defeat! Your old king has come now
to see you conquer--or to die among you!"

What a cheer there was as the king spoke! What a roar greeted him! With
what eagerness did the troops hail the order to advance!

Already the cannon were thundering. Soon now rifle fire in sullen,
crackling volleys broke upon the air. And that day the Austrians learned
that they had walked into a trap; that Servia's army had retreated, not
because it was beaten, not because it was afraid, but that it might
fight, when the time for battle came, on its own chosen ground. From the
east came the army that had guarded Belgrade for so long, striking at
the Austrian flank. And once more an Austrian defeat became a rout. Once
more the Servians pursued.

Dick and Stepan could see only a little of the great struggle. But that
little was enough to teach them that they were looking upon history in
the making. The battle was one of those crushing, decisive struggles
that seldom occur. With defeat the last hope of a successful Austrian
invasion of little Servia seemed to be shattered and when the sun went
down there was no longer any doubt of the issue.

The Austrians had fought well and bravely, but the Servians had fought
with the courage of despair and the cool precision of trained soldiers
used to victory, as well. The stars that night looked down upon the
abject flight of the Austrian army, split in two parts, scattering its
arms, its equipment, everything that would retard the search for safety
from the furious pursuit of the Servians.

"We let them have Belgrade--for a few days!" said Stepan, drunk with
happiness. "But now we want it for ourselves--our capital is the place
to celebrate a victory!"

And so it proved. Two divisions of the beaten Austrians were caught at
the Danube, where Servian guns had smashed to pieces a bridge of boats
cunningly contrived for retreat. And while they were making their last
feeble resistance, a brigade of Servians marched into Belgrade. Flags
flew everywhere and the people hailed the return of their own troops
deliriously. When the king himself rode in, disdaining the carriage that
had been provided for his use on account of his age, the city seemed to
go mad. The thunder of the guns to the east died away; the Austrians who
had been cut off had had enough of fighting and had surrendered. The
Servians were the victors.

"It is wonderful! It will surprise the world!" said Dick. "Why, Mr.
Hampton said that ever