yone believed Servia had lost her last chance, and
that the country was about to be overrun, like Belgium!"

Dick met General Dushan, Steve's father. And it was the general, his
eyes filled with tears of pride over the exploits of his son, who told
them of a great honor that awaited them.

"The king has ordered me to bring you both before him," he said. "He has
heard of the part you played in the destruction of the Semlin arsenal
and he has learned that it was that feat that made the great victory of
Schabatz possible. If the Austrians had had ammunition enough to serve
their guns, they would have beaten us there."

Dick was embarrassed and timid when he was called upon to stand forth
and meet King Peter. But the old man, simple and, democratic, soon put
him at his ease. He held out his hand and gripped Dick's, and then he
spoke to him in English.

"Servia thanks you, through me, her king," he said. "I wish you to wear
this decoration with our gratitude! And I have heard of the mission that
brought you to Semlin--so fortunately for us. General Dushan knows my
pleasure in that matter."

"Come with me, both of you," said General Dushan. He took them to the
citadel, and there, in a little while, Hallo was brought before the
general, his hands linked with steel handcuffs.

"Michael Hallo," said General Dushan, sternly, "you have been tried and
found guilty, and sentenced to death as a spy and a traitor. But His
Majesty has been pleased to grant you a reprieve--on a certain
condition. If you will sign an order to Richard Warner upon the State
Bank here for the payment of a sum equivalent to two hundred thousand
dollars, you will be confined as a political prisoner until the end of
the war, and then released. Do you agree?"

There was hate in Hallo's eyes, but he was helpless--and he agreed, to
save his life.

"I told you it would be arranged," said Stepan, three days later, when
Mr. Denniston, the consul in Semlin, had arranged for the transfer of
Dick's money to New York. "And now you are going to Salonica, with an
escort to the border--and I am going all the way to Athens to see you
off! Think of us sometimes--and when the war is over, I will visit you
in New York!"

CHAPTER XIX

HALLO'S LAST CARD

"I'm going to give you drafts on New York, Dick," Mr. Denniston had
said. "In ordinary times, that wouldn't be the best way--I'd simply
arrange for transfer of your money by mail or cable. But now, in war