cessful Montenegrins paused for a moment and cheered wildly; then they
took stock of their own dead and wounded, for they had not escaped
scot-free. The hand-to-hand struggle, though brief, had been severe while
it lasted, and the Austrians fought hard and well. The Montenegrin
losses, though comparatively light, had been severe.

While the cavalry action was being fought, the artillery fire had
slackened perceptibly; but now the cavalry of each side--what was left of
it--had returned to its own lines.

The big guns took up the duel anew with even greater vigor than before.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE BATTLE CONTINUES.

Hal, Chester and Colonel Anderson had watched the battle with the eyes of
veterans; Stubbs had taken in the scene with the eye of a newspaper man
in the search of news. Nikol, the dwarf, had gazed at the struggling knot
of horsemen in undisguised amazement.

As the Austrians, defeated, had withdrawn, each had drawn a deep breath.

"A terrible spectacle, when you stop to think of it," said Hal slowly.

"Terrible, indeed," agreed Colonel Anderson quietly; "and yet it must
go on and on until the power of the Teuton allies has been crushed
out forever."

"Which it will be," said Chester quietly.

All turned their eyes to the battlefield once more.

Even from where they stood they could discern a sudden activity in the
Austrian lines. The action of the big field pieces became more vigorous
than before. Hal, Chester and Colonel Anderson guessed the answer
immediately, as, probably, did the officers of King Nicholas' forces.

The next Austrian move was to be a grand assault under cover of artillery
fire. The problem to be solved was where it would be delivered--in the
center, on the right, or on the left flank.

For a brief instant Hal turned his eyes from the battlefield to the place
where King Nicholas and his staff stood. Officers were arriving and
departing in haste, carrying orders to the various commanders.

The fire of the Montenegrin guns also became more violent; but it was
evident that the Montenegrin staff had decided to take no action until
they were confident of just where the Austrians would strike.

The noise of the cannonading was tremendous. It was like the continual
roar of the loudest peal of thunder. The very ground trembled from the
vibrations of the big guns.

From the Austrian trenches now poured thousands of men at the
double--poured in dense masses toward the Montenegr