was military, and Colonel Tchernaieff will give the
facts I had gathered to the staff when he reports at Schabatz. The rest
can wait until morning. I don't know what has happened here yet. I
suppose the information department still has quarters here, but most of
the men will be with the army in the field. I may have to go to Schabatz
in the morning--later in the morning, I mean."

That was a good correction to make, because it was morning now, and
streaks of light were beginning to appear beyond the Danube. And Dick,
who had lived through the fullest day of his life, was eager to get to
bed. The Austrian bombardment, which it seemed had not been very bad,
had stopped altogether, and the strong probability that it would be
resumed when the sun rose didn't deter Dick from his desire to sleep.

"We'll be at my house soon," said Steve, who knew how tired Dick was.
"If old Maritza is still there, she will look after us. I don't believe
anyone else will be in the house. My mother and my two young brothers
have probably gone away. My father said they must when the war began."

Dick found that his friend's house was in that new quarter of Belgrade
that he had admired so much when he had made his trip across from
Semlin. And the inside of the house was as pleasant as its outer
aspect. It was not luxurious. Few houses in Servia are, since Servia is
a country where great wealth is practically unknown. But so, for that
matter, is extreme poverty. Most of the Servian people make enough for a
living, and not a great deal more, and so they have remained a simple
people, and have maintained their ability to rise as a nation in arms.

But Dick wasn't thinking of such things. All he needed to know about
that house or any other was that it contained a bed. Yet first before
they went to bed, both he and Steve took a bath.

"Heaven only knows when we'll get another chance," said Steve,
cheerfully. "There are going to be exciting doings, my friend Dick, for
a time. We may have to leave here in a great hurry. You know, the
Austrians _may_ find out how easy it would be for them to come over into
Belgrade! It would be a great stroke for them to say they had captured
our capital in the first week of the war, even if they couldn't keep
it."

"Well, I hope they don't come until we've had a good sleep," said Dick.
And with that he rolled himself into bed and was snoring as soon as his
head touched the pillow.

When he awoke it was broad day