next?"

"I think everyone is wondering about that," said Dick, with a grin.
"They don't seem to want to come out after us, and we certainly can't
row ashore without oars, even if we wanted to. And I suppose if she's
cleared for action, that monitor isn't carrying so many boats that
she'll want to send one for us."

"I wish her searchlight would break down!" said Steve, venomously. "Then
our fellows on the other side might help us. Mischa, I've got to get
over if we can do it. It's very important for me to report what I
discovered during the day. Has war been declared yet?"

"It has not been formally declared," said Mischa. "But the King and all
the government have gone all the way back to Nish, and most of the
troops have marched away to the west, toward Schabatz and Losnitza.
There is only a small garrison left in Belgrade."

"To Nish, eh?" said Steve, frowning a little. "That was not the plan of
which I heard. The withdrawal was to be only to Kragujevac. They must
mean to draw the Austrians on. But I am sorry. I hoped for an invasion."

Suddenly to the east there was a dull roar. The three in the boat stared
at one another, and at the same moment there came a wild outburst of
cheering from the soldiers on the Austrian bank of the river.

"What is that?" asked Dick. As he spoke the sound was repeated.

"Cannon," said Mischa.

"Yes, cannon!" repeated Steve, his face lighted up. "The first gun of
the war! Who knows how many echoes that shot will have? They said that
in your country a shot was fired once that was heard around the world. I
believe that this is just such a shot, Dick!"

"Where is the firing?"

"It must be from one of the Austrian batteries near Semlin. They are
bombarding the city of Belgrade, I suppose."

And then there was a deafening roar, a sound far greater than the firing
of even the heaviest guns of modern warfare would make, and to the east,
toward the Danube, there was a great flash of fire. Instantly the
searchlight swung away from them and pointed in the opposite direction,
and as the beams of light were concentrated on the spot where the flash
had been, the three observers in the boat saw a strange and wonderful
sight. The lights played full on the great steel railway bridge across
the Save, and in their white glare they could see the beams collapsing,
the piers melting away, while the whole central span of the bridge
collapsed in utter ruin, leaving a gap where the river now flowed