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ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
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 OR THE 
 
 EXPERIENCES OF A MEDICAL FREE LANCE 
 AMONG THE BASHI-BAZOUKS, ETC. 
 
 By dr. ALFRED WRIGHT. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 A. G. FARQUHAR -BERNARD, M.R.C.S., 
 
 Late Sttrgeon of the Servian Artny. 
 
 WITH SIXTEEN DRAWIJJG'S .m^ Tli]£ /iSPj^aRi 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 W. SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO., 
 
 Paternoster Square. 
 
 1884. 
 
^IGINALTOBE 
 BTAINEl) 
 
 UolS95 
 
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 Printed by Hjuell, Watson, and Vipey, Limited, London and Aylesbury. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 WHEN my esteemed friend Dr. Wright asked 
 me to edit this work and also to write its 
 preface, I agreed to do so, but not without a con- 
 siderable amount of hesitation and diffidence, for I 
 was loth to run the risk of marring what appeared 
 to be a very excellent book by my own necessarily 
 imperfect workmanship. 
 
 The good doctor, however, placed the matter 
 before me in such a light, that I felt constrained 
 to comply with his wishes. 
 
 I cannot lay claim to the "pen of a ready writer," 
 therefore I trust the pubhc will excuse what may 
 appear to them to be a halting style. And now to 
 the real business of my preface. 
 
 I have the author's word for it that at least three 
 out of every four of the incidents herein narrated 
 really took place, and that to the fourth only such 
 proportion of romantic dressing and spicery has 
 
 'jari^fia 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 been added as would enable it to harmonize with 
 the rest. 
 
 Moreover, I am desired to state that every cha- 
 racter depicted in these pages had its living 
 prototype. 
 
 Thus Marie, Colonel Bragg, Savrimovitch, Colonel 
 Philipovitch, the ruffian Pauloflf, Dr. Ibaum, etc., 
 represent real personages, whose names even, in 
 some cases, have been preserved. The quarrel with 
 Von Tummy, the upsetting of the waggon, the fight 
 for the bed, the pig incident, the occupation of the 
 cottage, the description of the battle, are all fairly 
 accurately described ; and the conversations with 
 Russian officers about India and with the Nihilists 
 are reported almost verbatim. 
 
 Facts are stubborn and eloquent things, and I can 
 say nothing stronger in behalf of these pages than 
 that they treat, for the most part, of absolute facts. 
 
 My duty to Dr. Wright prohibits me from draw- 
 ing this preface to a close without making some 
 reference to the painful circumstance that my dis- 
 tinguished friend has as yet received no considerable 
 token of the public favour. As he pathetically puts 
 it, " Monarchs don't seek his medical advice, kings 
 consult him not, and sovereigns neither summon 
 him to their sick-bed sides, nor find their way, in 
 another sense, into his coffers." 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The doctor says he occasionally sees a person 
 clad in prints, but never any one ^*en prince," and 
 he reminds me, moreover, that though Pope lays it 
 down as an axiom, that " what ever is, is Wrights!^ 
 yet he gets hardly any of it at all. 
 
 Now this, I maintain, emphatically and without 
 fear of contradiction, ought not to be, and I would 
 respectfully intimate to the potentates of Europe, 
 that unless they patronize the illustrious doctor 
 more largely than they have hitherto done, there is 
 some fear of his throwing physic to the dogs, and 
 becoming, if not a Nihilist, at least a desperate 
 Radical. 
 
 I state this entirely on my own responsibility. 
 May those whom it directly concerns take it seriously 
 to heart. 
 
 A. G. F. B. 
 
ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LATE in July 1876, whilst the war between Turkey 
 and Servia was at its height, I, at that time a 
 medical student, resolved to pay a visit to the latter 
 country with the double view of making myself useful, 
 and of gaining experience in the profession I was striving 
 to enter. I mentioned my project to my particular 
 friend and chum, Henry Winter, of whom I shall speak 
 for the future by the sobriquet he had received from 
 the students at our classical hospital — viz., Hiems. 
 Hiems fell in with the idea at once, and agreed to 
 accompany me. 
 
 As a preliminary step we wrote letters to several news- 
 papers announcing our intention and our readiness to 
 take charge of stores for the sick and wounded at the 
 seat of the war. 
 
 We were soon overwhelmed with packages of pills, 
 jars of extract of beef, bales of cotton-wool, parcels of 
 lint and bandages, and bottles of quinine, etc., etc. 
 These, with a case of surgical instruments, a cutlass and 
 
 I 
 
10 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA, 
 
 revolver apiece, and a somewhat scanty supply of cloth- 
 ing, which included, nevertheless, our volunteer uniforms, 
 each adorned with a Geneva cross on the arm, and our 
 preparations were complete. 
 
 The day of our departure arrived. We proudly 
 donned our uniforms, which, though rather the worse for 
 wear, still had the advantage of looking as if they had 
 seen service, and took our places in the train. We 
 intended to travel to Vienna by rail, and from thence to 
 Belgrade by the Danube steamer. Our journey was 
 uneventful, except that our uniforms attracted more 
 attention than was altogether pleasant. 
 
 The French mistook us for Germans, and scowled 
 angrily at us, and the Germans took us for Frenchmen, 
 and regarded us with cold hostility. In fact, wherever 
 we went, people seemed to wonder who on earth we were, 
 and what the dickens we wanted. 
 
 At Salzburg we were accosted by a stately and 
 elegantly-attired lady of middle age, who informed us 
 that she was the Princess Woronzoff, and saying that she 
 was delighted to see Englishmen espousing the Servian 
 cause, jequested us to convey the sum of five Napoleons 
 from her to the Servian sufferers by the war. 
 
 This we promised to do, and she bade us farewell. 
 We arrived at Vienna late on a Friday evening, and 
 stayed there until Sunday morning, putting up for the 
 time at the Goldenes Lamm Hotel ; and Hiems utilised 
 the time by coaching me up in the broad-sword exercise, 
 at which he was a proficient. He was particularly careful 
 
THE HANGING GUARD POSITION. ii 
 
 to teach me the hanging guard position, and I flatter 
 myself that I learnt it thoroughly. It certainly is a very 
 striking attitude, and when my cap was cocked properly 
 on one side, and I had my big boots on, I must have 
 looked very killing. 
 
 The next morning we repaired to the steamboat quay, 
 full of eager anticipations of what we considered would 
 be the most interesting and picturesque part of our 
 journey, for Strauss's favourite waltz had led us to believe 
 that the Danube was both beautiful and blue. 
 
 We were, however, grievously sold. From Vienna to 
 Belgrade, there is simply no scenery at all. The 
 banks of the river are flat and dreary-looking, and the 
 water itself is brown and dirty, so we soon turned our 
 attention to our compagnons de voyage. 
 
 In the boat with us were a dozen handsome lads, 
 all clothed alike in dark-grey tourist suits, and who 
 seemed to be under the charge of a tall, military-looking 
 man. 
 
 We ascertained that they were some of the King of 
 Bavaria's pages. 
 
 These lads appeared to be greatly impressed .by our 
 romantic uniforms and martial appearance, and presently 
 one or two of them, who spoke English fairly well, 
 entered into conversation with us. They were particu- 
 larly curious to see our cutlasses. We showed them the 
 weapons ; and I believe that I made a profound impres- 
 sion upon them, and convinced them of the invincibility 
 of English seamen by frowning fiercely and trying to 
 
12 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 show, cutlass in hand, the hanging guard I had so 
 recently acquired. The jealous Hiems endeavoured to 
 dissuade me from flourishing my sword, by the remark that 
 the young Germans would only laugh at me. I did not 
 believe him, and am happy to say that my efforts extorted 
 from one of my audience the acknowledgment that he 
 thought Englishmen were very brave and hardy, and that 
 he attributed their love of adventure to the rough nature 
 of their sports, such as " the football and the cricket," 
 and so forth. A corpulent little Hungarian doctor, too, 
 watched our proceedings with great interest, and very 
 politely proffered .us each a cigar. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said he, when we had all three lit up, 
 ** is it true that you are going on the Servian side?" 
 
 " Quite true," responded Hiems, puffing vigorously at 
 his cigar and nodding. 
 
 **And you are Englishmen, born in England?" in- 
 terrogated our new friend. 
 
 ** We are Englishmen, but not born in England," 
 responded Hiems. "I was born in Ireland." 
 
 " And I in India," said I. 
 
 " An Englishman, bom in India ! " replied the Hun- 
 garian lifting up his eyes and hands with astonishment ; 
 " and yet you are going on the Servian side ! It is 
 amazing ! It is incredible ! Don't you know that the 
 Russians are the enemies of your country, and that they 
 want to get Constantinople ? " 
 
 " I know that we fought them and beat them in the 
 Crimea," replied I. 
 
HUNGARIAN CURIOSITY. 
 
 " Yes, and England did very well ; she did right then. 
 And what are you going on the Servian side now for? 
 Don't you know they are the same as the Russians, and 
 that the Russians have got up this war? Why are you 
 not on the Turkish side ? " 
 
 Hiems repHed that we went as medical men, and not 
 as combatants. 
 
 " That's worse," answered our little friend ; "for as 
 fast as the Turks knock a man over, you set him on 
 his legs again ! " 
 
 " Then again," said I, " the Servians are short of 
 medical men." 
 
 "So much the better," said this bloodthirsty little 
 Magyar, " the war will be over all the sooner then. No, 
 no j you take my advice, and go over to the Turks ! " 
 His Russo-phobism did not prevent him from chatting 
 very pleasantly with us afterwards, and he proved a most 
 agreeable and interesting companion. 
 
 Dinner was served in the saloon at seven o'clock. Our 
 Hungarian friend and a large party, however, did not 
 dine then, but stationed themselves at the other end of 
 the saloon, where I heard him telling the others that we 
 were Englishmen. 
 
 " They are EngUshmen, Englishmen ! " said he, with a 
 graceful wave of his handkerchief towards us ; " and one 
 of them was born in India. They eat a good dinner, 
 you see. They have each had a plate of soup and a 
 beefsteak with eggs, and some sweets, and now they will 
 both have coffee. Ah, no ! One of them, you see, has 
 
14 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 tea " (here he stepped quietly up and looked over 
 
 our shoulders), " and the other has coffee. Englishmen," 
 he repeated, as he retired on tip-toe to his seat again ; 
 "Englishmen — one of them born in India — and they 
 have eaten a most excellent dinner ! " 
 
 When the boat stopped at Pesth our eccentric little 
 acquaintance went on shore; we remained some time 
 longer to see our luggage transferred to the Belgrade 
 boat, which lay alongside our own, and met him no 
 more. 
 
 *' Five o'clock ! Belgrade in half an hour ! " such were 
 the sounds which, roared in a stentorian voice by the 
 steward, roused me from a pleasant sleep, the sixth 
 morning after we left Charing Cross. I was wide awake 
 in an instant, and dressing quickly hastened on deck; 
 but a thick mist hung on the river, and Belgrade was 
 still invisible. The sun's rays soon, however, dissipated 
 the haze, and there, within a few hundred yards of us, 
 lay Belgrade, an imposing array of white-walled, green- 
 roofed buildings and churches with glittering spires, 
 rising terrace on terrace to a considerable height above 
 the water's edge. It looked so bright and beautiful that 
 Hiems and I were in ecstacies of delight, and congratu- 
 lated each other again and again on having selected so 
 charming a spot for the basis of our operations. The 
 boat presently drew up alongside the jetty, and a tall 
 Servian official in a smart blue uniform with very broad 
 scarlet stripes down the sides of his pantaloons stepped 
 on board and collected all the passengers' passports. 
 
THE HLTNGAKIAN GENTLEMAN TELLS HIS FKIENDS 
 THAT WE ARE MAKING AN UNCOMMONLY GOOD 
 DINNER. 
 
 Tojace p. 14.] 
 
i 
 
BELGRADE. 15 
 
 Then came a number of drowsy-looking porters, who 
 began to overhaul the luggage and solicit patronage 
 for the different hotels. We selected one who seemed 
 more active and was tidier than his fellows, and instructed 
 him to convey our things to his hotel, the " Konigin 
 von Griechenland." The man instantly summoned four 
 or five assistants, each of whom, in an indolent and 
 casual manner, commenced dragging one or two of our 
 packages after him. We followed their chief up a 
 steep flight of steps, cut in the hill or cliff on which 
 Belgrade stands, and they followed us, droning a dismal 
 and most unmelodious ditty in chorus. These steps 
 were converted by a number of beggars into a kind 
 of rag and deformity bazaar. On one of the lower steps 
 sat a miserable creature, who, from some freak of nature, 
 had been born without any arms ; at the other end of 
 the same step sat a blind, toothless old man, who 
 mumbled forth a request for a piastre, and who was clad 
 in such unsavoury garments that we felt almost plague- 
 stricken as we passed ; a little above was a frightful 
 dwarf, a victim apparently of goitre ; above him again 
 was a man whom accident or war had deprived of both 
 legs ; then came a deaf and dumb woman ; and so on 
 right away up to the top of the steps. 
 
 The " Konigin von Griechenland " was not an im- 
 posing-looking edifice ; however, it seemed as good as 
 any of the other hotels, and was fairly comfortable. We 
 were shown into a bright, clean-looking room with two 
 beds in it. Here we had a glorious wash and changed 
 
i6 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 our linen, and then went down into the coffee-room, 
 where some dozen persons were smoking cigarettes, 
 drinking coffee, and playing billiards. For breakfast 
 they brought us excellent coffee, fresh eggs, and white 
 bread-and-butter. 
 
 Seated at the next table was a portly old priest with 
 flowing locks and a rosy — a suspiciously rosy — face. For 
 some time this reverend gentleman surveyed us minutely, 
 carefully, and critically. Nothing from the top of our 
 caps to the soles of our boots, and from our black cross- 
 belts to the little red Geneva crosses embroidered on our 
 arms, escaped his scrutiny. At length he rose with slow 
 and dignified gravity, and bowed, and saying some 
 words in a language which neither of us understood, 
 seated himself opposite to us at our table. As he was a 
 priest, we rose and returned his salute, and then shook 
 our heads to betoken our ignorance of his language. 
 
 Nodding to us again, the new-comer beckoned 
 solemnly to one of the waiters, and gave him some 
 instructions in an undertone. Then turning to us with 
 a smile and another nod, he said, interrogatively, 
 **Ingleski?" (English.) Hiems said "Ja" and I 
 said "Oui" in our best German and French. The 
 priestly face beamed with smiles, and then the waiter 
 brought in three large glass flagons of foaming ale. 
 The priest pushed one of these to Hiems, another to 
 me, and taking the third himself, he motioned to us 
 to drink. As we raised the glasses from the table he 
 clinked his against ours with much cordiality and 
 
LINGUISTIC EFFORTS. 17 
 
 another series of smiles and nods. Then leaning back 
 on his seat and folding his hands on his lap, he sur- 
 veyed us again. At last it occurred to Hiems to try 
 him with German ; so pulling himself together and pro- 
 nouncing his words as carefully as possible, he said, — 
 
 **Sprechen Sie Deutsch, mein Herr?" 
 
 "Ne — nein," replied the priest, shaking his head once 
 more. 
 
 " I'm afraid it's no go," said Hiems, with a sigh ; " and 
 it's a pity, too, for he seems an uncommonly nice old 
 fellow. I wish we could have expressed our apprecia- 
 tion of his kindness better than by grinning and nodding 
 at him." 
 
 " So do I," said I ; " but I don't see how we're to do it, 
 except by getting him to drink with us." 
 
 Hiems reflected for a moment, then suddenly brighten- 
 ing up, said to me, " You know you used to be a swell 
 at Latin at school, old chap. Try if you can't polish up 
 some of it now. I have heard that all foreign priests 
 talk Latin." 
 
 " That's not at all a bad idea of yours, Hiems," said 
 1, not without a little pride. "What shall I say to 
 him?" 
 
 " Say — why say, ' How do you do ? ' to him, and ask 
 him to have another drink." 
 
 " Confound it, Hiems, ask me to say something 
 sensible. How the dickens do you expect me to 
 translate sentences like that ? " 
 
 *' What ! can't you translate them? " asked Hiems. 
 
1 8 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 " No, of course not," replied I. " The Romans never 
 said things of that sort to one another." 
 
 " What dummies they must have been, then," replied 
 my friend in disgust. 
 
 For a few seconds we were silent. All at once Hiems 
 brightened up again. 
 
 " What is the Latin for ' This ' ? " said he. 
 
 " What ? " said I, not knowing what he was alluding 
 to. 
 
 " This" said he again with considerable emphasis. 
 
 " Which ? " said I, quite puzzled. 
 
 " What a fellow you are ! Why This, the article, noun^ 
 adjective, pronoun, or whatever you like to call it^ 
 —This." 
 
 " Oh ah ! Now I see," said I, perceiving that he 
 meant the word this. The Latin for this is Hie." 
 
 "Why could not you have said so before then?" 
 replied he, tartly ; " and what is the Latin for is ? " 
 
 " Est," rejoined I, without a moment's hesitation. 
 
 " And for * beautiful ' ? " 
 
 "Pulcher." 
 
 " Now we are getting on," said Hiems ; " and for 
 *beer'?" 
 
 " I don't know. Call it wine, vinum." 
 
 "All right; that will do, I suppose." Then to the 
 priest, " Hie est pulcher vinum." 
 
 For a moment our companion was puzzled. Then 
 his face beamed with a smile of intelligence. He 
 nodded, grasped Hiems by the hand, and said, — 
 
A FUNERAL CORTEGE. 19 
 
 " Bibamus alterum poculum." 
 
 Then he began to speak Latin so fast and fluently 
 that I could not catch a single word. But before the 
 waiter could be called I was relieved from my embarrass- 
 ment by the sound of martial music in the street. Every 
 one — priest, billiard players, and ourselves — hastened to 
 the window and looked out. A long and solemn pro- 
 cession was approaching — the funeral cortege of an officer 
 who had been mortally wounded in the recent fighting. 
 At the head of the column marched a military band play 
 ing the Servian Dead March, then twelve priests with 
 banners and flags, a regiment with arms reversed, and 
 last of all the coffin borne on the shoulders of eight 
 men. The lid of the coffin, as is the custom in Servia, 
 was removed, so that the pale face of the dead man was 
 visible. His breast was covered with flowers; two 
 soldiers marched behind, one bearing his sword and the 
 other his cap. The procession slowly filed past, and 
 when we looked round — lo ! our jolly friend the priest 
 had disappeared. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 LEFT to ourselves, we held a consultation as to 
 what our next step should be. We both fancied 
 that Servia was a very small country, and imagined that 
 we were but a moderate distance from the front. 
 
 This illusion was quickly dispelled by the maitre 
 d'hStel. From him we learned that the scene of action 
 was at least one hundred miles away, also that an English 
 officer, Colonel Bragg, who commanded a newly-raised 
 squadron of cavalry, was then in Belgrade. 
 
 This was indeed acceptable news. His camp, we 
 were told, was only about two miles away, at a place 
 called Topchidere, on the other side of the town, and we 
 determined to offer our services at once. 
 
 It was now about half-past ten o'clock, and intensely 
 hot. There was not a cloud in the bright blue sky, and 
 the sun's rays beat down with fierce and dazzling power 
 on the white and dusty streets. We, therefore, fortified 
 our muffin-shaped forage caps with puggarees, after the 
 Indian fashion. Amongst other things I had brought 
 out with me were a pair of india-rubber half Wellington 
 boots, very loose about the uppers, and shiny like 
 goloshes. I was rather proud of these, and being 
 
COLONEL BRAGG. 2i 
 
 anxious to make a favourable impression on my dis- 
 tinguished fellow-countryman, I determined, in spite of 
 Hiems' protest that they were " ridiculous," to wear them. 
 
 After a dusty walk we arrived at Topchidere. The 
 cavalry camp, which contained only a score or two of 
 tents, was in a large field. We had no difficulty in find- 
 ing Colonel Bragg's quarters, being directed thither by 
 a good-natured little doctor, who introduced himself to 
 us as Dr. Ibaum, and offered us each a pinch of snuff. 
 Our reception by the colonel was not encouraging. He 
 was talking to a tall, good-looking young fellow, who 
 turned out to be the special artist of an English 
 illustrated paper, and as he approached we heard him 
 say,— 
 
 " Who the are these beggars, and what the 
 
 do they want here, I wonder? " 
 
 The artist looked towards us, and burst out laughing. 
 Nothing daunted, however, we walked up to the tent, and 
 Hiems, saluting politely," said, — 
 
 '' Colonel Bragg, I believe ? " 
 
 '*Hulloh!" said the colonel to his friend, "they're 
 English!" (Then to us.) "Yes, Bragg's my name. 
 What can I do for you?" 
 
 " We are medical students, just arrived from England* 
 and hearing that you were organising a body of cavalry, 
 we have come to offer you our services," said Hiems. 
 
 "D d good of you," said the colonel, "but I 
 
 don't think we want any surgeons. What stores have 
 you got with you?" 
 
ADVENTURES IN SEE VIA. 
 
 We replied that we had a good supply of quinine, 
 Ipecacuanha, Condy's fluid, opium, strapping, bandages, 
 cotton-wool, prepared oakum, lint, etc. 
 
 " Hum — well, you can send them over here, if you 
 like, and I'll just think the matter over; but — you were 
 never going to the front in those idiotical boots, were 
 you, sir?" said he to me. 
 
 " Indeed I was, sir," said I, rather angrily, for his 
 contemptuous tone and manner of speaking nettled me. 
 
 " More fool you, then," said the colonel. 
 
 I was so incensed at his rudeness that I turned on 
 my heel and would have left him there and then, had 
 he not sung out in a kinder tone, — 
 
 " Come, come, my lad, don't be riled. I'm a blunt 
 soldier, and always speak my mind. Shake hands ; 
 there ! " and he held out his hand with a rough good- 
 nature that almost made amends. 
 
 " By the way, though, my lad," said he, " if you can't 
 take a joke in good part, you'll hardly do for a cam- 
 paigner ; blows are harder to bear than jokes." 
 
 "Not when you can return them, sir," replied I, 
 haughtily. 
 
 "Well spoken," said the colonel. "So you are 
 really anxious to go to the front?" 
 
 "Yes," we both replied in a breath, "and we don't 
 mind if we get a Httle fighting as well as doctoring," 
 added Hiems. 
 
 "Well," said the colonel, with a fierce twirl of his 
 moustache, " I guess you'll get a good chance of both 
 
DR. IBAUM. 
 
 23 
 
 if you come with me. I shall not forget you, only bear 
 in mind that it will probably be two or three weeks 
 before we shall leave for the front, for my men beat 
 creation for stupidity at drill, and will want a lot of 
 licking into shape before they'll be fit to face the Turks. 
 What's your hotel ? " 
 
 We told him. 
 
 " Very well, then ; you'll hear from me before we leave. 
 Good morning ; " and lighting another cigarette, the 
 colonel turned away from us and resumed his conversa- 
 tion with the artist. 
 
 We left the camp, not over well pleased with our 
 reception, and were walking moodily homewards, when 
 we were hailed by a loud *' Yai ! Gospodina ! " and, 
 looking back, we beheld a soldier running after us, with 
 a piece of paper in his hand. On taking the paper we 
 found the following words written on it, " Dr. Ibaum 
 make to the English gentlemen his esteem, and will 
 say to them a few words." The soldier pointed to our 
 right, and there was the doctor, snuff-box in one hand 
 and hat in the other, beaming on us with the kindliest 
 of smiles. 
 
 '*Eh !" said he, "my dear friend, you have seen the 
 Inglis camp, eh ? And how love you Kol-o-nel Bragg, 
 eh?" 
 
 We replied that we thought Colonel Bragg a first-rate 
 soldier, but that we were disappointed to learn that he 
 was not going to the front for two or three weeks, as 
 we were anxious to get to work immediately. 
 
24 ADVENTURES IM SERVIA. 
 
 " You will to work now, aha ! Then I will say what 
 I will do," said the little doctor, puckering up his face 
 into a look of the most unfathomable profundity. " The 
 Minister of the Health here, Dr. Savar Petrovitch, is great 
 friend to me." Here he drew himself up and looked very 
 important. '' I will speak to him for you, and he shall 
 make you some work very soon — quick — aha — eh ? " 
 
 We made an effort to thank him, but he stopped us 
 at once. 
 
 "For what," said he, "will you thank me? All 
 Inglismen my friend ; I love him. But you, you will 
 to work for my country ; why will you then to thank me ? 
 No, no, I thank you ! I will now," continued he, " to 
 walk with you some way. Will you let — eh, my Inglis 
 friend?" 
 
 We were only too glad of his company, and the kind- 
 hearted little man was good enough to walk back with 
 us as far as our hotel, and when he left us, it was 
 with a promise to call for us the next morning, and 
 accompany us to the offices of Dr. Savar Petrovitch, the 
 Minister of Health. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 TRUE to his promise, Dr. Ibaum called for us at 
 ten o'clock the next morning, and accompanied 
 us to the War Office, where we were introduced to Dr. 
 Petrovitch. 
 
 Dr. Petrovitch received us kindly. He was a small, 
 slightly made, but good-looking man, with dark eyes, 
 whiskers, and moustache, and spoke French very fluently. 
 
 We informed him that we were anxious to go to the 
 front, but he replied with a smile that they had plenty 
 of medical men there, but were greatly in want of them 
 at Semendria and Belgrade. 
 
 *' You can choose between the two places," he said. 
 ** Belgrade is the more agreeable ; there is more society 
 there, and you won't be so dull. On the other hand. 
 Dr. Ibaum works at Semendria, and will look after you 
 if you go there. I have promised Baron Von Tummey, 
 our inspector of hospitals, not to send any more surgeons 
 to Deligrad, but to keep them for our hospitals at Semen- 
 dria and Belgrade." 
 
 This was terribly disappointing, and we should pro- 
 bably have declined the offer, in the hope of getting to 
 Deligrad with Colonel Bragg, but for Dr. Ibaum. 
 
26 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 "Come you with me," he said, coaxingly. "You 
 shall be glad all the tay long. You shall eat— ah ! very 
 much and good — and you shall drink — oh ! you shall 
 drink wine and beer and cafe ; you shall have horse and 
 you shall have dog ; you shall have money, — oh ! much 
 money, — and you shall not work." 
 
 " That won't do for us," said I. " We want to work. 
 We have come here for the sake of working." 
 
 " Aha ! " said the little man, his eyes gleaming with 
 satisfaction ; " you will to work, you shall work then — 
 plenty work — as much as you will to do, and you shall 
 have money. How much money will you to have ? " 
 
 We replied that we would be content with £,2 per 
 week and board and lodging. 
 
 " Yes, yes ; you will to have two pound Inglis per the 
 week — yes, that is vier ducaten " (four ducats). " Yes, 1 
 will speak with Dr. Petrovitch. Will you so good to wait 
 one minute ? Aha ! I come quick back." And, taking 
 Dr. Petrovitch by the arm, he left the room with him 
 for a moment 
 
 When they returned, Ibaum bore in his hand a couple 
 of papers. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Dr. Petrovitch, in French, " we 
 are quite willing to engage you as assistant surgeons at 
 a salary of four ducats a week ; we will provide you, more- 
 over, with board and lodging. I cannot promise that 
 you shall go to the front, but you shall not be forgotten 
 should an opportunity offer. Will you allow me to see 
 your passports and certificates ? " 
 
THE CONTRACT SIGNED. 27 
 
 We complied with his wish, and finding the documents 
 satisfactory, the papers before mentioned were handed 
 to us to sign, apd we were informed that our engagement 
 was completed. 
 
 No one perhaps was better able to revive drooping 
 spirits than cheerful, chatty, little Dr. Ibaum. After the 
 arrangements were made, out came the inevitable snuff- 
 box. He insisted on our taking a pinch, then linked his 
 arms in ours, and led us out of the room. 
 
 " Now, my dear friends," said he, looking from one to 
 the other of us, and giving us both a gentle pat on the 
 back, " we shall be no more grievous. If you will be 
 sad, I will, too, to be sad, but we will not be grievous. 
 After our work we have done, we will sing Inglis song 
 and Servian song, and we will dance ; " and suiting his 
 actions to his words, he adopted a dancing step and 
 broke out into a merry tra-la-la ! 
 
 That evening we dined with the doctor at his hotel. 
 He was an excellent host, and gave us a first-rate dinner 
 a la serbe. We began with papricash, a kind of tomato 
 soup. Then came caviare, fried schill, and cray-fish, then 
 pork cutlets and beefsteaks served with potatoes and 
 poached eggs. Portions of roast goose and roast turkey 
 figured most conspicuously in the meat course. Then 
 we had sweet omelettes and pancakes called palachinkas, 
 and wound up with dessert and coffee. For drinks we 
 had a native wine called Vaslauer, which resembled 
 Burgundy in colour and flavour; champagne, and a 
 spirit made from plums, called sligievitch, which had an 
 
28 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 agreeable odour, but, to my mind, a most horrible taste. 
 After dinner the doctor waxed very jovial and communi- 
 cative, " I lof," he said, " ze Englis charactaire. Ze 
 Englismans lof horses and togs ; all Englismans lof 
 horses and togs, and will hunt much. When I have 
 knowed ze excellent good Englis charactaire, then have 
 I self taught mine self ze Englis tongue, and speaks him 
 not fine, but so also too not wicked. 
 
 Shortly afterwards our papers arrived from the War 
 Office, and Dr. Ibaum informed us that we were to start 
 for Semendria at six in the morning. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NEXT morning the doctor made his appearance 
 with mihtary punctuaUty. We breakfasted to- 
 gether and paid our reckoning, and left the hotel, much 
 to the disappointment of the landlord, who doubtless 
 had hoped that we should stay a week or two with him. 
 Nevertheless the good man was overwhelmingly polite, 
 and accompanied us to the top of the steps leading to 
 the landing-place, where he remained bowing and rubbing 
 his hands as long as we could see him. 
 
 Before embarking we had to run the gauntlet of the 
 beggars, who displayed their deformities and mumbled 
 for piastres with redoubled vigour as we approached. 
 Dr. Ibaum looked at them kindly with a complacent 
 satisfaction. He evidently regarded them as pathological 
 curiosities, and appeared to be as proud of them as a 
 cockney of the most famous lions of London. He 
 stopped and spoke to a great many of them, and gave a 
 copper or two to all. 
 
 A dirty little steamer was waiting at the quay. We 
 went straight on board with our baggage, and as soon as 
 we had stowed it away made ourselves comfortable in 
 the fore part of the boat. The scenery became rather 
 
.30 ADVENTURES IN SEE VIA. 
 
 more picturesque as we left Belgrade. On the Servian 
 side of the Danube the ground undulates, and forms a 
 succession of slight eminences, upon one of which 
 Belgrade is built. 
 
 Just opposite to us, on the flat Hungarian shore, was 
 an Austrian block house, in front of which paced a sen- 
 tinel, whose bayonet glittered brightly in the sun. At 
 some distance off we saw a large town, which Dr. Ibaum 
 told us was Semlin. The water here was anything but 
 clear, still it was not so muddy as we had seen it 
 higher up. 
 
 The Danube is so shallow in the greater part of its 
 course that vessels drawing more than three or four feet 
 of water have to proceed with the greatest caution. 
 We were going with the stream, which was very strong, 
 yet I don't think the boat throughout the journey ever 
 went at a greater rate than seven or eight knots an hour, 
 so that we were afloat nearly three hours, although the 
 distance between Belgrade and Semendria is barely 
 twenty miles. 
 
 However, the weather was lovely, and the air fresh and 
 pleasant, the sun not having as yet attained its full 
 strength. The arrival of a steamboat was evidently a 
 remarkable event at Semendria, for the landing-place was 
 crowded with people. The majority of them were dressed 
 d la Turque^ in baggy knickerbockers, jackets, and fezzes ; 
 only a few wore European costume. Our uniforms at 
 once made us objects of such interest, that we were 
 followed about by a crowd, much to the delight of 
 
A DIRTY HOSPITAL, 
 
 31 
 
 Dr. Ibaum, who astonished the multitude by speaking in 
 English. The hospital at which we were to work was a 
 tumble-down wooden building of two stories. It stood 
 some twenty yards back from the roadway, and the 
 ground in front was fenced with a rough, irregular wooden 
 paling. In one corner of this enclosure stood a disused 
 pig-stye, which gave forth a very disagreeable and piggish 
 odour. The hospital was built on a most irregular plan. 
 It jutted out here and went in there in the oddest fashion. 
 The upper storey was reached from the outside by a 
 rickety wooden flight of steps, which sloped into the 
 yard. We were met as we entered the latter by Dr. 
 Ibaum's colleague. Dr. Lazar Stephanovitch, a short, 
 thick-set, coarse-looking man, who conducted us into 
 one of the wards on the ground floor. This was a room 
 some thirty feet long by fifteen wide, paved with tiles, 
 and lighted by eight small windows, four on each side. 
 The windows did not open, and there being no other 
 means of ventilation than the door, the stench was 
 terrible. The floor, too, was in a very dirty condition. 
 
 In this delightful place some twenty wounded men 
 were lying on as many beds. Every now and then one 
 of them would utter an exclamation of pain, but the 
 majority of them bore their suff"erings patiently, and some 
 were even chatting cheerily. There were no female 
 nurses in the establishment, their places being taken by 
 soldiers chosen for the duty by lot. These men did not 
 strike me at first sight as being suited to the work. Like 
 most of the Servian peasantry, they were clumsy, good- 
 
32 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 natured simpletons. I saw directly that there would be 
 plenty for us to do, and wished to set to work at once ; 
 but Dr. Stephanovitch informed me that their patients' 
 wounds had all been dressed for the day. I pointed to 
 the windows, and expressed my dissatisfaction at the 
 ventilation. He replied that the building was a make- 
 shift for a hospital, and that they were compelled to make 
 the best they could of it. Then, after addressing a kind 
 word or two to each patient, the doctors invited us to 
 accompany them through the other wards, of which there 
 were three. 
 
 Throughout the hospital I found the condition of 
 things much the same. The men had fairly comfortable 
 beds, and were well fed, but there was an utter want of 
 ventilation, of cleanliness, and, as I have already stated, 
 of properly qualified nurses. Dr. Ibaum also told me 
 that they were very short of splints, bandages, and 
 disinfectants, and that our supplies would be most 
 acceptable, so we arranged to send them into the 
 hospital that evening. Neither he nor Dr. Stephanovitch 
 would accept the money we had collected in London, 
 so we enclosed it in a letter, and sent it off to Dr. Petro- 
 vitch at the War Office. The two doctors informed us 
 that they began work at the hospital at six in the 
 morning — and usually completed their rounds by ten 
 o'clock, after which they took it in turns to remain on 
 duty for the rest of the day. We were requested to be 
 there at six also, and they expected to receive in a day or 
 two a large batch of wounded men from the front, so that 
 
SEMENDRIA. 33 
 
 we must be prepared for hard work. We had some 
 little difficulty in finding any lodgings within a conve- 
 nient distance of the hospital, and were compelled to be 
 content with a large room in a pretty one-storied house, 
 the front of which was overgrown with flowering creepers. 
 The room looked clean, and had a large window which 
 opened on to a little piece of front garden. The bed 
 linen, we were glad to observe, was snow-white. We asked 
 Dr. Ibaum to settle the terms, and after a little chaflering 
 with the landlord, he arranged that we were to pay one 
 ducat a week lor board and lodging — terms which we 
 considered astoundingly moderate, although Dr. Ibaum 
 informed us they were very high, and explained that 
 he had not been able to manage better for us, because 
 the war had forced up the price of everything. 
 
 When we had secured the room, the kind little doctor 
 invited us to accompany him to the house of a relative 
 who was overseer of the extensive vineyard belonging to 
 Prince Milan in the neighbourhood of Semendria, from 
 which he acquires a considerable portion of his revenue. 
 
 After a delightful walk through an undulating and 
 beautifully wooded country we reached the vineyard. 
 The house of the overseer, M. Ristovitch, stood on a 
 little eminence in the centre of the vineyard, com- 
 manding a view over a great part of the estate. Our 
 approach, therefore, was soon perceived, and with true 
 Servian hospitality M. Ristovitch came forth to meet 
 us, and invited us to join his family. The party con- 
 sisted of M. Ristovitch and his wife,— a comely middle- 
 
34 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 aged lady, — Mademoisell'e Ristovitch, — a pretty brunette 
 with beautiful dark eyes and luxuriant black hair, — and a 
 Bulgarian girl, Mademoiselle Miloikovitch, taller and 
 slighter than her companion. There was a restlessness 
 and self-possession in the manner of this fair Bulgarian 
 
 which reminded me considerably of Miss , the 
 
 popular EngHsh burlesque actress, whose voice, too, hers 
 much resembled. 
 
 We were soon on the most friendly terms, and odd as 
 it may seem, our quickly-formed intimacy was in some 
 measure attributable to the mosquitoes with which the 
 house and vineyard swarmed. The Servian name for 
 mosquitoes is Kamaratz, and we excited not a little 
 amusement by calling them Karamatz, which, I believe, 
 means elephant, or some other huge animal. From the 
 attacks of these pests our entertainers, both ladies and 
 gentlemen, defended us in a manner at once original and 
 simple. While I was speaking, a mosquito settled upon 
 my face. M. Ristovitch perceived it, and promptly 
 succoured me by crushing the insect between his finger 
 and my skin ; and this proceeding, which was frequently 
 repeated, was as amusing to us as our mis-pronunciation 
 of Kamaratz was to them — nay, more, the younger ladies 
 especially came to our assistance so frequently, and with 
 such bewitching grace, that they made a very deep 
 impression upon our too susceptible hearts. Hiems 
 was captivated by the beautiful Servian, and I was led 
 in chains by the lovely Bulgarian. After dinner tobacco 
 and cigarette papers were produced, and we all — ladies 
 
A FRIGHTFUL COLD! 35 
 
 as well as gentlemen — fell to smoking and drinking coffee. 
 Before leaving England I entertained a narrow-minded 
 and bigoted objection to ladies smoking, but the charm- 
 ing grace with which these fair Sclav damsels put a 
 cigarette to their pretty lips, took a little whiff, and then 
 with an elegant turn of the wrist and play of the hand, 
 removed it, breathing forth small puffs and wreaths of 
 fragrant smoke, caused my prejudices to melt away. 
 
 Presently the young ladies sat down to the piano and 
 discoursed excellent music, and Mademoiselle Miloikovitch 
 sang a Bulgarian love song, of which I did not under- 
 stand a single word, — more's the pity, — to a quaint and 
 plaintive melody. Then, to our dismay, we were called 
 upon to contribute to the entertainment. Hiems, who 
 could play a little, strummed forth his stock waltz, "The 
 Beautiful Blue Danube." 
 
 This our entertainers seemed to regard as a special 
 compliment to them and their muddy river, and they 
 applauded enthusiastically. Then came my turn. My 
 treacherous friend declared that I had a superb voice, 
 and sang exquisitely. This absolutely false statement 
 filled me with confusion and despair. In vain did I 
 cough and use my handkerchief, and protest that I had 
 a frightful cold. My villainous comrade told them not 
 to believe me, so the two ladies, particularly Mademoiselle 
 Miloikovitch, led me firmly but gently to the piano, and 
 fixing their lovely eyes upon me, alternately coaxed and 
 commanded me to sing an English song. My repertoire 
 at that time was very limited, consisting only of " God 
 
36 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 save the Queen," and the " Perfect Cure ! " I selected 
 the former, and sang it as well as I could to a one-finger 
 accompaniment, played by myself. They recognised the 
 air immediately, and joined us in the chorus most 
 harmoniously, and after it was over, were pleased to 
 greet my humble and discordant effort with prolonged 
 applause. 
 
 Emboldened by this success I was tempted to sing 
 the "Cure," much to their delight and amusement 
 Dr. Ibaum seemed more pleased than any one else, for 
 he clapped his hands and shouted *' Bravo ! Bravissimo ! " 
 until he was hoarse, and then went about informing 
 every one that these were real English songs. When he 
 had somewhat recovered from his excitement, he sat 
 down to the piano himself, and shouting out, " Dance, 
 dance!" he commenced playing in admirable style the 
 " Soldaten Lieder " waltz. At this the girls signalled to 
 us to help them, and we wheeled the furniture from the 
 centre of the room, and then . . . 
 
 Alas ! the pleasantest meeting comes to an end. When 
 we had had a few most delicious waltzes, Dr. Ibaum 
 informed us that it was time to set our faces homeward 
 again, so we thanked our new acquaintances for their 
 hospitality, and prepared to bid them adieu. All insisted, 
 however, on accompanying us to the vineyard boundary. 
 Presently our revolvers became objects of interest. 
 Ristovitch and Ibaum expressed a desire to see their 
 effect upon the stump of an old tree. We readily com- 
 plied with their request, but our revolvers being " Bull- 
 
A SUDDEN CHANGE. 37 
 
 dogs," weapons that make a tremendous report, and with 
 which it is almost impossible to hit anything, the shooting 
 was very indifferent. Mademoiselle Ristovitch put her 
 fingers in her ears, and gave a pretty little scream every 
 time we fired, but Mademoiselle Miloikovitch seemed 
 greatly interested, and presently, to my surprise, asked me 
 to load the weapon for her, and to allow her to have a 
 shot. I did so after some remonstrance. As I handed 
 the pistol to her, a singular change came over her face ; 
 the fresh colour died away from her cheeks, the amiable 
 light in her eyes was replaced by a fierce sparkle, and her 
 lips were sternly compressed together. Taking a steady 
 aim, she fired three successive shots at the tree, and the 
 third time succeeded in hitting it. 
 
 Dr. Ibaum subsequently informed me that several of 
 her relations had been massacred by the Turks in 1875, 
 and that she herself had shot two Bashi-Bazouks in 
 making her escape. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 BESIDES the Servian hospital to which we were 
 attached, there was another in Semendria, supported 
 by the Russian Red Cross Society, and of which all the 
 staff were Russians. On our return we found awaiting 
 us an invitation to spend the evening with the Russian 
 doctors, and as Ibaum was going, too, we accompanied 
 him. We were received with hearty courtesy, and as we 
 expressed a wish to see their hospital, they very kindly 
 took us over it. The arrangements there were as excel- 
 lent as those at our place were faulty. The ventilation 
 was first-rate, the wards were beautifully clean, and the 
 air in them smelt fresh and pure. Venetian blinds to the 
 windows tempered the heat of the sun. There were four 
 wards, each of which contained about twenty wounded 
 men, and to each ward was a trained nurse. These 
 nurses, indeed, were lady medical students. When we 
 entered, one of these ladies was applying a bandage to a 
 man's arm with a skill that I have never seen surpassed. 
 Adjoining the hospital was the house in which Dr. 
 Cutemoff and the rest of the staff resided, — a long one- 
 storied building, with rooms of considerable size. The 
 evening being cool and pleasant, a table had been taken 
 
LIBERAL CONSERVATIVE. 39 
 
 in the garden and spread with a substantial meal. Tea, 
 coffee, beer, wine, spirits, sardines, preserves, caviare, soda- 
 water in syphons, jars of tobacco, books of cigarette- 
 papers, grapes, and jugs of milk were displayed in 
 tempting profusion. After we had all partaken of this 
 good cheer, the tobacco and cigarette papers were handed 
 round, and a general and cosmopolitan conversation 
 began. Only three of the lady medicals were present, 
 the other one remaining on duty at the hospital ; but the 
 three who honoured us with their presence were really 
 shining lights in their way. None of them could be 
 called beautiful, but they all had clever and intelligent 
 faces. The plainest of the trio, indeed, a Mademoiselle 
 Dinah Mitykoff, struck me as being the cleverest. The 
 conversation was carried on by different members of the 
 company in French, German, Russian, and English, 
 amid the clattering of glasses and clouds of tobacco 
 smoke. This Mademoiselle Dinah Mitykoff, next to 
 whom I was sitting, began by abruptly asking me if I was 
 a radical. 
 
 **No," replied I, "I am a liberal conservative." 
 She fixed her eyes upon me (they were blue eyes, not 
 very large, but uncommonly sharp and bright) with a 
 somewhat contemptuous expression, and then after a 
 short pause blew forth from her lips a cloud of cigarette 
 smoke, which completely concealed her face for a 
 moment, and asked me " why I was not a radical." 
 
 ** Because I appreciate law and order, and dislike 
 extreme views and measures," replied I, somewhat 
 
40 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 nettled at her contemptuous manner; ''and radicalism 
 means the subversion of order, and consists of nothing 
 but extreme views and measures." 
 
 Again she looked at me with the same aggravating 
 expression; then she said, "When you are older and 
 wiser, sir, you will know that radicalism means pro- 
 gress." 
 
 Considering that she did not seem more than a year or 
 two older than myself, her rebuke amused me greatly. 
 I replied, however, that I did not admit that radicalism 
 was synonymous with progress ; on the contrary, I 
 thought it tended to disorder and chaos, and consequently 
 retrogression, and I added that most eminent radicals 
 were either furious fanatics or unpractical dreamers. 
 
 " You are wrong, monsieur," said she. " We radicals 
 are the most practical people in the world, and, for ray 
 part, unless I believed in the progress of mankind in this 
 real and tangible world towards greater liberty, happi- 
 ness, and knowledge, I should discard all faith in religion. 
 Mark my words, the time is not far distant — nay, it is 
 almost at hand — when kings and emperors will be swept 
 aside, and even distinctions of nationality will cease to 
 exist. The whole human race will live together in har- 
 mony and brotherly love, and though my country seems 
 one of the most backward now, she will be foremost in 
 leading to the change." 
 
 '* Amen," said Dr. Knifem, one of the surgeons, in a 
 deep voice, moving his chair closer to us. " The changes 
 Mademoiselle Dinah ?*litykoff foresees will assuredlycome 
 
RADICALISM. 
 
 soon, but they will be preceded by a universal and terrible 
 revolution — a tornado which will blow away the tyrannies 
 and abuses that now infest and poison the world. 
 Then, woe betide the enemies of human progress ! " 
 
 "What will you do to them? Will you cut their 
 throats ? " said I, with a smile. 
 
 *'Yes, like rats," said he, a fierce gleam shooting 
 across his face. 
 
 " You are a radical, I presume ? " said I. 
 
 " I am an enemy to tyrants and a friend of liberty. 
 Call me what you like, — radical, socialist, or nihilist, — 
 anything you please," replied he. 
 
 " But, my good sir," said I, " there are great numbers 
 of persons who, like myself, believe themselves to be 
 really greater friends of progress than you radicals, but 
 who are strongly opposed to extreme measures and revolu- 
 tion. Are we, too, to be knocked on the head ? " 
 
 "You must decide for yourself, sir, which side you 
 take when the critical time comes, and if you choose 
 the wrong side, you will have only yourself to thank 
 if you suffer for it." 
 
 " And you are so convinced that your views are right, 
 that you would make war on other nations to promulgate 
 them." 
 
 "Yes, we would make war on tyrants," replied he. 
 
 " What ! " said I, " and kill thousands of your fellow- 
 creatures, bombard towns, and bring ruin and desolation 
 on hundreds of happy homes ? " 
 
 "I have told you already, sir, that we would even 
 
 3 
 
ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 make war in support of our views. I know as well as 
 you that war is a horrible and atrocious thing, but at 
 the very worst, it can only affect a fractional part of one 
 generation, whereas untold generations would reap per- 
 manent advantage by the triumph of our glorious cause." 
 ** Come, come, ladies and gentlemen," said Dr. Cutem- 
 off, "that is enough of politics for the evening. You'll 
 never make converts of each other by argument. I 
 never yet came across any one who was argued out of 
 his convictions. Let us have a game of cards." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE next morning we were up betimes. The Ser- 
 vians are early risers, and the landlord and servants 
 of the hotel were up and about before five o'clock. 
 
 Dr. Ibaum called for us, — gay and festive as ever^ — and 
 brought his English dog, Bee-lee, with him, a pretty 
 little black-and-tan terrier. 
 
 " Aha ! my friends, my friends," said he, " how you to 
 do this early morning ? Have you slip well, eh ? Are you 
 slippy steel? (Sleepy still.) No! good-good! Will you 
 to snuff? No ? So, so. Here, Bee-lee, my Inglis tog ! 
 Bee-lee I Inglis name ! Ah ! he come to see my Inglis 
 friend. Inglis tog will to see Inglis man. Eh — ha ! ha ! 
 ha ! Beelee, say you how do now — good tog ! " 
 
 Bee-lee sat up on his hind legs and held out a paw. 
 
 "Bee-lee good beggar, jolly good beggar — eh?" said 
 the doctor complacently to us. 
 
 We were amused by the doctor's droll language and 
 loquacity, and Hiems replied that the dog was a first-rate 
 beggar. 
 
 "Yes," said the doctor, "I have teached him all 
 myself, when he was small pup-dog. But come, my 
 dear friends, now must we to the hospital go. Bee-lee 
 
44 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 shall to carry my stick, and I will take your arm." So 
 saying, he threw his cane into the garden, when Billy 
 rushed after it with a shrill yelp, seized it, shook it, 
 after the manner of dogs, and finally trotted off with it — 
 wagging his tail rejoicingly, and looking round every now 
 and then to see if we were following him. A few 
 minutes^ walking brought us to the hospital, where we 
 found Dr. Stephanovitch already at work. We lost no 
 time in following his example. I was requested to 
 attend to the out-patients. These consisted, for the 
 most part, of men who had received slight wounds about 
 the face or arms, also a good many malingerers, who to 
 avoid going to the front had mutilated themselves by 
 placing a finger over the muzzle of a rifle and pulling 
 the trigger with the other hand. Some of these fellows 
 had punished themselves much more severely than they 
 had intended, and in one or two instances their hands 
 were completely shattered, and, as might have been 
 expected, they displayed very little fortitude whilst 
 having their wounds dressed. As there was no special 
 out-patients' department, I attended my cases in one 
 of the wards, in which, at the same time. Dr. Ibaum 
 was engaged with the in-patients, some of whose wounds 
 were of a very painful nature. To my surprise, those 
 who were waiting their turn laughed at the contortions 
 of their suffering comrades as a capital joke, whilst a 
 few minutes after, these, in their turn, would be laughing 
 at the grimaces of the other unfortunates. The Servians 
 are naturally a kind-hearted race, and this apparent 
 
INSUBORDINATION. 45 
 
 heartlessness was due, evidently, to a keen sense of the 
 ludicrous. I have seen Servians roll over one another 
 in fits of laughter at a very feeble joke. The Servian 
 doctors prized our Condy's fluid very highly. After 
 its introduction, the mortality, so they said, was dis- 
 tinctly diminished, and wounds to which it was applied 
 certainly healed up with great rapidity. The rest of 
 our supplies also were of considerable service, parti- 
 cularly a large case of Liebig's Extractum Carnis. The 
 Servians make excellent soup, but do not understand 
 beef-tea, and many of the patients who could not take 
 the soup on account of its greasiness, were able both to 
 take and enjoy the former. 
 
 With the consent of Drs. Ibaum and Stephanovitch, 
 one of the uppermost panes in each of the windows was 
 knocked out and replaced by a small Venetian blind; 
 and to impress our soldier nurses with the importance of 
 cleanliness and set them an example, Hiems and I 
 sprinkled the floor over with diluted Condy's fluid, and 
 swept the ward out ourselves. The soldiers looked on 
 with approving smiles, and we thought we had made a 
 great hit. We were, however, mistaken. The next 
 morning I found the floor of my ward untouched. 
 Putting on a stern expression, I beckoned one of the 
 soldiers up, handed him the broom, and motioned him 
 to set to work with it. The man, however, impudently, 
 amid the laughter of his comrades, returned the broom 
 to me, and motioned to me to sweep. I was so in- 
 dignant that I seized him by the collar and turned him 
 
46 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 out of the ward, bestowing a kick upon him as soon 
 as I had got him outside the door.. The fellow did not 
 mind being turned out of the ward, but objected to the 
 kick, and aimed a blow at me in return, whereupon I 
 was compelled, in self-defence, to knock him down. 
 I then handed him the broom once more, but he sulkily 
 refused to take it. I was puzzled what to do for the 
 moment. Suddenly a happy thought struck me. I took 
 the commission I had received from the War Office out 
 of my pocket and showed it to him. On it was the State 
 seal. This seemed to make a great impression upon 
 him. I then mentioned in succession the names of 
 Prince Milan, M. Ristic, and Dr. Sava Petrovitch, 
 looked verj' grave and determined, and once more 
 handed him the broom. The soldier took it without 
 a word, and set to work immediately. I then showed 
 the commission to the other men, and repeated the 
 talismanic names to them, with — I am happy to say — 
 the same success. After this they always behaved with 
 the greatest civility, and I never had occasion to complain 
 again of the untidiness of the ward. Hiems had some 
 trouble also, but Dr. Stephanovitch interfered, and 
 compelled the soldiers to obey him. We were very 
 short of splints at this hospital, and had to improvise 
 them out of old boxes or anything that came to hand. 
 We showed some of the most intelligent of the men how 
 to dress wounds, and in a short time they became really 
 zealous and useful assistants. 
 
 Stephanovitch and Ibaum worked hard and unre- 
 
ROUGH TRAVELLING. 47 
 
 mittingly, and we also did our best, but in spite of our 
 utmost efforts, mortality amongst the severely wounded 
 was very high. The Servians have an invincible repug- 
 nance to amputation, and many lives which might have 
 been saved were lost through obstinate refusal of the 
 men to submit to the operation. At the front the 
 soldier's consent was not asked, but in our hospitals 
 no operation was permitted without it. The Servian 
 transport system — for the wounded — at that time also 
 was extremely defective. Semendria was more than 
 eighty miles from the scene of action, the roads were, in 
 many parts, extremely rough, and yet scarcely any of the 
 waggons in which the wounded were conveyed had 
 springs. Travelling, even for those in sound health, was 
 far from pleasant, whilst the sufferings of wounded men — 
 with, in many instances, unset, fractured limbs, and 
 exposed to the fierce heat of the Servian sun — must have 
 been something almost too shocking to contemplate. 
 
 The journey from Deligrad to Semendria in these 
 waggons occupied from two to three days. It is not 
 surprising, then, that many of the severe cases were 
 moribund when they reached us, whilst not a few 
 actually died en route. 
 
 The work of the day at the hospital over, we used 
 to spend our evenings in various ways. The most 
 agreeable, perhaps, were passed with the Ristovitch family, 
 whom we occasionally entertained at our quarters. Our 
 landlord, a genial old Serv, on these occasions placed 
 his whole house at our disposal, and his wife— a kind- 
 
48 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 hearted, buxom, but withal active dame — would bustle 
 about the house making the necessary _jreparations. 
 After tea the young ladies gave us lessons in Servian, 
 whilst M. Ristovitch smoked his cigarette and looked 
 on, and his wife knitted, and every now and then 
 offered a suggestion. 
 
 How we enjoyed ourselves ! 
 
 We generally had two lessons every week — one at 
 M. Ristovitch's house, and one at our own, and at one 
 of the latter we had quite a little adventure. Hiems 
 and I had been out for a walk. We had gone as far as 
 the old fort at Semendria, — a ruined castle built by the 
 Turks about the middle of the fifteenth century, and a very 
 favourite resort of ours, for we used to wander amongst 
 the ruins and hunt for snakes. A species of adder 
 abounds there which attains a considerable size, and 
 which the Servians hold in great dread. I have killed 
 them quite four feet in length. The Servians say that 
 the bite is fatal. On the day in question we turned 
 over a huge stone in our search, and in so doing dis- 
 closed a very fine snake. The creature gave a fierce 
 hiss, and endeavoured to escape, but we belaboured it 
 with our sticks until it appeared to be dead, and then 
 we took it back with us in triumph. At home it was 
 placed in a basin of water to cleanse it from the blood 
 and dust, and left in one of the rooms whilst we 
 prepared to receive our visitors. They did not arrive 
 quite punctually, and we went a little way to meet them, 
 and brought them back with us. As usual, tea was 
 
OUR LANDLORD AND LANDLADY AT SEMENDRIA BRINGING OUR BREAKFAST. 
 
 To face p. 48. 1 
 
FIGHT WITH A SNAKE. 49 
 
 served in the garden, and our lesson begun there as 
 well ; but during the course of the latter the sky became 
 darkened with storm clouds, and ere long a flash of 
 lightning, followed by a terrific peal of thunder and a 
 shower of hail, drove us indoors. We repaired to a room 
 adjoining that in which we had left our snake. The 
 storm was so fierce whilst it lasted, the lightning so 
 vivid, the crashes of thunder so deafening, and the down- 
 pour of hail and rain so heavy, that for a few minutes 
 all remained silent. Gradually, however, as the storm 
 abated, we resumed our conversation, and were very soon 
 busy at our lessons. For some reason or other I was 
 rather more backward than usual on this occasion, and 
 my teacher was on the point of administering a lecture 
 to me, when a loud hiss, followed by a scream from 
 Mademoiselle Ristovitch, startled us all. There, in the 
 twilight, for it was now getting dark, we discerned our 
 captive gliding across the floor. For one second Hiems 
 and I stared at one another in blank dismay ; all was 
 commotion and panic. The three ladies, tucking up their 
 dresses after the manner of the sex when crossing a muddy 
 road, perched themselves on chairs. M. Ristovitch armed 
 himself with the hearth brush, Hiems seized a stick, and 
 I a wooden stool, and we advanced to attack the reptile, 
 which retreated into a corner, and with erect head and 
 fierce hisses stood at bay. The contest was short and 
 sharp. The snake made a sudden dart at me, which, 
 luckily, I succeeded in receiving on my stool, and the 
 next minute my friends had struck it down, and I had 
 
50 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 crushed its head. This affair made Madame Risto- 
 vitch so nervous and uncomfortable that her husband 
 decided on returning home at once. The storm had now 
 completely passed away. The western sky was still 
 bright and flushed with gold and crimson by the setting 
 sun, the moon had risen, and the stars were beginning 
 to twinkle. Altogether it was a beautiful evening. M. 
 Ristovitch took the lead on their homeward journey with 
 his wife, Hiems followed with Mademoiselle Ristovitch, 
 and I brought up the rear with Mademoiselle Miloiko- 
 vitch. 
 
 Now whether it was due to the storm or to the fine 
 weather which followed, or to the influence of the planet 
 Venus, which certainly was twinkling very brightly just 
 then, or to the pale moonbeams, or to the lively 
 manner in which Mademoiselle Miloikovitch had 
 mounted a chair and maintained herself there during 
 our combat with the snake, I cannot say, but I felt 
 at that moment desperately in love with her. 
 
 For several minutes we walked on in silence, but 
 although I did not actually speak, I was several times 
 on the verge of doing so. What I wanted to ask her 
 was, " What is the Servian name for love ? " 
 
 At last I did venture to speak, but the sound of my 
 voice frightened me. 1 could get no further than 
 "what." Three desperate efforts I made to get out the 
 phrase, but each time my voice and courage failed me. 
 
 Fortune, however, favours the brave, and at last she 
 had compassion, and helped me. The part of the road 
 
THE SERVIAN FOR LOVE. 51 
 
 we were now traversing was rather rough, and in the 
 silvery moonlight I saw that Mademoiselle Ristovitch 
 had taken Hiems' arm. I therefore ventured to offer 
 my arm to my partner, and, to my great joy, she at once 
 took it. What a thrill of delight I experienced when 
 I felt her fingers resting on it ! The contact, light as it 
 was, inspired me with fresh courage, and clearing my 
 throat I dashed at the sentence once more, and this 
 time succeeded in getting it all out. 
 
 " If you please, mademoiselle, what is the Servian 
 word for love?" 
 
 Mademoiselle Miloikovitch fixed her large dark eyes 
 on me for a moment with an expression in which sur- 
 prise and amusement were equally blended, and then, to 
 my great disappointment and discomfiture, replied, 
 " I have given one lesson to-day already, M. Alfred, 
 and I certainly am not going to give you another now. 
 Besides, there are lots of things I want to talk about. 
 For instance, I want to know if you have ever been a 
 soldier?" 
 
 "I have been a volunteer," replied I, proudly. 
 
 " Can you shoot well ? '' said she, looking at me 
 approvingly. 
 
 " Not well for an English rifleman, who are the best 
 shots in the world, still I could hit a man at two hundred 
 yards," I replied. 
 
 " I wish I were a man instead of a woman," said she, 
 with sudden energy, " I would enlist in our army imme- 
 diately." 
 
52 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 "What a singular wish," said I, considerably 
 surprised. 
 
 " A singular wish, M. Alfred ! Do you not know 
 that my relatives have been murdered and my dear 
 country overrun and rendered desolate by those hate- 
 ful wretches — the Turks? What would you think if 
 your own land were invaded by hordes of cruel 
 barbarians, smiling villages and happy homes turned into 
 blackened heaps of ruins, and innocent, defenceless 
 men, women, and children shot down and hacked to 
 pieces ? It has been my cruel lot to see all this take 
 place before my very eyes, and I care not what any one 
 thinks, and I repeat it, — I long for vengeance, and I 
 often think of going — woman as J am — to the front and 
 firing a shot at our accursed enemies." 
 
 Mademoiselle Miloikovitch spoke with such fierce 
 emphasis and excitement, that for a moment I was 
 thunderstruck. At last I said, "Mademoiselle, I 
 sympathise most deeply with you, and I am very certain 
 that were I in your place, I should feel precisely as you 
 do now." 
 
 "What," said she, eagerly, "would you recommend 
 me to go to the front?" 
 
 " Heaven forbid, mademoiselle ! " said I, " unless you 
 went as a nurse ; and even then I don't think it would 
 be a wise step on your part, as you have had no 
 training." 
 
 " What aggravating things you men are ! You are all 
 alike ; you all say the same thing ; and there's not a bit 
 
A PLEASANT TALK. 
 
 53 
 
 of sense in a single word you utter ! " said she petu- 
 lantly ; then with a laugh she added, '' I expect you 
 think me very strange. All the same, soldiering apart, 
 I wish I were a man ! Your greedy sex monopolised all 
 the sensible occupations, and left us poor women nothing 
 but nursing and needlework." 
 
 " Pardon me, mademoiselle, but I do not think you 
 quite do justice to our unfortunate sex. In my humble 
 opinion, the ladies— who in the long run always have 
 their own way — have allotted all the really disagreeable 
 work to us men. Who works harder and gets worse 
 paid than the doctor? Who gets more abuse than the 
 lawyer, or more sneered at than the parson, or more hard 
 blows than the soldier, or is more hated than the 
 politician ? On the other hand, what can be more 
 delightful than looking after a number of merry, 
 innocent children, or more profitable than needlework, 
 which provides you with new dresses, etc. ? " 
 
 " M. Wright," said Mademoiselle Miloikovitch 
 sternly, at the same time withdrawing her hand from my 
 arm, " you are talking nonsense, and you know it. I 
 shall not walk with you if you continue to do so ! " 
 
 " My dear mademoiselle," said I, in considerable 
 alarm, " pray forgive me ; I most humbly apologise. Ah, 
 mademoiselle ! can you think I would presume intention- 
 ally to offend you ? " and I contritely tendered her my 
 arm again. 
 
 "I cannot say whether I will forgive you or not," 
 replied the young lady, still walking apart from me. 
 
54 ADVENTURES IN SEE VI A. 
 
 "that will depend entirely upon your behaviour for the 
 rest of the evening. Now I want you to tell me, if you 
 can, why the professions should not be as open to women 
 as they are to men ? " 
 
 " At the present time, mademoiselle," replied I, " there 
 is, in my humble opinion, no good objection, speaking 
 theoretically, to women, who are fitted by taste and in- 
 clination, and have been suitably educated, entering the 
 professions. Practically, I scarcely think the world suffi- 
 ciently advanced for such a step. Women are, speaking 
 generally, purer and more refined than men, and they 
 exercise an immense influence over our sex for good, 
 which may be termed a home influence. Take women 
 away from home, and send them into the world as it now 
 stands, what would happen ? They might gain in intel- 
 lect, but I believe they would suffer morally by the 
 change, and their influence for good be converted into 
 an influence for evil. With the spread, however, of real 
 thoughtful religion and knowledge, and the mental eleva- 
 tion that will accompany them, men and women will be 
 able to work indiscriminately together, and then their 
 so doing will have a good eff*ect rather than other- 
 wise." 
 
 ** And how long, oh ! most profound philosopher," 
 said Mademoiselle Miloikovitch, " do you think it will 
 be before this will happen ? " 
 
 ** I cannot say," replied I. '* I don't believe the world 
 is ripe for it just yet. It rests very much with you ladies 
 when it will take place. You have an instrument at your 
 
A PLEASANT TALK. 55 
 
 disposal more powerful for moving the world than Archi- 
 medes' lever." 
 
 " What is that, M. le Philosophe ? " said she. 
 
 " The force of your example, mademoiselle. When 
 the ladies make up their minds to do a thing, it is said 
 they always do it. Now there are 500,000,000 ladies, 
 young and old, in the world. Let these 500,000,000 
 irresistible beings resolve that the world shall take a 
 decided step in the direction of goodness, progress, and 
 enlightenment ; and let them, with that end in view, one 
 and all, give us poor men the benefit of their powerful 
 example, and heigh-presto ! the change would be effected 
 at once." 
 
 " Do you mean to insinuate then, sir," said Made- 
 moiselle Miloikovitch, with an air of mock gravity, " that 
 we ladies are not setting you a good example now ? " 
 
 " Far be it from me, mademoiselle, to insinuate any- 
 thing so utterly false," replied I ; " but I thought it might 
 be possible for your sex, as a whole, to undertake the 
 measure more vigorously." 
 
 " Hum, M. Alfred, you are a provoking prevaricator. 
 I will wait for six months to see if the world profits by 
 my good example, and takes a step in the right direction ; 
 but if it shows no signs of improvement then, I will 
 become a professional woman at once. But here we are 
 at home, will you come in? No? Then adieu! and 
 many thanks for your instructive and philosophical dis- 
 course." 
 
 " Adieu, mademoiselle," replied I, attempting to give 
 
56 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 her hand a tender little squeeze ; " will you tell me next 
 time the Servian for that litde word ? " 
 
 " You must wait until next time, M. le Philosophe," 
 said she, withdrawing her hand, " and see. Adieu 
 again." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CLOSE to the old fort was a secluded spot by the 
 river side. Here, morning and evening, Hiems 
 and I were wont to bathe. The Servians tried to dis- 
 suade us, declaring that the river abounded in poisonous 
 water-snakes. The weather was so intensely hot, and 
 we were so fond of the water, that in spite of the alarm 
 occasioned by this information, we bathed regularly, 
 at least once a day. Neither of us ever saw a water- 
 snake nor anything like one, but it is not impossible 
 that some of the adders, of which there are great 
 numbers close to the water's edge, may, for divers 
 reasons known only to themselves, occasionally indulge 
 in a swim in the river, and that this was the origin of 
 the Semendrian belief in water-snakes. 
 
 The night after my stroll with Mademoiselle Miloiko- 
 vitch, I was singularly sleepless. I lay thinking a long 
 time of our conversation. I felt vexed at having been 
 so timorous, and kept conjuring up in my mind's eye 
 some bolder suitor stepping in before me and winning 
 her affections. " Surely," I thought, " so beautiful and 
 interesting a young lady must have shoals of admirers ; " 
 and tos^ng about on my bed, I resolved that next time 
 
 4 
 
58 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 I would make a formal proposal, and secure her for 
 myself at once. This notable resolution calmed me a 
 little, and I presently dozed off, but my sleep was fitful 
 and broken by all kinds of senseless dreams. At five 
 o'clock I rose, determined to refresh myself for my day's 
 work by a swim in the river. I tried hard to persuade 
 Hiems to accompany me, but the only response elicited 
 from him by my eloquent appeal was an inarticulate 
 mumbling, followed by a loud snore, so I set off by 
 myself. 
 
 Arrived at the bathing place I quickly undressed 
 and plunged into the river, which here was very deep, 
 and about one-fourth of a mile in width. I was a 
 very indifferent swimmer, but the water was so pleasant 
 that I struck out boldly, and was soon far out in the 
 stream. The strong current carried me along for some 
 distance, so that when I turned to swim back, I 
 discovered, to my consternation, that I was a long way 
 from the place where I had left my clothes, and was 
 drifting towards a small row of huts which lies a little 
 beyond the old fort. I did not wish to land in front of 
 these huts, as people were already moving about on 
 the shore, and I foolishly endeavoured to swim against 
 the stream to the point from which I had started. By 
 exerting myself violently I succeeded in making a little 
 progress at first, but I was quite two hundred yards 
 from the shore, and beginning to feel dreadfully tired. 
 Still I struggled on, and succeeded in diminishing this 
 distance by another fifty yards. By this time, however. 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE. 59. 
 
 I was nearly exhausted. A kind of numbness began to 
 creep over my limbs, and I could scarcely strike out at all 
 Recognising my danger, I endeavoured to make 
 straight for the shore, but the numbness continued to 
 increase, and I soon saw that unless someone came to 
 my assistance, I would be quite unable to get to land at 
 all. Cursing the folly which induced me to venture out 
 so far alone, I shouted again and again for help. No 
 one seemed to hear me, and I despairingly renewed my 
 struggles. I thought of Mademoiselle Miloikovitch and 
 of Hiems, of dear old England, and the friends and 
 relatives whom I might never see again. Then drowsi- 
 ness came over me — with the dim, vague idea of how 
 comfortable the cottages on the shore looked, and how 
 bright and green were the trees behind them, then I lost 
 all consciousness. Luckily for me, a fisherman on the 
 other side of the river had seen me turn in the water, 
 and noticing the little progress I made, started to my 
 assistance just as my strength was beginning to fail me. 
 I had a very narrow escape, for he saw me sink twice 
 before he could reach me, and just caught me by the 
 hair as I was going down for the third time. It was a 
 long time before I recovered my consciousness. My 
 first sensations were those of extreme misery and dis- 
 comfort. There was a choking sensation at my throat, and 
 I felt most horribly sick and faint. Then I was made 
 to swallow some strong spirits, and on opening my eyes 
 I saw, as it were, in a mist, Ibaum, Stephanovitch, 
 Cutemoff, and my dear friend Hiems, the latter — 
 
6o ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 God bless him ! — sobbing as if his heart would break, and 
 swearing at himself for not having gone with me to 
 bathe, and praying for my recovery, in one and the 
 same breath. Dr. Ibaum seemed scarcely less agitated, 
 and when I opened my eyes, he flung away the glass of 
 cordial he held in his hand, and rushed into my friend's 
 arms, and the two hugged and jerked each other about — 
 I can't say danced — in such a comical manner, that, ill 
 as I was, I could not help laughing. 
 
 ** Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" shouted Hiems; "he's 
 coming round fast ! Look there ; he's laughing ; hip, hip, 
 hurrah I " 
 
 " Yes, yes ; he have smile wit his mouth. I have seen 
 so mine self, eep ! eep ! oorah ! " and the two danced 
 round again. Meanwhile Stephanovitch and Cutemoff 
 had been working indefatigably (and, indeed, so had the 
 others, until I opened my eyes and their feelings over- 
 came them), trying different methods of artificial respira- 
 tion upon me. chafing my limbs, and putting hot 
 applications to my chest, etc. ; and at last they had 
 succeeded in completely restoring my temporarily 
 suspended animation. 
 
 " By Jove, doctor ! " said Hiems, extricating himself 
 from Ibaum's embrace, " he's coming round grandly. 
 Let us make his bed comfortable for him, and he will 
 have a good sleep." 
 
 By this time I was able to breathe very well, and with 
 a heart overflowing with gratitude I tried hard to thank 
 wy kind friends for their goodness, but they refused to 
 
DELIRIOUS FANCIES. 6t 
 
 let me speak, and tucking me up in dry and warm 
 blankets, bade me go to sleep. As I felt very heavy 
 and sleepy and weary, I was not long in following their 
 advice. My last recollection of that memorable morn- 
 ing was seeing my dear old Hiems seated by my 
 bedside, looking anxiously into my face, and good Dr. 
 Ibaum stealing noiselessly about the room, now darken- 
 ing the windows, and now chasing a noisy little mosquito 
 from my bed. 
 
 But my troubles were not over yet. 
 On waking from my sleep I had a violent shivering fit, 
 followed by a sharp pain in my side, great difficulty in 
 breathing, and high fever.' The water I had drawn into 
 my lungs caused a severe attack of pneumonia. For 
 some days I was in furious delirium, and whilst in this 
 condition the wildest and most extravagant fancies filled 
 my brain. Now I thought I was on the battle-field, sur- 
 rounded by Bashi-Bazouks, who, in spite of my furious 
 resistance, bore me to the ground, and thrust their weapons 
 into my chest and side. Then again I would fancy I was 
 walking about in a beautiful meadow with Mademoiselle 
 Miloikovitch, plucking gorgeous flowers and offering them 
 to her. Suddenly a hollow moaning sound filled my ears, 
 and a vague and indefinable feeling of dread came over 
 me. Then, instead of Mademoiselle Miloikovitch, appeared 
 a terrible and menacing figure, and the hollow moaning 
 sound changed to a loud roar of advancing water, from 
 which I would try to escape ; but the figure by my side 
 held me fast, and the waters overtook and overwhelmed 
 
62 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 me. This form of delirium was followed by a complete 
 unconsciousness, during which time I believe I must 
 have been asleep, for I awoke one morning to find the 
 pain in my chest and difficulty of breathing nearly gone, 
 and feeling comparatively comfortable. Hiems and Dr. 
 Cutemoflf were in the room, standing near the window, 
 and talking in whispers. I had a vague idea that some- 
 thing had happened, but I could not recollect what, 
 so I called out in a voice so weak and strange that it 
 surprised me — 
 
 " HuUoh ! Hiems, where am I, and what is the 
 matter ? " 
 
 In a moment the two were at my bedside. " Thank 
 God, my dear boy," said Hiems fervently, '* for your 
 recovery. You have been desperately ill. Once or twice 
 we actually gave you up. At one time you were fighting, 
 raging, and raving like a demon, so that it took three or 
 four of us to hold you down, and you called me an in- 
 fernal Bashi-Bazouk, Dr. Cutemoff a vile Circassian, and 
 told Ibaum and Stephanovitch they were a couple of 
 Turkish devils, and that if we would let you get up and 
 try your hanging guard, you would take us all single- 
 handed. You told us fifty times over you were a British 
 subject, and dared us to touch you, on pain of incurring 
 the wrath of the British empire." 
 
 " What a trouble and nuisance I must have been to 
 you all ! " said I, pressing Hiems' hand. " I am sure I 
 can never, never repay you for all your kindness." 
 
 " Shut up, old chap," said Hiems ; " you've nothing 
 
KIND FRIENDS. 63 
 
 whatever to thank me for. The little I have been able 
 to do I would have done for anybody who was as ill as 
 you have been, much more then for an old friend. I'm 
 sure, under similar circumstances, you would do the same 
 for me." 
 
 " That I would, a thousand times over," replied I, 
 gratefully. 
 
 " Very well then, you see we are quits. But now hold 
 your tongue, old boy ; you have done quite enough talk- 
 ing for the present. Hulloh ! where's Cutemoff? Ah! 
 here he comes with some beef-tea and jelly. What a 
 regular trump he is, isn't he ? Don't answer. So are they 
 all." 
 
 And indeed nothing could have exceeded the kindness 
 I received from all quarters, and 1 owe the kind friends 
 who attended me during my illness a debt of gratitude I 
 can never repay. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THANKS to a sound constitution, I was soon up and 
 about again, so that three weeks afterwards I was 
 able to set to work at the hospital, and this, moreover, 
 in spite of a severe disappointment which befell me in 
 the temporary annihilation of any amatory designs upon 
 Mademoiselle Miloikovitch. M. Ristovitch received a 
 summons from the Skuptchine, or Servian Parliament, to 
 proceed at once on business of importance to Paratchin, 
 a town some sixty miles from Semendria, and not very 
 far from Deligrad, which was at that time the headquarters 
 of General Tchernaieffs army. As Mademoiselle Miloi- 
 kovitch had relatives there, he decided upon taking her 
 with him. Consequently, when I recovered, I found that 
 my fair lady had gone, and that for the present I could 
 hope for no opportunity of informing her of the state 
 of my feelings. 
 
 A personage made his appearance at Semendria a day 
 or two after I resumed work, who drove all thoughts of 
 love-making out of my head. This was Baron von 
 Tummy, the celebrated Austrian surgeon, who was acting 
 at the time as Inspector-General of all the Servian 
 hospitals. His advent was preceded by the arrival of a 
 
BARON VON TUMMY. 65 
 
 large batch of wounded and invalided soldiers from the 
 front. They were so numerous that every available 
 corner in both hospitals was occupied. Most of the 
 invalids were suffering from dysentery, and were as ill 
 as they could be, and many of them emaciated to 
 skeletons. Many of the wounded soldiers, too, were 
 dangerously hurt, so that, as might be imagined, we all 
 had our hands pretty full. Baron Von Tummy was a 
 very remarkable man, both for intellect and personal 
 appearance. He was very short, very stout, and very 
 clever ; in fact, weighty both in mind and body. In 
 height he was perhaps five feet two inches, but he must 
 have been nearly two yards in circumference. He 
 might have been fifty years of age, and he had iron-gray 
 hair, beard, moustache, and whiskers, and a stern and 
 resolute expression. The day he arrived all the doctors 
 mustered at the hospital to receive him. Everything 
 was as neat and shipshape as possible, but though the 
 wards were clean, two things were painfully evident — the 
 defective ventilation and the overcrowding. Our first 
 impression of Baron Von Tummy was decidedly agree- 
 able. Considering his great size he was remarkably 
 active, and waddled along at an astonishing rate. He 
 was dressed in the uniform of a colonel in the Servian 
 army — viz., a brown tunic with red facings, a row of gilt 
 buttons down the centre, and three gold stars on either 
 side of the collar, blue pantaloons, with a very broad red 
 stripe down the sides, and a naval officer's peaked cap. 
 He carried no sabre, but bore in his right hand a huge 
 
66 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 white cotton umbrella, lined with blue, with which he 
 shaded himself from the sun. The first thing the Baron 
 did on entering the hospital was to shut up his umbrella, 
 pull a very wry face, stop his nose with his fingers, and 
 charge at the windows with the point of his gingham. 
 Smash, crash, and crinnel ! and a shower of glass de- 
 scended on to the floor. Then, turning to me with 
 startling abruptness, he said, in excellent English, — 
 
 ** Phew, that's a d d sight better, Mr. Englishman, 
 
 isn't it ? " 
 
 ** A great improvement, sir," said I. 
 
 The Baron's grimace and whimsical energy excited the 
 risibility of the servants and soldiers present, and they 
 all began to chuckle and grin. Von Tummy stopped 
 short and glared around him with a fierce growl, and the 
 alarmed bystanders checked their hilarity directly, all 
 except one unhappy man, who did his best to restrain 
 his mirth, but ineffectually, and broke every now and 
 then into a smothered guffaw. 
 
 In an instant the redoubtable umbrella descended on 
 his head with a sounding thwack, and as the man turned 
 to flee, his departure was expedited by the forcible appli- 
 cation of the Baron's foot to his back. 
 
 As soon as order was restored again, the Baron com- 
 pleted his inspection of the wards, formally presented Dr. 
 Stephanovitch with a copy of a book he had published 
 on hospital management, shook hands very affably with 
 Hiems and myself, and took his leave. 
 
 On my expressing surprise to one of the doctors at the 
 
THE DOCTORS' SECRET. 
 
 baron's familiarity with the EngHsh language, he told me 
 that he (the baron) could converse fluently in twelve 
 European languages, and that curiously enough he paid 
 especial attention to oaths and expletives, so that when 
 annoyed he would sometimes swear in half a score of 
 different tongues. 
 
 Some days after I received a despatch signed "Ludwig 
 Von Tummy." It informed me that I was selected to 
 take charge of a batch of forty wounded men who were 
 to be sent from Semendria to Belgrade ; that I should 
 have two Servian medical students as assistants, and 
 that I must be in readiness to start by steamboat the 
 next morning. Poor Hiems looked round to see if 
 there was a despatch for him, and was sorely disappointed 
 not to find one. However, he consoled himself with 
 the reflection, that, had he been sent, he would have 
 been deprived of the society of the charming Mademoiselle 
 Ristovitch. Presently Ibaum and Stephanovitch looked 
 in. They also had received orders from Von Tummy 
 to get the wounded men in readiness. They congratu- 
 lated me heartily on my good fortune in being selected 
 for the service, but there was, at the same time, something 
 mysterious in their manner. They nodded and winked 
 and whispered to one another in a way that puzzled 
 both Hiems and myself. It was evident that both 
 wished to say something to me, but that neither liked 
 to begin. At length Stephanovitch asked me in German 
 whether I preferred the charge of sick men or wounded. 
 I replied that it was immaterial to me, but that other 
 
68 ADVENTURES IN SEE VIA. 
 
 things being equal, sick men required less looking after. 
 " Ha," said little Ibaum, with an air of great satisfac^ 
 tion, " you will like bester to take ill people ? " 
 
 "No, I don't say that," I replied. "I merely say 
 that sick men will probably require less looking after." 
 
 "So — so— good — most good," said Ibaum, nodding 
 his head. Then they smiled and winked at one another,, 
 and shook hands with me over and over again, and 
 departed, leaving the mystery unsolved. 
 
 The next morning we were up at six o'clock, and at 
 the hospital by half-past. There all was noise and 
 masterly inactivity. Several of the soldier servants were 
 lounging about, chattering away at the top of their voices. 
 A few were engaged in the removal of the wounded, but 
 were doing it in the most casual manner — ^joining in 
 the general conversation and exchanging repartees with 
 the loungers with the most perfect indifference to the 
 groans of their unhappy burdens. These unfortunate 
 creatures were deposited by twos in little catts littered 
 with straw and hay, and driven slowly to the landing- 
 place, there to await embarkation. Early as it was, Drs. 
 Ibaum and Stephanovitch were already there, superintend- 
 ing operations. As soon as the former saw me he came 
 forward, and greeting me cordially pressed me to have 
 some breakfast with him in the hospital. Believing 
 there was a lot of work to be done, I declined. 
 
 " My so good friend," said Ibaum, "there is not more 
 wounded men to go. They have all early this morning 
 gone ; there is the laster two ! " 
 
VON TUMMY AGAIN. 69 
 
 " Goodness me ! " said I ; " you must have been up 
 very early this morning." 
 
 " My dear friend," replied he, " I was very early to 
 rise this morning. The Baron Von Tummy is a very 
 punctual man, — oh, most punctuallest ! So come in, you, 
 and the dear Hiems, and have a few breakfast here ! " 
 It was quite true, — all the invalids who were to be re- 
 moved had gone, so we yielded to Dr. Ibaum's hospi- 
 table importunity, and had a "few breakfast" with him. 
 During the progress of the meal I noticed our host 
 once or twice exchanging signals with Stephanovitch, 
 and wondered thereat, but reflecting that their idiosyn- 
 cracies were no concern of mine, I went on with my 
 breakfast, and said nothing. 
 
 As soon as the meal was concluded, we went to the 
 river side, where the wounded men were awaiting the 
 arrival of the steamboat, which was to convey them 
 away. The latter was now within half a mile of us, and 
 rapidly approaching. As soon as Ibaum saw the boat, 
 he produced a field-glass, and adjusting its focus some- 
 what pompously, scanned the steamer with a haughty 
 and commanding air. Suddenly he turned very white, 
 dropped the glass out of his hands, and uttering a hollow 
 groan, literally staggered against Stephanovitch. The 
 countenance of the latter, too, underwent a sudden and 
 ghastly change, like that of a man who is seized with an 
 attack of cramp in the stomach, and both of them 
 uttered simultaneously the name Von Tummy ! Following 
 the direction of their glances, I saw on board the vessel, 
 
70 ADVENTURES IN SEE VIA. 
 
 and looking over its side, the fierce, resolute counte- 
 nance of the illustrious Von Tummy ! But though the 
 great man's expression was ferocious, yet, as he was not 
 looking at either of the terror-stricken Servian doctors, 
 I was quite at a loss to account for their panic. Mean- 
 while the steamer glided up to the landing-place, and 
 the object of their dread waddled ashore, and, strange to 
 say, saluted us all with gracious cordiality, and then 
 gave orders that a stack of hay, which stood in a field 
 close by, should be demolished, and the hay spread over 
 the deck for the wounded men to lie on. Now it so 
 happened that the hay belonged to a farmer who in- 
 tended consigning it to Belgrade for sale to the military 
 authorities, and who hoped to reap a large profit by the 
 transaction. 
 
 The consternation of this individual, who happened 
 to be standing by when the hospital servants began to 
 carry out the baron's injunctions, was piteous. With 
 anguish depicted on every feature, he hastened to Von 
 Tummy's side and energetically remonstrated against 
 this summary proceeding. The baron's reply was a 
 terrific scowl and a savage ejaculation, which evidently 
 meant " Shut up ! " The foolhardy farmer, however, per- 
 sisted in pleading for his goods. The baron gave him 
 another black look, and then, as lightning flashes fall 
 from a storm-cloud, leaped upon him, and inflicted, first 
 a heavy blow upon his nose, then a second on his 
 stomach, which doubled him up, and finaUy put him 
 to flight by a volley of kicks. Meanwhile the soldiers, 
 
AN UNACCOUNTABLE FANiC. 71 
 
 with the usual Servian indolence, were very slowly 
 pulling down the stack and trailing small bundles of 
 hay towards the ship. The lazy spectacle exasperated 
 the irascible and energetic Von Tummy beyond measure. 
 Seizing a long carter's whip from a bystander, he rushed 
 amongst them and lashed into them furiously, shouting 
 with every stroke " Heite ! " (make haste !), followed by 
 a string of untranslatable and unsavoury Servian and 
 German oaths. The effect of this well-timed onslaught 
 was excellent. The demolition of the haystack was 
 greatly accelerated, and the hay was promptly conveyed 
 on board and arranged on the deck. Hiems, with his 
 hateful love of punning, remarked, with a grin, " That it 
 was but natural that a whipping should make the Servians 
 smart," a joke which, in spite of my respect for the 
 baron, nearly made me ill. 
 
 Apparently satisfied and restored to good humour by 
 the results of his severity, the baron linked his arm in 
 mine, and leaning on me, said that he would now 
 inspect the wounded men. 
 
 As we approached the convoy of invalids Ibaum and 
 Stephanovitch were once more seized with the same 
 unaccountable panic — especially Ibaum, who hurriedly 
 muttering something about an operation which must 
 be immediately performed, fairly turned tail and 
 bolted. Stephanovitch, though pale as death, stood 
 his ground. 
 
 Arrived beside one of the patients. Von Tummy, 
 apparently not noticing the singular conduct of the two 
 
72 ADVEMVRES IN SERVIA. 
 
 Servian doctors, asked the man what was the matter 
 with him. 
 
 *' Dysentery, sir." 
 
 " What ! " roared the baron, *' aren't you wounded, 
 then?" 
 
 " Oh, wretched fool ! " interposed Stephanovitch, 
 " what are you talking about ? Your Excellency," 
 turning to Von Tummy, " the man has a severe wound 
 in the head, and does not know what he is saying." 
 
 " I see no wound in his head, sir," replied the baron, 
 
 giving Stephanovitch a keen glance. "Why " 
 
 (here Von Tummy thundered forth a string of expletives 
 in half-a-dozen different languages), "the man isn't 
 wounded at all ! Get out of that " (tearing off the 
 sick man's coverlet) ; " be off ! " (giving him a kick, and 
 then to next soldier), " What's the matter with you ? " 
 
 "Dysentery." "Oh, indeed " (oaths), "take 
 
 that, and that ! " and with a kick and a thump he sent 
 him about his business as well, and so on, right through 
 the convoy, until he had weeded out all the sick, leaving 
 only the wounded there. The spectacle, in spite of its 
 cruelty, was ludicrous enough. There was the corpulent 
 Von Tummy, rushing furiously hither and thither amongst 
 the half-clad, emaciated Servians, whilst they stalked 
 away in all directions, holding their garments about 
 them, as fast as their wasted legs would carry them. 
 
 It seems that both Ibaum and Stephanovitch greatly 
 preferred surgery to medicine, and when they received 
 instructions to send away forty of their wounded, con- 
 
DR. YERMAYLAFF GIGGLEIVITCH. 75 
 
 ceived the idea of getting rid of several of their sick at 
 the same time. They were under the impression that 
 Von Tummy was on his way to the front, where he 
 would probably stay some time, and hence their terror 
 when they recognised him on board the steamboat. 
 Stephanovitch received a terrible lecture from the 
 baron, but as for Dr. Ibaum, I believe he got off scot- 
 free. Nothing happened after this to hinder the em- 
 barkation of the remaining wounded, and with a kindly 
 word of advice from Von Tummy I went on board, 
 and we started. 
 
 The voyage was quite uneventful and very pleasant. 
 The wounded enjoyed the fresh air immensely after 
 their long confinement in the close wards of the hospital. 
 Thanks to Von Tummy's influence, a large awning was 
 spread over the deck, which shielded them from the 
 rays of the sun. They had grapes from the Prince's 
 vineyard, and tobacco, supplied by the Russian com- 
 mittee, and were fairly comfortable on the whole. The 
 boat stopped at Topchidere, a place about a mile beyond 
 Belgrade. A large concourse of people were awaiting 
 our arrival, for it happened that my convoy was the first 
 that had been sent by water, consequently a good deal 
 of fuss was made about it. 
 
 Amongst the lookers-on I noticed a slovenly little 
 personage in a dingy white hoUand tunic. He wore 
 spectacles and a shabby beard and moustache, and 
 seemed to me to be very seedy and poverty stricken. 
 Thinking that he was probably looking out for a job, 
 
 5 
 
74 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA, 
 
 I motioned to him to lend a hand to the men who were 
 carrying out the wounded soldiers, and tendered him a 
 franc. 
 
 Never shall I forget the look of disgust and offended 
 pride with which he declined my well-meant offer. 
 
 " Sir," said he to me in French, ** do you know who 
 lam?" 
 
 I shook my head. 
 
 ** I am Dr. Yermaylaff Giggleivitch, Chevalier of the 
 Order of St. Michael and St. George, and chief surgeon 
 to His Imperial Majesty the Czar of all the Russias." 
 So saying, he gave me another withering glance, and 
 turned away. 
 
 When I had delivered my charges into the hands of 
 those appointed to receive them, I proceeded, under the 
 guidance of my two assistants, to an hotel, — yclept the 
 Hotel London, — remarkable, as I learnt to my dis- 
 comfort, for the extraordinary number of unsavoury 
 insects which infested its bedrooms. Von Tummy's in- 
 structions to me were to return by the boat, which would 
 leave Belgrade at seven the following morning. So after 
 strolling about and amusing myself in various ways for 
 the rest of the day, I turned in about nine o'clock in 
 the evening. My two assistants had left me early in the 
 day, and gone to visit their sweethearts, under promise 
 to return early and to be up in time for the boat, and 
 I had arranged with the landlord to call us all at five 
 the next morning. I was somewhat tired when I went 
 to bed, and threw myself on the mattress with that 
 
THE HOTEL LONDON. 75 
 
 satisfaction which one feels after a long and fatiguing 
 day. But I was doomed to get no sleep that night. 
 Just as I was dozing off, a burning bite on the face 
 aroused me, followed by another on the hand, and another 
 on the foot. Springing up and striking a light, I dis- 
 covered that I was assailed by legions of insects that 
 crawled and insects that hopped ; in fact, in imminent 
 danger of being devoured alive. They came marching 
 down the walls in battalions, and they dropped on to 
 me from the ceiling. I spent the whole night in doing 
 battle with my adversaries — destroying them by scores 
 on the wall, on the coverlet, and on the floor; nor 
 did the carnage cease until four o'clock in the morning. 
 Then I began to dress, and whilst sitting down for a 
 moment, had the misfortune to fall fast asleep. 
 
 Now had the landlord done his duty and called 
 me, as he promised, at five, all would have been well. 
 As it was, I slept on until eight o'clock, and of course 
 lost the boat. My two assistants, who might have called 
 me, and did not do so, alleged in excuse that their 
 respect for me prevented them from disturbing my 
 repose. In reality, the scamps wanted another day's 
 holiday at Belgrade. There was nothing for it but to 
 wait until the next day, as any other kind of conveyance 
 to Semendria was unprocurable. From what I had 
 seen of Von Tummy's disposition, I expected that this 
 unfortunate mischance would get me into a scrape, and 
 so it proved ; but I anticipate. 
 
 Whilst I was at breakfast, a party of twelve or fourteen 
 
76 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 Russian officers came into the coffee-room, making a 
 prodigious clanking with their sabres, and occupied most 
 of the vacant tables. I looked at them with considerable 
 interest. They were of all ages and sizes, — from six feet 
 two inches to five feet nothing, — and apparently of every 
 rank, from the polished noble to the unlettered boor. 
 One group, in particular, attracted my attention. It con- 
 sisted of three persons. The senior member of the 
 party was a well-made man of medium height, with 
 finely-cut features, blue eyes, and a heavy, blonde 
 moustache, and completely bald. His air was com- 
 manding, and by the respect shown him by his com- 
 panions, he was evidently a personage of some importance. 
 Of his companions one was a very tall, fair-haired young 
 man, with one of the handsomest faces I have ever seen, 
 and the other was a slightly-made, pleasant-looking man 
 of average height, and about twenty-eight years of age. 
 They drank champagne freely, and seemed in a very 
 jovial mood. Whilst gazing at the group, I became 
 aware that some one was dodging about me in a very odd 
 manner, and looking up, I saw a little Russian officer, 
 with a face like a monkey, dancing backwards and 
 forwards behind me. He had a heavy scimitar at his 
 side and a revolver in his belt, and was pointing with an 
 expression of intense contempt at the red cross on my 
 coat sleeve. By-and-by I saw that this singular de- 
 monstration meant to indicate to me his opinion that 
 men with the cross on their arms were cowards ; for, 
 after pointing to the cross with a grimace and a sniff, he 
 
THE RUSSIAN OFFICERS. 77 
 
 pretended to run away in a great fright. Presently he 
 advanced boldly up to me with a menacing air, and 
 drew his revolver. Not understanding his object, and 
 not liking his rudeness, I drew mine, and watched him 
 closely, fully determined to use it if necessary. 
 
 What might have happened I do not know. Fortu- 
 nately the bald-headed gentleman with the big moustache 
 said something to him in a sharp, authoritative tone of 
 voice, and he slunk away, when the tall, handsome 
 young fellow came forward, and making me a polite 
 bow, said in French, — 
 
 " Permit me, sir, to apologise in the name of the 
 Russians here present for that fellow's rudeness ! " 
 
 I replied that no apology was necessary ; whereupon 
 he made me another polite bow, and we shook hands 
 cordially. The Russian courteously invited me to drink 
 a glass of wine with him and his friends. I accepted 
 the invitation, and as I approached their table, both the 
 bald-headed officer and the slim young man with the 
 agreeable countenance rose and treated me to a friendly 
 shake of the hand. They informed me that they were 
 officers of the Russian Imperial Guard, and were going 
 as volunteers to the front, and would leave Belgrade 
 next morning for Semendria, by boat, en route for 
 Deligrad. I told them we should be fellow-passengers 
 as far as Semendria, at which they seemed very pleased. 
 After the wine we had coffee and cigarettes, and all 
 became very sociable. Several of the other Russians 
 joined in the conversation. I observed, howeveij that 
 
78 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 they always treated the bald-headed individual with 
 great deference, and I noticed also, with some pride, 
 that my gutta-percha boots attracted considerable atten- 
 tion and several approving smiles ; at least, they appeared 
 to me to be so. Two of the Russians, however, took 
 exception to them. One of them told me that my 
 boots, though possibly good in theory, were not prac- 
 tical ; the other, a rough-looking fellow of gigantic 
 stature, with a shock head of yellow hair and a shaggy 
 moustache, offered me, through the medium of an in- 
 terpreter (for he could speak no language but his own), 
 another pair of boots, expressing at the same time the 
 utmost disgust for my favourite gutta-perchas. I was a 
 litde bit hurt at his apparent inability to appreciate 
 their merit, so I requested the interpreter (one of the 
 Imperial Guard officers) politely 'to decline his kind offer 
 for me. My refusal apparently offended this singular 
 person very much, for he frowned fiercely, and said 
 something in an angry tone. 
 
 " Sir," said the interpreter to me, " he is much dis- 
 appointed at your declining his offer, and trusts you will 
 reconsider the matter." 
 
 I replied that I thanked him very much, but having 
 plenty of boots of my own, it was quite unnecessary for 
 me to deprive him of a pair of his. At this the shock- 
 headed gentleman waxed exceedingly wrath, and darting 
 a fierce look at me, struck the table a blow with his 
 clenched fist. 
 
 "Sir," said the Imperial Guardsman, "I think that 
 
" I NOTICED ALSO, WITH SOME PRIDE, THAT MY GUTTA-PERCHA BOOTS ATTRACTED 
 CONSIDERABLE ATTENTION." 
 
 To face p. 78.] 
 
/ RECEIVE A PRESENT, 79 
 
 perhaps it would be prudent of you to accept his 
 offer, otherwise he may want to fight you." 
 
 ** Bless my soul ! " said I, laughing ; ** if he looks at 
 it in that light, I'll accept his offer at once;" and 
 walking up to him, I nodded my head at him, and 
 extended my hand in token of friendship. Before 
 taking my hand, this susceptible giant appealed to the 
 guardsman, and then seizing my hand in his enormous 
 paw, squeezed it almost into a jelly, pushed me inta 
 a chair, and dashed out of the room. In a minute or 
 two he returned with a pair of top boots under his arm, 
 and kneeling down, whipped off my beloved india- 
 rubbers, and put his own on my feet in their stead. 
 Then sitting down and leaning his elbows on the table 
 he supported his chin on his hands, and taking 
 a good look at me, told me that I was very like a 
 dear friend of his, who had been killed in battle, 
 i propos of which he said he would like to ask me a 
 question. 
 
 " Some time ago, I was engaged in a battle with the 
 Turkomans. We were greatly outnumbered, and for 
 five hours were exposed to a terrible fire. For the first 
 four hours I felt calm and cool, as a soldier ought to 
 feel under fire, but after that I became, all at once, 
 terribly frightened. I want to know how it was that 
 I should all at once lose my presence of mind. 
 
 Having delivered himself of this question, the burly 
 dragoon officer — for such he proved to be — rested his 
 chin on his hands again, and looked at me with a 
 
So ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 wistful earnestness of expression that indicated the 
 anxiety with which he awaited my answer. 
 
 For the moment I was fairly puzzled. Then I asked 
 him if he had a wife and children. He replied with 
 ecstatic energy, " Yes, yes, yes ! " and kissing his hand 
 fervently, placed it first about two feet from the ground, 
 then he kissed it again and placed it a foot higher, then 
 again, raising it a foot higher still, which I understood 
 to mean that he had a wife and three children of the 
 sizes indicated. 
 
 "Well then, sir," said I, " I think your conduct on 
 that battle field can be easily explained. During the 
 first four hours you thought only of your duty, and con- 
 sequently feared nothing, but in the fifth hour you 
 remembered your wife and children, and that thought 
 unnerved you ! " 
 
 No sooner had my reply been explained to the 
 dragoon, than he sprang up with much energy, up- 
 setting his chair and nearly capsizing the table, and then 
 folding me in his arms, smothered my face with kisses, 
 exclaiming that I had taken a great load off his mind, 
 for he had fretted about his conduct on that occasion 
 ever since. Then, summoning the waiter, he ordered 
 a bottle of champagne, and filled a glass tankard up to 
 the brim for me, and one for himself, and clashing his 
 glass against mine, tossed off his wine at a single draught. 
 I had already had one tumblerful of champagne, and 
 consequently could drink very little of the wine, 
 which greatly astonished and disappointed him, but he 
 
COLONEL BRAGG AGAIN. 8i 
 
 was pacified when I explained that I scarcely ever took 
 wine at home. 
 
 " Why," said he, in a tone of surprise, " in Russia I 
 drink a bottle of brandy and five bottles of wine every 
 day." 
 
 In the afternoon, the young officer who had remarked 
 that my boots were unpractical, and whose name was 
 Mouravioff, proposed that we should go for a walk, and 
 a party, consisting of five or six of the Russians and 
 myself, went in the direction of the arsenal. On our 
 way we happened to pass the palace. Princess Natalie 
 was at the time lying ill there, and an edict had been 
 issued forbidding people either to drive or ride past. 
 The princess was exceedingly popular, and the good 
 people of Belgrade, in their anxiety for her recovery, 
 carried out the edict to the letter, and when passing the 
 palace used to speak in whispers and walk on tip- toe. 
 I was not aware of this at first, and consequently was 
 somewhat surprised and amused to see scores of people — 
 soldiers, civilians, and women — whispering together and 
 walking about as lightly as possible, like nurses in a 
 sick-room, but when I knew the cause, this popular 
 demonstration of sympathy touched me considerably, 
 and heightened my respect for the Servian character. 
 Suddenly the silence was broken by the clattering of a 
 horse's hoofs and the yelping of a cur ! Who should 
 appear upcn the scene, mounted upon a large chestnut 
 horse, but Colonel Bragg! He sat his horse pretty 
 well, but from his fiery complexion, and the way he 
 
82 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 swore at the dog, which bayed furiously at his horse's 
 heels, I fancy he must have been intoxicated. That, 
 at least, is a charitable supposition ! 
 
 The cur yelped and snapped at the horse, making 
 it rear and plunge in a way that threatened to unseat 
 the gallant colonel, who, livid with rage, cursed until 
 he was hoarse. 
 
 For fully five minutes a frightful war of sounds con- 
 tinued — the dog growling and barking, the colonel roar- 
 ing and swearing, and the horse kicking and striking 
 sparks from the rough pavement with his hoofs. Sud- 
 denly the terrible Bragg changed his tactics, and drawing 
 his sabre made a vigorous down cut at the dog. The 
 blow was well aimed; the dog's head rolled on the 
 stones. Then sheathing his weapon, the colonel trotted 
 along, twirling his moustache with an air of triumphant 
 ferocity on his truculent face. Undeterred, however, 
 by the awful fate of the cur, a presumptuous gendarme 
 took upon himself the enforcement of the edict in the 
 colonel's case, and fearlessly confronting him, forbade 
 him to ride further in that direction. 
 
 **Get out of my way, you idiot! What's the 
 
 matter with you?" said the colonel, contemptuously, 
 putting on a tremendous expression, and endeavouring 
 to spur his horse past the bold gendarme. The " bold 
 gendarme," however, laid hold of the bridle. 
 
 " Will you take your hand off my bridle ? " shouted 
 the colonel. 
 
 The gendarme stood firm, whereupon, uttering one 
 
To face p. 82.] 
 
 COLONEL BRAGG. 
 
ENGLAND VERSUS RUSSIA. 83 
 
 of his choicest oaths, the colonel struck him on the 
 face, and making his horse rear at the same time, suc- 
 ceeded in shaking him off. Then invoking a lot of the 
 most bizarre and recherche maledictions I ever heard 
 on his discomfited adversary, the twice triumphant 
 Bragg rode off. 
 
 " Do English officers usually behave like that ? " 
 asked Mouravioff, sarcastically. 
 
 " Never," replied I, indignantly ; " they are gentlemen. 
 As for this Colonel Bragg, I believe he is an American 
 adventurer. I am quite certain he is not an English 
 officer." 
 
 When we got out into the open country we threw 
 ourselves on the grass beneath a shady tree, and re- 
 freshed ourselves with a nip from our flasks and a whiff 
 of tobacco smoke. 
 
 " M. Wright," said the irrepressible Mouravioff, 
 "what will England do when Russia declares war 
 against her ? " 
 
 *' She will probably fight," said I. 
 
 " How can she fight us ? She has only 100,000 
 men, we have 3,000,000. Moreover, her soldiers, 
 though they are brave, cannot stand extremes of cold 
 and heat like ours." 
 
 " Why, sir," replied I, " they did very well in the 
 Crimea, where it was cold enough, and they contrive to 
 get on in India, where it is rather warm." 
 
 "Still, sir, the fact remains that you have only 
 100,000 men." 
 
84 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 " On the contrary, we have a great m^ny more : 
 120,000 regulars, 150,000 miUtia, and 200,000 volun- 
 teers ; besides," said I, " there are all our sailors, num- 
 bering 180,000. These sailors," I continued, waxing 
 warm in defence of our national prowess, " are all armed 
 with pistols and cutlasses like this " (pointing to the one I 
 wore) ; " and they have a peculiar kind of guard, called 
 the hanging guard, which I will show you, which renders 
 them invincible as swordsmen. This," said I, drawing 
 my cutlass, and putting myself into my very best hanging- 
 guard position, "is how British sailors fight!" and I 
 looked round to see what effect my formidable attitude 
 produced upon the Muscovites. They were all smiling, 
 doubtless with admiration. 
 
 '' If English soldiers fight like that," said Mouravioff, 
 in an altered tone, " they must indeed be invincible ! " 
 ***** 
 
 On our return to the Hotel London we separated 
 for the night, under promise to meet again at five o'clock 
 the next morning, and I retired to bed — but, alas ! not 
 to sleep, for fresh swarms of insects, as if to avenge 
 their deceased comrades, kept me awake until three in 
 the morning, when having slaughtered the greater part 
 of my tormentors, I at last managed to snatch some 
 repose. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BANG ! bang ! bang ! Thump ! thump ! thump ! 
 Bang ! thump ! bang ! thump ! bang ! These 
 were the sounds which aroused me the next morning; 
 the landlord and the Russians were hammering at the 
 door. 
 
 " Hulloh, Mr. Englishman ! " said one of the Rus- 
 sians, when at length I appeared, "you sleep pretty 
 soundly." 
 
 "I daresay," said I, rubbing my eyes. *'I am very 
 tired ; I have hardly slept a wink through insects." 
 
 "Bah, monsieur," said another, "you will not make 
 a good campaigner if you cannot put up with a few 
 fleas." 
 
 " I suppose one can get used to all things in time," 
 replied I, a little bit nettled; *'but at present I must 
 say I am not quite used to the disgusting vermin one 
 meets with in this place." 
 
 "Certainly, certainly," replied the Russian; "but 
 meanwhile breakfast is ready, and the steamboat starts 
 at seven o'clock." 
 
 I dressed in a trice, and went down into the coffee- 
 room, where my assistants and the Russians were 
 
86 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 assembled at the breakfast table. I sat down, and 
 soon had occasion to ask the Russian next me to pass 
 me the salt. To my surprise, however, he absolutely 
 refused, and I had to rise and get it for myself. The 
 young officer who had apologized to me on the pre- 
 ceding day for his countryman's rudeness explained, 
 that amongst Russians of a certain class a superstition 
 exists, that passing salt to comparative strangers leads to 
 a quarrel. 
 
 After breakfast the Russians called for champagne, 
 and concluded their last meal at Belgrade, before going 
 to the front, by toasting the Czar and singing their 
 national anthem. We then all proceeded to the river- 
 side, and embarked in good time. We were favoured 
 again with the most lovely weather. After a pleasant 
 voyage of a few hours the boat drew up at the Semendria 
 landing-place. I was so charmed with the companion- 
 ship and courtesy of the Russians that I invited them 
 to the rooms that Hiems and I held in common. Ten 
 of them, including the tall young officer who first spoke 
 to me, his bold friend Mouravioff, and the dragoon who 
 gave me the boots, accepted my invitation, and I was pre- 
 paring to leave with them, when the terrible Von Tummy 
 planted his substantial corporation in front of me, and 
 fixing his piercing eyes upon me, said, with a dark frown, 
 
 " Well, sir!" 
 
 So sharply did he speak and so stern were his looks, 
 that for the moment I was dumbfoundered. The 
 Russians, however, were standing round looking on. 
 
VON TUMMY BLOWS ME UP. 87 
 
 With a bland smile, therefore, I extended my right hand, 
 and said in accents of hearty cordiality, — 
 " Ah, baron ! How d'ye do ? " 
 
 My impudence surprised the baron ; for a moment 
 he looked at me in speechless indignation. Then 
 stamping one of his ponderous feet on the deck he asked 
 
 me what the I meant by not returning yesterday. 
 
 " It was an accident, sir," replied I. " I had the mis- 
 fortune to lose the boat." 
 
 " It's a lie, sir ! You wanted to lose the boat ! " 
 roared the angry baron. " Be off to your quarters, 
 sir. I'll talk to you by-and-by ! " 
 
 "I am not in the habit of telling lies," I replied, 
 imprudently. 
 
 "How dare you answer me, you impudent English 
 jackanapes ! " thundered Von Tummy, shaking his fist 
 in my face. 
 
 "And how dare you call me jackanapes, you two- 
 penny-halfpenny Austrian baron ! " screamed I, beside 
 myself with passion. 
 
 Just then Hiems, who had heard this dialogue with 
 much alarm, came to my rescue, and putting his hand 
 over my mouth, attempted to drag me away, saying, — 
 
 " Don't be a fool, old fellow ; you're spoiling all your 
 chances ! " 
 
 " I'll dismiss you from the service," roared Von Tummy. 
 " Dismiss me, and be hanged ! " shouted I, succeed- 
 ing, after a desperate struggle, in tearing Hiems' hand 
 from my mouth j but this was all I could say, for the 
 
88 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 next moment my friend carried me bodily away. Once 
 removed from the baron's irritating presence, I recovered 
 my equanimity. The Russians were full of sympathy 
 for me, and when I told them the baron had called me 
 a jackanapes, which I explained to them meant a 
 conceited, insignificant, monkey-like fellow, their friendly 
 indignation knew no bounds. 
 
 "Resign your post as surgeon at this hospital, 
 monsieur," said the bald-headed gentleman. *' and come 
 with us to the front." 
 
 " Yes, yes, come with us to the front ! " cried the other 
 Russians in chorus. 
 
 Matters had gone so far, that in spite of Hiems' 
 remonstrances and disappointment, I decided to accept 
 their invitation, and told them that I would be glad to 
 cast in my lot with theirs, and accompany them as a 
 volunteer. My decision was hailed with great applause. 
 Even Hiems reluctantly admitted that after what had 
 taken place it would be impossible for me to remain 
 under Von Tummy; so I wrote the latter a letter, 
 regretting my hasty conduct, and sending him, at the 
 same time, my resignation as assistant surgeon at 
 Semendria. To this I received no response. 
 
 We spent the rest of the afternoon in the most festive 
 manner, — drinking success and rapid promotion to one 
 another; and all separated for the night in the highest 
 spirits, except poor Hiems, who took my approaching 
 departure very much to heart, and would not be com- 
 forted, in spite of all my efforts to console him. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE next morning, as I was sitting at breakfast with 
 Hiems, Mouravioff and another Russian came to 
 the door and told me that the waggons that were to 
 convey us to DeUgrad were waiting at the Lion Hotel. 
 I had already packed up my small stock of wearing 
 apparel in my knapsack and a large travelling bag. The 
 former I strapped on to my shoulders, the latter my 
 good-natured landlord assisted me to carry. Hiems 
 accompanied me to the hotel, and we walked there in 
 silence, for now that the moment for parting had come 
 we both felt heavy-hearted. I noticed that the bald- 
 headed officer — instead of sharing a waggon with two or 
 three others, like the rest of us — had a well-appointed 
 carriage, and started a few minutes before us. Our 
 waggons were of the very roughest description, more 
 like large hencoops with the tops off, on wheels, than 
 travelling conveyances. They boasted of neither springs 
 nor seats, the place of the latter being supplied by 
 bundles of rushes. Three of us were stowed in each 
 of these vehicles, mine being the last of the train. A 
 large crowd assembled by the hotel to witness our 
 departure. Just before we started, Drs. Ibaum and 
 
 6 
 
90 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 Stephanovitch appeared upon the scene, and wished me 
 " God speed " with much heartiness and fervour ; then 
 Hiems gave me a last squeeze of the hand and " God 
 bless you," and we were off, amidst a waving of hand- 
 kerchiefs and fezzes, and a shout of " Jivio " from the 
 crowd. My companions in the car were Mouravioff 
 and the handsome young officer who first spoke to me, 
 and whose name I learned was Savrimovitch. Both 
 were officers of the Russian Imperial Guard. We were 
 rather silent for the first half-hour or so. Probably we 
 were all of us thinking of home and home friends \ at 
 least I know I was. But the broiling heat of the sun and 
 the terrific jolting of the car were fatal to sentimental 
 contemplation. Our coachman was a tall, narrow- 
 chested, round-shouldered individual, who sat in front 
 of us with his head on a level with his knees, and taking 
 no notice of anything or anybody, devoted all his 
 energies to humming a wearisomely monotonous ditty 
 in an utterly disagreeable falsetto. Our horse's appear- 
 ance was strangely in keeping with that of his driver. 
 He was, without exception, the very scraggiest and most 
 dejected looking specimen that I ever saw^ and his pace 
 was the slowest of slow jog trots. 
 
 The road along which we were driving was crossed 
 every few hundred yards by a drain about a foot deep 
 and eighteen inches wide, into which the trunk of a tree 
 had been rolled to enable vehicles to pass. The casual 
 Servian wayside authorities apparently made no effort to 
 select trees of the same size as the trenches ; some were 
 
AN UNPLEASANT RIDE. 91 
 
 too big, and projected six inches above the level of the 
 roadway, others were too small. 
 
 Our coachman's method of getting over these trenches 
 was peculiar. When within twenty or thirty yards of one 
 of them, he would shout out something, which I suppose 
 meant "Hold on," urge his horse into a gallop, and 
 go straight at it. The result, as may be conceived, was 
 extremely shocking to the occupants. 
 
 Our first experience of one of these trenches may be 
 better imagined than described. The waggon struck the 
 obstacle with a crash, and bounded over it with a smash 
 and a bump, shooting me a foot or so into the air, and 
 bringing the back of my head into such violent contact 
 with the side of the car, that for the moment I was 
 stunned. My companions fared no better. When I 
 came to they were lying — one on the top of the other — at 
 the bottom of the car, and struggling to get up. The 
 only one of us who seemed not to have suffered was the 
 coachman. He was sitting just as before, humming 
 precisely the same ditty, and our Rosinante had relapsed 
 into the same jog-trot again. We requested this musical 
 Jehu to be more careful the next time he took us over 
 one of these trenches. He stopped his humming for a 
 moment, and without turning his head, replied that he 
 would, and then droned away again at his ditty as mono- 
 tonously as ever. His idea of being more careful, 
 however, was to go over the next trench with a little 
 extra spurt, so that we got as badly shaken as before. 
 This was too much for our equanimity, so as soon as we 
 
92 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 had got over this second bruising, we held a brief council 
 of war, which ended in our pulling coachee off his seat, 
 and bundling him into a comer of the car with one or 
 two gentle thumps, by way of reprisal for the knocking 
 about he had inflicted on us. My two companions then 
 desired me to drive, remarking that all Englishmen could 
 ride and drive. Now it unfortunately happened that I 
 could do neither, having been brought up in London with 
 no opportunity of learning. However, I had seen people 
 drive often enough to know something about the ?nodus 
 operandi, and being most desirous of maintaining the 
 honour of my country, I, with many secret misgivings, 
 but with much outward show of cheerfulness, took the 
 reins. For some time, fortune favoured me. Savrimo- 
 vitch and Mouravioff, thinking all was right, entered into 
 a little tete-a-tete conversation, without troubling them- 
 selves about me. The next few trenches, too, were 
 provided with trunks of about the right size, and the 
 road was nearly straight. True, I failed to keep the 
 cart in the middle of the road, still, by constantly working 
 at the reins, I succeeded in keeping the horse out of 
 the hedge on either side. At last we came to a sharp 
 turn. By pulling strongly at the near side rein I got the 
 horse round the corner in grand style, but unluckily forgot 
 to loosen the rein, so the stupid old creature ran right 
 into the hedge. The wheel ran up the bank, the waggon 
 turned over, pitching us all into the road, and upsetting 
 the horse as well. For a minute we all lay in the dust 
 without attempting to move — I, because I was so much 
 
A SPILL. 93 
 
 astonished at what had taken place, the Russians because 
 they were a good deal shaken, and because our crafty- 
 Servian coachman, with an eye to saving himself, had 
 contrived to fall on the top of them. Then we were 
 suddenly roused to action by our venerable steed, which, 
 possessed with an unwonted spirit of friskiness, began to 
 kick so vigorously that it threatened soon to make 
 matchwood of the waggon. I was on my feet in a 
 moment, and running to the horse's head forced it to 
 the ground again and sat on it, after the manner of 
 London cabmen in similar emergencies. Neither 
 Mouravioff nor Savrimovitch were much hurt, and shak- 
 ing off the coachman, who was reclining comfortably 
 on the top of them, they came to my assistance. The 
 coachman did not offer to help us, but sat down in 
 the middle of the road, sobbing and wringing his hands 
 in a most dismal and lackadaisical manner, and praying 
 his "dear Gospodin" horse not to kick his cart quite 
 into little bits. However, we managed to right the cart 
 and set the horse on its legs again, and I resigned the 
 reins to Savrimovitch, who proved an excellent driver, 
 and we soon found ourselves in Jagodina — a large 
 straggling town of about 10,000 inhabitants. Here 
 we joined the rest of our party. Jagodina has acquired 
 some local celebrity from its manufacture of wooden 
 flasks and water-bottles. Some of these are very quaint 
 and pretty. I became the possessor of one, under 
 rather singular circumstances. 
 
 We had started again, and were driving through the 
 
94 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 outskirts of the town, when an old peasant came running 
 after us in great distress, and asked if any of our party 
 was a doctor. He was referred to me, and I ascertained 
 that his grandchild was in a fit. On following him into a 
 cottage hard by, I saw an old woman, holding on her lap 
 a fine boy, about a year old, in strong convulsions. I 
 lanced the child's gums, which were much swollen, and 
 putting him into a warm bath, had the satisfaction of 
 seeing him come round. Before I left, the old couple 
 blessed me with touching fervour, and begged me so 
 hard to accept a wooden bottle that they had made 
 themselves, that I felt constrained to take it. 
 
 The road between Jagodina and Paratchin, the next 
 large town that we stopped at, is very good. It runs 
 through a beautiful and fertile tract of country, covered 
 with vast groves of plum trees, apple orchards, and vine- 
 yards. The scenery, moreover, became more picturesque 
 as we went on. The ground undulated considerably, 
 whilst the horizon was bounded by a lofty range of blue 
 mountains. Between us and them, and at a considerably 
 lower level than the road, was a beautifully wooded and 
 well-watered plain. As the evening advanced the weather 
 became very close and sultry, and a severe thunder- 
 storm broke upon us before we reached Paratchin. 
 
 It was about half-past ten and pitch dark when we 
 arrived, and we were all wet and very uncomfortable. 
 The two or three hotels in the place were full, for a 
 body of cavalry and two battalions of infantry had entered 
 the town earlier in the evening, and they seemed to have 
 
A WET NIGHT. 95 
 
 taken up all the available accommodation. To add to our 
 misery, the rain began to fall again in torrents. As a 
 last resource we went to the Commissary of Police, and 
 requested him to find us quarters. That worthy, however, 
 shook his head, and said he was afraid it was impossible, 
 but he would do the best he could, and sent a gendarme 
 to take us to all the likely places. The gendarme proved a 
 humbug. He walked us about fruitlessly for half an hour, 
 and then quietly gave us the slip, leaving us more wet 
 and miserable than ever. Under these circumstances we 
 began to make up our minds to pass the night as well as 
 we could in our cart, and with that object we made 
 tracks for the market-place, where we had left it in charge 
 of our Servian coachman. But lo ! when we got there, 
 both cart and driver had vanished ! We now became 
 desperate, and going into the coffee-room of the nearest 
 hotel, we ordered some supper, intending to remain in 
 the room all night. The place was crowded with Servian 
 officers and soldiers talking, eating, drinking, singing, 
 smoking, gambling, and sleeping. The uproar was tre- 
 mendous, and the atmosphere, composed of steam from 
 their wet clothing and tobacco smoke, particularly dense. 
 We succeeded, however, in getting a corner to ourselves 
 and making a first-rate supper. Then we strolled out- 
 side, to smoke a cigarette before going to sleep. On the 
 way out, I noticed a door which had been left ajar. 
 Curiosity impelled me to push it wide open, and I beheld 
 a large, well-lit room with — oh, rapturous spectacle ! — 
 twenty comfortable-looking beds ranged round it. None 
 
96 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 of them were tenanted. My mind was made up at once, 
 and I resolved at all hazards to sleep in one of them. 
 True, they were engaged, as was evident from caps, swords, 
 cloaks, and revolver cases laid on them, but that was a 
 minor consideration. Running after Mouraviofif and 
 Sarvimovitch, I led them back to this room. They also 
 went into ecstacies and appropriated beds. I tore off my 
 sopping wet and clinging garments in the twinkling of 
 an eye, and clapped on some dry things out of my knap- 
 sack, and jumping into the bed I had selected, removed 
 the late owner's sword, revolver, etc., tucked myself 
 under the coverlet, and wishing my comrades good-night, 
 was asleep in no time. 
 
 How long I had been asleep I don't know, but I was 
 roused by some one giving me a thump and dragging me 
 on to the floor. Looking up, I became aware that the 
 hideous little Russian who had insulted me in Belgrade 
 was standing over me, grinning with rage, and cursing me 
 in his guttural language with fierce volubility. Infuri- 
 ated at this treatment, which was not perhaps altogether 
 unjustifiable under the circumstances, I sprang to my 
 feet and hit the Muscovite a blow on the nose that 
 sent him reeling to the opposite side of the room. In a 
 second his sabre flashed out of its sheath, and I had just 
 time to put my eyeglass in my eye and raise my cutlass, 
 when he aimed a desperate cut at my head. In my 
 hurry, I quite forgot the hanging guard, and put up my 
 weapon anyhow, and such was the force of his blow that 
 it nearly struck it out of my hand, and made my fingers 
 
A FIGHT FOR A BED. 97 
 
 tingle for some minutes afterwards. I could see from 
 the way the fellow handled his sword that he knew more 
 about fencing than I did, still the blow on his nose had 
 made his eyes water, and interfered with his sword play 
 so much, that he had to stop every now and -then to 
 wipe away the tears. By nimbly jumping about, and by 
 the lucky interposition every now and then of my cutlass 
 between myself and the enemy, I contrived to avoid his 
 cuts and thrusts ; and, indeed, if my eyeglass would have 
 stopped in my eye, I think I should soon have vanquished 
 him, but each time I made up my mind to try to disarm 
 him, the eyeglass fell out. Nevertheless, I managed to 
 strike several vigorous blows at him, which I flatter 
 myself he had some difficulty in parrying. 
 
 At length, by a lucky chance, I snatched up my 
 knapsack with my left hand, hurled it with such skill 
 and dexterity at my adversary, that it struck him full 
 in the chest, momentarily deprived him of breath, and 
 jerked his sword out of his grasp. Then, without giving 
 him time to recover himself, I closed with him, and we 
 rolled over on the floor together. Meanwhile the noise 
 of the combat brought a crowd of armed men out of the 
 coffee-room, and also awoke Savrimovitch and Mouravioif, 
 who hurried to my assistance. 
 
 <' Hulloh ! " said Mouravioff, rather sarcastically, " do 
 English sailors fight with knapsacks as well as cutlasses?" 
 
 "Yes," replied I, triumphantly; "they always knock 
 their enemies over, and are not very particular how they 
 do it ! " 
 
98 ADVENTURES IN SEE VIA. 
 
 Savrimovitch strode up to my late opponent, -whose 
 name, by the way, was Pauloff, and gave him a sharp 
 reprimand for molesting me. Pauloff replied by a defiant 
 scowl, and began haranguing the soldiers and detailing 
 his grievances to them, and some seemed half disposed to 
 take his part. Savrimovitch, however, soon put an end 
 to the quarrel. Speaking in a loud, authoritative tone, 
 he ordered the soldiers to arrest that "drunken fellow" 
 (pointing to Pauloff) " for assaulting this good English 
 doctor." 
 
 My friend's fine presence and commanding manner 
 acted like magic on the Servians. The infuriated Pauloff 
 was collared, and in spite of his frantic struggles and 
 remonstrances, marched off to the guard-room. Peace 
 being thus restored, the soldiers cleared out of the room 
 again, we returned to our beds, and slept tranquilly the 
 rest of the night. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE first thing next morning, we went to the market- 
 place in quest of our lost conveyance. To our 
 great delight we found it, but just on the point of start- 
 ing without us. Our friends welcomed us with a cheer, 
 and the caravan pulled up whilst we took our places. 
 Then we bid good-bye to Paratchin, and trundled 
 off towards the front again. It was a lovely morning, 
 and we were all in excellent spirits, for we expected 
 to reach Deligrad early in the evening. We whiled away 
 the time in planning all sorts of desperate expeditions 
 and adventures. 
 
 Savrimovitch proposed that we i^should provide our- 
 selves with horses, and act as mounted scouts — for the 
 army — whenever an opportunity offered. I suggested 
 that we should imitate the example of Athos, Porthos, 
 and D'Arlagnan of the Mousquetaires, provision a cot- 
 tage in the midst of the Turkish lines, and defend it for 
 six months against the whole of the hostile army. My 
 suggestion was received with shouts of approving laugh- 
 ter. Mouravioff patted me on the back, and said I was 
 undoubtedly a military genius of the highest order. 
 
loo ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 The handsome Savrimovitch said, with a smile, " But 
 supposing they bring cannon against your cottage ! " to 
 which I replied, that our defence then would be all the 
 more creditable. He smiled again, and shaking me 
 warmly by the hand, said that I was a " brave ! " 
 
 When we were still some distance from Deligrad, we 
 heard the distant booming of cannon for the first time. 
 This excited us all so much, that we gave a loud cheer, 
 which was caught up by our friends in the other 
 waggons, and the drivers whipped up their tired horses, 
 and we bounded along in fine style. Soon after this a 
 party of horsemen approached us, led by an officer in 
 whom I recognised, to my surprise, the bald-headed 
 Russian I had met at the restaurant with Savrimovitch. 
 
 " See," said Mouravioff, " here comes the prince ! " 
 
 "The prince!" said I, in astonishment, "what 
 prince ? " 
 
 " Why, Prince Obolenski, of course." 
 
 " You don't mean to say," said I, " that that gentle- 
 man is a prince ? " 
 
 " Certainly I do ! " 
 
 " Goodness me !" I exclaimed in dismay; " I trust he 
 was not offended at the cool way in which I spoke to 
 him." 
 
 " Not he," replied Savrimovitch, " he is very good- 
 natured." 
 
 Meanwhile the cortege had come up to the leading 
 waggon, which stopped, and its occupants stood up and 
 saluted the prince. 
 
PRINCE OBOLENSKL loi 
 
 As he approached us, we did the same. 
 
 The prince reined up at our waggon, and shook hands 
 very kindly with all three of us. 
 
 " Ah, M. Wright," said he, " I am very pleased to 
 see you. I have been talking about you to Dr. Gigglei- 
 vitch." 
 
 " Dr. Giggleivitch ? " repeated I, in alarm. 
 
 " Yes," rejoined the Prince, " Yermaylaff Giggleivitch. 
 We travelled from Semendria together. Do you know 
 him? " 
 
 '*Well," said I, "I cannot exactly say that I know 
 him, but I met him once under rather embarrassing 
 circumstances ; " and I narrated my little adventure with 
 him at Belgrade. 
 
 , The prince laughed heartily, and then said, "That 
 explains it all. Yermaylaff Giggleivitch looked anything 
 but pleased when I told him you were coming, and 
 absolutely refused to give you a surgeon's commission 
 as surgeon under him " (I looked very blank at this), 
 *'but you need not let that trouble you. I can offer 
 you, if you like, the rank of lieutenant in one of our 
 best brigades here, — the Medvedovski's Brigade, — where 
 you will have plenty of opportunities both of practising 
 your profession and of fighting." 
 
 I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude at this. 
 Even had he given me the chance, I doubt whether I 
 could have found words in which to thank him ; but 
 without waiting, he shook hands with us again, and 
 trotted off with his followers. 
 
102 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 When we reached the camp we were directed to head- 
 quarters, which were held at a large cottage close to the 
 road. We left our waggons and formed into line. 
 Presently three or four officers came out ; we all stood 
 at attention. I was particularly anxious to create a 
 good impression, and threw my shoulders well back and 
 held myself as rigidly as possible. 
 
 " That officer with the imperial moustache and beard 
 is General Tchemaieff," said Savrimovitch to me in a 
 whisper. Without turning my head, I looked at this 
 renowned soldier out of the corners of my eyes with 
 greater interest. 
 
 Before coming to us, the general spoke to two or three 
 men who were standing near in a group. 
 
 " By Jove," continued Savrimovitch, still whispering, 
 " the general's in a great rage about something ! Do you 
 notice the way in which he puffs out his cheeks and 
 sucks them in again? He always does that when he's 
 angry. I expect these men are asking for leave of 
 absence, a thing he hates." 
 
 The general, who was a sallow-faced man of medium 
 height, and nowise remarkable in personal appearance, 
 was indeed puffing out his cheeks in a very odd manner. 
 Presently, and without returning their salute, he turned 
 his back on the unfortunates who had excited his wrath, 
 and came towards us. 
 
 "If he is pleased with us," said Savrimovitch, *'he 
 will beat a kind of devil's tattoo with his finger against 
 the side of his leg." 
 
GENERAL TCHERNAIEFF, FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY 
 YOVANOVITCH OF BELGRADE. 
 
 To face p. 102.] 
 
GENERAL TCHERNAIEFF. 103 
 
 I watched him carefully as he walked deliberately up 
 to our line, and noticed, first, the angry shade fade away 
 from his face. As he passed from man to man and 
 asked each one where he came from and what service he 
 had seen, his fingers began to play at first slowly, then 
 more quickly, and finally, when he spoke to Savrimovitch, 
 his satisfaction appeared to reach its climax. He looked 
 rather doubtfully at me, and I thought I could discern 
 just the suspicion of an inflation of the cheeks when he 
 heard I was an Englishman ; but as I answered all his 
 questions satisfactorily, this indication of displeasure 
 passed away, and before he left me, I had the satisfaction 
 of seeing his fingers gently ambling up and down his 
 continuations. 
 
 Four of us — namely Savrimovitch, MouraviofF, the big 
 dragoon officer who gave me the boots, and whose name 
 was Nicolaitch, and myself — were told that we were to join 
 the Medvedovski Brigade, so without losing time we set 
 out for its headquarters. 
 
 Deligrad itself is — or rather was at that time — an 
 insignificant hamlet, numbering a normal population of 
 perhaps a couple of hundred, but the camp, which 
 surrounded it on all sides, contained from thirty to 
 forty thousand men. The position was naturally strong, 
 and had been fortified by trenches, rifle pits, and earth- 
 works, mounting upwards of one hundred guns of every 
 calibre and of all kinds. There were old smooth bores 
 and new Krupps, little six pounders and huge sixty 
 pounders. The plain in front of the camp was, moreover, 
 
I04 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 Studded with little pits containing sharp stakes for the 
 benefit of the enem)''s cavalry. The trees, too, in the 
 vicinity had been felled, stripped of their leaves and 
 twigs, and, with their branches sharpened, disposed 
 as an abattis to further hamper the movements of an 
 attacking force. 
 
 The position of the Medvedovski Brigade lay about 
 half a mile to the right and rear of the general's head- 
 quarters. 
 
 The Medvedovski Brigade — so called from its com- 
 mander, Colonel Medvedovski, an officer of the Russian 
 Imperial Guard — was also known as the Russian Brigade, 
 from the nationality of many of its officers. 
 
 Colonel Medvedovski, a dark, stern-looking man, with 
 a short, well-trimmed moustache and beard, bade us 
 welcome to his brigade in a short, and doubtless pithy, 
 oration in Russian, of which, unfortunately, I failed to 
 understand a single word. 
 
 " You are a medical student ! " said the colonel to 
 me in French, at the end of his harangue. 
 
 " I am, sir," replied I. 
 
 " May I ask why you elect to serve as a combatant 
 instead of following up your own profession ? " 
 
 " Because I wish to see some fighting, sir." 
 
 The colonel gave me a keen glance, and said, with 
 a smile, — 
 
 " You are evidently an original, sir. May I trouble you 
 to hand me your passport and other papers ? Thank you ; 
 you must entrust them to my keeping until you leave 
 
COUNT RENE. 105 
 
 the camp. Do not think, sir, that we suspect your 
 bona fides in any way ; we adopt the same precaution 
 with all volunteers coming here. Meantime, I am very 
 glad to receive an Englishman into my brigade, and if 
 I can be of any service to you whilst you are with us, 
 you have but to speak to me, and I will do what I can 
 for you." 
 
 Standing behind the colonel was a singular-looking 
 individual, apparently about thirty-five years of age. 
 His hair was of an extremely light colour, his com- 
 plexion florid and weather-beaten. He had a feeble 
 white moustache, and a little tuft of hair on either side of 
 his chin, one of which was bright red, the other of a pale 
 straw-colour. His features were flat, his right eye grey, 
 and his left blue. In spite of the peculiarity of his 
 appearance, his expression was pleasing. 
 
 This was Count Rene, who had the reputation of 
 being one of the bravest of all the gallant Russians then 
 in Servia. 
 
 I had just thanked Colonel Medvedovski for his 
 kindness, and was turning to leave the tent with my 
 companions, when Count R^ne came up to me and 
 shook me by the hand. 
 
 •' You are to join my battalion — the fourth. Permit 
 me to offer you a hearty welcome to it. You are the 
 only Englishman in the whole brigade, therefore I shall 
 expect great things of you, for I have heard much of 
 English courage ! " 
 
 The count's words set my ambition in a blaze ; my 
 
 7 
 
io6 ADVENTURES IN. SERVIA. 
 
 heart beat wildly, and I felt the blood mount to my 
 face. I, however, restrained my feelings until I had bid 
 him adieu, and merely replied that I should be proud 
 and happy to do the best I could for the honour of the 
 battalion. I inwardly resolved, however, to do some- 
 thing desperately valiant to maintain my reputation as a 
 brave Englishman. The idea that occurred to me at 
 the moment was to send a challenge to the officers of 
 the Turkish army, defying any of them to meet me in 
 single combat. With a feeling of proud elation, I ima- 
 gined myself posing in the hanging-guard attitude before 
 the assembled Servian and Turkish hosts, and after a 
 terrible encounter vanquishing the hostile champion, 
 and then saving his life by a brilliant surgical opera- 
 tion. The fame of my glorious deeds, I rapturously 
 thought, would not be confined to Servia, but would 
 extend all over Europe to England — and then, who 
 knows what might happen ? Many a man has passed 
 along a less creditable avenue to Royal patronage \ 
 I rubbed my hands, and laughed with glee at the 
 thought ! 
 
 " Why, how now, M. Wright," said Savrimovitch, 
 banteringly, " what are you laughing at ? Have you 
 been drinking champagne on the sly ? " 
 
 " No," replied I, somewhat vexed that my elation 
 should be deemed of the vinous sort ; " I am simply 
 very glad that we shall so soon have an opportunity of 
 distinguishing ourselves." 
 
 " Pooh, is that all ? " said Savrimovitch. " I thought 
 
A GROSS MISCONSTRUCTION. 107 
 
 you were a little bit screwed, and was hoping you had 
 brought a bottle or two of Heidsick with you." 
 
 " I daresay, M. Wright, that you will nojt feel quite so 
 festive when you really have seen some fighting," said 
 Mouravioff, dryly. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE brigade of which I was now a member was 
 about 2,000 strong, and was encamped on what 
 had once been a field of maize. Here and there lines 
 of stiff, stubbly stumps still stuck out of the ground. 
 The camp was very picturesque. It was composed of 
 hundreds of booths, arranged in rows, and intersected 
 at regular intervals by broad thoroughfares. These 
 booths were ingeniously constructed of green boughs, 
 interlaced, and supported by one or two stout upright 
 pieces of timber. Some of them were like little huts, 
 and afforded very complete shelter, and others were 
 entirely opened on one side, like arbours, and to one 
 of these latter we were directed. It already contained 
 two occupants, — Count Tiesenhausen and Baron Kleist 
 — both of them Courlanders. They proved to be old 
 acquaintances of Savrimovitch and Mouravioff, to whom 
 they gave a very warm and hearty welcome. They also 
 received Nicolaitch and myself very politely, and we were 
 soon all on the very best of terms. Count Tiesenhausen 
 was a handsome, blonde little man, who encased his 
 legs in a huge pair of cavalry boots, and smothered his 
 face under a Servian military cap, which was many sizes 
 
KLEIS7 AND TIESENHAUSEN. 109 
 
 too large for him, and came down to his eyes and brows. 
 Baron Kleist, a tall, gaunt man, with very strongly- 
 marked aquiline features, and a sandy-coloured beard 
 and moustache, suffered a good deal from ague, and 
 always wore an overcoat with its collar turned up. He 
 divided his spare time between sleeping and smoking, 
 and for the greater part of it I think he was to be seen 
 squatted on his heels puffing at a cigarette. But both 
 Kleist and Tiesenhausen were brave soldiers, and ami- 
 able and accomplished gentlemen. 
 
 It was now late in the afternoon. We had eaten 
 nothing but a biscuit or two and a few grapes since we 
 left Paratchin. We were glad, therefore, when the count 
 summoned our mess servant, who was quite a character in 
 his way, to prepare supper. Imagine a funny mannikin, 
 with a pair of very roguish-looking, twinkling black eyes, 
 the smallest and snubbiest of small snub noses, and a 
 gigantic pair of moustaches. The creature, whose name 
 was Jenko, at once cut some thick slices from a large 
 piece of mutton, put them on a long spit, and proceeded 
 to grill them over a large wood fire which smouldered 
 in front of our hut. 
 
 We all lent a willing hand in one way or another. 
 Tiesenhausen and Mouravioff walked over to Deligrad, 
 and bought some wine and spirits at one of the nume- 
 rous provision stalls which had sprung up round the 
 camp; Nicolaitch occupied himself in superintending 
 the baking of some potatoes ; Kleist roasted coffee- 
 berries in a frying-pan ; and Savrimovitch and I pounded 
 
no ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 the same, he with the butt end of his revolver, and I 
 with the heel of a drinking horn. When we had finished 
 breaking up the coffee-berries, we put the fragments into 
 a pot containing about half a gallon of water. The 
 resulting fluid was of a pale straw colour, and tasted 
 very strongly of wood and smoke, and feebly, very 
 feebly, of coffee. The meat was terribly tough, having 
 been killed that morning, and the black commissariat 
 bread of the consistency of putty, and about as diges- 
 tible. Still, in spite of these little drawbacks, we all ate 
 very heartily, and formed an exceedingly merry little 
 party. As the evening advanced and the stars began to 
 twinkle overhead, hundreds of huge fires were lit through- 
 out the camp, round which groups of armed men sat or 
 recHned, their faces and accoutrements, illumined with 
 vivid distinctness by the leaping flames. I looked with 
 delight on the scene, and said to myself, "Yes, this is 
 real warfare, and no mistake about it ! " 
 
 Whilst indulging in warlike musing, a voice struck my 
 ear so singularly like that of Marie Miloikovitch that 
 it sent a thrill right through me. It came from a group 
 of three officers who were walking towards our hut. I 
 could not make out their faces in the gloom, until the 
 light of the fire fell on them. Then I saw with amaze- 
 ment that one bore so astonishing a resemblance to the 
 charming Bulgarian who had captivated my heart at 
 Semendria, that I started and exclaimed, " HuUoh ! " 
 
 All three turned their faces towards me, and I fancied 
 that the young officer who was so like Marie changed 
 
K 'c* "^'i' I \ / 
 
A MYSTERIOUS RESEMBLANCE. 
 
 colour when he saw me. But it might have been only 
 my fancy, or a fitful shadow cast by the flickering 
 flames. Anyway, they resumed their conversation, and 
 passed on without taking further notice. 
 
 The likeness was most amazing. 
 
 " Still," thought I, *' I must be mistaken. It is all 
 but impossible that the beautiful and accomplished 
 Marie should have cast aside the feelings of her sex and 
 donned a soldier's uniform." 
 
 Then I recalled her strange conduct during our 
 memorable walk at Semendria when she discharged my 
 revolver, and I came to the conclusion that it might be 
 she after all. 1 was agitated and perplexed, and resolved 
 to follow the cause of my mental confusion and ask if 
 he was Marie, and had actually started off, when the 
 absurdity of putting such a question to a man brought 
 me back to my senses — and — our fireside. 
 
 "Why! what's the matter with you, M. Wright?" 
 said Savrimovitch, slapping me on the back. *' You're 
 not ill, I hope ? " 
 
 " 111," replied I, looking at him vacantly ; " no, I'm 
 not ill ! " 
 
 " I'm glad to hear that," said my friend, " for you've 
 been muttering to yourself, starting and staring about 
 you, like a man with deUrium tremens, for the last 
 fifteen minutes. Come to the hut, and be a little more 
 sociable." 
 
 At ten o'clock we all turned in for the night j i.e., we 
 lay down on the ground in the clothes we wore. I had 
 
lit AhVnN'nfNtS IN •j-ri /,/. 
 
 no ovrrronf, no H«vrJirioviM h y,iHH\ nftiiircdly Inniitfd on 
 K|»h<<uliiiK M poillofi of liln ovrr riir. 
 
 My f'ornimnlrmn wrrr woon (\x%i ttnlccp, but the novtlty 
 of flir ttiiiiMtloM nud llin rxrjiirj^ ««vrnlK of ihc <Uy— 
 p«pcrlrtlly (lie inddntil I luivr jiml drwrrlbml kept m« 
 ftWttkr n long tlmr, and wlirn fU Irnglli I fell ANloop my 
 rrxl wn« ilUUirhcrl by nil kimJN of nlmnKr (lrr<im«. 
 
 Thn iHiKJn roimcjfl iin nrxl iiuirMiMH tit hnlf punt flv«, 
 niul ill n M'w iiiiiiiitrN wt? wrrr nil widn nwttkc and Mtifi 
 Mont of lluj Hrrvinn ImikIp ciiIIm nrc liinoAil,— tho r^fW//# 
 c'Nprrlnlly. It brKJim with « ^iiilrk and lively ntraln, and 
 pii(l« with «i long, int'knr holy wrtil. I bill ji dozen buMlerM 
 wore NoiitidliiK It In din'oronl partN of the camp, no that 
 thr whoir air waN rlnuin« with inclo<llouN and Iniiplritlng 
 NoiitidN. Though I «ot tip with mm much nhow of ahicrlty 
 MM Iha othctrN, I fell both nIiM and dully, lor thr morning 
 wan cold mid ihr dew falllnx heavily. I cKcltod Nome 
 nurprUo and idii^hicr by Nirippin^ lo (he wni«»i to waih 
 mynolf. 'Ihr manmkjn, Jciiku, t;ould not uiulorNUnd 
 tho proceodInK at all. 
 
 Whrn I Mhoiiied to him for •• voda "(water) h« brought 
 Nonm In an eaiilHMiware jtltrhcr of rlaMJcal Mhap0, and 
 poured about ten dropN on to my htind. 
 
 •• Wlmt'n tho good oi ihdi, you little duffttr?" laid L 
 
 •• I want you top , , „,y head and bock," and 
 
 Ntooping down, I i i i.. iiun to do lo. 
 
 With a nod and Muiilo of intdligonct, tho little man 
 dropped nbotit four mlnlimi mort on to my back, and 
 then turned to depnrl. I mopped him nnKrIly, and 
 
/I M(U<NiN(i lh\rtl, 
 
 III 
 
 «i'i" 'I"' '" "i-'i, .vio/r, who wft«i NUnding Mtr^ to 
 
 'U think Jenko underitondM wimt you want, M. 
 Wright, but our wator lupply Im brought fk-om iom« 4ii- 
 tAnec, And wt ar^ conioquenily compeiUd to uiie It m 
 ipAfingly Ad poiiiblf .'' 
 
 '' Oood gTAcloui m« I " lAid I In diiimAy ; << but w« 
 •hAll got viry dirty if wo Arf< flllowrd only fotirrr'ffi 
 minim* ofwAttr per diem for r»iir /.Mmiofif-, ! " 
 
 " My dear M, Wright, III.. I > i h,, ,i, ,.,,^,1,1. 
 
 •xigoncloN or < ..in|,.>i m,;,^ i,, i m,i . 1 ,,. 1 i<. . 1... >, 
 v«ry thankfiii n,, , . ,,.,.,,.1, Unnh.' 
 
 **And [V '.-1 .1. .1 in, I ., (nii.i.M. ' • ...mI I, with 
 
 A groAn. 
 
 *U)h, "'^•11'" I'lii-I.'wl Cofiril 'I'ir l,,M.i.. -1.0 
 
 Jtmt tllMi • ^n,. i.|, h, M I, ,M h,.,|. .1, •■ III, 1,1 , |.,|, I I . 
 
 IMmI. I III . .11)11, " I (I M' I , |. mI ., . Ill hirl .. ill'.i, .,1 
 
 tW" •""" 'I ll" l.'.M'.ii, .,1 Im . |,ii. I,. I ' ■■ 
 
 'I Im iim|,, |. Ill .,, '\^^ . .,nli, . I', ..|M il .ll.oill .1 
 
 ' 'Hi|.i' '.I .' Mi|,i. , , iM.i \\.^ < I . ,11 'III .,,. 4 corn«r 
 
 oi iny I"" I'll' II,. II . M 1,1. 1, ,111(1 Willi II p'-ii Im ^ H(. Miy 
 
 •M- , .11,1. .,mM AI .1. ,1. o'<.|u< 1. ' '1/H 
 
 . . 1,1. ,1 , . I .,1 I,., I . . li- . ,1. 1 (I won'i I' II I 
 ffth<i< I iM'i ' ill II'' ';, I'li'i hrtiml, grilled ritiiilon, 
 
 1.1 umI !, TIiIn IttWt w«f» wlilto, 
 
 III, .1.1' , iii-l I iIIm I , ,, . . II llifrfifirly m\\, 
 
 Al ^rvrli llir wlioir l.nllnli-.ii hnn-l -.nl \nt drill. 
 
 Tlin Mini w« I' Il' , ' I' • I '" I' I'l "" ii"irorm«, 
 
 ttfld every OJu. wj . -li' .'il m thi, !!/;.lt<iji'-; c^l llio < IftlW 
 
114 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 to which he belonged. At first I drilled in the ranks, 
 partly because I thought I should so learn the words of 
 command, and partly pour encourager les metres. 
 On this occasion I recollect that my right-hand man 
 was a dapper little patriot, in a grey civilian suit, while 
 my left-hand man was a huge, stupid-looking peasant, 
 wearing a short jacket over a loose linen garment, bound 
 round the waist by a broad sash, baggy knickerbocker 
 trousers, and a fez without a tassel. I wore my black 
 volunteer suit. 
 
 Nearly all the Russian officers had bought regular 
 mihtary uniforms at Belgrade. 
 
 About a fortnight after my arrival, however, at the 
 camp, Prince Obolenski generously supplied the whole 
 brigade with a smart, serviceable uniform and overcoat 
 at his own expense. 
 
 Had I known the peril of drilling in the ranks with 
 raw recruits, I think my zeal, great as it was, would not 
 have nerved me to undergo such a trial. 
 
 The drill was of the most elementary description. 
 We were simply put through our facings ; made to stand 
 at attention, present, shoulder, slope, and trail arms, 
 and form fours, but everything was very badly done. 
 
 This is not to be wondered at, for the men had been 
 hurried into the ranks from the desk and the plough, 
 but I was not prepared for the extent of their ignorance. 
 To make matters worse, the bayonets remained fixed 
 throughout the drill, and some of the recruits, in spite 
 of orders to the contrary, had their rifles loaded— notably 
 
A DANGEROUS DRILL. 115 
 
 the burly idiot on my left. This interesting individual 
 distinguished himself by doing everything wrong. At 
 the word " Attention ! " he grounded his rifle with 
 horrible force on my toes ; in forming fours he was my 
 Tear rank man, and gave me a nasty prod in the back 
 with his bayonet, and had it not providentially struck 
 against my waist belt, the wound might have been 
 serious. As it was, I got off with a painful scratch, and 
 finally the charge in his rifle exploded, and was within 
 an ace of blowing my head off". This was the climax. 
 Count Tiesenhausen sternly ordered him to fall out of 
 the ranks, gave him a good cuffing, which he took with 
 stolid meekness, and put him under arrest. I was 
 afterwards told that he and two or three other danger- 
 ous incompetents had been relegated to the awkward 
 squad. 
 
 After drill, Savrimovitch and Count Tiesenhausen 
 introduced me to several officers of the battalion, who 
 invited us to dine with them. We accepted the invita- 
 tion, and accompanied them to their quarters, which 
 were in what had once been a farmyard. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THIS farmyard was surrounded by a low wall and 
 had a wide entrance, on either side of which 
 stood a wooden post. To each of these was tied a 
 man, stripped to the waist, and bound hand and foot, 
 with a placard hanging from his neck, on which was 
 written a sentence in Servian characters. 
 
 " Hulloh ! " said I, " what is the meaning of this ? " 
 
 " One of them has been guilty of stealing, the other of 
 gross insubordination," said one of our hosts, Major 
 Bernadski, a fine-looking old Russian, " and they are to 
 be flogged this evening." 
 
 I asked if they were Russians or Servians. 
 
 "The thief, I am sorry to say, is a Russian, the other 
 is a Sclav. Some of our men are very angry that a 
 Russian should be treated like that, and have asked me 
 to intercede with the colonel for him. But I shall do 
 nothing of the kind; the rascal deserves his sentence 
 well. Did you ever see such a villainous face ? " 
 
 Looking closely at the unhappy man, I recognised, to 
 my unbounded astonishment, my acquaintance, Pauloff, 
 the man whom I had vanquished in the bedroom at 
 Paratchin a day or two before. He evidently recognised 
 
PAULO FF AGAIN, 
 
 me, too, for he darted a very evil look at me out of his 
 wicked little eyes. 
 
 I felt so sorry for the poor fellow that I persuaded 
 Savrimovitch and Count Tiesenhausen to try to get his 
 sentence remitted. I am happy to say their intercession 
 proved so far successful, that he escaped the flogging. 
 
 Dinner that night was quite a banquet. AVe had 
 mutton broth, beef tea, made with Liebig's Extract, 
 grilled and haricot mutton, potatoes and rice, wine and 
 smoked coffee-water — the latter, by the way, tasting a 
 little more of coffee, and a Httle less of smoke, than that 
 of our own manufacture. 
 
 After dinner we disposed ourselves comfortably on 
 the straw with which the yard was littered, filled our 
 glasses, lit our cigarettes, and began to chat. 
 
 "Pardon me for asking you such a question, M. 
 Wright," said Bernadski, politely clinking his glass 
 against mine, "but what will you do when Russia 
 declares war against England?" 
 
 " I would ask the general for a flag of truce, and go 
 over to the Turks," replied I. 
 The Russians laughed. 
 
 "Our general would never allow you to do that, 
 after having seen our positions. He would probably 
 send you to Belgrade, and detain you there on parole," 
 said one of them. 
 
 " Well, I should think that very shabby treatment," 
 said I, rather indignantly ; " but it is to be hoped that 
 there will be no necessity for war between our countries." 
 
Ii8 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 "It is to be hoped not ; still a war with England 
 would be very popular with us, because your government 
 so openly support our enemies the Turks ! " 
 
 "What will England do when we have conquered 
 India ? " said Baron Kleist, solemnly, from behind his 
 rampart of coat collar, and blowing at the same time a 
 huge cloud of tobacco smoke from his nostrils. 
 
 " Russia never will conquer India," replied I, amused 
 at his cool cheek. 
 
 " What ! Do you mean to say they don't believe in 
 England that we are to get India ? " said Bemadski. 
 
 "Certainly!" said I. "We don't doubt that you 
 would like to get India, but we are quite sure that you 
 will never have it." 
 
 ** Well," said Bernadski, " you must be either blind or 
 infatuated, that is all I can say. Do you not see how 
 rapidly we are approaching your frontiers ? " 
 
 ** Yes, we notice that," replied I. 
 
 " Then what is there to prevent us from attacking you 
 and driving you out, as soon as we are ready ? " said the 
 Russian. 
 
 " Simply the fact that you are not, and never will be, 
 strong enough." 
 
 My reply was received with a shout of laughter. 
 
 " Not strong enough ! " said Bernadski, echoing my 
 words as if he had not heard them aright. 
 
 " No, not strong enough," repeated I. " I doubt if 
 you would be able to conquer and hold Afghanistan, 
 much less India." 
 
RUSSIAN VIEWS OF INDIA. 119 
 
 Another shout of laughter followed this reply. 
 
 " Why," said Mouravioff, confidently, " I would under- 
 take to conquer Afghanistan with one regiment of infantry 
 and a single squadron of Cossacks ; and give me 20,000 
 of my old Khivan comrades, I would undertake to make 
 the whole of India mine." 
 
 "And I am equally willing to undertake," said I 
 warmly, " that if you had ten, or even twenty times the 
 number of men you mention, you would not succeed, 
 for the whole manhood of England would rise in arms to 
 prevent you ! " 
 
 " M. Wright," said Baron Kleist, very solemnly 
 indeed, " if you do not believe that we are to conquer 
 India, you cannot believe in the Bible ! " 
 
 " I believe in the Bible," said I, " but I cannot see 
 what that has to do with a Russian conquest of India." 
 
 " I will tell you," replied the baron. " In the 
 eleventh chapter of Daniel it says that the king of the 
 north shall fight against the king of the south, and shall 
 conquer him, and take his possessions and the rich and 
 glorious land from him. Now, you cannot deny that 
 Russia, the great northern power, is the king of the 
 north, and England, with India, is the king of the south. 
 Ergo, we shall conquer you, and take India, the rich and 
 glorious land referred to, from you. Is not that clear 
 enough ? " 
 
 The Russians greeted the baron's rendering of this 
 portion of the Scriptures with loud applause, and turned 
 to me for my reply. 
 
ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 I said that if the prophecy had any reference to the 
 conquest of India, it had probably been fulfilled when 
 England conquered India. At that time, England might 
 well claim to be the king of the north and India the 
 king of the south. 
 
 My answer was received with a groan of disapprobation, 
 and one of my audience said that my interpretation of 
 the policy was a very strained one. 
 
 " Sir," said another officer, "the possession of India is 
 part of Russia's destiny ! " 
 
 " How so ? " I asked. 
 
 " Russia, at present," said he, " is not a rich nation ; 
 it is absolutely necessary for her to acquire wealth. 
 India, with her incalculable treasures, offers herself an 
 easy prey to us, therefore we shall take her." 
 
 " Your reason does not seem to be a very good one, and, 
 moreover, leads you to a wrong conclusion," said I, 
 enthusiastically ; " for I am convinced that it is England's 
 destiny to civilize and Christianize India, and so long as 
 we do our duty by her, so long shall we keep her. It is 
 quite possible, I admit, that we may not have done all 
 that we might in this direction, but I think that we have 
 done much more than you or any of the other powers 
 would have done under the circumstances." 
 
 " Well, well, my dear sir," said M. Bernadski, giving 
 me a pat on the back, " wait a bit, and we shall see ! " 
 
 " Yes," said I, " we shall see ! " 
 
 On the way back to our quarters I mentioned to 
 Savrimovitch and Count Tiesenhausen my idea of 
 
CASTLES IN THE AIR. 
 
 sending a challenge to the Turkish officers, but they told 
 me that my scheme was out of the question, and imprac- 
 ticable ; at which I was greatly disappointed. I was some- 
 what comforted, however, when they told me that we should 
 soon be attacking the Turks, and that then I should not be 
 wanting in opportunities in which to display my courage. 
 
 That night I lay awake for a long time thinking over 
 different schemes for distinguishing myself I was not 
 satisfied with the prospect of merely taking part in a 
 general engagement. 
 
 " Thousands and thousands of men," thought I, *' will 
 do the same, and I shall be no more distinguished than 
 they. No,*' I argued, " as I am the only Englishman in 
 the brigade, it behoves me to perform some remarkable 
 feat ! " 
 
 But what on earth this was to be I could not, for a 
 long time, conceive. Suddenly, I remembered my plan 
 of occupying a cottage in the Turkish lines. 
 
 "I'll propose that to Savrimovitch and Mouravioff 
 to-morrow. Hurrah ! " and I was meditating with great 
 delight on this magnificent and warlike adventure when 
 Morpheus slyly stole me away from the contemplation of 
 Mars, and dropped me into the land of dreams. In other 
 words, I fell asleep. 
 
 The next morning I suggested to Savrimovitch that 
 he and I should go on a reconnoitring expedition, and 
 if we found a suitable cottage within the enemy's lines, 
 or within a reasonable distance of them, we should 
 occupy it forthwith. 
 
 8 
 
ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 Savrimovitch talked the matter over with MouraviofF, 
 and the latter said he would very much like to accom- 
 pany us in the reconnoitring expedition, but he feared 
 that if we did occupy a cottage in the Turkish lines the 
 occupation would be permanent. 
 
 " No, no," said I, '* there's no object in our per- 
 manently occupying the place ; six months will be quite 
 long enough." 
 
 Both my friends, for no reason that I could see, 
 laughed heartily at this, and Mouravioff said that I was 
 indeed a remarkable military genius; at which I felt 
 flattered, although I tried not to show it. As soon as 
 we had breakfasted, we asked Count R^n^'s leave to go on 
 our reconnoitring expedition ; but he, after giving us a 
 kindly greeting, referred us to Colonel Medvedovski. 
 We accordingly repaired to our brigadier's quarters, and 
 found him standing in front of his tent, perusing some 
 despatches. 
 
 " Well, gentlemen," said he, returning our salute, 
 ** what can I do for you ? " 
 
 " We wish for a day's leave of absence from the camp, 
 sir. We want to see the enemy's lines ! " said Savrimo- 
 vitch. 
 
 "You want to go on a reconnoitring expedition, in 
 fact," observed the colonel. 
 
 " Precisely so, sir," said Savrimovitch. 
 
 " Then I am sorry to say I cannot give you leave. 
 However," continued he, seeing our disappointment, 
 "I want some letters conveyed to the commander of 
 
A TRIP TO yUBOVAC. 125 
 
 the Krusevac Brigade, which is stationed at Jubovac, 
 close to the Turkish position. If you like to take them 
 you will have an opportunity of seeing something of the 
 enemy, only mind you don't get into any mischief. If 
 you will be good enough to come into my tent for a 
 minute I will give you the documents. 
 
 We followed him into his tent, which, by the way, was 
 the only bit of canvas in the whole of our camp. 
 Colonel Medvedovski desired us to be seated, pointing 
 to some boxes and camp stools, offered us some wine, 
 and then rapidly penned and handed us a note, which, 
 together with a bundle of papers, he asked us to give ta 
 Colonel Philipovitch. 
 
 " Jubovac," said he, " is nearly twenty miles from here, 
 so you shall have a waggon." Turning to an orderly 
 who stood by the door of the tent, he said some words 
 to him in Russian. The man immediately disappeared : 
 then he wished us " good day ! " and told us the waggon 
 would be at our quarters in a few minutes. 
 
 We thanked the colonel heartily, and hurried back 
 again to our hut, our hearts beating high with excitement 
 and pleasure. 
 
 Our comrades were not a little jealous when they 
 learned that we were going to Jubovac. They, however, 
 good-naturedly wished us boti voyage and a pleasant 
 time of it. We took with us a supply of biscuits, some 
 Liebig's Extract, some spirits and water, our revolvers^ 
 a rifle apiece, and some ammunition. My friends tried 
 to dissuade me from taking my cutlass with me, saying 
 
124 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 it would be a useless encumbrance, but I really could 
 not bear to part with it. 
 
 How could I figure in the hanging-guard position, 
 thought I, without a cutlass ? 
 
 I also took with me a i^w^ drugs, some lint, bandages, 
 etc., and a small amputating case. As I felt the edge of 
 the knives, I reflected complacently on the inestimable 
 advantages humanity derives from surgical science. 
 The wounded Turk, said I to myself, that falls into my 
 hands may well consider himself a fortunate individual ! 
 My incisions shall be boldly and skilfully made, and 
 I flatter myself that his stumps will be perfect pictures ! 
 
 Scarcely were our preparations completed when the 
 waggon came rumbling up, and bidding our friends 
 aiL revoir, we got into it, and in another minute were 
 being jolted over the uneven ground en route for 
 Jubovac. 
 
 We had a good driver, a good horse, a good road, 
 a beautiful day, and lovely scenery. It is not surprising, 
 therefore, that we were as jovial as we could be. Some 
 distance from Deligrad we crossed the Morava by a 
 bridge of boats. We passed several inns, but were so 
 eager to push on that we would not stop until we had 
 covered about twelve miles. Then, as the horse began 
 to show signs of fatigue, we halted at a little wayside 
 place, gave him a feed and a drink, of which he was 
 badly in want, as the sun was terrifically hot, and 
 partook of a little refreshment ourselves. 
 
 About one o'clock we were ofi" again. We had gone 
 
COLONEL PHILIPOVITCH. 125 
 
 a considerable distance further on our way, when we 
 suddenly heard the distant report of a rifle, then another, 
 and another, then a volley, followed by a smart and 
 continuous fusillade. Excited beyond measure by these 
 martial sounds, we made our driver urge on the horse 
 to its utmost speed, and eagerly inspected our weapons, 
 to see that they were in readiness. As we hurried along, 
 the din was increased by the boom of cannon. The 
 sound seemed to come from our left front, but partly 
 from the hilly nature of the ground, and partly from the 
 distance, we failed to see even the smoke of the firing. 
 Presently we were challenged by a sentinel, ?nd coming 
 to a standstill were surrounded by an armed party, and 
 conducted into the camp of the Krusevac Brigade. Here 
 we found all the men under arms. 
 
 As we drove past their ranks. Colonel Philipovitch, 
 the commanding officer of the brigade, rode up. He 
 was a tall, stout man, with a stubbly ginger-coloured 
 moustache and beard, and a very good-natured face. 
 A Servian, and a native of Belgrade in the piping times 
 of peace, he carried out a flourishing business as general 
 merchant, which probably accounted for his sleek and 
 comfortable appearance, and now at the call of duty 
 he had donned the " horrid panoply of war," and was 
 transformed into a stout — a very stout — soldier. His 
 cap, which was far too small for him, was cocked very 
 much on one side of his head, and between his lips he 
 held a cigarette, at which he sucked with a smacking 
 noise. As he read the letters we gave him, he would 
 
126 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 look at us ever and anon with a friendly smile and a 
 nod, and then go on with his reading again. All at 
 once he flung the reins to one of the soldiers, and 
 scrambling out of his saddle with a considerable amount 
 of agility for his size, shouted out, — 
 
 " Ah ! an Englishman ! an Englishman ! " and rushed 
 up to us with outstretched arms. " Which, which," 
 said he, with affectionate eagerness, "is the EngHshman? 
 Which is my English brother ? " 
 
 I modestly replied that I was an Englishman. 
 
 Scarcely were the words out of my mouth, when I 
 was enveloped in his huge embrace, and I verily believe 
 he would have kissed me had I not averted my face. 
 
 Such was the energy of his greeting that he turned 
 me round, so that, on looking over his shoulder, I 
 found myself facing my friends. I could not resist 
 the temptation of improving the situation and of making 
 a really striking tableau, so I wagged my head about 
 behind the back of the all-unconscious colonel, and 
 indulged in a few of my choicest grimaces, with the 
 effect of sending his staff and Savrimovitch and 
 Mouravioff into convulsions of laughter. I blamed 
 myself very much afterwards for this ill-timed jesting, 
 of which, luckily. Colonel Philipovitch remained in 
 entire ignorance. 
 
 We then asked the cause of the firing. 
 
 " General Horvatovics (Horvatovitch) has been making 
 a reconnaissance of the enemy's position at Greviatz," 
 said one of the ofi&cers. 
 
A FEAST. 127 
 
 " How far off is that ? " we asked. 
 
 " Four miles," was the reply. 
 
 " Then you will not have any fighting to-day," said 
 Savrimovitch, in a tone of disappointment. 
 
 "No, unless they attack us, which is not likely, as 
 we are very strong here," said the officer. 
 
 " Captain Ilia Ilianovitch, dismiss the men. There 
 is no occasion for us to remain longer under arms," 
 exclaimed the colonel; then turning to us, he added, 
 *' Now, my friends, come to my quarters and have some 
 dinner with me, for I am sure you must be hungry." 
 
 We readily accepted this hospitable invitation, and 
 following our host into his tent, soon had the satisfac- 
 tion of seeing a magnificent banquet spread before us. 
 It was very obvious, that even in the midst of the horrors 
 of war the gallant colonel did not forget the creature 
 comforts of peace. There was a cold fowl, some pork 
 cutlets, a ham, sardines, caviare, and oh, ye gods ! 
 a couple of Rehoboams of champagne. Our long and 
 dusty drive gave zest to our appetites. 
 
 Colonel Philipovitch, moreover, was an excellent host, 
 and took care that we did ample justice to his hos- 
 pitality ; he would not suffer our glasses to remain empty 
 for a moment, and when at length our appetites were 
 stayed he produced cigars, and we enjoyed a blissful 
 half-hour's smoke. 
 
 "Colonel," said Savrimovitch, when he was half 
 through his cigar, "how far off is the enemy from 
 here?" 
 
128 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 "Well," said Philipovitch, **his nearest pickets are 
 stationed about a mile off, and he is in force on a 
 range of hills about a mile further back. I will show 
 you his batteries if you like, gentlemen." 
 
 We replied eagerly that we should like to see them, 
 so our host rose, took down a field-glass that hung 
 from the tent-post, and asking us to accompany him, 
 walked out. 
 
 The camp of the Krusevac Brigade was situated on 
 the side of a hill, to the brow of which the stout 
 colonel laboriously, and with much puffing and groan, 
 ing, endeavoured to mount. When at length we reached 
 the top, we saw beneath us a valley about three thou- 
 sand yards in breadth, bounded on the opposite side by 
 a range of hills similar to the one we stood on. The 
 intervening space was, for the most part, covered with 
 forest 
 
 " There," said he, pointing across the valley to one of 
 the opposite hills, — *' there are the Turkish batteries ! " 
 
 The batteries were so cleverly masked that at first 
 I could not make out where they were, but after a 
 long look with the glass I succeeded in discerning 
 them. 
 
 "Which position is the best," said I, "ours or 
 theirs?" 
 
 *• Theirs," said Savrimovitch ; "it commands this 
 altogether. By Jove! they are firing at us; look there!" 
 
 Just as he spoke a puff of white smoke leapt forth 
 from the battery, and the next moment I heard, for 
 
MV FIRST EXPERIENCE OF A SHELL. 129 
 
 the first time in my life, the screaming of a shell as it 
 whistled through the air. 
 
 ' Lie down, boys ! " sung out Colonel Philipovitch, 
 throwing himself down on the ground. 
 
 The noise of the shell was extremely disagreeable, and 
 I felt a strong inclination to follow the colonel's example, 
 but as Savrimovitch and Mouravioff refused to budge, I 
 felt bound to remain standing as well. The missile, 
 luckily, went over our heads, and exploded with a loud 
 but harmless crash a good way behind us. 
 
 " Foolish boys, foolish boys ! " said the colonel, as he 
 got up again ; *' you are not wise ; you want to be killed 
 for nothing ! Ah, ah ! I am angry with you ! " and he' 
 shook his head reproachfully at us, and then patted us 
 affectionately on the back. Probably disgusted with the 
 failure of his shot, the enemy did not fire at us again, and 
 we continued our survey without further molestation. 
 
 About half a mile from the foot of the hill was a 
 clearing of about four hundred acres in extent. In this 
 secluded spot a group of cottages had stood before the 
 war ; now, only, one remained intact, the others having 
 been knocked into shapeless heaps of ruins. The only 
 signs of life that we could see were two or three curling 
 wreaths of smoke that ascended from the outskirt of the 
 forest on the other side of the clearing. 
 
 "That smoke," said Colonel Philipovitch, "comes 
 from the Turkish outposts in the forest." 
 
 The sight of the ruins and the horrible noise made by 
 the shell in its flight and explosion had greatly shaken 
 
I30 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 my faith in the feasibility of a six months' occupation of 
 a cottage in the Turkish lines, but I was ashamed to 
 withdraw from my proposal, so pointing to the little 
 building in the clearing, I proposed that we should 
 straightway occupy it. My two friends nodded and 
 smiled, and addressing Colonel Philipovitch, informed 
 him of our wish. 
 
 For a long time our kind-hearted host would not hear 
 of it. 
 
 "We should be going," he said, "to certain death. 
 The Turks would infallibly cut us to pieces ; " and he 
 tried to frighten us by relating, with rolling eyes and 
 working fingers, stories of the atrocities committed by 
 Bashi-Bazouks, — that they gave no quarter, sparing neither 
 age nor sex, and that one of their favourite methods of 
 disposing of prisoners was to chop them into little bits 
 and afterwards roast them alive. 
 
 We were, however, resolute, and succeeded at last in 
 gaining the colonel's permission to pass a night in the 
 cottage. 
 
 I did not feel so joyful and enthusiastic as I ought to 
 have done ; possibly the blood-curdhng earnestness 
 with which Colonel Philipovitch had alluded to the 
 black doings of the bloodthirsty Bashi-Bazouks had 
 acted as a damper to my spirits. Still I contrived to 
 assume an appearance of considerable glee and martial 
 alacrity, and proposed in a frisky tone that we should 
 start at once. 
 
 The stout colonel, however, insisted that we should 
 
WE START FOR THE COTTAGE. 131 
 
 drink a farewell glass with him, and lay in a stock of 
 provisions. 
 
 " If you must go," said he, sadly, " take plenty to eat 
 and drink with you. It is hard," and here he spoke with 
 an air of the profoundest conviction, " to be valiant and 
 fight well on an empty stomach." 
 
 We all agreed that there was much sense in what he 
 said, and accompanying him to his quarters, we gratefully 
 accepted at his hands a bottle of raki, some cold meat, 
 bread, a tin oipdte defoie gras, and a bundle of cigars. 
 
 It was about four o'clock when we set out. Colonel 
 Philipovitch walked a short distance, and showed us a 
 zigzag trench, probably part of a rifle-pit, which ran 
 down the hill to the outskirts of the forest. 
 
 ''Walk down that trench, dear friends," said he, 
 embracing us as affectionately as if he had known us for 
 twenty years, " and you are less likely to be seen by the 
 Turks. I do wish you would let me dissuade you from 
 going on this mad errand, but I see it is no use talking 
 to you about it. Well, well. I only hope you'll come to 
 no harm, and mind, if you are found out, to make at 
 once for the trench, and I will do what I can for you. 
 Good-bye!" 
 
 ** Good-bye, colonel ! " we shouted as we leaped into 
 the trench. 
 
 He waved his hand, and for some seconds stood gaz- 
 ing at us with an expression of deep concern in his fat 
 but pleasant face : then a sudden turn in our pathway 
 hid him from our view. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 WE walked down the steep and narrow path in 
 single file. Mouravioff led the way, Savrimovitch 
 came next, and I brought up the rear. We carried our 
 loaded rifles in our hands, unfastened our revolver cases, 
 and brought them well round to the front of our belts, in 
 order to be handy, if required. None of us felt much 
 incHned to talk, so that for some distance the only 
 sounds we heard were the snapping of twigs under our 
 feet, the hum of insects, and the note of birds in the 
 woods hard by. 
 
 " How is it," said I all at once to Savrimovitch, " that 
 the Turks don't put their outpost into that comfortable 
 little cottage instead of keeping them in the open 
 air ? " 
 
 " For the very simple reason,'* replied he, " that we 
 should knock it into pieces in two minutes with our 
 cannon." 
 
 ** Oh ! " said I, mentally casting a glance at my scheme 
 of a six months' occupation, to which this reply dealt a 
 staggering blow. 
 
 "And similarly," continued he, "the Turkish guns 
 render it impossible for us to occupy it openly." 
 
THE COTTAGE. 133 
 
 My favourite plan was now completely demolished and 
 pulverised. 
 
 On emerging from the trench, we entered the forest 
 which clothed the hill on this side right down to its base, 
 and extended as far as the heights occupied by the Turks. 
 A few minutes' brisk walking under the trees, whose 
 shade gave welcome relief from the burning sun, brought 
 us to the edge of the clearing, and within two hundred 
 yards of the cottage. We now walked from our cover, 
 and scanned the forest held by the enemy. 
 
 Everything was as still as death. We held brief 
 discussions whether one of us should enter it first, or all 
 three advance together. We decided upon the latter 
 course. We left the shadow of the trees, therefore, and 
 walking boldly across the clearing got to the cottage 
 without being perceived by the enemy. 
 
 The place looked cheerless and uninviting. The walls 
 were of hardened mud, and a roughly-constructed door 
 swung loosely on its hinges, and the thatched roof was 
 in a dilapidated condition. There were but two rooms, 
 each , with a small aperture for a window. The room 
 in the front of the hovel bad apparently been used 
 as a kitchen, and in it we found a large heap of grain, a 
 three-legged milking stool, and the fragment of a distaff. 
 The back-room was perfectly empty. 
 
 By this time it was about five o'clock, so we agreed to 
 keep guard alternately until the following morning, by 
 watching three hours each; Savrimovitch to take the 
 first v^atch, Mouravioff the second, I the third, and 
 
134 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 SO on. We decided also to use the back-room which 
 looked towards the Turks as our watch-room. The 
 enemy's advanced post was only two hundred yards off. 
 
 We next proposed to make ourselves as comfortable 
 as circumstances would permit. The evening was 
 excessively close. We divested ourselves of our belts and 
 accoutrements, and unbuttoned our tunics ; indeed, the 
 Russians, who seemed to feel the heat more than I did, 
 tore open the front of their shirts as well. I observed 
 that each of them wore a gold locket round his neck. 
 Thinking that they were love tokens, I made some 
 chaffing remark about them, but Savrimovitch gravely 
 informed me that I was mistaken, and handed me his 
 locket, which contained a beautifully executed picture of 
 the Madonna. Mouravioff, who was an avowed sceptic 
 in matters of religion, flippantly remarked that he only 
 wore his charm to oblige a lady relative, who believed 
 that it would render him invulnerable to Turkish bullets. 
 
 For some time Mouravioff and I chatted pleasantly 
 about various topics. Suddenly an exclamation from 
 the watch-room startled us. 
 
 " Hulloh, Savrimovitch ! Do you see anything ? " 
 cried Mouravioff. 
 
 ** No," replied the other, " but I can hear the Turks. 
 Listen a moment, they are singing." We kept silence 
 for a minute or two, and heard our enemies indulging in 
 a wild but monotonous chant, or rather howling, the 
 burden of which seemed to be — 
 
 "Ya! Allah! Hoo Allah!" 
 
A LOVELY EVENING. 135 
 
 We thought at first that this might presage an attack, 
 and seized our weapons ; but as time went on, and they 
 made no signs of advancing, we became reassured, and 
 prepared and ate our evening meal. At eight o'clock 
 Mouravioff mounted guard in place of Savrimovitch. 
 The moon was now shedding a flood of silvery light upon 
 our cottage, the adjacent forests, the hills beyond ; the 
 sky was studded with innumerable stars, which shone 
 and twinkled with a brilliancy far exceeding anything 
 seen in the heavier atmosphere of England. From 
 a tree close by a night-bird was filling the air with liquid 
 notes of great sweetness and purity; and while two 
 armies were encamped within a mile of us, only waiting 
 for an opportunity to rush at one another, the whole 
 scene around seemed to breathe nothing but peace. 
 
 My thoughts wandered thousands of miles away — first 
 to my parents and brothers and sister in Calcutta, and 
 then away to the beautiful Bulgarian, who had captivated 
 my heart at Semendria, and whose presence seemed to 
 haunt me even in the camp. Once the thought pre- 
 sented itself to me that I might never see them again, 
 but it was immediately and ignominiously expelled, and 
 replaced by a bright vision of their delight when they 
 should hear of my extraordinary achievements as medical 
 Field Marshal, and see the long lists of illustrious 
 personages, from emperors down to mere generals, who 
 had been or were about to be benefited by my skilfully 
 wielded scalpel. 
 
 Savrimovitch was sitting near the fire, with his face 
 
136 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 buried in his hands, and was apparently lost in a gloomy 
 reverie, "A ducat for your dreams, my boy," said I, 
 laying my hand on his shoulder. "They seem to be 
 dismal." 
 
 "They are not very lively," he repHed, raising his 
 handsome face, which wore an unusually sad expres- 
 sion. " I have somehow a presentiment that I shall 
 never return from this war. I had a strange dream the 
 other night, which I cannot forget ! " 
 
 " Pooh," said I, as cheerily as I could, " podophyllin 
 for presentiments ! Digestible food for dreams ! Colonel 
 Philipovitch's champagne and camping out have dis- 
 agreed with you. Nothing is more inducive to gloomy 
 forebodings than pork and pd^tk de foie gras. Tell me 
 your horrible dream, and I will try and interpret it 
 for you." 
 
 " Thank you," replied he, quietly, " I had rather not 
 speak about it, but," and here he gave a slight shudder, 
 '* I believe I had my warning." 
 
 "Well, well," said I, "let's change the subject. 
 Suppose we talk about love." 
 
 "You will think me a doleful subject, M. Wright," 
 replied he, forcing a smile, " but even love is a painful 
 subject to me." 
 
 " How's that ? " asked I, with a sympathetic frown ; 
 " have the fair but fickle angels treated you badly ? " 
 
 "No, no," said he, laughing slightly. "On the 
 contrary, I have received nothing but kindness at their 
 hands, and I am entirely devoted to their service." 
 
ADVICE 10 A LOVER. 137 
 
 ''You perplex me," said I. ** How then can it be 
 painful to you to talk of love ? " 
 
 " Because I happen to be desperately, but hopelessly, 
 attached to a lady who can never return my affection." 
 
 " My dear M. Savrimovitch," said I, quickly, *' I 
 am a month or two older than you, and have seen much, 
 very much, of the ways of the world. Permit me, there- 
 fore, to tell you that there need be no such thing as 
 hopeless love in this world. Have you ever made any 
 proposal to your lady-love?" 
 
 " No," replied he. 
 
 " Then," said I, '' I have great hopes for you. The 
 very next time you meet the lady, make her a declara- 
 tion of love; never mind if your first attempt is 
 unsuccessful. The poet wrote the beautiful lines — 
 
 ** * If at first you don't succeed. 
 Try, try, try again ; 
 
 chiefly, I believe, for the encouragement of desponding 
 lovers. I don't believe there ever was a maiden who 
 could refuse twenty successive matrimonial proposals 
 from the same pertinacious suitor." 
 
 "My dear M. Wright," said he, "you don't know 
 what you are talking about ! The lady in question is 
 a Russian Grand Duchess, and since I last had the 
 honour of seeing her she has been married." 
 
 " Phew ! " whistled I, in amazement, " a Grand 
 Duchess, and married ! That does make a difference. 
 I am afraid your case really is hopeless," and I shook 
 
 9 
 
138 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 my head despondently, " unless you like to wait until 
 Her Imperial Highness is a widow. But how, in the 
 name of goodness, came you to fall in love with a 
 Grand Duchess ? " 
 
 "It happened in this wise," said he. "The Czar 
 annually gives a ball in the Winter Palace to the 
 officers of the Guard, when the lady members of the 
 Imperial family honour the officers by dancing with 
 some of them. Russian Court etiquette forbids any 
 officer to ask a Grand Duchess to dance with him, so 
 the Imperial lady indicates to the Lord Chamberlain 
 the officer she chooses for her partner, and he straight- 
 way introduces the lucky guardsman. Well, on two 
 occasions I had the supreme felicity, or rather the 
 terrible misfortune, of dancing with the same princess, 
 with the result that I have been hopelessly and de- 
 spairingly in love with her ever since." 
 
 At this juncture we heard a peculiar whining noise 
 close outside, accompanied by a scratching at the 
 door. 
 
 We all sprang to our feet at once. Mouravioff and 
 Savrimovitch seized their revolvers, and I whipped my 
 trusty cutlass out of its sheath. 
 
 " Deuced odd sound that ! " said I, in some alarm. 
 " What on earth can it be ? " 
 
 "I'll soon see," said Savrimovitch, and striding to 
 the door he quickly swung it open. Lo, there was 
 nothing to be seen! But we heard a sound as if 
 something or somebody were scuttling away in a great 
 
A MYSTERIOUS INTERRUPTION, 139. 
 
 hurry. Mouravioff stepped outside and looked around. 
 All was as still as death. "There's diablerie in this," 
 said Savrimovitch, looking slightly scared, and probably 
 thinking of his presentiments ; and I must confess that I, 
 too, felt half-incHned to ascribe the sounds to something 
 supernatural. 
 
 " Diablerie, pooh ! A dog or a donkey more likely ; 
 at any rate, it doesn't matter to us what it is, so long 
 as it is not a Turk," said the matter-of-fact Mouravioff. 
 " Let's leave the door slightly open," said I, " and 
 we'll watch for it, whatever it is ; Savrimovitch and I 
 on this side, and you through the window on the opposite 
 side of the cottage." 
 
 They agreed to this, and we commenced our watch, 
 not without a good deal of dread and some curiosity 
 on my part, for it occurred to me that the late 
 occupants of the place might have been murdered by 
 Bashi-Bazouks, and that their shades were hovering 
 around us. We listened for some minutes in breathless 
 silence for the slightest sound. The night-bird had 
 stopped his song, and we could hear nothing but the 
 sighing of the wind in the forest leaves. Suddenly 
 Mouravioff gave a loud laugh, and exclaimed, — 
 
 " Parbleu I Here comes your devil ! Here comes 
 your fiend ! Look, Savrimovitch ! look, M. Wright ! 
 Ah ! he's going round to your door — look ! " 
 
 We put our heads outside the door, and just as we 
 did so a large black dog rounded the corner of the 
 building, and came straight up to the door. As sooa 
 
I40 ADVENTURES IN SERV2A. 
 
 as it saw us, however, it scurried away to some distance, 
 and sitting on its haunches set up a most melancholy 
 howling. 
 
 Mouravioff and I looked at one another, and burst 
 out laughing at this unromantic elucidation of the 
 mystery. To my surprise, however, I noticed that 
 Savrimovitch was pale and agitated. 
 
 ** How peculiarly that dog howls ! " said he, with a 
 shiver. " Does it not seem to you that there is some- 
 thing weird and unnatural in the sound ? " 
 
 " Why, Savrimovitch," said Mouravioff, " what non- 
 sense is this ? You are as pale as a ghost, and shaking 
 like an aspen. Are you ill ? " 
 
 "No, it's nothing, thanks; a little dizziness, no 
 more. There, I'm all right now," said he, drawing 
 himself up to his full height, " and fit for anything. 
 You may laugh if you like, but I tell you candidly 
 I would rather have seen twenty Turks just then than 
 that dog. Whenever a misfortune is about to befall 
 our family, a hound like that makes its appearance, and 
 howls as that one is doing." Savrimovitch's explana- 
 tion made a considerable impression upon me, but 
 Mouravioff laughed aloud. 
 
 "Stuff and nonsense," said he, *' that dog's no demon. 
 I am surprised that a stout soldier should be (I trust I 
 sha'n't offend you) so absurdly superstitious. Here, M. 
 Wright, kindly pass the spirits round, and let us have a 
 glass apiece. Let me pour you out a bumper, Savri- 
 movitch you're in a fanciful mood to-night, and need a 
 
WE CAPTURE A PRISONER. 141 
 
 tonic ; low spirits require a pick-me-up ! We'll keep our 
 spirits up by pouring spirits down ! " 
 
 The usually cynical Mouravioff was in high spirits this 
 evening, and displayed an amount of kindliness and good- 
 humour for which I had not given him credit. At eleven 
 o'clock I mounted guard, and my two friends rolled 
 themselves up in their overcoats and went to sleep. 
 
 Nothing happened during my three hours' watch. I 
 had great difficulty in keeping myself awake, and was 
 very glad when it was time to rouse Savrimovitch and 
 relegate my duties to him. Then I threw myself on to 
 the heap of grain and almost immediately fell asleep. 
 I had perhaps been asleep for a,n hour, when a violent 
 blow on the side and a loud scuffling noise awoke me. 
 Starting up, I beheld a man struggHng desperately with 
 Savrimovitch, who held him fast by the throat. 
 
 The Russian was a powerful young man, but no match 
 for his opponent, who seemed possessed of Herculean 
 strength, and whose uniform and swarthy complexion 
 proclaimed him a Turk. Before we could rush to our 
 friend's assistance the combatants fell with a crash to the 
 ground, the intruder uppermost, and brandishing a for- 
 midable Circassian knife in his hand. He had no time 
 to use it, however, for Mouraviofif struck him a terrible 
 blow on the head with his clubbed rifle, and he rolled 
 over senseless. To our unspeakable relief Savrimo- 
 vitch rose to his feet uninjured, vowing that he had 
 tripped over some inequality on the floor. After this 
 sudden and unexpected attack we all kept on the alert 
 
142 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 with our weapons in our hands for some time, but the 
 Turks in the opposite woods showed no signs of moving, 
 and the stillness of the night was unbroken. In answer 
 to our eager queries, Savrimovitch said that he had kept a 
 sharp look-out on the Turkish side, and that our prisoner 
 must have skirted the clearing and approached the hut 
 from behind, and that when they met the Turk seemed 
 as much surprised as he had been. This explanation 
 reassured us, and led us to the conclusion that the Turk 
 had been in the habit of helping himself to the maize 
 that lay in the hut. Having satisfied myself that we were 
 not going to be attacked just then, I left the two 
 Russians to watch and prepare breakfast, and proceeded 
 with feelings of the liveliest enthusiasm to examine the 
 injuries of our captive. He was still comatose, and his 
 breathing was stertorous. I discovered, with sensations 
 of sympathy and satisfaction, that he had sustained a 
 depressed fracture of the skull, and that an immediate 
 operation was necessary. I will not harrow the feelings of 
 my non-professional readers by describing the measures 
 I adopted, but will content myself with saying that I 
 succeeded, not without considerable difficulty, in elevating 
 the depressed piece of bone. The condition was at once 
 greatly improved. 
 
 " Bravo, doctor ! " exclaimed Mouravioff, " but what 
 are you going to do now ? " (I had produced my beloved 
 amputating case and a pair of bullet forceps.) " You are . 
 surely not going to cut off his head?" 
 
 To this ridiculous question I replied with the gravity 
 
AN INTERESTING PATIENT 143 
 
 of tone a medical man should always adopt when speak- 
 ing to a layman on professional subjects, that I could see 
 no necessity for removing his head, and that I was 
 merely about to institute a search for old gun-shot wounds, 
 as it was quite possible that my patient might have a 
 bullet in him which required extraction. 
 
 " I should have thought, doctor," said Savrimovitch 
 (I noticed with much gratification that they called me 
 doctor now), " that he struggled much too vigorously 
 for that." 
 
 *' My dear Savrimovitch," replied I, ripping up the 
 prisoner's garments and exploring his limbs, " fear and 
 excitement often inspire the weakest and the completely 
 disabled with remarkable strength. We have a saying 
 in England which is doubtless intended to be illustrative 
 of this fact, but which, of course, is not to be interpreted 
 literally, that King Charles I. walked and talked half an 
 hour after his head was cut off; and I myself have seen 
 fowls leap into the air and run about for some seconds 
 after decapitation." 
 
 The sceptical Mouravioff laughed loudly, and even 
 the courteous Savrimovitch looked incredulous, but I was 
 far too much interested in the work I had in hand to 
 take any notice of either of them. 
 
 To my disappointment I found no old bullet wound 
 on the prisoner, but my desire to confer further surgical 
 blessings on our barbarian captive was not altogether 
 thwarted. I perceived that he had a small epithelio- 
 matous ulcer on the lower lip. I decided there and 
 
144 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 then on its removal, and explaining the malignant nature 
 of the lesion to the Russians, cut away the affected part, 
 without the slightest objection from my patient Perhaps 
 I ought to add that he remained insensible the whole 
 time, but if he had been conscious, no reasonable person 
 could suppose but that he would have submitted cheer- 
 fully — nay, gladly — to an operation fraught with such 
 advantage to himself. I then dressed his lip, and putting 
 my head out of the window, sniffed up the fresh morning 
 air, and gave myself up to the complacent mental gratifi- 
 cation which is the proper reward of every good deed. 
 In very truth, I had heaped coals of fire on my adversary's 
 head! 
 
 It was now nearly four o'clock ; the grey dawn was 
 giving place to the brighter light of day, and a crimson 
 flush suffused the eastern sky. I watched the changing of 
 the tints and brightening of the light with much pleasure, 
 when suddenly the flash of musketry sparkled forth from 
 the opposite trees, and I had just time to withdraw my 
 head, when a bullet whistled through the window and 
 knocked a large piece of dry mud and plaster from the 
 wall of the apartment. Half-a-dozen Turks issued from 
 the wood and advanced towards us at a run, headed 
 by an officer, who held a revolver in one hand and 
 brandished a gleaming sabre in the other. The whole 
 thing was so sudden that I was thoroughly scared ; how- 
 ever, I thrust the muzzle of my rifle through the window, 
 and taking a hurried aim at the leader of the party, 
 pulled the trigger. The report of my piece was followed 
 
.'.:(:#■'■' 
 
WE ARE ATTACKED. 145 
 
 immediately by the loud bang-bang ! of the rifles of my 
 friends, who had rushed outside at the first alarm. 
 When the smoke cleared away, the Turkish officer, 
 evidently severely wounded, was being raised from the 
 ground by a couple of his men, and the others were 
 retreating to the forest at the double. Our triumph was 
 very short-lived. Bugles rang out and shouts resounded 
 from various parts of the forest, showing that the other 
 Turkish outposts and pickets had taken the alarm, and 
 that more men were hastening to attack us. 
 
 "M. Alfred, M. Wright!" shouted Mouravioff and 
 Savrimovitch, entering the cottage, "come away, come 
 away ; we've no time to lose ! In two minutes the 
 place will be surrounded ! " I was reluctant to leave my 
 patient, who still lay helpless on the ground, though he 
 was now showing signs of returning animation (I had 
 quite discarded the notion of standing a six months' 
 siege in the cottage) j but the enemy now reopened fire 
 on us from the wood, and the bullets whistled about the 
 place so unpleasantly that I was glad to hurry away. By 
 keeping the little building between ourselves and the 
 enemy we succeeded in getting a good way off before 
 we were discovered. But presently a loud shout pro- 
 claimed to us that we had been seen, and that we 
 should have to run the gauntlet. We hurried up the 
 hill-side, under a smart rifle fire, towards the Servian camp, 
 and fortunately reached the trench uninjured when we 
 met a body of Servian soldiers hastening downwards, 
 headed by fat Colonel Philipovitch, who was in a very 
 
146 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 excited state and much out of breath. He saw us, and 
 gave a loud halloo of surprise and delight. 
 
 " Or — or, dear frents ! dear frents ! I thought you 
 was killed, and all dead ; now I am glad ever so much 
 more — ha ! ha I " exclaimed he, and flinging down his 
 drawn sabre he embraced all three of us, one after the 
 other, most vigorously, sobbing and laughing alternately. 
 When he became a little calmer he told us that he had 
 not slept a wink all night, and that at the sound of the 
 firing he took it for granted that we had been surprised 
 and killed, and was coming down to recover our bodies 
 and avenge our deaths. Then stepping back a pace or 
 two, he scanned us from head to foot, and eagerly asked 
 if any of us had been hurt. We assured him that we 
 were all right, on the strength of which he gave each of 
 us another suffocating hug, and then marched back with 
 us to his quarters. On the way we related our adven- 
 tures, which, simple as they were, filled him with 
 astonishment and admiration. When Savrimovitch — who, 
 being the best linguist amongst us, acted as our spokes- 
 man — told him of the strange scratching noise heard 
 outside the hut and of the mysterious dog, his fat face 
 turned pale, and his stubbly hair stood on end with 
 superstitious awe. When he heard of the capture of 
 our prisoner, he broke forth into a torrent of sympathetic 
 and enthusiastic braves and bravissimos ! He was 
 much disgusted with my attempt to set the wounded 
 Turk to rights again, and rolling his eyes about in a 
 manner that was frightful to behold, drew his hand 
 
BACK AGAIN TO CAMP. 147 
 
 significantly across his throat, as much as to say that I 
 should have done much better if I had made an end of 
 him (the prisoner) instead. 
 
 On our arrival at the colonel's tent we found a really 
 sumptuous breakfast spread, which we attacked with keen 
 relish, and immediately after the meal we prepared to 
 start for Deligrad again. Our kind entertainer was most 
 anxious that we should prolong our stay with him, but 
 this, we explained to him, was quite impossible, and 
 taking a really affecting leave of this warm-hearted 
 soul, we got into our cart and trundled off to our own 
 camp. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WE reached the Medvedovski camp the same 
 afternoon, and found it in an unwonted state of 
 excitement. A gorgeous silken banner, the handiwork 
 of some Russian ladies sympathetic with the Servian 
 cause, and which had been consecrated by the Metropo- 
 litan of Moscow, had just arrived, and General Tcher- 
 naieff was coming to present it formally to the brigade. 
 
 The whole brigade was under arms, and we had hardly 
 time to fall into our battalion. The troops were marched 
 to a large open space a few hundred yards to the right 
 of the camp, and formed into an immense hollow square. 
 General Tchernaieff then rode up, surrounded by his 
 staff, and dismounting, entered the square, where he was 
 received by Colonel Medvedovski, some of the other 
 officers of the brigade, and three priests. Amongst the 
 general's staff a stout, sleek-looking young man was 
 pointed out to me as the Roumanian Prince, Ghika, 
 and I also saw for the first time that well-known English 
 or rather Scottish soldier of fortune. Colonel Mclvor. 
 One of the priests opened the proceedings with a long 
 prayer, during which the soldiers crossed themselves 
 incessantly. Holy water was then sprinkled on the 
 
A BRILLIANT IDEA. 149 
 
 banner, and General Tchernaieff, taking it from the 
 priests, made a speech to the brigade, and presented it 
 to Colonel Medvedovski, who in turn handed it to one 
 of his officers. Then the whole brigade was marched in 
 single file past the priest, beside whom was a small altar 
 with a cross on it, and each man as he passed was 
 touched on the lips and forehead with a spray of hyssop 
 dipped in holy water. 
 
 This ceremony lasted an immense time, and the priest's 
 arms must have fairly ached by the time it was over. I 
 witnessed thes6 proceedings with the greatest interest and 
 enthusiasm. Here was a magnificent opportunity of 
 distinguishing myself. I resolved on the spot to ask for 
 the proud privilege of carrying the banner the first time 
 we went into action ! Thousands of men would go into 
 battle, but only one could be the standard-bearer at a time. 
 
 " This," thought I, " will distinguish me above my 
 fellows, and maintain my reputation as a brave English- 
 man ! " 
 
 When the ceremony was over, I mentioned my scheme 
 to Savrimovitch. He heartily approved of it, so the next 
 morning I went to the colonel for the purpose of pre- 
 ferring my 'request to him. 
 
 "Well, sir," said he on seeing me, "what can I do for 
 you ? " 
 
 " I have come, sir," replied I, " to ask if you will let 
 me carry the standard that was presented to us yesterday 
 into action the first time we are engaged." 
 
 The colonel looked very pleased, but for a moment 
 
I50 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 said nothing ; then he observed that if I would call again 
 the next day at noon he would give me an answer. 
 Delays of any description are very disagreeable to me, so 
 I felt slightly disappointed at the reply, still I saluted 
 with a good grace and went away. 
 
 On the following day I presented myself at the 
 appointed hour, and with my heart full of hope and 
 expectation. The colonel received me most graciously, 
 and beside him were Count Rdn^ and Prince Obolenski, 
 both of whom shook hands with me with kind cordiality. 
 
 *' Well, sir," said the Brigadier, " yottr request has 
 pleased us very much ; it shows us that you are actuated 
 by a loyal and worthy spirit. Nevertheless, this brigade 
 is, par excellence^ the Russian brigade, therefore we think 
 it better that a Russian should carry the colours." 
 
 I suppose my face displayed the disappointment I felt, 
 for the colonel continued — 
 
 " I am very sorry to refuse your request, but never 
 fear, you will soon have plenty of opportunities of show- 
 ing what stuff you are made of ! " 
 
 I walked back dolefully enough, and confided my 
 trouble to Savrimovitch, who seemed, however, to be 
 brooding over some trouble of his own, and was less 
 sympathetic than usual. 
 
 The heat that afternoon was intense, and Savrimovitch, 
 Mouravioff, and I were silently smoking under the shelter 
 of our hut, when a bullet whistled between us, and passed 
 out through the leafy wall behind. We started to our 
 feet and rushed outside. 
 
A STRAY BULLET. 
 
 151 
 
 A number of soldiers were standing or sitting about 
 engaged in cleaning their rifles, cooking, etc. Mouravioff 
 demanded furiously who had fired the shot. 
 
 A heavy, stupid-looking fellow was pointed out as the 
 culprit, whereupon our friend strode up to him, and seiz- 
 ing him by the collar, asked him sternly what he meant 
 by discharging a loaded rifle in camp. The soldier 
 sulkily answered that he had only fired his piece in the 
 air, and did not know there was any harm in that, where- 
 upon the rough-and-ready Mouravioff replied — 
 
 " Idiot ! Don't you know that when you send a bullet 
 into the air it is likely to come down again, like this ? " 
 and striking him on the head with his clenched fist, 
 knocked him over. 
 
 This severe treatment caused some murmuring 
 amongst the soldiers, who were already beginning to tire 
 of Russian discipline. A sinister rumour that many 
 Russian officers had been treacherously slain in battle 
 by some of their own men, whose ill-will they had in- 
 curred, was current in camp, and it was undoubtedly true 
 that Russian officers frequently treated the Servians with 
 great harshness, but considering the rawness and inapti- 
 tude of the material they had to deal with, and the 
 absolute necessity of enforcing discipline, I do not think 
 that the kicks and cufls I often saw them bestow on 
 their men were unmerited. 
 
 Again, although the unwarlike Serbs murmured at 
 being dragooned into discipline, they seemed very 
 soon to regain their equanimity. They are naturally too 
 
152 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 good-natured and easy-going a race to be vindictive, and 
 therefore I believe that the heavy losses among the 
 Russians were due to their reckless valour and not to 
 Servian treachery. Nevertheless, many Russians I met 
 firmly believed this rumour, in spite of the indignant 
 denial of it given by the Servians. 
 
 As the days passed by, I noticed with pain that my 
 friend Savrimovitch became more and more reserved and 
 melancholy, and that every now and then he would fly 
 on the slightest provocation, or even without any at all, 
 into the most ungovernable fury. On one occasion he 
 took offence at something Count Tiesenhausen said to 
 him, and calling him a German coward, drew his 
 revolver, and would certainly have shot him if I had not 
 disarmed him. 
 
 Another time he came up to me and asked me to give 
 him enough opium to make away with himself. On these 
 occasions he looked and behaved like a madman. He 
 said that he was tired of life, and wished to die. Of 
 course I refused his request. For a minute or two he 
 pressed me earnestly, nay, coaxingly, to give him the 
 opium, and when I persisted in my refusal he laid his 
 hand on his sword, and with flushed face and flashing 
 eyes told me he would compel me to give him what he 
 wanted. Up to this time I had tried to laugh him out 
 of the idea, but his furious and menacing attitude made 
 me serious. 
 
 " My dear friend," said I, looking him steadily in the 
 face, " you will not get a grain of opium from me. If 
 
STRANGE CONDUCT OF SAVRIMOVITCH. 153 
 
 you wish to die, you will soon have abundant opportu- 
 nities of satisfying your desire when we go into action. 
 If you were to poison yourself now, it might be said that 
 you were afraid to face the Turks. Is it not far better 
 to fall like a brave soldier than to die of poison like a 
 rat?" 
 
 At the end of my speech the wild glare left Savrimo- 
 vitch's eyes and the crimson flush died out of his cheeks. 
 He threw down his sword, and embracing me called me 
 his English brother, and begged me to forgive his frenzied 
 petulance, then passing his hand across his forehead he 
 said, " When these whirlwinds of fury seize my mind, 
 I feel like a tiger or a madman, and lose all self-control. 
 Two or three years ago I received this sabre wound," 
 and he showed me a scar on the side of his head con- 
 cealed by his hair, " and I have never been the same 
 since. Lately, though, I have become more irritable and 
 excitable than ever, and I wish, like a dear good fellow, 
 you would look after me. You have a strange influence 
 over me, and may be the means of preventing me from 
 doing some irreparable mischief." 
 
 Then we kissed after the Russian fashion, vowed 
 eternal friendship, and agreed henceforth to call one 
 another by our Christian names of Alfred and Alexis. 
 
 Alexis' favourite topic of conversation was India. 
 He was never tired of asking questions about that 
 marvellous country, or hearing stories of encounters 
 with tigers, elephants, and wild boars in the jungles; 
 of adventures with crocodiles and venomous snakes, 
 
 10 
 
154 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 and fights with pirates by land and sea, of which I 
 had learned any number from my Anglo-Indian uncles 
 and aunts. 
 
 My tales fired his imagination to such a degree that 
 he resolved to go for a tour in India after the war 
 was over, and asked me to accompany him, which I 
 agreed to do. I now noticed, with gratification, an 
 improvement in my fiiend's mental condition. Both 
 his fits of depression and his outbreaks of temper 
 became less intense and less frequent. This satisfactory 
 result was partly due to the fact that I contrived in 
 various ways to divert his attention from himself, and 
 also because he made a real efibrt to exercise more 
 self-control. 
 
 His state of mind was never such as to incapacitate 
 him from attending to his duties \ indeed, everything 
 that he had to do was well and thoroughly done, and 
 it was only during his idle moments, and when he was 
 interfered with, that he behaved strangely. Still, his 
 conduct was at times very unaccountable, sufficiently 
 so to justify the belief that his reason was within a 
 measurable distance of becoming permanently impaired. 
 
 He attributed his condition to the sabre wound he 
 had received on his head, and that had, in all probability, 
 a great deal to do with it. Apropos of this wound, 
 I asked him one day how he received it, and the 
 following was his account : — 
 
 " I went out as a volunteer with General Kaufmann's 
 army during the late campaign against the Turcomans. 
 
FIGHT WITH TURCOMANS, 155 
 
 One bitterly cold winter's day, when the plains were 
 thickly covered with snow, 1 accompanied a detach- 
 ment of fifty Cossacks on a reconnoitring expedition. 
 As we were returning, snow began to fall heavily, and 
 the consequence was we came unawares upon a large 
 body of the enemy. They were all of them mounted 
 and were headed by a chief on a magnificent black 
 horse. As soon as they saw us, they raised a fierce 
 shout and dashed at us at a gallop. So swift was their 
 approach that my men had just time to give them a 
 volley from their carbines and to level their lances, 
 when they swept upon us like a whirlwind, and sur- 
 rounded us on all sides, cutting, thrusting, and hewing 
 at us with the fury of demons. Though my men 
 were outnumbered, ten to one, they fought with des- 
 perate valour, for they knew that no quarter would 
 be given them. As if by mutual consent, the chief on 
 the black horse and I singled each other out, but the 
 press was so great that after we had exchanged a cut 
 or two we were separated. Twice we succeeded in 
 cutting our way through the Turcoman host, only to 
 find ourselves surrounded again, and our condition 
 began to look hopeless indeed. Numbers of the enemy, 
 it is true, had fallen, but 'we had also lost heavily, and 
 could ill afford to do so. My sword arm became so 
 tired that I could hardly raise it, and all my men were 
 suffering either from wounds or exhaustion. Still we 
 fought on, hoping against hope, that the discharge of 
 our carbines might be heard from our camp and 
 
156 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 assistance be sent to us. Whilst I was defending 
 myself against another man, the Turcoman chief 
 attacked me again, and aimed a terrible cut at my 
 head. I saw it coming, and tried to parry it, but 
 ineffectually. My guard was beaten down, and the 
 blow descended on me, inflicting the wound you see, 
 and knocking me from my saddle. The chief was 
 about to finish me off with another stroke, when one 
 of my men ran him through the body with his lance. 
 I recollect nothing more about the affair, except that 
 I found myself in our camp hospital the next day, 
 with my head aching terribly, and covered with dressings 
 and bandages ; our firing, it seems, had been heard, and 
 a rescue sent, but only just in time, for my little band 
 had been reduced to fifteen men, not one of whom 
 was unwounded." 
 
 Some days after this conversation we got leave ta 
 go to Paratchin. My friend was very fond of riding, 
 and tried hard to borrow a couple of horses for the 
 occasion. However, he was unsuccessful, and was 
 grievously disappointed thereat I expressed much 
 sympathy with him, but really felt much relieved, for I 
 was by no means a good horseman. However, we 
 managed to borrow a dingy-looking, but comfortable 
 open carriage, which actually boasted of good springs, 
 and left the camp in it one morning, amidst the envious 
 remarks of our brother officers and the admiring 
 criticisms of the men. When we were about four miles 
 from Paratchin, we were overtaken by three officers 
 
COLONEL BRAGG AGAIN. 157 
 
 on horseback, one of whom proved to be the young 
 man who bore so striking a resemblance to Marie ! 
 He looked into our carriage as he passed, and as 
 our eyes met he blushed to his temples, and hurriedly 
 returning our salutation, turned his face away, and 
 putting spurs to his horse galloped off. 
 
 " What a shy-looking young fellow that is ! " said 
 Savrimovitch. " He looks more like a girl than a man, 
 doesn't he ? Still he rides well." 
 
 "IVe seen him before somewhere," said I. 
 
 " Do you know anything about him ? " 
 
 " Nothing," was the reply. 
 
 On arriving at Paratchin, we told the driver to go to 
 the best hotel, and he took us to one called the Kneas 
 Serbski (Servian Prince.) 
 
 We went into the coffee-room, which was crowded with 
 Servian soldiers and officers, feeding and smoking, and 
 ordered a substantial dinner. Whilst we were waiting 
 for it to be served, who should I see, extended on a 
 bench by the wall, but my distinguished Belgrade 
 acquaintance. Colonel Bragg, of dog-slaying and swear- 
 ing celebrity ! 
 
 Although I was not one of that hero's admirers, I 
 was concerned to see that he looked pale and miserable, 
 and leaving my seat for a moment, I went up to the 
 colonel, and saluting him, expressed a hope that he was 
 
 well. 
 
 " Who the are you? Ah, I know ! The little doctor 
 
 who came to see me in a pair of d d stupid India- 
 
158 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 rubber boots ; I hope you are better than I am. I'm 
 d d bad I can tell you ! " 
 
 " What is the matter, sir ? " said I. " Perhaps I can 
 do something for you ? " 
 
 "I don't know what's the matter, doctor," said he, 
 " but I've been d d ill this last ten days. Rheuma- 
 tism, gout, or some kind of fever or another. It was 
 a confounded shame to send me to the front ; I'm not 
 fit for it." 
 
 " Let's look at your tongue," said I. 
 
 " No, I sha'n't," said he, "what good will that do? All 
 I want is to keep quiet." Then raising himself on his 
 elbow, and drawing me closer to him, he said in a 
 whisper, *' I say, doctor, couldn't you give me a certificate 
 to the effect that I am too ill to go to the front? I'm 
 
 d d fond of fighting," here he gave a sickly smile, 
 
 **but I'm not fit to go. These mulligrubs, you know, 
 are the very devil; they are playing old Harry with me." 
 Before I could reply a loud and wrathful exclamation 
 from Savrimovitch startled me. Turning round I saw 
 him, his face crimson with fury, seize a wine bottle by 
 the neck and fling it with all his force at the head of 
 one of the waiters. The bottle struck the man on the 
 back of the head and smashed into a thousand pieces, 
 deluging him with its contents, and sending a shower 
 of wine and pieces of glass over several of the 
 tables. 
 
 Immediately the whole place became a pandemonium. 
 Every one sprang to his feet, tables were overturned, and 
 
A DESPERATE ROW. 159 
 
 plates and dishes fell clattering and smashing on to the 
 floor. Swords leaped from their scabbards, and the air 
 resounded with oaths and imprecations, and in place of 
 a party of merry fellows enjoying their dinners, one 
 could see nothing but angry faces and bristling weapons 
 and general confusion. 
 
 In the middle of all this turmoil stood Savrimovitch, 
 sword in hand, defying the tempest he had raised with 
 angry, scornful contempt and jibing temper. 
 
 Though I inwardly cursed his hasty temper, it was 
 impossible for me to leave him in this pickle, so quickly 
 drawing my cutlass I placed myself alongside of him, 
 and looked terrific things at the wrathful mob that sur- 
 rounded us. 
 
 For about a second we faced one another ; then, as if 
 with one accord, they rushed at us. I was overwhelmed 
 with a storm of blows, knocked down, and my sword 
 forced out of my hand. I recollect struggling desperately 
 to get up and receiving another blow on the head. 
 After that a faint, giddy feeling came over me, and I lost 
 consciousness. When I came to, it was to find myself 
 in a darkened room, with a very vague idea of what had 
 taken place or of where I was. In the middle of my 
 speculations on these two points, I was disturbed by the 
 flash of a light and the sound of footsteps entering the 
 room, and looking up saw the young Bulgarian oflicer 
 who so much reminded me of Marie, accompanied by 
 Doctor Yermaylaff Giggleivitch. 
 
 A half-muttered exclamation from me brought the 
 
i6o ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 young officer to my bedside, with clasped hands and a 
 look of the most anxious interest in his face. 
 
 "I am so glad, sir," said he, ''to find you better. I 
 trust that you are not suffering much pain." 
 
 Convinced that this young man was no other than 
 Marie, I foolishly said — 
 
 " I am ever so much better already, and if you will 
 only come and see me every day, Marie, I shall soon be 
 well again." 
 
 But I had not finished the sentence before I saw the 
 mistake I had made. The young officer drew himself 
 up stiffly, and said with a frown — 
 
 "My name, sir, is Milosch Darvorin;" and then turning 
 to the doctor, added, " I thought that he was better, 
 but he is still delirious. Had we not better leave 
 him?" 
 
 Agonized at the thought of having offended one to 
 please whom I would have given worlds, I exclaimed — 
 
 " Yes, I am delirious ; I don't know what I am saying. 
 I assure you, sir, that I am a miserable fool, who having 
 but little sense to begin with has now lost that little. I 
 trust, therefore " (here 1 cast an imploring glance at the 
 young officer), ** that you will not take offence at any- 
 thing I may have said." At this pathetic appeal both 
 the doctor and the young officer laughed ; the former, 
 however, suddenly checking his merriment, came to the 
 side of the bed and said drily — 
 
 " I quite agree with you, sir, as to your having no 
 sense, and unless you keep perfectly quiet you'll have 
 
IN HOSPITAL. i6i 
 
 no life either. Not another word, sir; your recovery 
 and my reputation, which I have staked upon it, depend 
 on your having complete rest and keeping silence." 
 With these words Dr. Giggleivitch and his companion 
 left the room, and I was again alone and in darkness. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MY mind was still in a considerable muddle, and 
 when I was left to myself I pondered hazily over 
 what Marie or rather Milosch Darvorin and that con- 
 founded Dr. Giggleivitch had said to me, when all at 
 once I began to wonder what had become of Savrimo- 
 vitch. When I last saw him, he was fighting desperately 
 by my side, and after that my recollection failed 
 me. 
 
 I was afraid he might be dead, and felt terribly 
 uneasy and anxious about him. Luckily, however, for 
 my peace of mind, Dr. Giggleivitch came into my room 
 again, and I seized the opportunity and asked him about 
 my friend. 
 
 " I told you not to talk just now, sir," said he, sternly, 
 and without answering my question. 
 
 " Yes, I know you did, doctor, but I must know ; for 
 Heaven's sake tell me what has become of Alexis 
 Savrimovitch, and I promise I won't talk any more." 
 
 "He's alive, and doing very well; drink this ; " and he 
 gave me a filthy draught of some sort, and walked out 
 of the room again. 
 
 My mind was relieved, and when I awoke next 
 
CONTRITION OF SAVRIMOVITCH. 163 
 
 morning I felt refreshed and much better. But I had 
 received such a mauling that I could not leave my bed 
 for a week. I had three nasty scalp wounds and a 
 sabre cut across my forehead, which I am afraid will 
 permanently mar my beauty. I was not allowed to see 
 Savrimovitch for some while, but one day he stalked into 
 my room, looking very pale and handsome, and with his 
 left arm in a sling. I was sitting up in bed, a still more 
 dilapidated-looking object. 
 
 " My dear Alfred," said he, in a voice full of emotion, 
 " can you forgive me for having brought all this trouble 
 upon you?" 
 
 " My dear boy," said I, quite distressed to see him so 
 moved, "you have nothing to reproach yourself with. 
 The Servians are the most quarrelsome and cantankerous 
 set of fellows I ever came across." 
 
 " No, it was my fault entirely," said he. " I ought 
 not to have got into such a rage with the waiter, but I 
 had called on the fellow twenty times to serve us, and he 
 paid no attention, and went on attending to everybody 
 else first — at least, so it seemed to me. Then I got 
 angry, and spoke sharply to him, and he had the. 
 audacity to tell me I must wait my turn ! Confound 
 the fellow's impudence ! I feel warm when I think of 
 it;" and the peppery Alexis stamped his foot and got 
 into quite a passion at the recollection of it. 
 
 " Well," said I, " and what happened then ? " 
 
 " Why, I lost my temper, and threw a bottle of wine 
 at him, which smashed into a thousand pieces, and flew 
 
1 64 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 all over the Servians, who were all on the grin, and made 
 them laugh the wrong side of their mouths." 
 
 "And then?" 
 
 "Then they made a great show of jumping to their 
 feet and drawing their swords, so I called them a lot of 
 cowardly Turkish slaves, and told them to come on if 
 they dared. And the rest you know " 
 
 " But what happened after I was cut down ? " 
 
 '* Cut down ! You weren't cut down at all ; you were 
 knocked down with a chair, and I shared the same 
 ignominious fate ; the same blackguard did for us both. 
 He smashed my sword blade into twenty pieces, and 
 broke my arm with the same disgusting weapon. I wish 
 I had the chair-wielding scoundrel here, and my sword 
 at his throat, I'd teach him a lesson ! " 
 
 The entry of a servant with our dinner put an agree- 
 able end to the conversation. I was not sorry, for 
 Savrimovitch was getting so excited that I almost feared 
 another outbreak on his part. 
 
 After this we were allowed to share the same room, 
 and both made rapid strides towards recovery. Every 
 now and then we received a visit from some of our 
 brother officers at the camp, and one day the Count 
 Ren^ came to see us. 
 
 " Ah, young fire-eaters ! " he said, after shaking hands 
 with us, '* this sort of thing won't do at all ; you will be 
 giving the brigade quite a bad name. The colonel was 
 very vexed when he heard of your little escapade here. 
 Tell me all about it." 
 
VISIT FROM COUNT RENi:. 165 
 
 When the count heard our story, he twirled his little 
 shadowy yellow moustache, and said that he did not 
 think we were altogether to blame, " only," he added, 
 " I really do think that an Englishman and a Russian 
 ought to have given a better account of those Servians. 
 By the way, M. Wright," he went on to say, " I have a 
 newspaper here which contains an extract which may 
 probably interest you ; " and with his eyes twinkling with 
 merriment he took from his pocket an English news- 
 paper and handed it to me. It was a copy of the 
 Daily Courier, in which was the following paragraph : — 
 
 "Fiendish Servian Atrocity. — It is my painful duty 
 to have to record the following fiendish outrage which 
 was perpetrated by a party of Servian marauders on a 
 wounded Turkish soldier. I can vouch for the truth of 
 the incident. On the — inst. the Turkish advanced 
 posts near Jubovac discovered that a cottage close to 
 their position was in the hands of the Servians. Captain 
 Hussein Avni, and half a company of the — battalion, 
 instantly attacked and drove out the enemy, not, however, 
 without loss, for the gallant captain was severely wounded 
 in the leg. On entering the cottage, the soldiers found 
 the senseless body of one of their comrades stretched on 
 the floor. The poor fellow was most shockingly muti- 
 lated. Not content with slicing off his upper lip, the 
 barbarians had committed the atrocity of drilling a hole 
 in his skull. The indignation excited throughout the 
 army by this piece of devilment is extreme, and we hear 
 that Adul Kerim has ^^Vi\.z. parlementaire, with a strongly- 
 
i66 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 worded remonstrance on the subject to the Servian 
 headquarters." 
 
 This atrocious paragraph overwhelmed me with con- 
 sternation and dismay. I had hoped and expected that 
 my careful treatment of our Turkish captive's wounds 
 would have gained me no little kudos, instead of which 
 it was looked upon as a blood-curdling instance of Bashi- 
 Bazoukism, and I was described as a diabolical monster. 
 
 The paper fell from my hands, and I gazed alternately 
 at the count and Alexis in utter bewilderment. My 
 friends did not sympathise with me. On the contrary, 
 they burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter, which 
 completed my discomfiture and mortification. 
 
 "Confound it all! What are you laughing at?" 
 cried I, beside myself with rage. My anger increased 
 their merriment, and they laughed until the tears ran down 
 their cheeks. I felt a strong inclination to quarrel with 
 them for their ill-timed hilarity, but I reflected in time that 
 laughter is a physiological process, which as often as not 
 takes place quite independent of the will. Something 
 tickles that part of the nervous organisation which 
 corresponds with the fancy, and a peculiar stimulus is 
 reflected to the diaphragm, and causes it to move spasmo- 
 dically, in such a way that the air is jerked from the 
 larynx with an asinine ha ! ha ! hee ! hee ! hau ! hau ! 
 sound. The thought that I had set these doughty 
 Russian warriors braying like a couple of asses more 
 than atoned for the want of sympathy they had shown 
 me. I folded my arms, and awaited their return to 
 
GOOD NEWS. 167 
 
 gravity with the most perfect equanimity. Of course 
 they were profuse in their apologies, which, however, I 
 assured them were quite unnecessary, for their laughter 
 had afforded me the greatest possible amusement. 
 
 Before he went. Count Rene informed us that he had 
 some grand news. 
 
 '' What is it ? " we asked. 
 
 " Next week the brigade is to join Horvatovitch's army. 
 That means that we shall have some fighting directly, for 
 Horvatovitch is a fighting fellow. What do you say to 
 that, boys ? " 
 
 At this delightful piece of intelligence we both gave 
 a loud hurrah. Alexis fell on the count's neck and 
 kissed him, and I executed a warlike and spirited/«j seul 
 on the floor of the ward. 
 
 Our enthusiasm greatly pleased the count, and he 
 bade us adieu with a sweet smile on his weather-beaten 
 countenance. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The count's invigorating news, combined with Dr. 
 Giggleivitch's skilful treatment and disagreeable prescrip- 
 tions, soon completed my restoration to health, so that 
 within a week of the visit of the former we were back 
 again at Deligrad. 
 
 The day after our return our brigade received orders 
 to march to Jubovac, when we occupied the ground that 
 Colonel Philipovitch's men had held, and we were con- 
 sequently in full view of that never-to-be-forgotten cottage 
 of hateful memory. For the first few days at Jubovac 
 the weather was terribly bad. The sun was invisible, 
 and the rain came down in torrents, and mud and slush 
 prevailed everywhere. Sometimes on waking in the 
 morning, I found myself half smothered in a pool of 
 water which had collected in the depression made by my 
 weight in the soft soil. To add to my discomfort, Savri- 
 movitch, who up to this time had shared his waterproof 
 with me, was appointed adjutant to the brigade, and now 
 seldom slept in our part of the camp. It is not very 
 surprising, therefore, that I began to suffer from ague. 
 Several of the Russians, however, regarded my seediness 
 as a proof of their theory that Englishmen might be 
 
A BULGARIAN VOLUNTEER. 
 
 To face p. i68.] 
 
SHORT COMMONS. 169 
 
 brave, but had no stamina, and one of them had the 
 assurance to tell me so to my face. I determined, if pos- 
 sible, to cure myself straight away, and with that object 
 in view I stirred a whole teaspoonful of quinine into a 
 wineglass full of Raki, and tossed the mixture off. 
 Heavens ! what a bitter draught it was, and what a head- 
 ache it gave me ! However, it answered its purpose, and 
 cured me for the time being of ague. 
 
 Besides the wet, we had every now and then to put up 
 with very short commons in the way of provisions, due, I 
 suppose, to some temporary breakdown in the Commis- 
 sariat Department. More than once the only dinner I 
 got during the day was a piece of bread and a roasted 
 onion, supplemented with a dessert of acorns and wild 
 honey, luxuries with which the oak forest surrounding us 
 abounded. As if to tantahze us, the peasants used to 
 drive their herds of swine into these forests, where the 
 herbage and fallen berries supplied them with plenty of 
 fattening food. 
 
 For the protection of these precious pigs Colonel 
 Horvatovitch had issued the most stringent regulations. 
 They were private property — so went his decree — and 
 the troops were forbidden to touch them, under the 
 severest pains and penalties. In spite of these threats, 
 of which, at the time, I knew nothing, pigs were 
 mysteriously murdered and pork surreptitiously devoured 
 almost every day in some part or other of the camp. 
 
 The peasants became clamorous about their slaughtered 
 swine, and Horvatovitch, in a rage, instituted pig-protect- 
 
I70 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 ing patrols, and vowed that he would hang the first pig- 
 sticker who fell into his clutches. 
 
 One day, when we had been particularly badly off for 
 food, Savrimovitch, Mouravioff, and I went for a stroll 
 into the woods. We were all very hungry, and I, at 
 least, was in blissful ignorance of the commander's pig- 
 protecting pronunciamento. We were sauntering along 
 quietly under the shade of the trees, when the grunting 
 of a porker greeted our ears. We exchanged significant 
 glances, my friends, doubtless, thinking of the regulations, 
 whilst I smacked my lips in anticipation of a delicious 
 meal of roast pork with crackling. The next moment a 
 luscious spectacle burst upon our enraptured gaze ! Two 
 fat pigs, in the very pink of condition for eating, and 
 with the curliest of tails, trotted into view, and with a 
 series of happy and contented grunts, commenced 
 muzzling and guzzling amongst the roots and berries 
 that lay about them. The prospect of crackling over- 
 came me ! In the twinkling of an eye I had raised my 
 rifle to my shoulder, and sent a bullet through the head 
 of the nearest. I sprang forward with i shout of triumph 
 to secure my prey, and laughingly called on Alexis and 
 Mouravioff to assist me, but neither of them stirred. 
 
 "Heavens, M. Wright !" said Alexis, "what have 
 you done ? " 
 
 " Have you not heard fire-eating Horvatovitch's pro- 
 clamation of death to the pig-slayer ? " said Mouravioff. 
 
 " Murder !" said I. " You don't mean to say that it 
 is forbidden to kill pigs ? " 
 
fVE DISPOSE OF THE PIG, 171 
 
 ** I should rather think it is," was the reply. 
 
 " Well, but what would you have me do ? " said I, in 
 an agony. " We surely must not leave that lovely 
 carcase there to waste ? " 
 
 "Well, no," said my friends, who also cast longing* 
 glances at it. " It would be a pity to waste it." 
 
 " Wait a bit," said Mouravioff. " I'll tell you what 
 will be the best thing to do. Issue invitations to all the 
 officers you know to a supper party this evening ; get as 
 many others in the same hunt with yourself, and you'll 
 find it will end all right. The general won't like to 
 punish a score of officers just on the eve of a 
 battle." 
 
 The idea seemed to me a good one, so I agreed to 
 adopt it. Meanwhile we covered the beautiful body 
 with leaves in a most artful manner, so that no one 
 would suspect there was a dead pig there, and on our 
 return to camp we directed the handy Yenko to the 
 spot, and commissioned him to cut up the pig and bring 
 it back piece-meal. The astute mannikin succeeded in 
 doing this without being discovered, and we then issued 
 our invitations. About twenty Russian officers, in- 
 cluding Counts Tiesenhausen, Rene, and Baron Kleist 
 accepted, and we made a most excellent supper and 
 spent a most enjoyable evening. The next morning, 
 however, whilst I was performing the usual apology for 
 a toilet, an officer, with a guard of soldiers at his back, 
 came up to the tent, and politely requested me to 
 accompany him to the headquarters. I asked him if 
 
172 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 he would be good enough to wait while I beautified 
 myself for the occasion. He consented, so I made 
 Yenko give my boots, which had not been off my feet 
 for nearly a week, a good greasing (blacking was an 
 •unknown luxury in the camp), and put a respectable- 
 looking piece of pink twine to my eyeglass in place of 
 the original black silk cord which had been reduced by 
 hard wear to a disreputable little chain of knots about 
 eighteen inches in length. Moreover, bad weather and 
 rough usage having caused the shedding of most of my 
 buttons, I deemed it advisable to make my pantaloons 
 secure with some stout string, and then distributed my 
 scanty allowance of water for washing as judiciously as 
 possible over my face and hands. These arrangements 
 completed, I bade a dignified farewell to the friends who 
 crowded around, and signifying my readiness to depart 
 to the officer, drew myself up to my full height and 
 strode off with them, erect and calm. 
 
 Close to headquarters we passed a party of soldiers 
 leading away two prisoners, whose hands were pinioned 
 behind their backs. 
 
 "Hulloh!" said I to my guide, "what have those 
 fellows been up to ? " 
 
 " Killing pigs, monsieur," was the reply. 
 
 " And what's their punishment to be ? " inquired I, 
 wincing slightly. 
 
 " I believe they are to be hanged, monsieur," said 
 the officer, blandly ; " but I am not sure, or it is possible 
 that they will be shot." 
 
/ AM COURT-MARTIALED. 173 
 
 " Confound it all ! " exclaimed I, much startled ; 
 " you don't really mean that ? " 
 
 " Yes, monsieur, that is what I have heard," said the 
 officer. " The general is determined to make examples 
 of the next pig-killers he catches, but here we are ! " 
 
 The headquarters were estabHshed in a large bam, 
 which at this moment was thronged with officers, some of 
 whom were seated at a table, and seemed to constitute 
 the court martial, whilst others were merely lookers-on. 
 At the head of the table stood a heavily-bearded man 
 of immense stature, fully six feet six in height. His 
 strongly marked but handsome features were flushed, and 
 his blue eyes glittered with anger as I entered, and I 
 noticed with concern that he utterly ignored my salute. 
 
 This indignant giant was General Horvatovitch, the 
 biggest and bravest man in the Servian army, and a very 
 stern disciplinarian. 
 
 I saw that I was in a desperate scrape, but I cannot 
 say that I felt very much dismayed ; on the contrary, the 
 unique and critical position in which I was placed 
 seemed to offer me an excellent opportunity of distin- 
 guishing myself, of which I resolved to take full advan- 
 tage. For a few moments the conclave of officers 
 maintained a low-voiced conversation amongst themselves, 
 in Servian or Russian, of which I understood nothing, 
 and I availed myself of the interval to prepare for what 
 was coming. In the first place, I arranged myself in an 
 attitude that I thought was dignified, easy, and respectful, 
 and assumed an extremely affable expression of counte- 
 
174 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 nance. I contrived also to examine the piece of string, 
 and the button which supported my pantaloons. I 
 thought they "gave" a little, but to my relief they 
 seemed to be all right. Then I waited calmly for the 
 general to speak. 
 
 " What is your name, sir ? " said he at last. 
 
 *' Your highness," said I (I addressed him as highness 
 partly to display my pleasant humour, and partly out of 
 compliment to his great height), " my name is Alfred 
 Wright." 
 
 " You are an Englishman ? " quoth he. 
 
 " I am proud and happy to say that I am, your 
 highness," said I. 
 
 "You are charged, sir, with shooting a pig, the 
 property of Jovan Jovanovitch, and stealing its carcase, 
 whereby you have been guilty of disobedience of orders, — 
 a crime which, in time of war, is punishable by death, — 
 and also of looting. What have you to say in reply ? " 
 
 " Your highness " replied L 
 
 "Why, in the fiend's name, do you call me 'your 
 highness,' man ? " 
 
 " Because your highness is such a great man," replied 
 I, with pleasant significance. 
 
 " Pooh ! what does he mean ? " said he, turning 
 angrily to some of the officers beside him. 
 
 These officers, however, seemed as dense at perceiving 
 the exquisite humour of the joke as he was himself, and 
 shook their heads. 
 
 " Your highness," continued I, with grave and emphatic 
 
I DEFEND MYSELF ELOQUENTLY. 175 
 
 solemnity, and drawing myself up as well as the tether- 
 ings of my nether garments would allow me, "I am 
 deeply grieved if in anything I have done I have given 
 offence, but I pray you to believe that I have always felt 
 the most benevolent wishes and the best intentions 
 towards the people of this country. When I knew them 
 to be hard pressed by the Turks, I flew vi et armis to 
 their rescue, and when again I beheld my brethren in 
 arms suffering the pangs of hunger, I, at great personal 
 risk and inconvenience, slew a pig and provided them 
 with food." 
 
 "Saints preserve us ! " exclaimed Horvatovitch, banging 
 the table with his fist with angry impatience, " what is 
 the man chattering about ? " 
 
 "This is all very fine, sir," said another officer, "but 
 be good enough to keep to the point." 
 
 I was a little surprised at the general's discourteous 
 interruption, but replied, 
 
 " That is the point, sir." 
 
 " Do you mean to tell me," cried the general, " that 
 you think it right to disobey orders in the teeth of the 
 enemy, and kill another man's cattle ? " 
 
 " Your highness will pardon me," repHed I, poHtely, 
 " if I have failed to regard the matter from the same 
 elevated point of view as yourself" I then went on to 
 say that I had never heard of the order, and that I did 
 not know that the pig was any one's property, it looked 
 to me like a young wild boar. This statement was 
 received with a loud and rude burst of laughter. 
 
176 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 I drew myself up to my full height, and looking 
 defiantly round, was about to launch forth into an 
 impassioned and eloquent attack on my ill-bred perse- 
 cutors, when to my utter and irretrievable confusion the 
 strain caused by my upright position proved too much 
 for the wretched button that supported my pantaloons, 
 and it gave way, and they immediately became so 
 uncomfortably loose that I required all my wits to keep 
 them together. 
 
 Fortunately for me, Counts R^n^ and Tiesenhausen 
 came to my aid at the critical moment, and bore witness 
 in very flattering terms to my character and capacity as a 
 medical officer. Their remarks were vehemently seconded 
 and applauded by Savrimovitch, Baron Kleist, Prince 
 Obolenski, and other Russians present, and ultimately the 
 general let me oft with a slight reprimand and a recom- 
 mendation to restrict my abilities for the future to the 
 slaughtering of Turks instead of Servian swine. 
 
 On leaving his highness's presence I was escorted to 
 my quarters by a large party of friends, who overwhelmed 
 me with kind and enthusiastic congratulations, and the 
 evening was spent in uproarious festivity. 
 
 We did not separate until a vast quantity of weak wine, 
 weaker tea, and still weaker coffee had been consumed, 
 and the hands of our watches indicated the near 
 approach of midnight. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 WHEN our party had broken up, Alexis Savrimo- 
 vitch came up to me and said, "There is 
 mischief in the wind, Alfred; we shall have a battle to- 
 morrow. Just after your trial was over an orderly 
 galloped up to Horvatovitch with despatches from 
 General Tchemaieff, and immediately afterwards there 
 was a grand hurrying and scurrying about of the com- 
 manding officers ! " 
 
 " I hope we shall go under fire together ! " said I. 
 
 "Well spoken, dear friend," replied Alexis, pressing 
 my hand. "If my duties as aide-de-camp do not call 
 me elsewhere, it will be as you say." 
 
 For a moment he was silent, then turning to me again, 
 he said in a low voice, — 
 
 •* Let us say a prayer together, Alfred. I have a 
 strong presentiment that to-morrow will be a fatal day 
 for me, and I would ask the Almighty to enable me 
 to do my duty well and bravely as a good Russian 
 should." 
 
 " If it is a fatal day for you, it shall also be fatal for 
 me," I replied, speaking with real emotion ; " but I 
 cannot believe that either of us will fall yet — indeed, I 
 
178 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 feel convinced that we shall both be spared to lead good 
 and useful lives." 
 
 "Maybe I am wrong," said Alexis, gravely, "but 
 something tells me to prepare for death." 
 
 We then knelt down, and each in turn offered up a 
 short petition to Heaven to watch over and protect us 
 throughout the coming day, and to enable us to die, 
 if need be, as brave Christian soldiers should. Then, 
 as the night was rather chilly, for there was an east 
 wind blowing, we stirred up the fire, threw a few more 
 logs on it, and lay down in convenient proximity, to 
 share the one waterproof we possessed between us. 
 We endeavoured to go to sleep. Alexis, however, was 
 restless and uneasy, and could not settle down. A 
 few minutes after we had wished each other bon repos 
 he gave so violent a start that he roused me imme- 
 diately. I saw that he was sitting up, and staring, with 
 an expression of intense alarm, at some object on my 
 right. Following the direction of his eyes, I was just 
 in time to see what looked like a black dog scurry 
 away into the darkness with a dismal howl. 
 
 " The omen ! the harbinger of death ! " exclaimed 
 Alexis in an awestruck tone. 
 
 " Nonsense, Alexis ! " said I; " it is simply a starving 
 black cur that has been attracted by the smell of our 
 supper." 
 
 Savrimovitch shook his head gloomily. In a second 
 or two he said, " I tell you, Alfred, I believe that 
 to be a supernatural appearance, to warn me of my 
 
SAVRIMOVITCH HAS PRESENTIMENTS. 179 
 
 death. Such an apparition has always been seen 
 before a Savrimovitch dies, and I am the only surviving 
 son of an only son ; but," continued he, resolutely setting 
 his teeth together, "if the arch-fiend himself were to 
 appear and roar my doom in my ears, he should not 
 hinder me from doing my duty to-morrow ! What do you 
 think," said he, rising to his feet and stretching himself, 
 -'* of a cigarette and a cup of coffee? I sha'n't sleep at 
 all to-night !" 
 
 " With all my heart," said I, rising too. 
 Now, though I do not consider myself to be at all 
 superstitious, and have no faith in ghost stories, yet the 
 air of conviction with which Alexis spoke, the darkness 
 of the night, and the silence around us, broken only by 
 the moaning of the east wind among the trees, awed 
 me, and I shivered with fear. 
 
 However, cigarettes and coffee soon dispersed these 
 uncomfortable sensations, and in a few minutes we 
 were chatting pleasantly together. Then we carefully 
 inspected the condition of our weapons, oiled the locks 
 of our revolvers, and tried the edges of our blades. 
 
 After this I became terribly weary, and gradually and 
 unconsciously dropped off to sleep. I know that I 
 intended to keep awake the rest of the night, and shall 
 regret to my dying day that I failed in my endeavour. 
 That was our last evening together! Savrimovitch 's 
 forebodings of the coming day were, alas ! only too 
 thoroughly realized. 
 
 When I had been asleep I daresay about a couple 
 
i8o ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 of hours, I was roused by someone shaking me and 
 saying,— 
 
 "Levez-vous, monsieur, nous allons attaquer les 
 Tares!" 
 
 I sat up immediately, and rubbing my eyes, looked 
 around. It was still quite dark, but by the flickering 
 firelight I could perceive that the whole camp was 
 astir. Savrimovitch was lying beside me, fairly tired 
 out at last Hke myself, so I awoke him. He sprang 
 to his feet in a second, all life and activity, without a 
 trace of the anxiety and apprehensions which he had 
 displayed on the previous evening on his handsome 
 face. 
 
 As it was the intention of Horvatovitch, if possible, 
 to surprise the Turks, strict silence was kept in the 
 camp. No bugles were sounded ; no talking was 
 allowed in the ranks. Even the officers spoke to one 
 another in an undertone. To me the sight of so many 
 hundreds of armed men, assembling noiselessly together 
 in the cold, dark morning to do battle for their country, 
 was deeply impressive. 
 
 Just before marching, the commanding officer of each 
 battalion read out a short and pithy speech from Colonel 
 Medvedovski. 
 
 He trusted the soldiers would do their duty that day 
 in a manner worthy of their country and the great 
 Sclav race. 
 
 " The first man," we heard, " that lays his hand on a 
 Turkish cannon shall receive forty ducats reward, and 
 
THE MARCH. i8i 
 
 the cross of the Takovo; but the coward and run- 
 away is hereby sentenced to death." I have omitted 
 to state that on going to the place where I had left my 
 rifle on the preceding evening, I found, to my un- 
 speakable dismay, that it had disappeared ! Some 
 patriotic scamp, who had damaged or lost his own, 
 had appropriated it. 
 
 Whilst I was searching for it the order came to 
 march ; seeing, therefore, a rifle that apparently had no 
 owner lying on the ground, I snatched it up and took 
 my place beside Baron Kleist and Mouraviofl". Alexis 
 Savrimovitch was close by, mounted on a magnificent 
 bay charger, and right noble he looked as he reined 
 in and checked the ardour of the spirited creature. 
 
 Whilst the other battalions were moving off", and we 
 were waiting our turn to follow, he suddenly beckoned 
 me to him, and putting his arm round my neck gave 
 me a kiss, and slipped the locket I had seen him wear 
 and a paper with an address on it into my hand, saying, — 
 
 " If I fall, beloved friend, send the locket to the 
 address on the paper. Adieu ! " and he rode off into 
 the gloom. 
 
 A minute after we formed fours, and the order was 
 given to march. Knowing that the Turkish position 
 was distant only two miles or thereabouts, I expected 
 that we should very soon have been at them. But 
 hour after hour we plodded on, until we must have 
 covered quite fifteen miles. 
 
 I afterwards understood that the object of this wide 
 
1 82 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 detour was to make an attack upon the Turks, simul- 
 taneously in flank and rear. The road we followed 
 lay across a very hilly and thickly wooded country, 
 indeed, the whole way, we were either climbing hills or 
 descending into valleys, or passing through forests. 
 
 Soon after we started day began to break, and the 
 sunrise that followed was a superb and gorgeous 
 spectacle. The whole eastern sky was a sea of crimson 
 and gold, in which floated a number of island-like 
 cloudlets of the most lovely tints. The tops and ridges 
 of the mountains were capped and streaked with 
 radiant light, and the foliage, on which sparkled 
 myriads of diamond-like dewdrops, looked so tempt- 
 ingly fresh and beautiful that my heart thrilled with 
 delight as I gazed on the enchanting scene. As we 
 surmounted the crest of a hill, I observed with satis- 
 faction that we formed part of a very large force. As 
 far as the eye could reach in front and rear, the sun 
 glittered on the bayonets of our column as it wound its 
 way right athwart the landscape. 
 
 About this time it occurred to me to look at my 
 rifle, which was a Peabody. To my great disgust I 
 found that the lever which jerks open the breech was 
 broken. The weapon was consequently useless, so I 
 threw it into a tumbril and trudged along, armed only 
 with my cutlass, revolver, and surgical instruments. 
 The cutlass rather impeded my movements by flapping 
 against my legs, so I unhooked it from my belt, tucked 
 it under my arm, and got on much better. 
 
THE FIRING BEGINS. 183 
 
 Suddenly, soon after sunrise, we heard a rattling 
 musketry fire far away on our left. 
 
 " Bravo ! " exclaimed Baron Kleist, " there goes 
 Tchernaieff ! He's tackling the Turks in front, and we are 
 to take them on the rear, and smash them up entirely ! " 
 
 " Do you think we shall beat them easily ? " asked I. 
 
 " Bah, I should think so ! " said Bernadski, who 
 happened to be close by ; " it will be a walk over for us. 
 They'll run like rabbits ! " 
 
 " They won't show much fight then," said I, rather 
 disappointed. 
 
 " They'll be massacred if they do," replied he. " We 
 shall beat them as easily as we used to beat the Turco- 
 mans in Asia ; they are all the same lot." 
 
 Meanwhile the sound of the firing increased until it 
 swelled into a roar as rapid and incessant as the rolling 
 of kettledrums, and the thunder of artillery now added 
 to the din as gun after gun boomed in quick succession. 
 The field of action was completely hidden from our 
 view by a range of hills, but above these thick clouds of 
 white smoke began to rise. 
 
 " How many men do you suppose are engaged now? '^ 
 I asked. 
 
 '* About 60,000" replied Von Kleist. "Tchernaieff 
 has 30,000 and the Turks as many, and they are pounding 
 away at one another with about 120 cannon ! " 
 
 '* The Turks are not running away yet ! " said I, hope- 
 fully, because I still longed to see a little fighting. 
 
 "No, but they will directly," replied Bernadski. 
 
1 84 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 " They are firing as hard as they can to keep their 
 spirits up, always a last resource of bad troops. By 
 St. Michael, we'll make mincemeat of them if they have 
 not bolted by the time we arrive ! " 
 
 " And how many of us may there be ? " I asked. 
 
 •* About 20,000 and 40 guns." 
 
 " By Jove, it won't be a bad battle ! " I exclaimed 
 enthusiastically, as I thought with pride of the yarns I 
 would spin to my friends at the hospital and my com- 
 rades in the 37 th Middlesex. 
 
 For quite two hours after the firing had begun we 
 continued marching steadily in a line, parallel with the 
 range of hills which shielded us from the battle. The 
 column then turned rather sharply to the left and 
 entered a thick forest 
 
 By this time some of the Servians showed signs of get- 
 ting fagged, and began to lag behind ; and though I was 
 fresh enough myself, still the boots I was wearing, those 
 Mihailoff gave me, galled my ankles, and I stopped once 
 or twice to ease them. 
 
 " Hulloh, Mr. Englishman ! " shouted a young 
 Russian, seeing me do this, " tired already ! You 
 Britons knock up very easily ! " 
 
 " I am no more tired than you are," retorted I, indig- 
 nantly; and to show him that I meant what I said, I 
 leapt over the trunk of a fallen tree that lay a litde on 
 the side of the path ; " I'll bet you half a ducat that you 
 won't do that, my boy ! " 
 
 The young Muscovite accepted the wager. He was 
 
IV£: PREPARE TO ATTACK. 185 
 
 both taller and more powerfully built than I, but much 
 less nimble, and in attempting the leap, he caught his heel 
 against the bark of the tree and fell heavily, whereat I 
 chuckled and offered to pick him up, with many expres- 
 sions of sympathy, which he received rather petulantly. 
 
 The forest extended up the slope of a range of heights, 
 and marching became fatiguing and difficult About 
 half-way up we passed large masses of Servian troops 
 drawn up beside the road. These men greeted us with 
 loud hurrahs, to which our brigade responded with equal 
 enthusiasm. I then ascertained that, being considered 
 desperate dogs and fighting fellows, I presume because 
 of the number of Russians amongst us, we were to have 
 the honour of commencing the attack. We were now 
 approaching the scene of action. The roar of musketry 
 became louder and louder, and the thunder of artillery 
 sounded nearer every minute. Towards the crest of the 
 heights the forest thinned considerably, but there were 
 still sufficient trees to afford us cover. The top of the 
 hill was a plateau of irregular shape and considerable 
 extent, on a portion of which, about five hundred yards 
 distant, and separated from us by an indentation or ravine 
 shaped like a ad-de-sac, heavy firing was going on. 
 That was part of the Turkish position we were to storm. 
 
 Preparatory to making the attack, the officers drew 
 their swords and moved up and down the ranks, shouting, 
 " Forward ! steady ! " I drew my cutlass, too, and 
 lopping down a small branch from an oak, stuck a spray 
 of the leaves in my cap. This little action brought a 
 
 12 
 
i86 ADVENTURES IN SEE VIA. 
 
 loud cheer from the Servians who witnessed it, for the 
 oak is their favourite emblem, and I had unconsciously- 
 paid them a compliment. 
 
 To the front, half-hidden by the trees, were eight or 
 ten pieces of Servian artillery. It must have been 
 terribly hard work to get them into that position, but 
 there they were, with gunners standing beside them, ready 
 at the word of command to send a volley of shells at the 
 €nemy. 
 
 Meanwhile the whole brigade slowly advanced. 
 Several companies were thrown out to line the crest of 
 the heights, and supplement the artillery fire with their 
 musketry. 
 
 By this time it was about half-past ten, and intensely 
 warm. 
 
 I noticed several of the timid ones steal out of the 
 ranks, and make off into the forest. Some were caught 
 and brought back, but the majority seemed to make 
 good their escape. Suddenly a horseman, in whom I 
 recognised Savrimovitch, galloped by, and checking his 
 foaming steed for a moment, saluted and said some 
 words to our brigadier, and then dashed off towards the 
 artillery. 
 
 Then sheets of flame and vast clouds of smoke burst 
 forth from the guns, as with a crash like thunder a storm 
 of shells was hurled at the Turks. The riflemen let fly a 
 rattling volley, and then kept up a heavy and continuous 
 fire, loading and discharging their pieces as fast as they 
 could. Our drums and bugles now sounded the pas de 
 
CHARGE OF THE MEDVEDOVSKI BRIGADE. 187 
 
 charge. The standard borne by a gallant young Russian 
 named Linden was raised aloft, and the Medvedovski 
 Brigade, in echelon formation, dashed forwards at the 
 double, the officers brandishing their bright sabres and 
 waving their caps, and the men hurrahing like mad. We 
 could see the Turks training round their guns to bear on 
 us, and hurrying up bodies of infantry, whilst an ominous 
 glittering of steel was observable amid the bushes in 
 front. For a minute or two they did not fire a shot. 
 The head of our column advanced two or three hundred 
 yards across the intervening portion of the plateau 
 without suffering a single casualty. 
 
 Then a Turkish bugle rang out loud and clear, and 
 immediately after the enemy's position was blotted out 
 by puffs and wreaths and films of smoke; shells 
 screamed through the air, and flamed and exploded 
 about us, and a hail of bullets tore through our ranks, 
 knocking over scores of gallant fellows, and dealing 
 death and wounds broadcast. So deadly was the fire 
 that the front ranks were almost annihilated. Poor 
 young Linden was shot dead, but ere the standard had 
 dropped from his dying hand, the brave Mihailoff seized 
 it and waved it on high. Count Tiesenhausen's horse 
 was killed, and he himself wounded in the thigh. 
 Numbers of other officers whose names I did not know 
 also fell — mortally or desperately wounded. The rain of 
 bullets never slackened, and the column began to waver. 
 At this critical moment my friends, Alexis Savrimovitch, 
 Count R^ne, Baron Kleist, Mouravioff, and Bernadski 
 
i88 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 rallied and led them on again, and with loud shouts of 
 " Jivio Serbski " we dashed forward once more. 
 
 The nearer we got to the enemy the hotter their fire 
 became. Their missiles kept up an incessant humming, 
 buzzing, and hissing about our heads. Again the men 
 wavered, and this time a number of them, seized with 
 downright panic, fairly turned round and ran away. 
 I must confess to having been considerably scared 
 myself. Like lightning the thought flashed through my 
 brain, " What a fool I am to risk life and limb for men 
 who don't know and don't care anything about me. 
 I'll clear out as quick as I can ! " but before I had time 
 to stop myself in my forward rush, Count Rene's words, 
 " You are an Englishman, and we expect great things of 
 you," came to my mind, and with an overwhelming 
 feeling of shame for my cowardly thought, I ran onwards 
 a little faster than before. 
 
 The number of mounted officers who were struck 
 down filled me with a great terror for Savrimovitch, and 
 I shouted to him an entreaty to dismount ; I think he 
 heard me, for he glanced round. The next moment his 
 cap was pierced by a bullet and swept away, and his 
 horse reared up and sank dead under him. 
 
 " I'm all right, friends ! " said he, springing to his feet. 
 " See how the Almighty preserves us ! Naprez Zastava 
 Slava ! " 
 
 Scarcely were the words out of his mouth than his 
 sword fell with a jerk from his hand, and uttering a 
 painful exclamation, he straightened himself up for a 
 
DEATH OF SAVRIMOVITCH. 189 
 
 mcment and reeled backwards. I ran up to him and 
 caught him in my arms just as he was sinking to the 
 ground. 
 
 " Good God, Alexis ! " said I, in an agony of appre- 
 hension, *' I hope you are not badly wounded." 
 
 "I'm done for, Alfred," said he, faintly. *' Oh, my 
 arm ! Lay me down, there's a good fellow ! " 
 
 I complied with his request, and then saw that he had 
 received a bullet wound in the shoulder, from which 
 blood was pouring at a terrific rate, his clothes being 
 already saturated. Believing that the axillary artery in 
 one of its large branches had been divided, I ripped up 
 his clothes and attempted to compress the subclavian 
 with my finger, but, alas ! my efforts were too late. 
 
 The shadow of a smile flitted across his hueless face, 
 his pale lips moved as if he would have spoken, but no 
 sound issued from them. His eloquent blue eyes 
 became fixed and glazed, and with a faint sigh he fell 
 back dead. 
 
 For a moment I was scarcely able to realize the fact 
 that my friend was gone. I hoped and trusted that he 
 had only fainted, and I continued to compress the vessel 
 after his circulation had ceased, and to speak 10 him 
 when his sense of hearing had for ever fled. But it was 
 impossible long to mistake the awful calm and stillness 
 of death, so strange amid the hideous riot and uproar 
 around, and when at length the sad truth forced its way 
 home to my heart, I was utterly overwhelmed with 
 sorrow. The generous and aff"ectionate — if somewhat 
 
190 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 wayward — disposition of the dead man had made his 
 friendship very dear to me. Soon my grief, however, 
 gave way to a frantic desire for vengeance. Rising from 
 beside the inanimate body, I got a couple of soldiers 
 to help me to move it a little to the left, where it was 
 less likely to be trampled on by the soldiery who were 
 rushing by. 
 
 Then, gripping my cutlass firmly and drawing my 
 revolver, I was on the point of dashing forward at the 
 Turks, when a hail from a familiar but discordant voice 
 brought me up sharp. 
 
 " Hilloh, monsieur ! What are you going to do ? " 
 
 The call came from Dr. Yermaylaff Giggleivitch, who 
 at that moment rode up with a staff of surgeons and 
 dressers and some ambulance waggons. " Don't you 
 think there's plenty of work here for you ? " 
 
 " Doubtless, sir," said I, looking at the wounded and 
 dying lying thickly around. " There is much to do 
 here, but you have many hands to do it ; and there is 
 more to be done over there ; " and I pointed to the front, 
 where the fight still raged violently. 
 
 "You'll be knocked on the head for a certainty, if 
 you go there, and, moreover, you will not be able to do 
 any useful work." 
 
 " I'll take my chance," said I ; ** I have many friends 
 there. Meanwhile, will you give this poor corpse a place 
 in one of your waggons ? It's a shame to leave it here." 
 
 " He's quite mad ! " I heard Dr. Giggleivitch say to 
 one of his staff. " Our waggons, sir, are for the wounded, 
 
A BRIEF SUCCESS. 191 
 
 and not for the dead," continued he. "However, I'll 
 see what we can do. Who is the dead man ? " and he 
 walked his horse up to the spot. " Why, 'tis the other 
 madman. Poor fellow! Take him in, Krabervitch and 
 Yermo. I am very sorry for him — poor, poor boy ! " 
 
 In spite of the bullets which were still falling pretty 
 thickly about, the medical men set to work with a will 
 amongst the sufferers who strewed the roadway, and I 
 ran on and rejoined my brigade, which, well supported 
 by other Servian troops, had succeeded in driving back 
 the Turkish infantry several hundred yards, and establish- 
 ing themselves in a part of their position. 
 
 We were unable, however, to achieve more than this, 
 and even this success was only temporary. From the 
 trees and bushes in front and on our right flank came a 
 constant blaze and crackle of musketry, and a venomous 
 spitting forth of fire and lead, which told heavily on our 
 already sorely smitten forces. 
 
 This fire increased in severity every minute, for the 
 Turks, seeing the importance of recapturing the ground 
 they had lost, brought up strong reinforcements. 
 
 Suddenly their fire increased tenfold in violence, due 
 to the fact that they had succeeded in beating back 
 Tchernaiefif's attack, and could now devote all their 
 attention to us. Our soldiers were ordered to lie down, 
 but in spite of this precaution they continued to sufifer 
 heavy losses. Shells came crashing among the trees 
 about us, smashing down branches, ploughing huge 
 chasms in the ground and filling the air with humming 
 
192 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 fragments of metal, and the rifle bullets kept up a 
 constant and angry buzzing about our heads. The 
 Russian officers exposed themselves to the fire with 
 marvellous heroism, and as a consequence a large pro- 
 portion of them were struck down, and their fall had a 
 very bad effect upon the men. 
 
 Whilst I was doing the best I could for a poor fellow 
 who had been shot through the lungs, and was choking 
 in his own life blood, I noticed a stalwart young Mus- 
 covite, the same I had challenged to leap over the trunk 
 of a tree, standing close to me. 
 
 " What is the use of making a target of yourself, sir, 
 in that way ? " I asked. 
 
 " To encourage the men, surely," said he. 
 " I don't think it can be any encouragement to them 
 to see all their officers killed," replied I. " It will do 
 them much more good to see you lying down and shoot- 
 ing comfortably at the enemy." 
 
 "That may do for Englishmen, but does not suit 
 Russians," replied the officer sneeringly. Scarcely were 
 the words out of his mouth when a bullet struck him full 
 in the forehead, and he fell back dead. The Turks now 
 apparently thought us too much demoralized to with- 
 stand a bayonet charge. Their fire slackened, and a 
 strong body of their men, bursting from cover, rushed 
 at us with ferocious yells and levelled bayonets. 
 
 The word was passed down our line that we were to 
 reserve our fire until they came within thirty paces, and 
 then to let them have it. 
 
A TURKISH CHARGE. 193 
 
 Seeing that my patient was dead, and not wishing to 
 be stuck by a Turkish bayonet, I picked up his rifle, and 
 fitting a cartridge into the breech, awaited their approach. 
 On they came, rending the air with loud shouts of 
 " Allah ! " and a very determined and formidable-looking 
 set of fellows they were — swarthy, wiry, and muscular, 
 with black hair and fiercely gleaming dark eyes. Nearer 
 and nearer they came, shouting exultantly as they 
 fancied we were afraid to oppose them, whilst our hearts 
 beat high with excitement. At last came the signal 
 to fire, and a deadly hail of lead issued from a thousand 
 rifles, withering their brave ranks and driving them back 
 in wild confusion. Rallied by their officers, however, 
 they came on again, but we had had time to reload, and 
 treated them to another tempest of wounds and death. 
 This time they were past rallying, and ran back to cover. 
 We were wild with exultation, and shouted Hurrah ! 
 again and again ; but the Turks are bad to beat, and when 
 they had regained cover, the fire to which we were ex- 
 posed became terrific. By midday it was evident the 
 Servians would have to retire from the position they had 
 won, but up to this time the men had behaved well. 
 The Turks, however, had been preparing a most dis- 
 agreeable surprise for us. Hitherto the fighting had been 
 confined entirely to our front and right, and our attention 
 being fully occupied, two Tabors were able to work 
 round to our left, and the rattle of their musketry and 
 the whizzing of their bullets was the first intimation of 
 their presence. This was the turning point of the 
 
194 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 engagement, for the soldiers now utterly lost heart and 
 fled. Their officers made several brave but useless 
 efforts to lead them to drive back the new-comers, but 
 no ; they had had enough of fighting for one day, and 
 had quite made up their minds to run away. 
 
 Some of the officers, hoping to check the rush, shot 
 down a few of the first runaways, but all to no purpose. 
 The troops were completely demoralized : they charged 
 past their officers, in many instances bearing them along 
 with them in their rush, and threw away their rifles, belts, 
 and ammunition pouches — everything, indeed, that hin- 
 dered their flight. A big Servian ran against me and 
 knocked me head over heels. When I picked myself up, 
 which was not till some seconds afterwards, for the 
 frightened vagabond had sent all the breath out of my 
 body, all that I could see of our men were the backs 
 of the hindmost. A few of the officers who had been 
 charged down like myself were lying here and there on 
 the ground. 
 
 Meanwhile the Turks continued to advance, and their 
 bullets were singing about us in a way which was de- 
 cidedly unpleasant. 
 
 " Baron," said I, getting up, " if we stay here any 
 longer the Turks will cut our throats." 
 
 " Sacre nom de Dieu ! " he hissed through his teeth ; 
 "I'll never run away from this canaille^ 
 
 "You look at it in a wrong light, baron," said I. 
 " We are running after our men, and not away from the 
 Turks. Perhaps we can rally them yet." 
 
THE ROUT. 195 
 
 " You are right, Mr. Englishman," said he, getting up 
 and beginning to run with me. 
 
 " By St. Peter and St. Paul, if ever I catch those pigs 
 of Servians who knocked me down, Fll tan their hides 
 for them I " 
 
 " By all means," said I, expecting every minute to 
 feel my back perforated by a bullet; " let's run a little 
 faster ! " 
 
 The victorious Turks, with characteristic indolence, 
 scarcely pursued our army at all, but contented them- 
 selves with sending a lot of shells and bullets after us. 
 Had we been fighting any other disciplined troops, our 
 army might have been annihilated and the campaign 
 ended there and then. However, as far as I am con- 
 cerned, I am very grateful that they were so apathetic. 
 
 It is a very unpleasant thing to face a heavy musketry 
 fire, but it is to my mind far more disagreeable to run 
 away from one. In the first case, your mind is occupied 
 by your duty, your desire ta distinguish yourself, and so 
 on, whilst in the second, your sole thought and desire 
 is to avoid being ignominiously snuffed out and ex- 
 tinguished. Each time that I heard the scream of an 
 approaching shell, I fancied that I was bound to be hit, 
 and felt correspondingly uncomfortable, whereas scores 
 of them had passed comparatively unnoticed by me 
 whilst the action was raging. 
 
 The sensations I experienced were shared in ap- 
 parently a greater degree by many other fugitives. Some 
 of them scrambled along on all fours, like so many 
 
196 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 rabbits, others, every time a shell flew by, threw them- 
 selves on the ground, and crawling along a few paces, 
 rose again and continued their flight. One man, an 
 officer, particularly distinguished himself by the agile 
 way in which, as he ran, he threw himself on his hands 
 and feet and sprang up again. I watched this india- 
 rubber warrior's movements for some time, when a shell 
 burst close to where he happened to be, and he vanished 
 from my view ; but reaching the spot where the missile 
 had fallen, I beheld a horrible sight. Three or four dead 
 and fearfully wounded men lay around, and close to them, 
 stretched on his back, with his chin pointing to the 
 sky, was the unfortunate officer, in whom, to my great 
 astonishment, I recognised my acquaintance, Colonel 
 Bragg. 
 
 Whilst I was looking at him, the colonel heaved a 
 faint sigh and opened his eyes, so I gave him a drink of 
 water, and asked him if he was wounded, for I could see 
 no hurt 
 
 *' No, thank God ! Doctor, I don't think I'm wounded. 
 Ah ! give us a drop more water, so. That's good, but 
 the fact is, I'm infernally sensitive, and have a weak 
 stomach, and when that shell burst and blew a lot of 
 fellows into little bits just by where I was, it upset me, 
 and I fainted." 
 
 "Well but, colonel," said I, "you mustn't lie here! 
 The Turks will be here directly, and will cut your head 
 off" if they find you." 
 
 " For God's sake, then, don't leave me, doctor ! " 
 
WOUNDED RUSSIAN SOLDIER. 
 
 To face p. 196.] 
 
MOURAVIOFF AND MIHAILOFF WOUNDED. 197 
 
 replied he. " Give me your hand, quick ! " and he 
 scrambled to his feet. He still seemed rather faint, so 
 Baron Kleist and I supported him between us, until he 
 was steady enough to take care of himself. Presently 
 we overtook a long and dismal train of wounded men, 
 all doing their best to escape. Some were being sup- 
 ported by friends, some limped along painfully with the 
 aid of their rifles or sabres, whilst others again were 
 crawling on their hands and knees. 
 
 A very few were on horseback, and these seemed to be 
 suflering terribly from the movements of the animal. 
 Amongst them, grinning with agony, was the brave 
 Mouravioff. He had been shot in the groin, and was 
 supporting himself as well as he could with his hands 
 on the pommel of his saddle. He gave a smile of re- 
 cognition as he saw Kleist and myself, and begged for a 
 little water. Then we improvised a very respectable 
 litter for him with four rifles tied together with belts 
 and a couple of overcoats, and lifting him gently from 
 his horse, temporarily dressed his wound, and laid him 
 on our ambulance, greatly to his relief, and made a 
 couple of stout fellows carry him. 
 
 But the sight which aflected me most was the body of 
 Mihailoff" on a stretcher. I thought at first he was dead. 
 His face was a ghastly colour, his right arm was 
 shattered, and he had received a wound in the abdomen. 
 But though hopelessly injured, he was still alive, and 
 seemed in great pain. 
 
 To alleviate his sufferings, which were aggravated by 
 
198 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA, 
 
 the oscillation of the litter, we gave him some opium, and 
 converting the sheaths of two knives into rough splints, 
 we put his arm up. 
 
 He was perfectly conscious, and spoke to Baron 
 Kleist and myself whilst we were dressing his wounds, 
 although every now and then he became very faint. 
 I begged him, through the baron, not to talk, but he 
 said he had something on his mind and must out with 
 it, even though it cost him his life. 
 
 " I thank God," said he, speaking in jerks, '* that — I 
 have been — able to do my duty to-day — like a good 
 Russian and a brave soldier — oh! gently, doctor, with 
 my arm! So! — so! — a mouthful of water, doctor. 
 Thank you. Until I was wounded I did not — think 
 once — of my beloved wife and my — angel-children — for 
 fear of flinching. Ah, doctor ! " he continued with a 
 sob, " I shall — jiever — never see — them more — and my 
 . sweet wife will break her heart with grief." 
 
 Tears trickled down the poor fellow's cheeks as he 
 uttered these touching words. His distress moved both 
 the baron and myself deeply. For a few minutes we 
 walked alongside his stretcher in silence. But suddenly 
 there arose a loud cry of " Tcherkess I Tcherkess ! '* 
 (Circassians), and the name of these blood-thirsty horse- 
 men was now sufficient to strike terror to the hearts of 
 our beaten soldiers. There was a scramble and rush 
 to get away ; wounded men were bustled and upset, and, 
 dreadful to relate, the bearers of Mihailoff's stretcher, 
 seized with a sudden panic, dropped their burden and 
 
DEATH OF MIHAILOFF. 199 
 
 fled. The poor fellow fell heavily, and lay motionless 
 on the ground. Horror-struck, I dropped on my knees 
 beside him, but, alas ! the shock proved immediately 
 fatal. A convulsive tremor shook his frame for a second, 
 and then he, too, was added to the long list of our 
 dead. 
 
 This alarm, which after all proved a false one, caused 
 the death of several other wounded men. Some were 
 trampled to death, others thrown violently to the 
 ground, and, Hke Mihailoff, died of the shock ; others 
 who still lived were groaning and crying out piteously 
 with pain. Close to us, a waggon containing six 
 wounded soldiers had been upset. The unhappy men 
 were lying on the roadway, piled helplessly one on top 
 of the other, until luckily the energetic Dr. Giggleivitch 
 and some of his assistants appeared on the scene. By 
 their exertions, seconded by the efforts of a number of 
 soldiers, heartily ashamed of their poltroonery and 
 anxious to make amends, the waggon was righted, and 
 the wounded men replaced in it. Then, as we did not 
 wish to leave the dead body of our friend to the mercy 
 of the Turks, we covered it with an overcoat and put it 
 in the waggon also. 
 
 Everything possible to alleviate the terrible suffering 
 around us was done by the doctor and his staff. 
 
 It was as yet barely one in the afternoon, and the 
 heat was scorching. My water-flask was empty, and I 
 was extremely thirsty, but my thirst must have been 
 nothing in comparison with that of the miserable 
 
ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 creatures around me, and the cries of pain were 
 constantly intermingled with agonized supplications for 
 "Woda! woda!** (water). Unfortunately we could get 
 no water, and were powerless to give them a drink. No 
 rations had been served out to the men before starting, 
 probably because the commissariat had broken down 
 again, so that very few of us had eaten anything since the 
 early morning. I remarked to Von Kleist that I was 
 hungry as well as thirsty, when a soldier who understood 
 what I said, saluted and said — 
 
 " Vrankovitch, yonder, has some cooked pork." Vran- 
 kovitch was not an appetising-looking person, neverthe- 
 less the baron and I accosted him and asked him to let 
 us look at his stock of provisions. 
 
 " Certainly, gospodina," replied the man, and tugged 
 a grimy and very unsavoury-looking piece of flesh from 
 his trouser's pocket. 
 
 There was a " green ery-yallery " appearance about 
 the morsel that was as good as a meal to me, for it 
 utterly took away my appetite. The baron, however, 
 being an old campaigner, was less particular, and went so 
 far as to sniff at it. The sniff was enough even for him. 
 
 " That meat," said he with a horrible grimace, '' is 
 tainted and raw. It smells even worse than it looks." 
 
 We continued our weary march beside the wounded 
 for several miles, unable to get any water, but greatly 
 refreshed by some sour and half-withered grapes that we 
 gathered from an abandoned and desolate-looking vine- 
 yard. These, with some honey which the soldiers found 
 
/ BREAK DOWN. 201 
 
 in the forest, were all that we could find for the invalids* 
 So welcome were the grapes to me that I ate a large 
 quantity of them and a good deal of honey, an excess 
 of which I soon had cause to repent. An hour or two 
 after I was seized with a frightful attack of cramp in the 
 stomach ; and sat down by the wayside in great pain. 
 The baron was engaged with a wounded comrade, and 
 did not observe my seizure, and the rest of the long 
 procession straggled by without taking any notice of me. 
 The pain became so severe that I was quite doubled up 
 and unable to move, and to ease it, I took a couple of 
 pills containing two grains of opium. These relieved 
 me very much, and about an hour after I had swallowed 
 them I was able to rise and begin walking again. 
 
 Unfortunately, during this rest my limbs had become 
 very stiff and my feet were extremely painful, so after 
 persevering for a few minutes, I took off poor MihailofFs 
 boots and tried to walk without them. I daresay 
 I managed to creep along for half a mile in this way, a 
 the cost of innumerable pricks and scratches, some 
 of which were really severe. At last my feet were 
 covered with blood, and in despair I sat down once 
 more with the intention of pulling my boots on again. 
 This, however, was quite impossible, and after two or 
 three useless efforts I gave up the attempt. The 
 fatigue and excitement I had undergone, combined 
 with the effects of the opium, now made me so drowsy,, 
 that despite the fear of being captured by the Turks, I 
 fell into a deep and dreamless sleep. 
 
 13 
 
CHAPTER XI.X 
 
 IT was between four and five o'clock in the afternoon 
 when I fell asleep, and the sun was blazing overhead 
 with undiminished power. I must have slept many 
 hours, but was so tired that I seemed scarcely to have 
 closed my eyes when I was aroused by a vigorous shak- 
 ing, and saw that I was surrounded by a party of armed 
 men, some of whom held lighted torches which flared 
 fitfully on the breeze. It was now night, and unable to 
 make out whether my captors were Servians or Turks, 
 I put up my eyeglass to see, a movement which elicited 
 much laughter. Then one of them, who was on horse- 
 back, said to me. 
 
 " Was machen Sie hier, Herr Englander ? " 
 
 " Ich schlafe," replied I. 
 
 " Yes, I see that," said my interlocutor, *' but how come 
 you to lie here by yourself?" Though I understood 
 the question, I could not muster up sufficient German to 
 reply, so I pointed to my swollen blood-stained feet 
 
 " Good," replied the officer, " we'll give you a horse, 
 and take you along with us. Jovo, get off that horse and 
 let the Englishman take your place ! Of course, being an 
 Englishman, you ride, sir ? " 
 
/ DISPLAY ASTOUNDING HORSEMANSHIP. 203 
 
 " Of course/' said I, ashamed to acknowledge that I 
 couldn't. 
 
 ** Very well then, up with you, and we'll move off 
 again ! " 
 
 I felt that it was incumbent on me to vault lightly and 
 gracefully into the saddle, and although I was horribly 
 stiff and sore, I determined to make the attempt. Put- 
 ting both hands on the saddle, and mentally saying, 
 " One, two, three, and away ! " I sprang upwards, only, 
 alas ! to come down again on the same spot. I repeated 
 this manoeuvre ineffectually two or three times, and at last, 
 much to my annoyance, was compelled to beg assistance 
 on the plea of my lameness. This was readily and 
 courteously accorded by M. Jovo himself, and with his 
 aid I succeeded in climbing on to the animal's back, and 
 I must confess that I never felt more uncomfortable in 
 my life. There were a number of men looking upon 
 me as a wonderful horseman, and expecting to get a 
 lesson in equitation, whilst it was as much as I could do 
 to keep my seat. Determined not to be upset if I could 
 help it, I shortened the reins and gripped them firmly 
 with both hands, and digging my knees into the creature's 
 ribs, defied him to do his worst; and he did do his 
 worst. He kicked and snorted and reared and cur- 
 vetted and gallopaded about like a furious four-legged 
 fiend. He charged in and out of the Servian ranks, and 
 sent the men flying in all directions. He shook and 
 jogged and jolted me about until my internals felt like 
 a quivering mass of jelly, but resolved to distinguish my- 
 
204 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 self, I held on tenaciously. He twisted round, jumped 
 and jibbed, and made me sick and giddy, so at last I let 
 go of the reins and seized him by the mane and neck 
 instead, at which, wonderful to relate, he ceased from his 
 evil ways altogether, and remained quiet and tranquil, 
 though trembling in every limb. 
 
 My triumph was hailed by the Servians with shouts 
 of laughter and applause. 
 
 "You are certainly an extraordinary horseman, Mr^ 
 Englishman ! " said the officer, smiling. 
 
 I bowed as gracefully to the compliment as my fatigue 
 and breathlessness would allow, and replied " that the 
 horse was an extraordinary animal." 
 
 " Do all Englishmen ride like that ? " asked he, laugh- 
 ing rather more than I could see any occasion for. 
 
 "No, sir," replied I, shortly, "there are very few of my 
 countrymen who cannot ride a great deal better than I." 
 The horse was now evidently on its best behaviour. 
 He walked quietly along beside the soldiers, and I felt 
 quite at my ease, and was able to hold the reins in one 
 hand, plant the other on my hip, just as I believe good 
 horsemen frequently do, and converse at the same time 
 with those about me. After a longish march, throughout 
 which my charger picked his way without the least effort 
 at guidance on my part, up hill and down hill and over 
 some very rough ground, we came in sight of the watch- 
 fires of a large camp, and a few minutes afterwards we 
 halted. 
 
 I was taken at once to the headquarters of the com- 
 
^-^ 
 
 -" ^^'M 
 
 — '=-^^=^ "^^P^ 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 -"^1 
 
 - — — '^m 
 
 - Jl'^^S 
 
 I DISPLAY EXTRAORDINARY HORSEMANSHIP, AND ASTONISH THE SERVIANS. 
 
 To facep. 204. 
 
A FALSE ALARM. 205 
 
 mandant of the brigade, in whom, to my surprise, I 
 recognised that buriy warrior, Colonel Philipovitch. 
 
 " Or, or, dear boy, dear boy ! I am glad, I am glad to 
 see you ! " exclaimed he, extending his arms and folding 
 me in his embrace, " You are not dead ? You are not 
 kill ? Good, good ! And your stomick ? How goes it ? 
 Wiegeht's? Heh!" 
 
 I assured the worthy colonel, as soon as I had disen- 
 gaged myself from his smothering hug, that I was not 
 dead, but that the important portion of my framework to 
 which he had done me the honour to allude was in a 
 shockingly empty condition. 
 
 The kind-hearted officer gave a groan of sympathy 
 when he noted my haggard looks, and immediately gave 
 orders for food to be prepared. He then made me take 
 a glass of sligievitch, which revived me wonderfully. 
 Then after a cup of Liebig smoking hot, I wrapped 
 myself up in an overcoat which the colonel had left me, 
 and was soon fast asleep. 
 
 Early next morning I was disturbed by the crashing 
 report of two pieces of cannon and a rattling fire of 
 musketry. The whole camp was in a state of alarm and 
 uproar. Half-dressed officers were shouting words of 
 command, and men rushing pell-mell hither and thither 
 with arms in their hands. ''What's the matter?" 
 exclaimed I to Lieutenant Jovo, as he hurried past me^ 
 buckling on his sword. 
 
 " A Turkish night attack," replied he, and disappeared. 
 
 I strapped on my cutlass and revolver and ran after 
 
2o6 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 him, but in about five minutes the firing ceased as 
 abruptly as it had begun. Then Colonel Philipovitch 
 trotted up on horseback with his staff. 
 
 " Pooh ! " said he, " it's only those wild Montenegrins 
 and Bulgarians. Their camp adjoins ours, and one of 
 their chiefs, Luka Vlahovic, has just died of wounds 
 received yesterday, and this is the way they show their 
 grief!" 
 
 " I am glad it's nothing worse," said I. 
 *' So am I, my boy. If the Turks had come thus far, 
 they would have eaten us up altogether, I think, before 
 we were awake. Good-night, go to sleep again." I 
 took the gallant colonel at his word, and lay me down, 
 and actually slept until one in the afternoon. 
 
 When I opened my eyes, the colonel was bending 
 over me, his chubby face illumined by a pleasant smile. 
 
 ** Ha, ha, ha ! " (the sound seemed to come from the 
 depths of his stomach) ; '* you have sleeped well, dear 
 boy ; ho ! ho ! ho ! good, and your poor feet ? How is 
 him ? Ha, ha ! you are fatigue ! I am ver dammed busy ; 
 good Englisches that, eh ? Ha ! ha ! ver dammed busy, 
 he ! he ! he ! wit mine two tausand childers here. 
 Grosser famille is that ? two tausand, eh ? Ha ! ha ! ha ! " 
 (then linking his arm in mine) ; " now shall you come 
 wit me, and we shall have some wine and smoke good 
 tabac, eh ? " 
 
 "Thank you very much," I replied, *' I'll have a 
 mouthful, and then I must be off to my brigade." 
 
 " No, no, no, nein, nein, nein, ne, ne, ne " (gripping 
 
HOSPITALITY OF COLONEL PHILIPOVITCH. 207 
 
 me firmly by the arm), " you must not leave me this day^ 
 dear boy ; your feet is bad, your stomick is bad, your face 
 is bad; pell, -very pell. To-morrow, when you shall be 
 strong, you go if you will, but to-day, no, no, no ; " and 
 he shook his head and pursed up his fat lips and stamped 
 his feet and looked altogether a picture of resolute 
 negation. 
 
 " But " began I, thinking of my wounded friends. 
 
 " But," interrupted he, speaking slowly and emphati- 
 cally, "you cannot go this day. So I have spoken. 
 What good ? What for ? When you are ill ! To-morrow 
 you shall have ambulance and good horse and go com- 
 fortable, but to-day I will not let you, and if you say, 
 ' Colonel, I kill you dead,' your friend still say, no, no, 
 no!" 
 
 The stout Servian was so resolute that I most 
 unwillingly accepted his hospitality. As soon as he 
 found that he had gained his point he oidered dinner to 
 be served, and introduced me to several of his officers, 
 amongst whom I recognised the leader of the party that 
 caught me napping the evening before. 
 
 Lieutenant Jovo, the proprietor of the terrible steed I 
 had so successfully tamed, was there, too. I also had the 
 pleasure of making the acquaintance of a huge Montene- 
 grin chief from the adjoining camp, by name Peko 
 Bolrovitch, who had been invited to share the repast. 
 
 "In England," said the colonel, ceasing his attention 
 to his soup for a moment and brandishing his wooden 
 spoon in the air, " you eat rosbif and Sauer Kraut, eh?" 
 
2o8 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 "We eat roast beef," said I, "but not Sauer Kraut" 
 
 " What ! you eat not Sauer Kjaut in England ? " 
 rejoined the colonel, his eyes widely dilated with 
 astonishment. 
 
 " No," said I. 
 
 " Why then do Englanders say when ver angry, 
 * Ver damm, rosbif and Sauer Kraut ? Ver damm, I boxe 
 your heye ? ' " 
 
 I replied that I could not understand why any English- 
 man should say that unless he were drunk. 
 
 " Oho ! the Englander only say rosbif and Sauer 
 Kraut when him's drunk !'" 
 
 Our conversation was then interpreted to Jovo and 
 the Montenegrin, who received his communication with 
 ejaculations of interest and surprise. 
 
 After dinner the colonel beckoned me aside, and said, — 
 
 " M. Wright, I will to talk a few with you, sit you 
 down here comfortable ; so — good." Then he proceeded 
 to ask me if I would get a medal for him from the 
 English government when I returned home. 
 
 *' What good will an English medal do you ? " 
 
 ** England," replied Philipovitch, "is rich, rich, and 
 good credit. I am merchant, and when man shall see 
 my Enghscher medal, he shall say, ' Oh, see ! Philipo- 
 vitch has Englischer medal, he ver damm respectable, 
 good credit, and rich." 
 
 "But on what plea, colonel, am I to claim a medal 
 for you ? " 
 
 "You shall say," replied he, screwing up his face and 
 
PHILIPOVITCH DESIRES AN ENGLISH MEDAL. 209 
 
 wrinkling his brows in a very odd way, '* that Philipo- 
 vitch is a good, good man, that he is Anglo-phil-EngHsh 
 lover, eh ? That he is good to you and to all Englanders, 
 and that when he have the medal, he will be better still, 
 eh ? Will you tell to them that, eh ? " 
 
 " My dear friend," said I, resignedly, "my influence 
 just now is not so great with our government as it ought 
 to be, and as I hope it will be some day, still, such as 
 it is, I shall have much pleasure in placing it entirely 
 at your service ; in other words, I can't promise to get you 
 a medal, but I'll try ! " 
 
 " Dear boy, dear boy," giving me a grateful hug, '* I 
 love you much ; you are good friend ; I love you ! " 
 
 We now separated for awhile, the colonel and his 
 officers being occupied with military duties, whilst I 
 attended to the hurts of the wounded. These were 
 mostly of a trivial nature, the more severely wounded 
 having been either forwarded to the hospital at Parat- 
 chin, or left to the tender mercies of the Turks on the 
 battle field. 
 
 Later on we assembled again round the camp fire. 
 The evening was dark and stormy; the wind blew in 
 fitful gusts and drove the smoke and sparks into our faces 
 in a very disagreeable manner. It rained, too, off and on, 
 the whole night. The jovial Colonel Philipovitch was, 
 however, equal to the occasion. He had a wonderful 
 supply of good spirits, both mental and alcoholic, and 
 must have possessed an extensive private commissariat 
 department of his own, for he gave us an excellent 
 
2IO ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 supper, which included broth and soup and mutton, and 
 even a piece of the prohibited pork. 
 
 Nor did his resources end here. Whenever the conver- 
 sation flagged and the weather became extra depressing, 
 he would produce a marvellous little wooden cigarette 
 holder, with a whistle at one end of it and pufiing out 
 his fat cheeks, blow a shrill and soul-inspiring blast thereon, 
 much to our comfort and joy. He had a little clicking 
 machine, too, that he delighted to conceal in the palm of 
 his hand, and when we heard the click, " Was ist das?" 
 he would say, putting on an expression of intense surprise, 
 and holding up one 'finger of the disengaged hand, " Was 
 ist das ? Hear you dat noise ? Where comes him 
 from ? " 
 
 We pretended not to know, whereat the gallant 
 colonel's delight knew no bounds, and he would click 
 away harder than ever. 
 
 Although my heart was still sore and sad after the 
 terrible events of the preceding day, I could not help 
 being intensely amused and joining in the fun. 
 
 And whilst this roystering revelry was at its height, a 
 soldier presented himself to the colonel, and saluting, 
 announced that two Bulgarski ofificers. Captain Milosch 
 Davorin and Captain Ilianovitch, wished to see him. 
 
 "Show them here, by all means, my son," said the 
 colonel 
 
 The soldier departed, and presently returned, accom- 
 panied by the mysterious person who had so often 
 puzzled me before, and a slim, graceful young officer, who. 
 
THE MYSTERIOUS STRANGER AGAIN. 211 
 
 in spite of uniform and an apparent roughness of manner, 
 was, I felt convinced, a girl. The soldier's companions 
 were most cordially received by Colonel Philipovitch, and 
 cordially returned his salutations. I should very much 
 have hked to give Captain Milosch Davorin a surreptitious 
 squeeze of the hand, but my self-possession failed me, 
 and I felt and I daresay looked nervous and uncomfort- 
 able. The colonel introduced me to them with a wave 
 of the hand and an unctuous emphasis on my nationality 
 as his English friend, Dr. Wright. When our eyes met, 
 Captain Davorin's assumed an expression of frigid reserve, 
 and greeted me with a distant and formal salute. 
 Captain Ilianovitch, on the other hand, gave me a 
 jaunty bow and a friendly shake of the hand. I felt 
 both piqued and hurt. This cold treatment added to 
 my discomfiture, and so humiliated me, that I meanly 
 resolved to say something very sharp and severe if an 
 opportunity offered. 
 
 Naturally enough, the events of the preceding day 
 were the sole topics of conversation for the first few 
 minutes. Gradually, however, we drifted to other sub- 
 jects, and at last the longed-for chance came. 
 
 Captain Ilianovitch inquired of me in French if I 
 had lately heard how it fared with my comrade at Semen- 
 dria. I fixed my eyes on the beardless Milosch Davorin, 
 and speaking slowly and emphatically, repHed that 
 " quelques uns de mes anciens camarades ne sont que 
 des kamaratz." Now " kamaratz " is Servian for mosqui- 
 toes, and surely Milosch Davorin ought to have been cut 
 
ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 to the heart by this withering sarcasm ! I thought it might 
 bring to mind the happy time when he or she used to 
 crush mosquitoes on my face. But astonishing to relate, 
 he, she, or it, the quasi-captain, showed no outward 
 signs of emotion ! Of the others, Captain Ilianovitch 
 alone laughed at the pungent pun ! I have no heart to 
 describe the rest of the festivities of that evening, suffice 
 it to say that the so-called Captain Davorin maintained 
 an icy reserve throughout, spoke very little, ate and drank 
 scarcely anything at all, and smoked a cigarette or two so 
 charmingly, that the stern resolve I had almost made 
 never to shake hands with him — that is her — again faded 
 quite out of my mind, and I felt again a weak-minded 
 desire to give her fingers a tender squeeze. He and his 
 friend retired after they had been about an hour with us. 
 I would have given worlds to escort them to their quar- 
 ters, but my late rebuff had been too discouraging. We 
 separated with another 15° below zero military salute. 
 When the party broke up, I rolled myself up in an over- 
 coat and lay down near the fire, it must be confessed, in 
 a very miserable frame of mind. I felt penitent and 
 angry with myself. The more I thought about it, the 
 more this last-named form of vexation grew upon me. I 
 saw how impossible it was for Marie — for I felt positive 
 it was she — to acknowledge me under the circumstances, 
 and I resolved to comport myself for the future with 
 greater dignity and discretion. 
 
 I kept thinking over these things and making numer- 
 ous noble and notable resolutions until everybody save 
 
A NIGHT ATTACK. 213 
 
 the sentries were asleep around me, and all would have 
 been as still as death but for the sighing of the wind and 
 an occasional hiss and crackle from the fire. Suddenly 
 the stillness of the night was broken by a frightful 
 uproar in the camp of the Bulgarians and Montenegrins. 
 I could plainly hear the report of firearms, mingled 
 with shouts, yells, and words of command. At first I 
 thought it was only some more tomfoolery on the part 
 of these wild volunteers, but the tumult increased instead 
 of subsiding quickly and abruptly as on the preceding 
 evening, whilst the sky was lit up with the crimson and 
 lurid glare of fire. Others in our camp besides myself 
 took the alarm. Colonel Philipovitch, grumbling vehe- 
 mently at being disturbed from his well-earned slumber, 
 hurried about hither and thither, and shouted out orders 
 and instructions until he was hoarse. The men quickly 
 fell to arms, and a battalion was despatched under 
 Lieutenant Jovo to assist our allies. Being very 
 anxious and uneasy about Marie, I accompanied this 
 battalion. The night was dark, but the conflagration 
 gave so much light that we were able to advance at the 
 double. As we drew nearer, it became evident that a 
 furious contest was raging. Bullets, too, began to 
 whistle and hiss over our heads very disagreeably. A 
 body of Bashi-Bazouks, taking advantage of the darkness 
 of the night, had attempted to surprise the Bulgarians 
 and Montenegrins, and had so far succeeded as to fire 
 part of their camp. Fortunately for us, however, they 
 had attacked the Montenegrins first, and these valiant 
 
214 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA, 
 
 mountaineers, who slept with their arms in their hands, 
 were wide awake in no time, and made a tremendous 
 defence. When we came up, the leaping and roaring 
 flames, the falling huts, the myriad rifle flashes, the 
 struggling figures, the dark shadows of the trees — all this 
 against the obscure background of the night, formed a 
 striking picture. 
 
 Without halting us even for a moment. Lieutenant Jovo 
 ordered us to charge the enemy at the point of the 
 bayonet. We went at them with a lusty cheer ; at the 
 same time the Bulgarians made a similar advance on our 
 left. This was too much for the bold Bashi-Bazouks, who 
 had merely contemplated comfortably and luxuriously 
 cutting the throats of our friends as they slept, and were, 
 consequently, unprepared to meet with much resistance. 
 Uttering a loud yell of vexation and disgust, they turned 
 their backs on us and fled. This success amazingly 
 stimulated our courage, which had been of the drooping 
 order since the last sanguinary repulse. We pursued 
 them for a few hundred yards in grand style, hurrahing 
 ourselves hoarse, and firing at our discomfited foemen 
 with immense valour and enthusiasm. Our loss in this 
 gallant charge was one man wounded, a gunshot wound 
 in the leg. The Bulgarians and Montenegrins, however, 
 lost heavily. They had twenty dead, and fifty-seven more 
 or less severely wounded. The enemy lost eighty killed 
 outright, and probably many wounded, who succeeded in 
 escaping. No prisoners were taken. The Montenegrins 
 gave no quarter. Every Bashi-Bazouk who fell into their 
 
DR. TROMBONI. * 215 
 
 hands was shot or run through the body and beheaded. 
 The Servians were not allowed to do this, but I saw 
 several Bulgarians bringing back pale ^nd bleeding heads 
 as trophies of their prowess. 
 
 After many inquiries, I ascertained, to my intense re- 
 lief, that Captain Milosch Davorin was unhurt, and had 
 returned to camp with his men. This took a great load 
 off my mind, and I worked away for the rest of the night 
 assisting Dr. Tromboni with the wounded. The doctor 
 was an Italian, and nature had provided him with a very 
 fair bass voice, which he was constantly exercising. He 
 performed all his operations to a deep purring accom- 
 paniment, and when he did anything particularly neatly 
 in the way of cutting a flap and so on, he would break 
 out into a thunderous series of " Tra ! la ! la ! Ho ! ho ! 
 ho's ! " and, " Bravissimo ! " etc. As I can ill bear a 
 noise when operating, I asked him once or twice if 
 he would be kind enough to restrain his musical 
 ardour for a few moments. My request, which was very 
 mildly put, and was by no means intended to be 
 offensive, annoyed the doctor very much, and though he 
 acceded to it, it was with a very ill grace, and we worked 
 much less harmoniously together for the rest of the night. 
 
 At 10 A.M., while we were still engaged with our pa- 
 tients, a body of troops, with whom were some surgeons 
 and dressers, marched into camp. The latter immedi- 
 ately came to our assistance, and one of them presented 
 a despatch to Dr. Tromboni from Baron Von Tummy, 
 acquainting him of his appointment as surgeon of the 
 
2i6 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 hospital at Uschitza, and requesting him to proceed to 
 his post at once. The officer commanding the troops, 
 an old acquaintance of mine, Nicolai Nicolaitch by name, 
 was quite overwhelmed with astonishment at seeing me. 
 I learned from him that it was generally believed at head- 
 quarters that I had either been killed or made prisoner. 
 After heartily congratulating me on my escape, he informed 
 me that a package of letters and telegrams addressed 
 to me lay at the headquarter's post-office. On hearing 
 this news, I determined to return to my brigade imme- 
 diately. On my way to Colonel Philipovitch, I saw 
 Captain Milosch Davorin at a considerable distance, 
 riding towards the left of the Bulgarian camp. I made a 
 profound salute, which, to my delight, was promptly and 
 gracefully returned. Colonel Philipovitch was break- 
 fasting when I reached his quarters. He was kind 
 enough to express much regret at hearing of my intended 
 departure. Whilst I was speaking to him Tromboni 
 came in with his despatch in his hand, so we agreed to 
 go together. 
 
 " But," said the colonel, addressing himself to me, 
 "the Herr Dr. Tromboni have so good a horse, and you, 
 you have no horse. How can you then go together ? 
 What will you make ? " This sensible question was 
 rather a poser, and whilst I was cudgelling my brains to 
 think ** what I would make," the colonel mysteriously 
 added, " I will tell you what you shall make, my good 
 English friend. I have two horse, I want them not. They 
 are not beautiful, no, no, but good, yes, yes. Now I will 
 
COLONEL PHILIPOVnCH AND THE MEDAL. 217 
 
 to give my friend a horse, and when you shall be back in 
 England, you shall tell to the government, and shall 
 say, * My good Servian friend, Colonel Toma Philipovitch, 
 when I have no horse and will ride, give me a horse. 
 He ver dammed good man, and friend to England,' and 
 they shall, I think, ver like give English medal for me, 
 €h ? What think you ? " 
 
 "I'm afraid, colonel," replied I, "that our govern- 
 ment would scarcely bestow a medal on you for giving 
 me a horse." 
 
 " Oh ! but," exclaimed he, eagerly, " you shall say also 
 that I am very, most good indeed, to all EngUsh peoples, 
 and that I loves him, eh ? " 
 
 I shook my head doubtfully ; whereupon a look of the 
 most bitter disappointment came into his face. Suddenly 
 — happy thought ! — I recollected an old English Crimean 
 war medal that had somehow come into my possession. 
 
 " Colonel," said I, "I can promise you an English 
 
 government medal, but " In a moment, before I 
 
 could get another word out, he had folded me in his arms 
 and was hugging me in a murderously rib-crushing and 
 suffocating fashion. 
 
 " Confound it ! " gasped I, wriggling out of his grasp, 
 ** let me finish what I have to say." 
 
 " Yes, yes, da, da — ya — mein frend, das medal ; is 
 it golden medal or silber ? " 
 
 " It is silver," rephed I. 
 
 "Silber, good!" said he, reflectively; "silber is very 
 good ! " 
 
 14 
 
2i8 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 " But," said I, " it will not have your name upon it." 
 
 " Nichts ! gar nichts. I care not for that, nothing,'* 
 he rejoined. 
 
 " All right," said I, adroitly slipping aside, and thereby 
 narrowly escaping another overwhelming embrace, '* you 
 shall have the medal ! " 
 
 The colonel then ordered a soldier to bring the not 
 " beautiful but good " horse. 
 
 The man presently returned, leading by the bridle the 
 very weediest and seediest, scraggiest and raggedest 
 apology for a horse I ever saw. It was a four-legged 
 phantom, a perambulating mass of skin and bone. Sa 
 lean was it, that I don't believe a London cat's-meat 
 man would have given half-a-crown for the whole carcase, 
 and I doubt if his flesh would have furnished more than 
 a single meal to a hungry cur. I had seen bad horses 
 before in Servia and elsewhere, but never, never aught 
 like this. 
 
 As the fearful and wonderful creature stalked by, there 
 was something so ludicrous in his appearance that I burst 
 into a fit of laughter. 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! " laughed the colonel sympathetically^ 
 " you loaf because he have no meat on his bones, ha ! 
 ha ! I too will loaf— ha ! ha ! ha ! " Then he told the 
 man to mount and show me its paces. I fully expected 
 to see the skeleton framework collapse under the man's 
 weight, but to my astonishment the charger began to 
 amble easily along in a spectral and dignified manner. 
 
 **Well," thought I, "if he'll bear that man's weight,. 
 
COLONEL PHILIPOVITCH S HANDSOME PKHSK.\T. 
 
 To face p. 218.] 
 
A ''GOOD BUT NOT BEAUTIFUL'' HORSE. 219. 
 
 twelve stone if it's a pound, he'll carry my ten stone with- 
 out difficulty." 
 
 " Dear boy," said the colonel, " that good horse I gif 
 him to you ; take him, so, so." 
 
 However inferior the condition of the horse might be, 
 I hesitated to accept it as a gift from a comparative 
 stranger, but the colonel was so terribly hurt and offended 
 when I ventured to offer him money for it, that I 
 swallowed my scruples, and forebore to press the point. 
 One thing impressed me favourably about the horse ; he 
 did not seem to have a spark of friskiness or vice in his 
 nature, and consequently would not be very difficult to 
 manage. About midday we took an affectionate leave 
 of the hospitable Philipovitch and his officers, and 
 mounting our respective steeds (this, thanks to my late 
 equestrian experience, I managed without mishap), we 
 departed. 
 
 Dr. Tromboni had not forgiven my inadequate 
 appreciation of his vocal powers ; he was cold and 
 uncommunicative. I was sorry to have offended him, 
 but did not at all regret that his taciturnity enabled me 
 to devote all my attention to my beast. 
 
 We went along at an uncomfortable bone-shaking jog 
 trot. I kept a careful look out ahead, and held myself 
 in readiness for such a dreadful contingency as an upset, 
 or an attempt on the part of my charger to bolt, but 
 gradually became less and less apprehensive, and ere I 
 had been an hour on horseback felt tolerably at ease. 
 
 My companion was the first of us to come to grief. 
 
ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 Some portion of his saddle gear — I don't know the name 
 of it — gave way, and, to my surprise and amusement, the 
 saddle slipped round the horse's side, the artistic Trom- 
 boni slipped round with it, and came a tremendous 
 cropper on the ground. He disappeared in such a comical 
 manner, and threw me into such convulsions of laughter, 
 that I had great difficulty in preserving my own seat. 
 Seeing, however, that the luckless Italian did not attempt 
 to rise, I began to fear he had injured himself severely, 
 and rapidly dismounting, I hastened to his assistance. 
 Fortunately, he was more mortified and angry than hurt, 
 and surlily declining my aid, he got up and put his saddle 
 to rights, and then, without saying a word to me, re- 
 mounted his horse and rode swiftly away. It was my 
 turn to feel mortified and angry now. However, as I did 
 not wish to be left in that out-of-the-way spot all by my- 
 self, I bottled up my indignation, and calling to my steed, 
 which was quietly grazing a few paces away, I prepared 
 to mount and follow the irate Italian. 
 
 I called, I say, to my horse, but, to my surprise and 
 dismay, the confounded creature, in place of winnying 
 gratefully and trotting up to me, gave a snort, and 
 shambled further off. Dr. Tromboni was rapidly dis- 
 appearing from view, and I did not know an inch of the 
 way. I hastened after Philipovitch's perverse present, 
 calling coaxingly to him, and trying to beguile him into 
 obedience by such blandishments as handfuls of hay and 
 clover, but to no purpose: The aggravating animal 
 allowed me to come almost within arm's length of him 
 
AGGRAVATING CONDUCT OF MY HORSE. 221 
 
 and just as I was beginning to think that I had caught 
 him, he would whisk round, and kicking up his skinny 
 hind legs in a clumsy and impudent fashion, trot to a 
 considerable distance, and then contemplate me with 
 dilated nostrils, and legs wide apart, as much as to say^ 
 "I'm not such a fool as I look ! " 
 
 This disgusting performance was repeated time after 
 time, with the same ill success on my part, and the same 
 insulting kick-up on the part of the animal as he trotted 
 triumphantly away, until I lost patience, and picking up 
 a stone, I hurled it at him with all my force, yelling as I 
 did so, " Pah ! take that, you accursed creature, and go 
 to Jericho, or anywhere else you please ! Yah ! Booh ! " 
 
 The stone, to my great satisfaction, hit him on his hind 
 quarters, and made him cut his capers in quite another 
 spirit, and then gallop off. 
 
 This prompt and summary vindication of my wounded 
 dignity warmed and encouraged my drooping spirits, 
 and I prepared to pursue my journey on foot. But here 
 I was in a difficulty. I did not know the way, and a 
 turn in the wrong direction would as likely as not con- 
 duct me straight into the arms of those gentle cut- 
 throats — the Bashi-Bazouks. Of course. Dr. Tromboni 
 had long been out of sight, but while I was chasing my 
 horse, I had been able to follow him a considerable 
 distance with my eyes, and struck out accordingly in the 
 direction he had taken. The country through which I 
 was passing reminded me somewhat of the Banstead 
 downs in Surrey, as they were eighteen years ago — a 
 
ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 desolate stretch of furze-covered, undulating ground. 
 The horizon on one side was bound by a far-off range of 
 hills, which looked blue and purple in the distance ; on 
 the other, by a gloomy forest. After walking for three 
 or four miles, the road branched off right and left^ and 
 this brought me to a standstill. Not knowing what else 
 to do, and feeling tired, I sat down for a while and 
 refreshed myself, both mentally and physically, by taking 
 a, pull at my flask and munching a biscuit. 
 
 Whilst I was thus engaged, a waggon filled with 
 wounded men drove up. I stopped it, and explaining 
 that I wished to go to the Medvedovski encampment, 
 asked the driver to give me a lift. He, a surly fellow, 
 shook his head, and saying "Deligrad," whipped up his 
 horses, and drove away along the road to the left. I 
 was very indignant at this discourteous treatment, but, 
 at the same time, it was something to have found out 
 which road led to Deligrad. So girding up my loins, I 
 plodded on. Presently the sound of wheels was heard 
 again. Looking round, I beheld a light waggon coming 
 along at a rapid pace. There were two men in it. 
 
 " These men," said I to myself, " can't pretend they 
 haven't room enough for me." 
 
 I stepped out into the roadway and motioned to them 
 to stop. They pulled up at once, but, to my surprise 
 and alarm, one of the men presented a revolver at me, 
 and the other a carbine. " HuUoh ! " said I, " what are 
 you up to ? I'm a friend— Ingleski bolnitcho— English 
 doctor." The two men whispered together for a moment, 
 
A STRANGE RENCONTRE. 223 
 
 and I then recognised one of them as Pauloff, my an- 
 tagonist in the bedroom at Paratchin. The other was a 
 burly Servian, ill-featured enough, but lamb -like in com- 
 parison with Pauloff. They signed to me to climb into 
 the cart if I liked. 
 
 Under any other circumstances I should have hesitated 
 to travel in such queer company, but I did not think 
 twice of the matter then, and in a moment I was beside 
 them in the waggon. It would have been better for me 
 if I had been less confiding. In the cart there was a 
 stone bottle containing raki, upon which both of the men 
 bestowed more attention than was good for them. 
 
 Presently we came in sight of some cottages, which, 
 unlike any I had hitherto seen in those parts, appeared 
 to be inhabited. My companions asked several ques- 
 tions about the route of a meagre little peasant, whose 
 answers I did not understand, and having bought some 
 more raki, Pauloff resumed the reins, and we drove off 
 again. Shortly after sunset, which was gloriously beautiful, 
 and as the bright glow was fading from the western sky, 
 we came to a deserted wooden hut by the wayside. It 
 was a weird and desolate-looking spot, and, as I entered 
 the cottage, a vague feeling of distrust and suspicion of 
 my companions came over me. I determined to keep a 
 sharp look-out, and furtively put my hand to my belt to 
 see that my cutlass was all right and loose in its sheath. 
 The conduct of the two men, which had hitherto been 
 very surly, now, however, changed wonderfully. The 
 Russian became roughly civil, the Servian almost 
 
224 ADVENTURES IN SEE VIA. 
 
 abjectly servile. They made a fire of sticks and dry 
 brushwood, pressed me to take wine with them, and 
 offered me the most comfortable corner. After supper 
 they rolled themselves up in their coats, and, to all 
 appearance, fell fast asleep. I concluded that I had 
 wronged them by my suspicions, and fell asleep, too. 
 
 I was dreaming deliciously of home and of Marie, to 
 whom I fancied I was showing the beauties of Box Hill 
 and of Dorking, when the delightful vision was roughly 
 dispelled by an iron grasp on my throat. I awoke with 
 a gasp, and found myself in the grip of the hideous 
 Pauloff. The fellow's eyes gleamed with deadly ferocity, 
 in his teeth he held a long knife, and with his disengaged 
 hand he ransacked my pockets. Beside me knelt the 
 Servian, who had possessed himself of my revolver, and 
 looked almost as truculent as the Russian. I attempted 
 to remonstrate, whereat Pauloff gave me a most painful 
 prick in the throat with his knife, and, passing his hand 
 significantly across his neck, gave me to understand that 
 he would do for me if I attempted to move or speak. 
 The other villain, who evidently took his cue from 
 Pauloff, thrust the cold muzzle of his revolver against 
 my temple. I was indeed utterly in their power. 
 
 The Servian then produced a stout cord, and began to 
 tie me hand and foot in a most elaborate manner. When 
 I first saw the cord I feared they were about to strangle 
 me, but so eagerly does one cling to life that it was quite 
 a relief to me to find that that was not their immediate 
 object, and that a few minutes' respite was to be allowed 
 
A TERRIBLE ADVENTURE. 225 
 
 me. Although my case seemed almost hopeless, I did 
 not utterly despair ; indeed, the terrible danger sharpened 
 my wits. I had been very fond, as a boy, and when a 
 student, of frequenting so-called spiritualistic seances and 
 the entertainments given by the Davenport Brothers, and 
 Maskelyne and Cooke, and had become quite aufait at 
 the rope trick. The knowledge stood me in good stead 
 now. By expanding my chest to the utmost, and hold- 
 ing my arms a certain distance from the trunk, and yet 
 in such a way that my captors had no idea of what I was 
 up to, the fastenings which seemed tight when applied, 
 became loose and removable when I contracted my 
 chest and squeezed my arms to my side. Having made 
 me, as they fancied, thoroughly secure, they left me 
 lying on the ground in a corner of the room, and 
 then sitting down by the fire, they proceeded to help 
 themselves to wine and food, whilst they leisurely ex- 
 amined the contents of my knapsack. To my anguish 
 they took therefrom all my handkerchiefs, and the only 
 shirts and socks I possessed, besides those I was wearing. 
 They next opened my surgical dressing-case, but con- 
 temptuously flung it on one side. They took, however, 
 a bottle of quinine and a box of pills. I remember 
 hoping at the time that the latter would punish them, 
 for they were pretty strong ones — Pil. Gambog. Co., 
 B. P. to wit. 
 
 Then Paulotf, with a murderous grin on his face, 
 deliberately began to sharpen and feel the edge of his 
 knife, and taking out my own watch, which, by the way 
 
226 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 he had appropriated, signed to me that in five minutes 
 he was going to give himself the pleasure of cutting my 
 throat. I recollect all this as vividly as if it happened 
 only half an hour ago, instead of more than six years. 
 The hands of the watch pointed to five minutes to one. 
 A horrible feeling of dread came over me as I wondered 
 what the sensation would be like when he plunged the 
 knife into my throat. Still I tried to look as cool and 
 resolute as possiblcj and even essayed to smile, which so 
 incensed the cruel scoundrel that he gave me a dreadful 
 kick in the side, and stamped on my mouth with his 
 heel. 
 
 At length that terrible five minutes came to an end, 
 and as Pauloff approached me and poised his knife in 
 the air to execute his threat, I hurriedly commended my 
 spirit to God. 
 
 It was not, however, my destiny to die then. The 
 Servian suddenly made a suggestion to his companion 
 which evidently met with his approbation, for he burst 
 into a loud laugh, and returning his knife to its sheath, 
 made a brief reply and pointed to the door. 
 
 The other went out, and shortly returned with his arms 
 filled with fuel, which he threw on the floor, and then 
 left again for more. Pauloff, who seemed to be inspired 
 with a fiendish malice towards me, thrust a stick in the 
 fire, and went through the pantomime of setting the place 
 ablaze. 
 
 The spiteful glee which this devilish Russian displayed 
 in his efforts to terrify me, and the satisfaction with 
 
A NARROW ESCAPE. 227 
 
 which he gloated over my helplessness and agony, 
 combined with his ape-like appearance, made him look, 
 by the lurid light of the fire, more like an imp of hell 
 than a man. Meanwhile the Servian brought in fresh 
 armfuls of brushwood, and Pauloff was busily occupied 
 in arranging it about the room. Every now and then he 
 paused in his work and chatted at me in Russian. In 
 the meantime I was not idle. My eyes followed the men 
 in all their movements; my limbs were trying to free 
 themselves from their bonds. The corner of the room 
 where I lay was rather dark, and I succeeded in effect- 
 ing a good deal of this without attracting their attention. 
 
 When the Servian had brought in sufficient firing to 
 satisfy himself and his imperious companion, he pro- 
 ceeded, at the bidding of the latter, to harness the horse 
 to the cart. Presently he announced that this was done. 
 Pauloff then took a brand from the fire, and flourishing 
 it in my face, gave me a parting kick, and set light to 
 the brushwood in two or three places, and rushed out. 
 A second afterwards, the sound of hoofs and wheels told 
 me that they had gone. The brushwood, damp from 
 recent rain, did not burn very readily, but it threw out 
 dense clouds of stifling smoke. Luckily I had loosed my 
 hands before they left, and was thus enabled to clear 
 myself of the rope sufficiently to crawl about. I 
 attempted to stand up. The air above was already irrespir- 
 able, and I was obliged to keep my head as low down as 
 possible. I crept up to my dressing-case, took out one 
 of the knives, and cut myself clear. Then I snatched up 
 
228 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 my knapsack and made a rush for the door. Fortunately 
 it was not fastened, or I must have perished, for the wood 
 was now beginning to crackle and blaze fiercely, and the 
 heat and smoke becoming intolerable. Pushing the door 
 open, with a cry of joy I staggered into the fresh air, and 
 fell to the ground quite exhausted. How delicious the 
 cool night air felt ! For some seconds I did not stir, but 
 remained where I lay, drawing into my lungs deep 
 draughts of the pure and balmy atmosphere. 
 
 The flames were quickly spreading to every part of 
 the cottage. They soon burst from the window, and 
 seized on the thatched roof Then I pulled myself 
 together, girded on my knapsack, and set out along the 
 road, which was illuminated for a considerable distance 
 by the conflagration. Every now and then I turned 
 round to look at the blaze, and when I was about half 
 a mile off the roof fell in, a bright column of fire shot 
 up into the air for a moment, and then the glow rapidly 
 subsided and faded away. As I was trudging along with 
 a heart full of gratitude for my preservation, and wondering 
 if I was to meet with any more adventures, I remarked 
 that a rough paling or palisade skirted the road on my 
 left. I was greatly cheered with the hope of approach- 
 ing a village. The night was pleasant, and the moon 
 shone with great brilliancy, so that I was able to discern 
 objects at a considerable distance. Some way off I 
 noticed something that looked like a gourd or melon 
 stuck on one of the rails of the palisade. It might 
 have been some thirty yards off when it first attracted 
 
THE MEDVEDOVSKI BRIGADE AGAIN. 229 
 
 my attention, and as I walked slowly up to it I puzzled 
 my brains in trying to make out what it could possibly 
 be. Even when I was quite near I could not make it 
 out. I put my hand upon it, and found, to my horror, 
 that it was a human head — whether a Turk or a Servian 
 I could not say. The head was that of a young man, 
 and his chin and cheeks were stubbly, as if he had been 
 three or four days without shaving. The palisade ceased 
 to afford me any comfort after that. I shudderingly 
 quickened my pace, and felt thankful when I had placed 
 a considerable interval between myself and the accursed 
 spot. I walked on for several miles, until at last a 
 distant glare in the sky told me that I was approaching 
 an encampment. 
 
 Presently I was challenged by a sentry. I was, of 
 course, unable to give the password ; the guard turned 
 out, and I was taken before the officer on duty, when 
 I found, to my intense delight, that I was in the Medve- 
 dovski camp. I knew the officer well by sight, but not 
 by name, and he recognised me at once. 
 
 " Why, M. Wright," said he, in a tone of some 
 surprise, " I thought you were dead, but milks 
 tonnerres I you are wounded and ill. Sit down, my dear 
 sir ; here, take this drop of eau-de-vie. We've another 
 English doctor here now. I'll send for him. Hoik ! 
 Guard there ! " 
 
 A soldier appeared at the entrance of the hut, and was 
 straightway sent off for the English doctor. 
 
 In a minute or two I heard footsteps approaching to 
 
230 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 the accompaniment of one of Moody and Sankey's 
 hymns, whistled in a most lugubrious fashion; then 
 the English doctor entered. 
 
 Looking up, I saw to my amazement my dear old 
 friend Hiems. 
 
 " What, Hiems ! " said I, speaking thickly, for my 
 lips were swollen and my front teeth loose. If I was 
 astonished, Hiems was almost scared out of his wits. 
 He staggered backwards, and then gasped out, 
 " Wright ! Good Heavens ! Is it you or your ghost ? 
 I thought — we all thought — you were dead. It's been 
 in print, man ; your death's been in print ! " and he 
 still looked at me doubtfully. 
 
 *'I am not quite dead yet," replied I, "though I 
 have been next door to it. Come, don't stare at me 
 like that! Don't you know me, old boy?" 
 
 *' Know you ? I should think I did ! Ain't you the 
 darling of my heart ? Bedad, hurrah ! " and he kicked 
 up his heels in a most unprofessional manner. 
 
 "And now, my son, let's look at your injuries," 
 suddenly dropping his Hibernicism and assuming a 
 grave tone ; " lips lacerated, two teeth loose, any bones 
 broken? Hulloh ! what's this?" (giving me a punch 
 in the ribs which made me wince); "fractured rib, 
 eh?" 
 
 " No," replied I, " I don't think the rib is fractured. 
 I got a nasty kick there a few hours ago, and the bruise 
 is tender ! " 
 
 " Hum ! " said he, " draw a long breath— so ; that's 
 
AN OLD FRIEND. 231 
 
 good — ha! You are not so bad as you might be. 
 We'll put you to rights, my chicken, in no time ! " 
 
 " Hiems," said I, *'why these airs of seniority and 
 superiority? You were not wont to call me chicken 
 and sonny ? " 
 
 " My dear child," said my irrepressible friend, " if 
 you attempt to command me, I'll put you on gruel and 
 slops for a month. I will, by the powers ! Recollect 
 that you are my patient. And now, I'll tell you the 
 news," dropping his voice to a whisper and putting his 
 mouth to my ear ; '' I'm engaged to be married ! " 
 Having uttered these portentous words, he stepped back 
 a pace or two and surveyed me from a distance to see 
 what effect the announcement had produced on me. 
 
 " I heartily congratulate you, my dear boy. Who 
 is the lady?" 
 
 "But I'll tell you all about it to-morrow, as you 
 must be tired, and require rest." 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE next morning I narrated my adventures to a 
 numerous assemblage of the brigade officers. My- 
 stery was frequently interrupted by outbursts of indigna- 
 tion against the villain Pauloff, and when I had finished, 
 I was informed that he had been in bad odour for a long 
 time, and had deserted a few days previously. 
 
 " He was degraded to the ranks a month ago," said 
 one of my hearers. 
 
 " It is a pity he was not shot," said another. 
 
 " Shooting is too good for him, the blackguard ! " 
 chimed in Hiems. "I'd like to have his head in chancery 
 this minute ! " 
 
 "We'll catch and hang him yet," said Count R^ne. 
 ''Parties have been sent out and are searching for him 
 in all directions, and now, doctor, perhaps you had better 
 see the brigadier, who has heard of your arrival. I'll take 
 you to him." 
 
 I at once accompanied the count to headquarters, 
 where I was very kindly received by the grim-looking 
 Colonel Medvedovski. 
 
 "lam glad to see you, sir," said he, speaking less 
 stiffly than usual. "On what knight errantry have you 
 
LETTERS FROM HOME. 233 
 
 been lately engaged? Not occupying cottages again 
 in the Turkish lines, eh, or drilling holes in the heads of 
 wounded enemies, or killing young wild boars to supply 
 your suffering comrades with food ? " and his fierce little 
 eyes twinkled with merriment as he poked this feeble 
 fun at me. " Take a seat, and let me hear what you 
 have been doing." 
 
 Thus invited, I sat down, and told the brigadier every- 
 thing that had befallen me since the repulse of our grand 
 attack. He listened with quiet attention until I came to 
 the Pauloff episode; when his eyes flashed fire, and 
 striking the table with his clenched fist, he swore a mighty 
 oath that Pauloff should suffer for his crimes. Then 
 congratulating me on my escape, he told me that a 
 bundle of letters awaited me at the camp post-office, and 
 dismissed me. I was curious to see what the bundle of 
 letters, of which I had heard so much, contained, and 
 went straight from head-quarters to the post-office and 
 fetched it. 
 
 The first letter I opened had been forwarded to me 
 from the hospital, and was a dun from a tailor, warning 
 me that if a pair of trowsers I had got from him were 
 not paid for by the ist of August, he would put the 
 matter in his solicitor's hands. It was already September. 
 The next was from one of my brothers in India, telling 
 me that my father was dangerously ill, and had taken it 
 sorely to heart that I had gone on a wild goose chase 
 in Servia instead of pursuing my studies in London. 
 The third was from Messrs. Deville and Impey, solicitors, 
 
 15 
 
234 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 Chancery Lane, acquainting me with the death of a 
 distant relative, whom I had not seen since I was a child, 
 and whose existence I had almost forgotten, and stating 
 that they had been instructed by the executors to inform 
 me that the deceased had left me a legacy of ;£'i,ooo. 
 Another was a circular from Messrs Pigswash, Gripewater, 
 and Slush, wine merchants, directing my attention to the 
 superior quality of their old crusted port at 15J. a dozen. 
 Then a telegram from a cousin to the effect that he had 
 just arrived at Liverpool from America, and asking me 
 to meet him at 1 1 p.m., the 22nd August, at the Criterion ; 
 and lastly, a memorandum from a German lottery agent, 
 asking me to take a one pound ticket in his government 
 guaranteed lottery, in which every ticket was absolutely 
 certain to win a prize, varying in value from ^^5 to 
 ;^5o,ooo ! 
 
 The bad news from India, the desire to see my cousin, 
 and the agreeable prospect of having ^1,000 of my own 
 to spend as I pleased, made me resolve to return to 
 England immediately. 
 
 Returning to headquarters, I applied to the brigadier 
 for leave, which he was kind enough to accord, and 
 moreover, he introduced me to a Russian officer. Captain 
 Starvemo, who was wounded in the arm, and about to 
 return to Belgrade, and suggested that we should go 
 together. 
 
 This arrangement suited us both very well, and it was 
 agreed that we should start early the next morning. I 
 was in a state of the utmost impecuniosity, for the 
 
CAPTAIN STARVEMO. 235 
 
 rascally Pauloff had cleared every coin out of my pockets. 
 I was compelled to part with my surgical dressing-case 
 and the few instruments I possessed to raise sufficient 
 money to pay my expenses by the way. The things were 
 eagerly bought up by the Russian surgeons and dressers^ 
 and realized the sum of three Napoleons, of which sum 
 I improvidently expended one-third in bestowing a 
 parting collation on Hiems and some of my Russian 
 intimates. 
 
 The next morning, having been duly furnished with 
 letters of recommendation to the Commander-in-chief 
 at Deligrad, we started. 
 
 My companion, Captain Starvemo, was an officer in 
 the Russian Marines, and as he could speak English 
 uncommonly well, had been presented with a commission 
 in Colonel Bragg's squadron of cavalry, in order that 
 he might assist the latter, who could speak no language 
 but his own. He was over six feet in height and power- 
 fully built, and though imbued with a strong prejudice 
 against England, confined his dislike to the country and 
 its policy, and not to its people. He was very well 
 informed, and exceedingly courteous and agreeable in 
 manner. Like most of the other Russians I had come 
 in contact with, he was full of the idea that sooner or 
 later they would be at war with us, and when that time 
 did come that we should collapse ignominiously. 
 
 '* And what would make us collapse, captain ? " I 
 asked, as we trundled along the road. 
 
 " Starvation," replied he. 
 
236 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 " And how are you going to starve us ? " I asked again. 
 
 *' Very easily," said he. " You get nine-tenths of your 
 bread-stuffs from foreign countries, our cruisers would 
 intercept your grain- ships, and there you are — starved 
 out; can anything be plainer or easier?" 
 
 " I fancy it is easier to talk about intercepting our 
 grain-ships than to do it," said I. " What do you think 
 our fleet would be doing all the while ? " 
 
 " Fighting with ours, or with those of our allies, or 
 reposing harmlessly at the bottom of the sea," replied 
 the captain. 
 
 " And who are your allies to be, may I ask ? " said I. 
 
 " Either France or Italy, or perhaps both of them, 
 France is our natural ally, and Italy your natural enemy. 
 A little Russian diplomacy would secure them both to 
 us. The former sees in us a power capable of restoring 
 Alsace and Lorraine to her, the latter sees in you a 
 rival for the supremacy of the Mediterranean Sea. Both 
 have powerful fleets, either of which, in conjunction 
 with ours, and aided by torpedoes and infernal machines, 
 would prove more than a match for your boasted navy ! 
 
 " Hem, sir," said I, "it is ,very easy and pleasant to 
 talk about these things, but I am of opinion that Russia 
 and France and Italy combined would find their pro- 
 gramme impossible. In the first place, I doubt whether 
 the able statesmen at the head of affairs in France and 
 Italy would let themselves be gulled by a ' little Rus- 
 sian diplomacy ! ' In the second— and supposing that 
 they did,— we can fight as well as you, and have torpe- 
 
THE WAY TO CONQUER ENGLAND. 237 
 
 does and infernal machines as good, if not better, than 
 yours, and I am convinced that it would be your fleets, 
 and not ours, that after a conflict between us would be 
 found reposing harmlessly at the bottom of the sea." 
 
 " I am very glad to hear you express those opinions," 
 said he, handing me a cigarette, " and I hope they are 
 shared by your countrymen ! " 
 
 " To the best of my knowledge and belief they are," 
 replied I, gratefully accepting the proffered smoke. 
 
 " Then all I can say is, that the overweening con- 
 fidence of you Englishmen will be a third and most 
 powerful ally to us. War has its chances, and the 
 mightiest, when most assured of success, have before 
 now come to grief. Mark my words. The very next 
 war you undertake with us or any other great power 
 will place the people of London and Liverpool and 
 Glasgow and your other great cities in absolute distress 
 for want of bread. Any other Government than yours^ 
 under similar circumstances, would provide public 
 granaries and storehouses, as a necessary precaution, 
 but you English — no, you won't do anything of the 
 kind. Your thick-headed prototype, John Bull, will go 
 on dozing away and enjoying his dream of fancied 
 invincibility and security until he is caught napping, 
 and then it will be too late for him to bestir himself. 
 But here we are at the camp at Deligrad." 
 
 We were now challenged by sentries, and our replies 
 and papers being found satisfactory, we were permitted 
 to go to headquarters. Here we had an interview 
 
238 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 with Colonel Comaroff, General Tchernaieff s second in 
 command. This officer, who was assassinated some 
 months after at Constantinople, informed us that we 
 should have to stay in camp for the night, and could 
 proceed as early as we pleased next morning. It was 
 still early in the evening, so we whiled away the time 
 by strolling quietly about the camp and inspecting its 
 defences. These, in consequence of the untoward result 
 of the recent actions, were being greatly strengthened. 
 The approach from the Alexinatz side was com- 
 manded by heavy artillery brought from Belgrade and 
 other fortresses ; all trees interfering with the line of 
 fire had been cut down, dragged into camp, and stripped 
 of their leaves, and then piled up with their branches 
 sharpened and pointing outwards, so as to form an 
 almost impenetrable abattis in parts where such protec- 
 tion was deemed necessary. Winter quarters were 
 prepared by digging large chambers underground and 
 providing them with thick thatched roofs. 
 
 As we were returning from our survey, we met a troop 
 of cavalry conducting two prisoners who were seated in a 
 cart into the camp. Both prisoners were bound hand 
 and foot, and seemed to have made a desperate resistance : 
 for round the head of one of them was tied a blood- 
 stained rag, and the clothes of the other were torn and 
 muddy. When we were almost abreast of them my eyes 
 met those of the man whose head was bound up. 
 The effect was electrical, his jaw fell, and a look of 
 the wildest terror spread over his face, as he yelled out, 
 
RETRIBUTION. 239 
 
 " Der teufel ! der teufel ! " and dropped to the bottom 
 of the car as if he had been shot. 
 
 It was Pauloffs accomplice, the Servian. The other 
 prisoner, who had hitherto sat with his chin sunk on his 
 breast, also looked up, and I at once recognised Pauloff. 
 The miserable man started, turned pale, and trembled 
 visibly when he saw me. 
 
 *' How now, doctor ? " said Starvemo inquisitively ; 
 " you seem to know those men, and they evidently recog- 
 nise you." 
 
 "I have good cause to know them," replied I. 
 "Would you mind asking their escort what they are 
 charged with ? " 
 
 Starvemo put the question to the guard, and was told 
 that they were charged with the robbery and murder of 
 two invalided Russian officers. They were to be tried by 
 drumhead court martial, and would probably be shot. 
 The escort then saluted and trotted on with their charge. 
 " Now, doctor," said my companion, " tell me what you 
 know about those men ? " 
 
 Having no wish to give evidence against them, I exacted 
 a promise of secrecy from Starvemo, and then told him 
 of my adventure in the hut and of my narrow escape. 
 His indignation and astonishment knew no bounds. 
 
 " That accounts then, doctor, for their fright at seeing 
 you ! Of course they thought you were burnt. No 
 wonder they took you for the devil ! I think you ought 
 to inform Colonel Comaroff of these facts." 
 
 I argued that as the men had been caught red-handed 
 
240 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 in the perpetration of another crime for which they were 
 certain to be shot, the evidence that I could give was 
 not required. The captain shook his head in a dis- 
 satisfied manner, and said he knew what he would do 
 under the circumstances, but of course I was the master 
 of my own actions. The next morning we set out again, 
 reached Paratchin without any mishap, and by nightfall 
 were at Yagodina. Here, for the first time for several 
 weeks, we enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in comfortable 
 beds. We were up at sunrise, and had breakfasted and 
 were well on our way by eight next morning. 
 
 About two hours after we started, Starvemo had a 
 violent shivering fit, and complained of feeling very un- 
 well. This alarmed me greatly, as I thought it might be 
 due to some pysemic process in connection with the 
 wound in his arm. For want of anything better, I had 
 only applied a water-dressing to the wound in the morn- 
 ing, when it appeared to be progressing satisfactorily, but 
 now, I found, on examination, that it presented a dry 
 and inflamed appearance. Stopping the driver for a few 
 minutes, I dressed the wound again, and made my patient 
 take a big dose of quinine, the only drug I had at hand. 
 Feverish symptoms, however, developed themselves, 
 and by the time we had reached Semendria (5 p.m.) 
 Starvemo was seriously ill. I drove straight up to the 
 Russian hospital, where Doctors Knifem and Cutemoff, 
 the surgeons in charge, took him into their skilful keep- 
 ing. They were good enough to ask me to spend the 
 night with them, which I gladly did. We watched by 
 
THE IMPORTANT LOOKING YOUNG MAN. 241 
 
 Starvemo's bedside in turns that night, and had the satis- 
 faction to notice a slight improvement in his condition 
 next morning. 
 
 Before leaving Semendria I called at the Servian 
 hospital, in the hope of seeing Doctors Ibaum and 
 Stephanovitch, but they had left the place a month since. 
 I then paid a visit to the hospital itself, where Baron 
 Von Tummy's energy had effected a wonderful change. 
 The clumsy and ignorant soldiers were replaced by an 
 efficient staff of nurses, the wards were clean and neat, 
 and the 'air in them sweet and pure. Altogether, it was 
 completely metamorphosed from the filthy, ill-managed 
 place I had known two or three months before. 
 
 Hearing that the steamer for Belgrade was to start 
 at ten that morning, I returned at once to the Russian 
 hospital, bade adieu to Captain Starvemo and Doctors 
 Knifem and Cutemoff, and went on board the boat, 
 which left the landing stage a few minutes after. 
 
 I now examined my pockets to see how much money 
 was left. To my alarm I discovered that my capital 
 amounted to four dinars (four francs) only. However, 
 I consoled myself by the hope that my friends in Lon- 
 don would have sent me a letter of credit to the Poste 
 Restante at Belgrade. Still, it is not an agreeable thing 
 to find oneself reduced to three-and-fourpence in a 
 foreign country. Whilst I was counting my money, an 
 important-looking young man placed himself opposite to 
 me in an imposing attitude, and said with an unmistak- 
 able cockney twang — 
 
242 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 " I presume you are an Englishman." 
 
 " I am, sir," said I. 
 
 " I presume you are returning to England," said he. 
 
 Again I replied in the affirmative. 
 
 " I presume you have no objection to conversing 
 with a fellow-countryman." 
 
 "No indeed," replied I, "I am delighted to meet 
 you." 
 
 " I presume," said he, *' you are a medical man." 
 
 " I am a medical student," said I. 
 
 '' I presume you'll have no objection to taking one of 
 my cards ; " and he tendered me a piece of pasteboard. 
 
 I accepted the card, and looking at it, read the 
 following inscription : 
 
 " Dr. Beazley Smugge, 
 
 Green Street, Hackney. ^^ 
 
 " You are a doctor, I see," said I. 
 
 Dr. Smugge nodded in a grave and dignified manner. 
 
 " You are very young to have passed your examina- 
 tions," I remarked. 
 
 " No, well, well — no ! " said he, stretching out his neck 
 and combing out his beard with his finger. 
 
 " You are an M.D., sir, I suppose ? " said I. 
 
 "Well, no," said he, "I am not exactly an M.D. 
 yet." 
 
 " What degrees have you then, doctor ? " said I. 
 
 " Well, I can't exactly say that I have my degrees yet, 
 
DR. BEAZLEY SMUGGE. 243 
 
 but I shall have, very soon. I'm walking a hospital, 
 you know." 
 
 " But what does the * doctor ' before your name mean, 
 Mr. Smugge ? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh, well," replied he, " that's one of my father's 
 cards. He gave me a lot of them, so I'm quite entitled 
 to use them, ain't I ? " 
 
 " No, I don't think you are," replied I, laughing. 
 
 " Oh, but when a man's well up, and knows his work 
 thoroughly, as I do," said he, " it doesn't signify. I am 
 going up for my first college as soon as I get back. I 
 presume you won't mind asking me a few questions in 
 physiology ? " 
 
 I was a good deal taken aback at this singular request 
 from a stranger, and replied that I was somewhat rusty 
 in my own physiology, but would do the best I could. 
 
 Mr. Smugge graciously replied that he would overlook 
 my physiological rustiness ; so I asked him, " What was 
 the normal temperature of the blood in man ? " 
 
 " That's scarcely a fair question, sir," said he, shaking 
 his head deprecatingly, " however, I think I can answer 
 it ; 212° Fahrenheit." 
 
 This ridiculous reply sent me into a fit of laughter, at 
 which Mr. Smugge became very indignant. 
 
 ** Mayn't a fellow make a little mistake sometimes 
 without being laughed at ? " said he, testily. 
 
 " Certainly," replied I, "and I must apologize for my 
 rudeness. But is not 212° rather high? " 
 
 " Er — well — perhaps it is a little, but not very much," 
 
244 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 replied he. " Wait a bit, I know. It's something with a 
 five added to it; let me see — let me see;" and he 
 scratched his nose in his perplexity. "Ah, never mind ! 
 I can't think of the exact figure now, but I know that a 
 fellow can't live with his temperature above 900° Fah- 
 renheit." 
 
 Again I burst out laughing, and again my discourtesy 
 excited the ire of Mr. Smugge. 
 
 " Er — a fellow needn't laugh, you know. Ask me 
 another question — something straightforward and above- 
 board, you know, not a pottering thing about tempera- 
 ture. If any of the examiners at the college have the 
 cheek — er — to ask me a question about the tempera- 
 ture, I shall say — er— ' Oh, go to Bath, and find out ! ' 
 That's the sort of fellow I am, you know ! " 
 
 Subduing my inclination to laugh with the greatest 
 difficulty, I complied with Mr. Smugge's request, and 
 asked him another question — viz, "At what rate does 
 the blood travel through the arteries ? " 
 
 "Er — any fool knows that," repHed he; "a deuce 
 of a rate — a mile a minute ; but that's enough physio- 
 logy for one day. I presume you've no objection to 
 changing the subject now, sir." 
 
 "None whatever, sir," said I. 
 
 "Very well, then; we'll talk about something else. 
 Have you done any first-class operations since you came 
 here?" 
 
 " No," answered I. 
 
 " I did some," said he, " but the fellows have no 
 
I 
 
 fflg?V 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 r 
 
 1 
 
 
 f 
 
 ^r \ 
 
 m^ 
 
 ^3 
 
 -T^Sap 
 
 ^ ■ "- 
 
 ^^i^^ 
 
 ^^=^ 
 
 r=^^=^i^i— 
 
 _ — — - 
 
 THE IMPORTANT-LOOKING YOUNG 
 
 MAN WITH A BEARD. 
 
 To fact p. 244.] 
 
 
 
THE PROFESSION GOING TO THE DOGS. 245 
 
 Stamina, you know, and did not survive the most trifling 
 operation. I was baulked, too, of one beautiful job by 
 Dr. Sharp. You don't know that fellow Sharp. All 
 the better for you ; he's not a gentleman. What do you 
 think? I was going to cut off a man's hand for a 
 wound on his little finger, when Sharp had the cheek 
 to remonstrate with me. ' Surely,' said he, ' you are not 
 going to amputate for that?' *Yes, I am,' said I. 
 
 * But it's not necessary,' said he. * Maybe not,' said I, 
 
 * but it's a pretty operation.' ' A pretty operation,' said 
 he ; * why, you confounded blockhead, who the dickens 
 are you? What qualifications have you got? I shall 
 allow you to do no such thing.' And the fellow made 
 such a deuced row that I had to drop the operation. 
 Wasn't it disgusting, eh ? " 
 
 " One of the most disgusting things I ever heard of," 
 I replied. 
 
 " The profession's going to the dogs, that's what I 
 say. There are a lot of fellows in it nowadays who 
 have no fellow-feeling for a fellow. I was very nearly 
 doing for Dr. Sharp, though. I am not a man to be 
 trifled with, sir; my anger is terrible when roused. I 
 kept my eye on Dr. Sharp after that, and if he had gone 
 a little further and called me a fool, I believe I should 
 have challenged him to fight a duel. If ever you should 
 come across him, you may tell him that Beazley Smugge 
 warns him not to cross his path again ! " 
 
 As Mr. Smugge spoke these words he folded his arms, 
 knit his brows, and scowled most horribly. 
 
246 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 " You surely would not hurt him, Mr. Beazley ? " 
 said I. 
 
 " Hurt him ! Yah ! " (an intensely ferocious whispered 
 snarl) ; "let him look to himself ! Let him take care 
 of his back ! I would either kick him or bump the 
 back of his head five or six times on the pavement. 
 Hurt him, indeed !" Having thus given vent to his 
 righteous indignation, Mr. Smugge cooled down a bit, 
 and offered me a cracknel biscuit, which I declined with 
 thanks, whereupon he ate it himself, and told me be- 
 tween the mouthfuls that immediately after his arrival at 
 Belgrade he would cross over to Semlin and hurry back 
 to England, to prepare himself for the first College 
 exam, in November. 
 
 " I envy you," said I, " the prospect of returning home 
 so speedily. I must stay here until my people send me 
 a remittance, — i.e., for about a fortnight." This remark- 
 able young man bade me adieu at the Belgrade landing- 
 stage, and went his way. 
 
 There was no letter of credit for me at the post-ofl[ice, 
 and not having sufficient money to pay for a telegram, I 
 wrote a letter to my friends to acquaint them with my im- 
 pecunious condition. Next I looked out for some place 
 where I could stay until the remittance arrived — a work of 
 some difficulty, for my unkempt and tatterdemalion ap- 
 pearance went sorely against me, but I at last succeeded 
 in getting a bedroom at the Alexandra Hotel, near the 
 market-place. However, I was not destined to stay there 
 long. The same evening I had a violent attack of ague, 
 
A TERRIBLE SHOCK. 247 
 
 and not being able to get proper attention at the hotel, 
 I applied for admission into the English Ambulance 
 Hospital, where I was immediately received and most 
 kindly treated. 
 
 The day after my admission acute dysentery set in, 
 and for three weeks I was confined to my bed. 
 
 One day, as I was getting better, some visitors who 
 were being shown through the wards stopped close to 
 my bedside, and began conversing in low tones. I was 
 nearly asleep at the time, but one of the voices aroused 
 me. It was Marie's ! She had resumed her proper 
 attire, and was leaning on the arm of a tall, handsome 
 man in the uniform of the Bulgarian legion. 
 
 Presently Marie saw me, and coming forward, addressed 
 me in such graceful and sympathetic terms that I quite 
 lost my heart to her again. After speaking to me for 
 a few minutes, she introduced her tall companion to me 
 as her husband^ Colonel Nicholas Davorin, of the Bul- 
 garian Brigade. This was a terrible shock ! For a 
 minute or two I utterly collapsed ; my head swam 
 round, and I could hear nothing in my ears but the 
 words — " my husband ! " 
 
 When I came to, they had gone. 
 
 So great was my disappointment at discovering that 
 Marie was married, that I remember wishing at the time 
 that I might never get better. For one whole day I 
 know that I refused all food, and for a week I resolutely 
 declined taking more than half my allowance. My 
 
248 ADVENTURES IN SERVIA. 
 
 disgusting constitution, however, survived it all, and three 
 weeks after my last unhappy interview with Marie I was 
 on my way home to England, — not, as I had once 
 fondly hoped, a highly distinguished and happily plighted 
 individual, but a nearly extinguished and completely 
 blighted being. 
 
 Once arrived in England, however, the kindly faces 
 and hearty greetings of friends and relatives went far 
 to soothe my wounded susceptibilities, and I once more 
 resumed my place at home and my studies at the 
 hospital, a sadder, but it is to be hoped also, a con- 
 siderably wiser man. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Printed by Hazell, Watson, and Viney, Limited, London and Aylesbury. 
 
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