James Fiske

“ 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." ”

“ 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!" ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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!" ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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?" ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ 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." ”

“ 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. ”