If you offered a million, I would believe you just as easily," said +Dick. "I know you for just what you are, Mike Hallo! You're a low down +liar and cheat and swindler, and I wouldn't believe you under oath. If I +accepted your proposition, you'd never pay me a cent, and you'd do your +best to get me into prison here besides." + +"No--no--I'm telling you the truth, Dick! I will do it, I swear it! Do +you think I have no gratitude? It is of the greatest possible importance +that I should be free at once to attend to some pressing business!" + +"It isn't half so important as you think, Mike," said Dick, with a +laugh. "And you're attending to some very pressing business right now, +too. The most pressing business you ever had in your life is to keep +right on walking the way I tell you to and moving as fast as you can, +too." + +"But, Dick, I tell you I shall be ruined if you make me go on! How can I +pay back the money you came for if I am ruined?" + +"I don't know--and I'm not trying to guess riddles to-night. It seems to +agree with you pretty well to be ruined, though. You made a lot of money +out of being ruined in New York, didn't you?" + +"Dick, I have known you since you were a baby! Your father was my best +friend--" + +"Don't remind me of that!" said Dick, angrily. He had been a little +amused by Hallo's desperate pleading, but this reference to his father, +whom the man before him had treated so outrageously, revived his anger. +"The best chance you've got to get through right now is for me to forget +about how friendly you were with my father and how you began to cheat +him as soon as he was dead and couldn't watch you any longer!" + +"Dick, I will make a last appeal! In the safe in my office there is +money--a great sum of money! You can have all of it--every florin! There +is much more there than you ever said I owed your mother! The +combination of the safe is written in the pocket book in my right hand +pocket. Take it out--go back and get the money. I will write out an +order for you to take it--I will write out an admission that I cheated +your family! Only, let me go before it is too late!" + +"No--nothing doing! Straight ahead!" + +Perhaps there was a certain note of finality in Dick's voice; perhaps +Hallo was just trying to think of some new temptation to put before him. +He was silent, at any rate and so, for a minute, was Dick. Dick was +really greatly amused by Hallo's pleadings. And now he could not resist +a dig. It was revenge, and he took it without delay. + +"This ought to be a lesson to you, Mr. Hallo," he said. "I remember that +when I was a little bit of a chap you were always telling me +that--saying that this thing or that ought to be a lesson to me. Do you +remember?" + +Hallo did not answer. + +"You did, anyhow. Well, this ought to teach you that a business man +ought always to act so that people trust him. You haven't, you see. +People know you're a liar and a cheat, and so they don't believe you +even when you are telling the truth. You may have meant to do all the +things you've promised me to-night, but how could I take a chance on you +when I knew the truth about the way you've acted before? A reputation's +a good thing--I've always heard that, and now I know it." + +Dick chuckled, but Hallo made no sound of any sort. Dick could imagine, +however, the workings of his mind, and he did not envy the helpless man +in front of him. Neither was he sorry for him. If Hallo was in a bad +way, he had himself to thank for it. Dick could respect him, in a way, +for his dealings with the Servians and the whole conduct of the man in +his relations with the Austrian authorities and the enemy. He might be a +good patriot. All the things he had done in connection with the sale of +supplies to the army and the attempts he had made to break up the +Servian system of espionage might be perfectly legitimate. + +Even though Dick was heart and soul on the Servian side, he could +respect any sincerely patriotic Austrian or Hungarian. But he doubted +whether Hallo was capable of being either sincere or patriotic; he had +an idea that the man was a patriot simply because he saw a chance to +make money out of his patriotism. + +"He is in a bad way, though," Dick thought. "They'll blame him for all +the things that have gone wrong, and if he has acted here the way he did +in New York, they'll believe that he did it deliberately too. They won't +give him the benefit of the doubt; they'll be sure he was a traitor, +instead of just a fool, and he will suffer for it too." + +Dick was keeping his pistol carefully concealed. Whenever anyone came in +sight, to whom Hallo might have appealed for aid, he reminded him of the +existence of the pistol by tickling his ribs with it. But very few +people were abroad. It was late, and Dick was purposely choosing +unfrequented streets. + +For more than the first time Dick was deeply grateful for his excellent +bump of locality, which his service with the Boy Scouts had done so much +to develop. It was comparatively easy for him to follow the course he +had planned, and he knew that with every step they were getting further +from the heart of Semlin and nearer the boathouse which was his +destination. There was every reason to suppose, too, that he would not +have to handle Hallo single-handed much longer. Behind him, when he +glanced back from time to time, the trail was plainly marked by the +little scatterings of corn. + +"I'm glad it's night time," he reflected, with a grin. "In daylight +there would be birds after that corn, and it wouldn't serve as a trail +for very long. But it's good fun; it's like a paper chase, or hare and +hounds. Only this time the hare wants to be caught!" + +Then he thought of Hallo, and decided that at least one of the hares +wasn't anxious to be caught at all. + +"Still he doesn't know what I'm doing, I guess," thought Dick, "There's +no use in spoiling the pleasure of this little walk for him by telling +him, either. He'll know soon enough, if I have any luck." + +They were in open country by this time, with very few houses in sight. +Suddenly Hallo broke out. + +"Where are you taking me?" he cried, fearfully. + +"Oh, you're beginning to recognize the route now, are you? Yes, we're +going back to the place you came away from in such a hurry not so very +long ago!" + +"You were there!" said Hallo; suddenly, "I thought I knew your voice--in +the boathouse! That was you who came in the launch?" + +"I don't have to answer," said Dick. "Hurry along! You slow up when you +talk. And your talk isn't interesting enough to make it worth while to +delay." + +"I--" + +Whatever Hallo meant to say was never finished. For suddenly the ground +shook, and there was a dreadful roar. A huge flash lit up the sky, and +behind them bedlam seemed to break loose. There was a succession of +reports, like repeated volleys of rifle fire, and sometimes a louder +roar. + +"There goes the arsenal, so you can quit worrying," said Dick. "Even if +I let you go now, you couldn't prevent that, could you? Oh, I knew what +you were driving at, all the time!" + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE TABLES TURNED + + +But even Dick, for all the wild mood of anger that had held him since he +had had Hallo in his power, had to consent to a halt now. If the +Servians planned not only to inflict a severe blow on the Austrians by +the destruction of war material, but to spread terror as well, they +succeeded admirably. For there was not one explosion alone; there was a +series of explosions. And fire spread from the arsenal, too. + +"The shells are going off, you see," said Dick, a little awed. "They're +exploding in all directions. I suppose there will be a good deal of +damage. And those cartridges must be sending an awful lot of bullets +around promiscuously." + +"I don't think many people will be hurt," said Hallo. Like Dick, he was +awed by the spectacle, and the terrible magnificence of it for the +moment seemed to have driven from his mind all thought of anything but +the explosion itself. "There are very few houses about the arsenal; they +are mostly public buildings of one sort and another. It's not the sort +of neighborhood people choose to live in. Even in time of peace there +may be an accident in an arsenal at any moment--and just as bad an +explosion as this one." + +But then, suddenly, Hallo seemed to remember his position. + +"You will pay for this!" he cried. "It is your doing, because if you had +let me go I should have stopped that! You are in league with the Servian +spies who have been working here for months, who planned the murder of +the Archduke in Serajevo--" + +"Why don't you say I killed him?" suggested Dick. "Forward march, again! +The show is over!" + +"Oh, your time will come--and you will cry to me for help then! The +police only had suspicions before, but now they will have facts, and all +the consuls and ambassadors in the world won't be able to help you! It +won't be a matter for the police at all, my lad! It will be a +court-martial that will try you." + +"Perhaps. We shall see. Hello, what's this?" + +Dick had just been thinking to himself that it was highly fortunate that +they had passed the settled district to the northeast of Semlin before +the explosion, since he could easily imagine the outpouring there must +have been into the streets at that terrific sound. But now there was a +sound of rushing feet, and around a corner, perhaps a quarter of a mile +in front of them, a body of men appeared--troops, coming at the double +quick. + +"Here, this way!" said Dick, sharply. + +He pointed to a clump of trees beside the road, and forced the reluctant +Hallo to go in before him. The pistol was giving him fine support for it +was very evident that Hallo did not mean to take chances. Dick did not +know, as a matter of fact, whether he would be able to fire if the +necessity arose. To shoot even Mike Hallo in cold blood, and when the +man was helpless to all intents, was something he could not contemplate +without a shudder. + +In fact it was partly because Hallo was his enemy that he felt that he +was likely to hesitate, and at a moment when hesitation was likely to be +dangerous, if not fatal. + +"I'd feel differently if I didn't have anything against him, +personally," said Dick to himself. "As it is, I'd never be sure, if I +shot him, whether I was doing it in self-defence or because it was a +good chance to get even with him for the things he's done to me and to +my family." + +Fortunately, however, Hallo did not put him to the test. Dick realized +that it was a dangerous minute. The seconds that elapsed while the +soldiers were passing in the road were the longest he had ever spent. A +single shout from Hallo would have settled matters. In such times, and +with a reminder of the dangers of the situation such as the destruction +of the arsenal, there would have been an immediate investigation, and, +whatever happened to Hallo himself, Dick would be in a bad case, and he +fully realized his situation. + +Dick allowed plenty of time for the soldiers to pass. It did not take +long, as a matter of fact, and he decided that there could have been +only a small detachment, not more than a company of infantry probably. +Hallo might have told him that there were comparatively few troops in +Semlin, and that the greater part of the Austrian forces along the +border were placed at two points, Schabatz, on the Save, and Losnitza, +on the Drina, since it was at those two points that the invasion of +Servia was to be begun, according to the plan of the Austrian General +Staff. + +The bombardment of Belgrade was not intended to cover a subsequent +attack, but to serve as a feint, in the hope that a large number of +Servian troops would be retained for the defense of the capital. +Belgrade was of no use to the Austrians. By holding Semlin they could +cut the railway and had every advantage that the occupation of Belgrade +could have given them, except the sentimental value of having +possession of the enemy's capital. Later in the war the Austrians were +to make the grave mistake of occupying Belgrade for just such +sentimental reasons, and the mistake was to be proved by the sacrifice +of an army. + +"All right, we can go back to the road again," said Dick, when he had +allowed more than enough time for a rear guard to pass. "Your friends +have held us up. See if you can't move a little faster to make up for +the delay!" and he prodded him with his revolver for emphasis. + +Dick had scattered his corn steadily and now, as they went back to the +road, he kicked the kernels that marked their digression aside, since he +knew that Stepan and the others, if they were following, would only +waste time by following the detour into the woods. He had brought a +plentiful supply, and he was glad of it, since he was traveling further +with Hallo than he had thought it at all likely that he could. For some +time he had been listening eagerly for some indication that Stepan and +his friends were approaching, but there had been none. He was not ready +to be worried about them yet, however dangerous as he knew their work +had been, since it was easy to imagine a dozen trifling things that +might have delayed them. + +And yet he could think of more serious things, too. There might have +been a premature explosion of the mine, and he shuddered at the thought +of what the fate of the Servians must have been if that was what had +happened. Or they might have been caught as they emerged from the +tunnel. Or--but he shook off such ideas. There was no reason yet to +suppose that everything was not all right. And the important thing was +to get Hallo to the boathouse. It was absolutely vital, now that Hallo +knew about that refuge, and also the identity of his former office boy, +that Hallo should not escape to use his knowledge, since he could do +incalculable mischief to the cause that Dick had now made his own. + +Hallo went along stumbling, groaning, growling. Finally Dick did begin +to feel sorry for him. After all, the man was in bad condition. He had +been painfully hurt by the crashing down of the big packing case, and +his fright and escape through the water had weakened and tired him, even +before that. Now he seemed to be in the last stages of exhaustion, and +when he began to plead with Dick on account of his weariness, rather +than with promises or threats, he was on the right track. Perhaps that +feeling threw Dick off his guard for a moment. At any rate, when Hallo +finally made his bid for freedom he chose the most, perhaps the only, +opportune moment. + +Dick had taken his eyes off him for a moment, and had loosened his hold +on the butt of his automatic. And just then Hallo stopped suddenly, +whipped back his foot, and tripped Dick neatly and successfully. Dick +went down; before he could reach for the pistol, Hallo was on top of +him. Exhausted though he was, Hallo outweighed Dick still as much as +ever, and he was strong as well. Dick fought well, but the surprise had +been complete. As he reached for the pistol, Hallo seized his arm and +in a moment was twisting it around behind his back in a cruel hammer +lock hold--that deadliest of wrestling grips, that means a broken arm +for the victim unless he yields. The struggle was over in a moment, and +the positions were now completely reversed. + +Hallo had the pistol, and he was in as absolute command as Dick had been +while he still held it. + +"Ah!" said Hallo. "I said your time would come, Dick, my lad! And it +has! You're in my power now! I could kill you, do you know that?" + +Dick did not answer; he was thinking too hard. And there was nothing for +him to say, anyhow. He had been neatly tricked, and, though he was badly +frightened and ready to admit it to himself, it was impossible not to +admire Hallo, so adroit had he been in seizing his one chance of escape. + +"Yes, I could kill you easily enough," Hallo repeated. "And no one would +blame me. I have proof that you are a spy, and it is a praiseworthy +thing to kill a spy. But I shall not. I shall be generous to you, Dick, +even if you did not remember our old friendship. I shall take you back +with me, and turn you over to the soldiers, and they will try you +fairly, and let the American consul defend you, and then they will shoot +you." + +A perfect frenzy of revenge seemed to seize the Hungarian as Dick +maintained his silence. + +"Oh, they will know how to make you talk!" he cried. "Keep still, then, +if you like! I don't care! You would come here after me? You would try +to make me pay back the money you say I took? Well, then, I did take it! +And why not? I could use it better than your foolish family! Ah, Dick, +it does not pay to monkey with the buzz-saw, as your father used to say! +Does it? I am a buzz-saw--yes, that is what I am! Now, then, march! But +turn the other way!" + +"I'm not afraid of you," said Dick, breaking his silence at last and +speaking in a contemptuous voice. "I think you're pretty brave, though, +Mike. I didn't think so a little while ago. I thought you were a great +coward. But if you have the courage to go to the army authorities after +the destruction of the arsenal, you are a brave man, and I respect you +for that, even if you are a thief!" + +Hallo stared at him stupidly for a moment. + +"Eh? What is that?" he said. "No matter! March! You are trying to bluff +me, as you Americans say, and you cannot do it! They will know the truth +when I tell them. They will believe me. They will not think that I had +anything to do with that." + +"You say so--but you don't believe what you're saying yourself," said +Dick. "When they hear about how you have been going on, they will think +it funny that you did not know about this plot in time to warn them. Do +you think they will try us at the same time?" + +But he stepped out, just the same, for Hallo was beginning to look +dangerous. He looked frightened, too, and Dick felt that it was not at +all certain that Hallo would force him to go all the way. When he had +had time to think for a little of what the attitude of the Austrian +commander was likely to be, Dick thought military headquarters in Semlin +would be about the last place that he would seek! + +Even so, however, there did not seem to be much to make Dick hopeful. +For it was just as likely that Hallo would shoot him if he decided to +stay away from Semlin as that he would let him go. + +But then there came just the interruption for which Dick had prayed. +Ahead of them appeared half a dozen figures walking swiftly, at their +head a smaller man or boy, his eyes on the ground. Dick's heart gave a +leap. + +"Into the field there!" said Hallo, with a growl. + +Dick obeyed, scattering the last kernels of corn. And five minutes later +a wild rush, led by Stepan Dushan, caught them. Once more the tables +were turned, and Hallo was a prisoner for the third time that night! + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BELGRADE + + +Now there was plain sailing before them. The Servians were all armed, +and they had proved that night, if it needed proof, that they had the +sort of courage that enables a man to take the one chance of escape in a +hundred when a desperate thing is to be done. No ordinary obstacle could +possibly keep them from the boathouse now. + +Relieved of his care of Hallo, Dick fell into step beside Stepan. + +"You saved the day for us," said Stepan. "If you had not been there, he +would have caught me--and he would have been in time to save the arsenal +from destruction. That is going to prove the most important feat of the +war, I do believe. There will be great news soon unless I am greatly +mistaken. Now tell me of what happened after I left you." + +"There isn't much to tell," said Dick. "He was clever enough to think +that he might be followed and trapped me--but, after all, it was better +so. I should have had to try to stop him if he had gone into a house, +and the place might not have been so quiet and deserted as the one he +chose." + +Dick went on to tell of the strange walk that he and Hallo had taken, +and Steve laughed heartily. But his face was grave when Dick had +finished. + +"It seems trifling enough now," he said, "but it was no laughing matter, +Dick. You were in terrible danger all the time, of course, and anyone +less cool and clear headed would never have come through so well. Having +Hallo gives us a breathing spell. We may be able to use the boathouse +still. If he had got away, even after the arsenal was blown up, we could +never have used it. We may not have to. I think most of our work here in +Semlin was finished to-night. Soon the armies in the field will be doing +the work, and the time for the spies will have passed." + +At the boathouse Milikoff joined them, his face glowing. + +"All here? Not a man lost? That makes it so much the better!" he +exclaimed, happily. "And--what? You have Hallo again? Welcome back, +Hallo! This is splendid!" + +"I think we had better get away," said Stepan. "After this business +to-night, there will be a most searching examination, and it would be +dangerous for any of us to stay here. We cannot carry many in the motor +boat, but there will be time for her to make three trips, and that will +be enough. I shall run her back first, and take my friend Dick Warner +and Hallo. One other can come. You, Milikoff?" + +"No. I shall go on the last trip," said Milikoff. "Let one of the men +bring her back. It will be your part to see that Hallo is looked after +in Belgrade." + +So they ventured out into the yellow Danube again. This time the voyage +promised to be more dangerous. The destruction of the arsenal had +aroused all the forces defending Semlin to a high pitch, and +searchlights danced incessantly about, winking first one way, then +another. There was still a blaze of light at the confluence of the Save +and the Danube, but more searchlights seemed to be in use, and the +Austrians were not as perfunctory as they had been, but flashed them +here, there, and anywhere. + +However, Steve was a skillful handler of the swift little craft. Darting +forward when the flashing of a light left a space dark, turning this way +and that, coming almost to a full stop when the river ahead was suddenly +lighted, he played hide and seek amid the great, flashing beams of +light. And at last they were well beyond them, and could sweep across +the river and come to the safe haven of the little wharf on the Servian +shore. + +A few explanations then, and Steve reluctantly turned over the boat he +had guided so well to another, while he and Dick, with Hallo and one of +the other men who had come with them, tumbled into a military automobile +that was waiting. There was a swift rush to the citadel, where Steve +turned over his prisoner. + +"He's a slippery customer," Dick said, in warning. + +"He won't get away from us," the officer promised. + +And then--sleep! Sleep that was almost as welcome as it had been the +night before or, rather, the morning before. For again they had been +busy through all the hours of darkness, and it was daylight before they +got to bed. + +This time, when Dick awoke at last, Steve was still there, and he yawned +luxuriously when Dick woke him up. + +"Nothing to do to-day!" he said. "At least, nothing that I know of now! +It's a real holiday, Dick. I can tell you it feels good, too. I wouldn't +have missed the chance to do what I've been able to do for Servia, but +I'm tired now." + +"I should think you would be," said Dick. "You haven't only had to work +hard, but there's been the chance always that you would be caught." + +"I know. But I didn't think much about it, Dick. I was too busy. The +chief danger was that Hallo would find me looking through his papers +some time. He might not have suspected that I was a spy, but that would +certainly have ended any chance there was for me to get more news." + +They got up then, and enjoyed a great meal at their leisure, while old +Maritza looked on and kept their plates full, and scolded Stepan for +having caught cold the night before. She said he must have caught cold, +because he was hoarse, and laughed at him when he said it was only +because he had been so tired. + +"You say there's nothing for us to do?" asked Dick. + +"Yes, but I didn't mean it. There's plenty to do, only it's stupid +compared to the sort of thing we have done. There are errands of all +sorts to be run, and I believe that there is a good deal of help to be +given to the poor people. It's mostly their houses that have been +knocked about in the bombardment, you see. We don't have to do it, of +course. The rest of the scouts here have been busy that way, and I'm +excused from that sort of work because I was detailed to this special +service. Still I think I'll lend a hand until there is more work for me +from the Intelligence Department." + +"When will that be, do you suppose?" + +"Oh, there's no telling. It depends on the way the campaign runs. Now, +for a time, it's all a question of how General Pushkin's plans work out. +And he has two plans. Russia has declared war, and that means that +Austria can't concentrate a great force against us. But the question is +whether she will try to crush us before she turns against Russia, or +whether she will just hold both Russia and Servia safe. If she throws a +great army against us, General Pushkin won't risk a decisive battle. +He'll go back into the hills and worry them until they have to detach +troops for the other front. If the Russians begin coming down through +the passes of the Carpathians into Hungary, you'll see the Austrians +sending troops back to meet them in a hurry. It wouldn't make so much +difference, from a military point of view, even if the Russians got to +Buda-Pesth. But it would pretty nearly cause a revolution in Hungary, +and a separate peace." + +So when they had finished their meal, they went down toward the river. +The desultory, useless bombardment was still going on, but it was not +doing great damage, though it seemed to Dick that it was. A great many +important buildings had been struck, and were in ruins, and in the lower +quarters of the city there were plenty of evidences of war. But Steve +pointed out that none of this could have any effect upon Servia's +ability to hold out. + +"It is all provided for in the plans of the general staff," he said. "As +long as our field army is in good shape, they can hammer away at +Belgrade as much as they like." + +Some important work was still being done. Money and papers of value were +being removed from the quarters where there was danger from the Austrian +cannon, and scouts, who seemed to be numerous, were guarding the +transfers. Others, whom Dick and Steve joined, were going through the +unaffected parts of the city to find houses that had room for the poor +people who had been driven from their homes by the enemy's fire. One +spirit seemed to move all classes; there was a universal readiness to +make sacrifices of any sort for the common good. + +"We have room for one family of five," would be the greeting, as they +knocked at a door, as soon as the inmates of the house saw Stepan's +uniform, which Dick saw him wear for the first time that day. + +So it went everywhere. Dick went to see the American consul, and told +his story, and the official assured him that he would find a means of +sending word of his safety to Consul Denniston in Semlin. + +"I've got ways of sending such messages, of course," the consul +explained. "They can't interfere with the messages of an American +consul. I saw Mr. Denniston a little while before the bridge was +destroyed, and he was quite worried about you. He'll be glad to know +that you are safe so far. I suppose, by the way, that you are strictly +neutral, as an American should be?" + +Dick hesitated, and the consul roared with laughter. + +"You don't have to answer that question!" he said. "I've got to be +neutral, worse luck! But, even so, sometimes I think I'll resign, just +so that I can take a chance with the side I'm on." + +"Which side is that, sir?" asked Dick, innocently. + +Once more the consul laughed. + +"I refuse to answer!" he said. "You might send a report back to +Washington and get me into trouble. But perhaps you can guess." + +The times that followed were uneventful enough in Belgrade, though +beyond the limits of the belabored Servian capital great things were +happening. There were scenes of wonderful rejoicing when it became known +that Russia had thrown herself to the aid of the little Slav state, and +still more wonderful scenes when the Servians learned that England and +France, as well, had been enlisted in their quarrel. They knew now that +they would not be made again a sacrifice to the peace of Europe, and +that Austria's attempt to bully them had precipitated the great war. + +Closer at hand, however, was the actual fighting between the Servians +and Austrians. On the Danube and the Save there were minor skirmishes. +Servian forts fired on Austrian vessels. In the Save, near the wrecked +bridge, a Servian mine destroyed an Austrian monitor. And along the line +of the border there was constant skirmishing. Red Cross flags began to +fly from many houses in Belgrade, and there was a constant stream of +wounded men. Not many came at once, or in any one day, but every day saw +some additions to the wounded who were being cared for. + +"But this doesn't look like a real battle yet, Steve," said Dick. "These +men have been wounded in outpost affairs, when at the most only a few +hundred men were engaged on either side." + +"Wait," said Stepan. "The great battles will come." + +And come they did. The news came first from Schabatz, as a wild rumor. +Belgrade was incredulous. The first reports were of a complete Servian +victory, of Austrian troops in panic-stricken flight. It seemed too good +to be true. But every hour not only confirmed these first reports, but +added to them. The Austrians had not alone been beaten; they had been +utterly routed, and were in full retreat in their own territory. + +Then Servian victories came thick and fast. Even while batches of +Austrian prisoners were being brought in, Servian troops in great +strength followed, and there was a daring, magnificent raid across the +Save, in which the Austrian monitors were driven out into the Danube and +away by the terrific fire of the splendidly handled big guns of the +Servians. For two or three splendid days Servian troops held Semlin, +before the exigencies of the strategy of the campaign forced them to +give up their prize and let the Austrians, now heavily reenforced, +reenter their capital city. + +"We couldn't stay, but we showed them what we could do, didn't we?" said +Stepan, exultingly. + +"Yes. But isn't there danger that they may come on now in great force?" + +"They are sure to do that," said Stepan, his eyes burning brightly. "It +is what we hope. Now the second stage of the campaign will begin. They +have already sent great reenforcements into Bosnia, and the army that we +and Montenegro sent against Serajevo has had to retire. Remember, Dick, +we are not fighting this war alone. Russia is at war, too. It was our +aim to compel the Austrians to withdraw many troops from Galicia and +Bukowina and the passes of the Carpathians. Now they have done that, and +we shall see. They are beginning to advance across the Drina toward +Valjevo. We shall see soon what the result is to be." + +That prophecy was soon made good. For now the Austrians poured across +the northern and western borders of little Servia in overwhelming +force, and the Servian armies, muttering, fighting as they went, fell +back before them. Behind Belgrade, to the south of the city, the Servian +army that had won the great victory of Schabatz gave ground, lest it be +taken in the rear by the Austrian advance from Valjevo, and that +movement changed the whole aspect of affairs. That army had been the +real protection of Belgrade. As soon as it retreated the Austrians +marched into the city. But it had taken them five months, instead of as +many days, to accomplish their end. + +"We are to stay," Stepan had said, when it was certain that Belgrade +must fall. And they had stayed, unmolested by the small Austrian force +of occupation. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +BETWEEN THE LINES + + +The Austrian occupation made surprisingly little difference in the outer +aspect of Belgrade. The bombardment, which had been maintained +spasmodically and at intervals ever since the outbreak of war, ceased, +of course. There were a good many Austrian soldiers about, but these +were not the trim, soldierly looking men one might have expected to see. +Dick commented on this. + +"They're reservists, and last line men, at that," said Stepan. "A lot of +them wear spectacles, you'll notice, and they're the older men, who +aren't fit to work in the field. A lot of those chaps would keel over if +they had to spend a night in a trench half full of water, or to march +twenty miles without a halt. But they are all right for this sort of +work. You can't count on them for fighting, but they do the work that +would otherwise take up a lot of fighting men." + +"Will there be anything for us to do, Stepan?" + +"I think a great deal. I haven't heard anything yet, except that we are +to stay." + +"Do you think it's safe for me? I don't think I care much, but I mean if +they were looking for me in Semlin, isn't there a chance that I'll be +picked up now?" + +"I don't think so. That was Hallo's doing, you see. He's disappeared, +and so there's nothing to urge them to go after you." + +"Where is Hallo? I was afraid that perhaps he would have been found and +set free when the Austrians came." + +"Not a bit of it! He's too valuable to be allowed to get off so +easily--or to be shot either," answered Steve. + +"Then he was taken away?" + +"Yes. He's being very carefully looked after in the interior now--in +Nissa or Nish, probably. Dick, suppose you go and see your consul here +again--Mr. Hampton. I'd like to know what he thinks about things. And +you can consult him, too, about your own position," Steve replied. + +"So you're still here, are you?" said Mr. Hampton. "I thought you might +have run away with the Servians. But you did well to stay. I'm afraid +the Austrians are going right through this country now, the way a circus +acrobat goes through a paper hoop. It's the old story--the little +country is left to perish, like Belgium and Servia, while the big +fellows attend to their own knitting." + +"You think the Servian retreat is serious, then, sir?" + +"I think it's the beginning of the end, my boy--and if I wasn't afraid +that it wouldn't sound neutral, I'd say I was sorry for it, too! They've +made a game fight, and they deserved better luck. But look at the map +for yourself! The Austrians have the whole grain growing section. The +Servian army will starve to death if the Austrians don't force it to +fight and wipe it out." + +"I see. It does look bad when you look at it that way, sir," said Dick +rather slowly. + +"And there's no other way of looking at it. Pushkin has shot his bolt. +He won a fine victory at Schabatz, but he's up against the Austrians in +overwhelming numbers now. He's been running away mighty well, too, but +he can't keep that up forever. He'll have to fight when they get him +cornered, just as the French did in 1870 at Sedan. And that will be the +end of organized Servian resistance." + +"I hope not, but it does look like it, sir. I'd like to see him turn the +tables, though." + +Stepan listened with a good deal of interest to Dick's report of his +conversation with the consul. + +"That's the outside view--yes," said Stepan. "It's the Austrian view, +too! What did he say about you, Dick?" + +"Oh, he said I'd better stay here for a time. Mr. Denniston had spoken +to him about me, he said, and they agreed that I had better wait here in +Belgrade until things were more settled. Mr. Denniston told him that +there was still a formal charge against me in Semlin, but that he was +trying to get it withdrawn. After that he will arrange for me to get +home, he says. He is very kind." + +"Yes. But you don't want to go home until you have settled matters with +Hallo, do you?" + +"No, I don't. But I suppose there's very little chance of my being able +to do that now. And I guess I ought to get back and start in doing +whatever I can, instead of spending any more time trying to run after a +will-o'-the-wisp like the money Hallo stole from us." + +"We shall see," said Stepan, with a twinkle in his eye. "But in the +meantime you are still ready to stand by us if there is anything to be +done, aren't you, Dick?" + +"You bet I am! As long as I can't get home, I want to be doing something +if I can." + +"Well, I think there'll be something to do, all right, before very long. +And here's something you want to remember. There are other ways of +getting back to America from here than through Buda-Pesth and Vienna. +The railway from Nish to Salonica is open, and there are steamers from +Salonica to Athens, and from Athens to New York." + +"Yes, but the railway from here to Nish isn't open, Steve. And I haven't +the money to go that way, anyhow." + +"Perhaps that will be arranged. Wait and see," said Stepan, +mysteriously. + +"You've got something up your sleeve," said Dick, indignantly. But he +could not remain angry long with Stepan. "Oh, I'm not going to plague +you with questions, Steve! I know you--and you'll tell me what's in the +air as soon as you get ready. I suppose it's got something to do with +those mysterious absences of yours in the last two weeks before the +Austrians came?" + +"Perhaps you're right, Dick. You'll know soon, never fear!" + +Two more days dragged by without news from the interior, save for the +Austrian bulletins announcing the continued progress of their army that +was operating from Losnitza as a base, and driving toward the centre of +Servia and the ultimate fortress of Nish. + +But on the evening of the second day when Dick had finally taken his +place at the table, upon old Maritza's insistence, without waiting any +longer for Stepan, Steve arrived, with an air of great secrecy and +importance. + +"Hurry, Maritza, and give me a good dinner!" he said. "I don't know when +you will see us again!" + +"What new madness is this?" asked Maritza, crossly. But, like Dick, she +knew well enough that she would learn nothing from Stepan until he was +ready to tell her. So she obeyed, grumbling. + +"Ready? Go and put on your warmest clothes, then!" said Stepan. +"Better--I will lend you some of mine. You have none that are warm +enough!" + +"None that are warm enough? What nonsense! It isn't very cold--and I +have a thick overcoat!" + +"But you can't wear that! Come, I will show you." + +Dick roared with laughter when he and Steve were finally arrayed to +Stepan's satisfaction. First each had put on two suits of thick woolen +underwear, and two pairs of thick woolen socks apiece. The socks were so +thick that they had to have resort to shoes that belonged to Stepan's +father, since they could not get on their own. Then heavy winter suits +of Steve's, with a sweater apiece under the coats, and on their heads +fur caps, with ear muffs. + +"Are we going to the North Pole?" asked Dick. + +"Never mind! I'll promise you that before long you will wish that you +had warmer clothes still!" + +"I don't believe it, Steve! I don't see how it's possible! I'm +suffocating now--and I've been out, and know how cold it is." + +Stepan did not answer. Instead, he led the way downstairs, and going +into the garden, peered out until a cart came up, driven by a peasant. +This cart apparently contained potatoes--and in reality, too, although +in a few moments the two scouts were hidden under the load. + +"This is a loyal peasant--and one of our best spies!" said Stepan. "The +Austrians trust him because he seems to be so stupid, and so we can pass +through the line of sentries to the south. If we tried to walk we would +be turned back. He is taking these potatoes to the advanced positions of +the Austrians." + +"That's fine, only I'd like to know what we are going to do after we +have passed the sentries! We shall be within two Austrian lines even +then, shan't we?" + +"We certainly shall--but we shan't stay there!" + +"Oh, I give it up! I never was good at guessing riddles, anyhow!" + +"Sh-h! We can't tell when we're near the sentries, and we'd better keep +quiet now." + +After a little time the cart stopped with a jolt, and they heard the +peasant driver, as he seemed to be, exchanging rough jests with the +sentries. Then there was a grounding of arms, and they passed on. For +perhaps fifteen minutes they continued to jolt along, and for the first +time Dick was glad, despite the heat, that he was wearing such thick +garments, since they saved him, he was convinced, a good many bruises. +He decided that that must be the reason they had worn them. Then the +cart stopped and the driver began to make a way for them to get out, +which they were glad to do. + +"All right--good luck and good-night, Ivan!" said Stepan. + +"And to you, good luck and the grace of God, Stepan Ivanovitch!" said +the driver. "There is nothing more that I can do?" + +"No. Good-bye!" + +The cart rumbled off, and Stepan turned off to the right. Dick asked no +questions, but went along, satisfied that the mystery must soon be +solved. And indeed it was. They were on level ground now, but soon they +began to descend, and found themselves in a rather wide ravine. There +was a sudden challenge: "Who goes there?" delivered in Servian! + +"Kossovo!" answered Stepan. + +"Pass," said the sentry, who was not in uniform, and carried a revolver +instead of a rifle. + +And then, a few paces further on, they came to a strange mass covered +with canvas. A man stepped out of the shadow, flashing an electric torch +in their faces. + +"Stepan? That is good!" he said. + +Stepan went forward and drew off the canvas cover, and Dick saw what was +underneath--a monoplane, as he had guessed! + +"That is a captured Austrian 'plane," said Stepan. "Now do you +understand? Are you willing to take the risk of flying in it with me?" + +"I wouldn't miss it!" said Dick. "But I didn't know you knew how to run +one!" + +"He is one of our very few qualified aviators," said the man who had +been on guard. "And every day now for weeks he has been coming here to +study the controls and all the details of this machine. It is in +perfect order, ready to take the air." + +"And an Austrian monoplane! Why, we can fly over their lines!" exclaimed +Dick. "How splendid! But what are you to do, Steve?" + +"You will soon know. Get aboard! Your seat is there. Strap him in, +Dmitri, while I see to the tank." + +"Everything is right," said Dmitri. "But make sure for yourself--that is +a good rule." + +In a minute Stepan was satisfied and had taken his place beside Dick. +Then the motor was started, the propeller began to turn, and in a few +moments they rose from the ground, soared above the trees, and were in +full flight. + +"Now you see why we had to be warm!" said Stepan. "We are in for a long +flight. But up first! We must fly high!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE FLIGHT + + +They rose higher and higher, climbing in spirals, until Dick had +completely lost his bearings. The night was cloudy, and there were no +stars to help him, and before long they had passed through the first +layer of low hanging clouds, so that he was denied the aid of lights and +towns below. Then when they had thus made it impossible for anyone below +to detect them, Stepan gave his motor full play and the real flight +began. Dick thought he had never in his life known a sensation so +glorious as this swift gliding along through the air. But he soon +appreciated the comfort that came from the thick clothes upon which his +chum had insisted. Despite the weight of the things, he was far from +being hot in that long night flight. + +Sometimes he slept. He was aroused once when they descended, but the +country was wholly unfamiliar to him, and they were soon off again. But +with morning came a stunning surprise. The sun was visible now, and Dick +saw that they had been flying northeast! He had supposed that they would +head for the Servian army, but he guessed now, as he saw snow capped +mountains before them, that they had taken an entirely different course. +And his surprise was vastly increased when a strange sound assailed his +ears. + +"Ah!" cried Stepan, exulting. "It is all right!" + +Dick followed Stepan's pointing finger with his eyes, and now he saw the +source of the firing that had so astonished him. It was in front of him, +on the plain between them and the mountains, which were far away still, +though they seemed so near. + +"What troops are those? And where are we?" he cried. + +"We have flown across Hungary in the night, and those are Hungarian +regiments, giving way before the advance of Russian troops who have come +through the passes from Galicia!" cried Stepan. "But that is not what +counts! Look down there--to the right!" + +Dick looked. What he saw was a small village that had suddenly become a +city. Trains were drawing in, and a dozen or more sidings contained +strings of cars that had evidently arrived during the night. As they +looked a train stopped and soldiers poured from it. + +"Do you understand? Can you realize what that means, Dick?" cried +Stepan. "They are sending reenforcements from Servia! Those troops were +among those who were attacking us. The Russian invasion through the +passes has brought them back! That is what we came for--to learn if that +were so!" + +"Oh, I do understand now!" cried Dick, as a great light burst on his +mind. He saw it all. This was what Servia had been hoping for; a +weakening of the forces massed against her. No wonder it had been +all-important to know if the reenforcement had really been sent! Then +his eye wandered, and he saw something coming through the air--another +aeroplane was approaching them. + +"Look out, Stepan! Here comes one of their machines!" he cried. + +Stepan seized his glass on the instant. + +"Yes!" he said. "That is bad luck for it is one of their newer, faster +machines! We must try to get away! Here, take this rifle. If she comes +so near that she discovers who we really are, we must fight. Aim for the +tank. A bullet through that will send them down quickly! But don't fire +until I give the word. It is better to run than to fight, if we can." + +And now, as if he had not seen the hostile aeroplane, Stepan turned and +began to race south, in the direction whence they had come. There +followed the most exciting of possible contests--a real race between +aeroplanes, not for a prize or a trophy, but with life itself, or +liberty at least, as the price of victory or the penalty of defeat. + +With the slower, clumsier machine, Stepan still made a wonderful +showing. He went up, then down, twisting this way and that, +manoeuvering with brilliant skill. The other machine followed, +however, and it was gaining constantly, thanks to its better motor. +Still it did not fire a shot, for it must have been difficult for the +pilot to know what possessed the machine that he chased. It was so +obviously an Austrian monoplane, yet its actions were suspicious. + +At last Stepan reduced his speed. At the moment they were above the +rival birdman, who was climbing to get on a level. + +"Now--and aim for the tank!" cried Stepan. + +Dick fired. His first bullet went wide, and cut through the wing. But +the next one found its mark. They could hear the sharp ping as it struck +the metal tank, even above the roar of the two racing engines. And then +another--and all three before the enemy could reply. + +"Good! We are saved!" cried Stepan. + +For the Austrian machine staggered like a bird hit on the wing, reeled, +and then plunged downward. One bullet sang past them, dangerously close, +but that was all. In a moment they were alone in the heavens, racing +toward Servia, while behind them the roar of battle continued. + +On and on they flew. They passed over Belgrade and Semlin late in the +afternoon, when the sun was sinking. It was dark when they crossed a +plain from which great numbers of troops stared up at them. But they +were flying very high and very fast, and though two more Austrian +aeroplanes began to pursue, there was no danger that they would be +caught. And at last, weary, exhausted, they came to earth in the Servian +camp. + +"Come with me," said Stepan. Willing hands were caring for the +aeroplane, and now a staff officer came up. + +"You are Stepan Dushan?" he asked. "I am to take you to the general!" + +"My companion, too," insisted Stepan. + +And so Dick was present when Stepan made his report to the veteran +general who commanded the Servian army. He saw the light that came into +the leader's eyes when he heard of the arrival of the Austrian troops in +Hungary and listened, with admiration, to the sharp fusillade of orders +which interrupted Stepan's narrative. + +"Now we know what to do!" said the general. "Now we shall fall upon +them. The battle will begin to-night! They have been trying to force a +battle. Well, they shall have it! Go, now, sleep. In the morning there +will be great sights for your eyes!" + +And in the morning, indeed, Dick and Stepan were present when King +Peter, his snowy hair bared to the wind, rode before his troops. + +"The time has come, my children!" said the old king. "The time has come +for us to drive the invader from Servian soil! We have had to retreat, +and it has been hard! But now--now we can strike! This is the dawn of +Servia's greatest day, in victory or defeat! Your old king has come now +to see you conquer--or to die among you!" + +What a cheer there was as the king spoke! What a roar greeted him! With +what eagerness did the troops hail the order to advance! + +Already the cannon were thundering. Soon now rifle fire in sullen, +crackling volleys broke upon the air. And that day the Austrians learned +that they had walked into a trap; that Servia's army had retreated, not +because it was beaten, not because it was afraid, but that it might +fight, when the time for battle came, on its own chosen ground. From the +east came the army that had guarded Belgrade for so long, striking at +the Austrian flank. And once more an Austrian defeat became a rout. Once +more the Servians pursued. + +Dick and Stepan could see only a little of the great struggle. But that +little was enough to teach them that they were looking upon history in +the making. The battle was one of those crushing, decisive struggles +that seldom occur. With defeat the last hope of a successful Austrian +invasion of little Servia seemed to be shattered and when the sun went +down there was no longer any doubt of the issue. + +The Austrians had fought well and bravely, but the Servians had fought +with the courage of despair and the cool precision of trained soldiers +used to victory, as well. The stars that night looked down upon the +abject flight of the Austrian army, split in two parts, scattering its +arms, its equipment, everything that would retard the search for safety +from the furious pursuit of the Servians. + +"We let them have Belgrade--for a few days!" said Stepan, drunk with +happiness. "But now we want it for ourselves--our capital is the place +to celebrate a victory!" + +And so it proved. Two divisions of the beaten Austrians were caught at +the Danube, where Servian guns had smashed to pieces a bridge of boats +cunningly contrived for retreat. And while they were making their last +feeble resistance, a brigade of Servians marched into Belgrade. Flags +flew everywhere and the people hailed the return of their own troops +deliriously. When the king himself rode in, disdaining the carriage that +had been provided for his use on account of his age, the city seemed to +go mad. The thunder of the guns to the east died away; the Austrians who +had been cut off had had enough of fighting and had surrendered. The +Servians were the victors. + +"It is wonderful! It will surprise the world!" said Dick. "Why, Mr. +Hampton said that everyone believed Servia had lost her last chance, and +that the country was about to be overrun, like Belgium!" + +Dick met General Dushan, Steve's father. And it was the general, his +eyes filled with tears of pride over the exploits of his son, who told +them of a great honor that awaited them. + +"The king has ordered me to bring you both before him," he said. "He has +heard of the part you played in the destruction of the Semlin arsenal +and he has learned that it was that feat that made the great victory of +Schabatz possible. If the Austrians had had ammunition enough to serve +their guns, they would have beaten us there." + +Dick was embarrassed and timid when he was called upon to stand forth +and meet King Peter. But the old man, simple and, democratic, soon put +him at his ease. He held out his hand and gripped Dick's, and then he +spoke to him in English. + +"Servia thanks you, through me, her king," he said. "I wish you to wear +this decoration with our gratitude! And I have heard of the mission that +brought you to Semlin--so fortunately for us. General Dushan knows my +pleasure in that matter." + +"Come with me, both of you," said General Dushan. He took them to the +citadel, and there, in a little while, Hallo was brought before the +general, his hands linked with steel handcuffs. + +"Michael Hallo," said General Dushan, sternly, "you have been tried and +found guilty, and sentenced to death as a spy and a traitor. But His +Majesty has been pleased to grant you a reprieve--on a certain +condition. If you will sign an order to Richard Warner upon the State +Bank here for the payment of a sum equivalent to two hundred thousand +dollars, you will be confined as a political prisoner until the end of +the war, and then released. Do you agree?" + +There was hate in Hallo's eyes, but he was helpless--and he agreed, to +save his life. + +"I told you it would be arranged," said Stepan, three days later, when +Mr. Denniston, the consul in Semlin, had arranged for the transfer of +Dick's money to New York. "And now you are going to Salonica, with an +escort to the border--and I am going all the way to Athens to see you +off! Think of us sometimes--and when the war is over, I will visit you +in New York!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +HALLO'S LAST CARD + + +"I'm going to give you drafts on New York, Dick," Mr. Denniston had +said. "In ordinary times, that wouldn't be the best way--I'd simply +arrange for transfer of your money by mail or cable. But now, in war +times, with the mails badly held up and most of the cables cut, that is +more difficult. There might be months of delay in getting the money if +we trusted to ordinary arrangements." + +"I see, sir," said Dick, though he did not understand the details of +international banking any too well. + +"You've had such a hard time getting this, and you've done so splendidly +that I'd hate to think there was any chance of some slip making trouble +for you now," the consul went on. "But with these drafts you'll be all +right. Take good care of them--but I needn't tell you that, I suppose." + +"Hardly!" said Dick, with a laugh. "But no one else could cash them, +even if I lost them, I suppose?" + +"Not if payment were stopped. The only danger would be if you lost them +in such a way that whoever got them forged your signature and then kept +you from being able to warn the people in New York not to pay them. But +of course there'd be a long delay and it's just possible that you might +lose heavily. So guard them carefully--just as if they were actual +money. I'll give you a money belt to put them in--" + +"I have one myself, thanks," said Dick. + +"General Dushan has arranged for your trip, I understand," said the +consul. "How do you go?" + +"Through Nisha to the Greek border--no, to the Bulgarian line, I +believe," said Dick. "They decided that that was safer than the direct +route to Athens. I sail from Salonica. Stepan Dushan says there are +raiding bands of Albanians south of Uskub and getting near to Monastir, +and that that section isn't safe, anyhow--that it hasn't settled down +properly since the last wars." + +"It's true enough," said Mr. Denniston, with a faint frown. "That whole +region is unsettled. You see, Servia took a good deal of territory +Bulgaria claimed and there are a good many Bulgarians living in it. I +hope that Servia will see its way, if it gets what it wants from Bosnia +and Herzegovina, to give that section back to Bulgaria. That's the only +way we can have a real and lasting peace here in the Balkans--and Heaven +knows we need it, after three great wars in as many years!" + +All arrangements were made finally. After the great victory that had +driven the Austrians from her soil, Servia was like a man panting for +breath. The whole country was resting, gathering its strength after that +tremendous effort. But there was a good deal of activity, nevertheless. +The ruin the invaders had wrought was being repaired. Railroads had to +be rebuilt; ammunition and stores brought up. For the Austrians, badly +beaten though they had been, were likely to come again. + +So it had seemed best for Dick and his chum, with the escort of hardy +Servian cavalrymen General Dushan provided, to ride to the border. + +"It'll take us longer, of course," said Stepan, "but not so much. The +railroad is torn to pieces, and even where trains are running, the +military service has the right of way." + +"I'd just as soon ride, anyhow," said Dick. "It gives one a much better +chance to see the country." + +So it was arranged, and they started from Belgrade before the sun was up +on a morning of mist and heavy clouds. Later the sun swept the mist and +clouds away, and they rode through a devastated, horrible country. The +ravages of war were visible on all sides. + +"Ah, well!" said Stepan, with a sigh, as he looked out at the ruin of +what had been a smiling, happy land, "the ones who are coming after us +will live in peace! Those who have been driven from their homes and +have died have suffered for them. Servia will be able to live after this +war without feeling that Austria may move at any minute to crush her. +And that is worth some suffering!" + +"Everything's so quiet here I don't see why we need an escort at all, +Stepan," said Dick. "We haven't seen anyone who'd harm a fly--if it was +a Servian fly." + +"That's true so far," said Stepan, but a grim look came into his eyes. +"We shall come, though, to a country where we may meet more trouble. I +hope we shall not need the escort--but one can never tell. And I haven't +wanted to alarm you, Dick, but this Hallo has a reputation for not +giving things up easily. You have a great sum of what he may think is +his money, though he stole it from your family. He will not let you get +home with that if he finds a way to stop you." + +"But how can he do that while he is a prisoner in Belgrade?" laughed +Dick. + +"He is a prisoner--yes," said Stepan, somberly. "But there are many who +have worked for him who are not prisoners. Oh, I may be wrong, and I +shouldn't worry you without reason, Dick! But I don't want you to feel +too secure; I don't want you to think that all the danger is over. It +won't be until we are safely in Salonica." + +They had to bid farewell to their escort at last. The troopers went with +them to a lonely spot, marked only by a border monument and two small +houses--quarters of the Servian and Bulgarian frontier guards. Here +there was peace but not friendship. The memories of the bitter summer of +1913, when the allies who had been fighting the Turks, side by side, +turned against one another in one of the bloodiest and sharpest wars in +history, were all too fresh. The Bulgarians scowled at the sight of the +Servian uniforms; they subjected the two scouts to a close scrutiny when +they crossed the line, but their papers were in order and they were +allowed to proceed. + +Now, however, there seemed to be something sinister in the very air. +Scowling faces met them wherever they came upon peasants or soldiers, +and soldiers seemed almost unduly numerous. Then after a few hours of +riding, they saw no more soldiers. In their places, however, they +encountered bands of men in the national Bulgarian costume, rough, +hard-faced men with modern rifles, who seemed to be riding aimlessly. +Stepan ground his teeth at the sight of them. + +"They're not soldiers, oh, no!" he said. "You see they're not in +uniform. But do you notice how they sit their horses, and how they ride +in files? Undisciplined men never did that! Those bands are the ones +that cross over, raiding our borderlands. But what can we do? We have +enough without fighting Bulgaria, too, so we have to accept apologies +the Sofia government makes. If possible we want Bulgaria on our side. +But--! The treacherous dogs!" + +"Don't get so excited, Stepan," advised Dick. "I believe you hate them +more than you do the Austrians!" + +"I'll be glad when we cross over into Greece," grumbled Stephan. "The +Greeks are our allies and our friends. The only reason they have not +come to our aid is that they must watch Bulgaria. That helps us, of +course--Bulgaria dares not move while Greece is ready." + +It was late in the afternoon when they first noticed that they were no +longer traveling alone. Two Bulgarian merchants--so Stepan said, judging +from their appearance--passed them, riding wiry little horses; a little +later they overtook them, and after that the two Bulgarians stayed about +a hundred yards behind them, no matter how often they altered their +pace. + +"I don't like their looks," said Stepan. "I wish we didn't have to sleep +to-night on Bulgarian soil. Their inns--Dick, why should we sleep in an +inn? Let us buy provisions and spend the night out of doors! It will be +cold, but we have faced worse hardships than that together!" + +"I'm game!" laughed Dick. "Any inn we find on this road is sure to be +dirty, anyhow. It'll be a last adventure to think of, after all the +rest!" + +So it was agreed. In the first village they reached they stopped and +bought provisions. After dark they hobbled their horses and built a +lean-to shelter and a big camp-fire. The two Bulgarians passed them as +they began; soon one rode back. + +"I thought so!" said Stepan. "They're watching us, Dick." + +Dick looked at him curiously. There was a strange light in Stepan's +eyes. It was as if he could see things that are hidden from ordinary +sight. And before he could answer Stepan sprang to his feet. + +"Come!" he said. "Tear your shirt up into strips--I'm going to muffle +the feet of the horses." + +He went to work with a will, and Dick followed his example, smiling to +himself. He knew Stepan too well to argue with him in such a mood. But +that there was serious danger he could not believe for a moment. + +"Come!" said Stepan again, when they had finished. He took his horse and +led it into the field. They were in wooded country but the trees were +not thick, and they could pick a way through them. + +Dick looked back at the blazing fire regretfully. + +"Are you going on--now?" he asked. + +"For your sake," said Stepan, curtly. And Dick said no more. + +"A mile away there is another road. We have maps of all this region, of +course, and I studied them," said Stepan. "If we can reach a place I +have just thought of we may be safe." + +They came undisturbed to the parallel road. Then they mounted. + +"The horses are pretty tired," suggested Dick. + +"I'm sorry for them, but I can't help that," said Stepan. "Come +on--ride!" + +From the start he set a hot pace. Before long Dick felt his horse was +growing more and more tired and finally he protested. + +"Slow up, then, if you like!" said Stepan, fiercely. "Don't you know by +this time that I don't speak of danger unless it is real? Perhaps you +want to be caught by these people! But they know me--and I know what +they would do to me! I don't intend to have them catch me, I can tell +you!" + +"Then why did you come with me?" asked Dick, angrily. He had never seen +his friend in such a mood before. Stepan's tone made him so angry that +he was almost able to forget how much he owed him. + +Stepan didn't answer. But just then, as they still rode on, forcing +their pace, they came to a turn in the road. A lone figure, mounted on a +big horse, was standing guard. At sight of them he leaned forward, then +cried out sharply, "Halt!" + +For answer Stepan spurred his horse on; Dick's followed. A shot rang +out; then another, and another, but no bullets came near them. + +"He's signalling. Now will you believe I was right?" asked Stepan +bitterly. + +The thunder of hoofs sounded on the road behind them. They sped on, but +suddenly Dick's horse lurched and almost threw him over its head, Dick +pulled him up; the poor brute was limping. + +"He can't go on!" said Dick. "Stepan--" + +"Then you'll have to shift for yourself!" shouted Stepan, brutally. +"I've done all I can for you!" + +And, leaving Dick dumbfounded, he spurred on and was soon visible only +as a cloud of dust! Dick could scarcely believe his eyes and ears. That +Stepan, his trusted friend, who had shared every imaginable peril with +him, could desert him so now! But he had not long to think. The pursuers +whose horses they had heard were on him in a minute more. Without a +struggle, since the odds were overwhelming--ten or twelve men assailed +him--he let himself be dragged from his horse and bound. + +One man came to him and searched him. When he found the belt he gave a +cry of triumph. The next moment he was examining the drafts. + +"Another one was with you?" he said, in excellent English and with a +marked American accent. Dick started. This looked like Hallo's work, +certainly. "Where is he?" + +"He's gone--to save himself," said Dick, bitterly. + +"Ah, well--you are the one we want," said his captor, who was plainly +the leader of the band. "Now, my young friend, endorse these drafts, in +blank, at once!" + +"I will not!" said Dick, hotly. "And you can tell Hallo so, too!" + +"You will not?" said the other, smoothly. "Then I will tell you what +will happen. I give you an hour--because I have lived in New York, and +done well there. I like you Americans. If you have not signed then, I +shall sign for you." + +"That will be forgery--and I shall stop payment!" + +"So? Suppose, when I leave you here, I leave you under the earth? There +are many graves in the Balkans in these days--new graves! One more or +less will matter little. Do you think it will ever give up its +secret--the one that shall hold you?" + +Something in the man's cool tone made Dick shiver. It carried +conviction--it made him believe that this was no idle threat. And yet he +felt that he could not yield. Oh, if only Stepan had not left him! He +was glad, now that his anger had cooled, that his chum was not involved +in this new trouble. And yet--he would have felt better had Stepan been +beside him, to share this peril, as he had shared so many others. + +"It is eleven o'clock now," said the brigand. "If at midnight you have +not signed--!" + +"That's enough," said Dick. "I'll think it over." + +"Light a fire--it is chilly," directed the chief of Dick's captors. "I +am a kindly man. I would not want this hour to prove a chilly one for +you." + +Strange and weird indeed Dick found the scene. There were eleven men, he +found, when he could count them. All wore the Bulgarian national +costume; all looked like soldiers, but he thought all were not +Bulgarians. There were Turks and Albanians among them. And then, +suddenly, one man pitched forward, very quietly, and lay still. The +others started toward him; two or three of them fell. They fell as Dick +had seen men fall when they were struck by bullets, though he had heard +no sound of a shot, but only a faint noise, like the cough of an animal. + +Then wild panic spread among his captors. They blazed away in all +directions with their guns; for the moment they forgot him. And then +silent, fierce figures were suddenly among them, cutting, stabbing--and +Stepan's cry rang out. + +"Dick! Dick! Are you safe?" he shouted. + +It was all over in a moment. Stepan, the tears streaming down his +cheeks, released Dick. + +"I lamed your horse--I had to pretend to desert you so that they would +believe you and let me go!" he cried. "I knew our horses were too tired +for us to escape unless we could delay them. A few miles from here is a +little colony of Serbs. We, you see, have to do something to get +warning of the border raids. They have guns with silencers--I knew I +could get help. Now we must ride for the Greek line, but we can make it +now!" + +On through the night they rode, leaving the dead and wounded behind, +while those who had been captured unhurt were tied and gagged. And +before daylight they came to a Greek frontier post. Greek soldiers +greeted them; there was a captain who had served with Stepan's father +against Bulgaria. + +"The road to Salonica is safe and open now!" he told them. + +And so it proved. Dick had recovered his papers and a week later, his +adventures over, he sailed from Athens, and waved to Stepan, standing on +the deck, until he could no longer see him. He was homeward bound. + +Hallo had played his last card--and lost. + + +The End. + + + + +MARY A. BYRNE'S BOOKS + + +THE FAIRY CHASER + + "Telling of two boys who go into the vegetable and + flower-raising business instead of humdrum commercial pursuits. + The characters and situations are realistic."--_PHILADELPHIA + TELEGRAPH_ + + +LITTLE DAME TROT + + One of the most pleasing of juveniles, made pathetic by the + strength with which the author pictures the central figure, a + little girl made miserable by her mother's strict adherence to + a pet "method" of training. + + +THE LITTLE WOMAN IN THE SPOUT + + "This pleasing story may have been developed from real life, + from real children, so true a picture does it portray of + girlish life and sports."--_GRAND RAPIDS HERALD_ + + +ROY AND ROSYROCKS + + A glowing Christmas tale, fresh and natural in situations, that + will interest both boys and girls. + + It tells how two poor children anticipate the joys of the + holiday, and how heartily they enter into doing their part to + make the day merry for themselves and others. + + +PEGGY-ALONE + + The chronicles of the Happy-Go-Luckys, a crowd of girls who did + not depend upon riches for good times. This club was very + stretchible as to membership, so they elected Peggy-Alone from + pity of her loneliness. Freed from governess, nurse and + solicitous mother, she has the jolliest summer of her life. + + + + +THE BRADEN BOOKS + + +FAR PAST THE FRONTIER + +_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN + + The sub-title "Two Boy Pioneers" indicates the nature of this + story--that it has to do with the days when the Ohio Valley and + the Northwest country were sparsely settled. Such a topic is an + unfailing fund of interest to boys, especially when involving a + couple of stalwart young men who leave the East to make their + fortunes and to incur untold dangers. + + "Strong, vigorous, healthy, manly."--_Seattle Times._ + + +CONNECTICUT BOYS IN THE WESTERN RESERVE + +_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN + + The author once more sends his heroes toward the setting sun. + "In all the glowing enthusiasm of youth, the youngsters seek + their fortunes in the great, fertile wilderness of northern + Ohio, and eventually achieve fair success, though their + progress is hindered and sometimes halted by adventures + innumerable. It is a lively, wholesome tale, never dull, and + absorbing in interest for boys who love the fabled life of the + frontier."--_Chicago Tribune._ + + +THE TRAIL of THE SENECA + +_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN + + In which we follow the romantic careers of John Jerome and + Return Kingdom a little farther. + + These two self-reliant boys are living peaceably in their cabin + on the Cuyahoga when an Indian warrior is found dead in the + woods nearby. The Seneca accuses John of witchcraft. This means + death at the stake if he is captured. They decide that the + Seneca's charge is made to shield himself, and set out to prove + it. Mad Anthony, then on the Ohio, comes to their aid, but all + their efforts prove futile and the lone cabin is found in ashes + on their return. + + +CAPTIVES THREE + +_By_ JAMES A. BRADEN + + A tale of frontier life, and how three children--two boys and a + girl--attempt to reach the settlements in a canoe, but are + captured by the Indians. A common enough occurrence in the days + of our great-grandfathers has been woven into a thrilling + story. + + + + +FICTION FOR GIRLS + + +BETTY, The SCRIBE + +_By_ LILIAN TURNER + +_Drawings by_ KATHARINE HAYWARD GREENLAND + + Betty is a brilliant, talented, impulsive seventeen-year-old + girl, who is suddenly required to fill her mother's place at + the head of a household, with a literary, impractical father to + manage. + + Betty writes, too, and every time she mounts her Pegasus + disaster follows for home duties are neglected. Learning of one + of these lapses, her elder sister comes home. Betty storms and + refuses to share the honors until she remembers that this means + long hours free to devote to her beloved pen. She finally moves + to the city to begin her career in earnest, and then--well, + then comes the story. + + "Miss Turner is Miss Alcott's true successor. The same healthy, + spirited tone is visible which boys and girls recognized in + LITTLE MEN and LITTLE WOMEN."--_The Bookman_ + + +Elizabeth Hobart at Exeter Hall + +_By_ JEAN K. BAIRD + +_Illustrated by_ R. G. VOSBURGH + + A spirited Story of every-day boarding-school life that girls + like to read. Full of good times and girlish fun. + + Elizabeth enters the school and loses no time in becoming one + of the leading spirits. She entertains at a midnight spread, + which is recklessly conducted under the very nose of the + preceptress, who is "scalped" in order to be harmless, for + every one knows she would never venture out minus her front + hair; she champions an ostracized student; and leads in a + daring plan to put to rout the Seniors' program for class day. + + + + +BOOKS FOR BOYS + + +WINFIELD SERIES: + + LARRY BARLOW'S AMBITION + A YOUNG INVENTOR'S PLUCK + + These two books of adventure for boys, by the popular author of + the ROVER BOYS' SERIES, have attained an enviable reputation, + and are read by thousands and thousands of boys everywhere. + + +CASTLEMON SERIES: + + A STRUGGLE FOR A FORTUNE + WINGED ARROW'S MEDICINE + THE FIRST CAPTURE + + HARRY CASTLEMON ranks among the best of the writers of juvenile + fiction. His various books are in constant and large demand by + the boys who have learned to look for his name as author as a + guaranty of a good story. + + +BONEHILL SERIES: + + THE BOY LAND BOOMER + THREE YOUNG RANCHMEN + + Stories of western life that are full of adventure, which read + as if they happened day before yesterday. + + +RATHBORNE SERIES: + + DOWN THE AMAZON + ADRIFT ON A JUNK + YOUNG VOYAGERS OF THE NILE + YOUNG CASTAWAYS + + For boys who have had their fill of adventures on land, the + RATHBORNE books are ever welcome. They make one feel the salt + breeze, and hear the shouts of the sailor boys. + + +OTIS SERIES: + + TEDDY + TELEGRAPH TOM + MESSENGER No. 48 + DOWN THE SLOPE + + JAMES OTIS writes for wide-awake American boys, and his + audience read his tales with keen appreciation. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Under Fire For Servia, by Colonel James Fiske + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UNDER FIRE FOR SERVIA *** + +***** This file should be named 33480.txt or 33480.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/8/33480/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Michael, Mary Meehan and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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