henchmen--no trouble at all they said. Yet
had we not known them personally we might have waited a month without
help. One is irresistibly reminded at every turn that the Near East
means the East near the East and not the East near the West.

We went to the English colonel's, but no news was yet forthcoming, and
we were, after a jolly tea, invited back at eight.

The camp was in darkness by the time we reached it once more. The fire
lit up the men sitting about it, and the two inverted V's of the tent
entrances; very faintly behind could be seen the outline of the line of
little tented waggons. We had collected an additional member, Miss
Brindley of the "Stobarts." She was very keen to get home, as her
parents were anxious, and both her brothers at the front. Jo gave one
look at her and said "Certainly." She had rushed immediately into the
town and had laid in a stock of beans and lentils, as her contribution
to the common stock. They were all she could buy.

After supper back to the colonel's, and at last got definite news. It
was unlikely that Skoplje would fall, and very little use loitering in
hopes. The colonel advised Jan to get his party out by the best route
possible, and we took a grateful farewell.

Coming back to the camp Jan had a nasty half-hour. Should we go by
Mitrovitza, or should we go by Berane? In the first case there was the
long route, the difficulty of getting lodgings and of transport, the
risk of falling behind the Serbian General Staff, and of finding the
country bare, the high passes of Petch and the snow; Willett was only
just recovering from a bad chill, West's arm had grown much worse, and
had been operated on in the morning by a doctor with a pair of scissors
_faute de mieux_--a most agonizing process. On the other hand, the
Berane route was unknown to the authorities, and might have fallen so
into decay that it was useless; we did not know where the Austro-Germans
were, and they might be already on the outskirts of Novi Bazar; if any
of us fell ill we should certainly be captured. It was a toss up.
Finally he asked the others. They said--

"What you think best. You know the country."

We finally decided to go to Novi Bazar and make inquiries. If there were
no road we could go thence to Mitrovitza, and would only have lost a
day. If, as the colonel said, the bridge was washed away, we could
probably ford the river.

Then to bed. One could not sleep really well, for the rugs did not g