Under Fire For Servia

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?"