The Boy Allies in the Balkan Campaign Part 4

He was right. Walking some distance from the tent, he made out, probably half a mile away, the dark forms of many men as they marched swiftly on in the darkness, their figures lighted up ever and anon by the gleam of a flashlight. But the camp in which the lad stood was perfectly quiet.

"Now I wonder--" he muttered--gazed silently ahead a moment and then turned back toward the tent, saying to himself: "Guess I'll wake the others up."

Chester and Colonel Anderson were aroused without much trouble. Not so Stubbs.

"What's the matter?" came the little man's query, when Hal prodded him gently in the ribs with his foot.

"Time to get up," said Hal, briefly.

For a moment Stubbs opened his eyes and peered into the darkness--for Hal had made no light.

"Get up?" he exclaimed. "What! Anthony Stubbs get up in the middle of the night? Not much!"

"But we are going, Stubbs," said Hal. "We don't want to leave you here by yourself."

"Kind of you," said Stubbs sarcastically. "I can remember when you were not so solicitious of my welfare. Don't worry about me. I'll just sleep right along."

He turned over and a loud snore a few moments later told that he was again in the land of dreams.

Again Hal prodded him with his foot.

"Stubbs! I say, Stubbs!" he called.

Directly Stubbs opened his eyes.

"And what's the matter this time?" he demanded aggrievedly.

"Hurry!" Hal exclaimed, thinking to get the little man up by a ruse. "The Austrians are coming."

"Run, then!" replied Stubbs. "I'll hide here. They won't bother me."

"Now listen here, Stubs," said Chester, "just when do you want to get up?"

Again Stubbs allowed his eyes to open and he peered into the darkness sleepily.

"What day is this?" he inquired mildly.

"Tuesday," replied Chester; "but what--"

"Then call me Sat.u.r.day," said the little man gently, and closed his eyes in sleep once more.

"Ha! Ha!" laughed Colonel Anderson. "He had you there, Chester."

Chester appeared somewhat fl.u.s.tered.

"Well, he'll have to get up out of there," he said wrathfully.

"Oh, come on and let him be, Chester," said Hal. "I guess nothing will hurt him. We'll be back by daylight and I'll venture to say we will find him here, still snoring."

"Well, all right," Chester agreed at length; "but to tell you the truth, I don't just like that answer he gave me."

The three left the tent and Hal led the way toward where he had so recently perceived the pa.s.sing troops.

Infantry, cavalry and artillery were still pa.s.sing in dense ma.s.ses, moving westward.

"I wonder where they are going?" said Chester.

"To the front, I suppose," replied Hal.

"Now do you really suppose they are?" asked Chester sarcastically. "I thought perhaps they were on dress parade. Say, just where are we anyhow?

Do either of you know?"

"By Jove!" exclaimed Colonel Anderson. "I meant to ask Edwards, but I forgot all about it. He told us, you remember, he would be in the tent on our left. We'll go back and have him out. Perhaps we can learn a few things."

"Suits me," Hal agreed. "We can't see anything here but troops, and we have seen too many of them to be much interested. Come on."

Fifteen minutes later found them seated in the tent Colonel Edwards had commandeered for his temporary headquarters and the colonel himself doing the talking.

"You are perhaps fifteen miles northwest of Cettinje, the capital of Montenegro," he explained.

"And where are these troops going?" asked Hal.

"Reinforcements to the Austrian front," said Colonel Edwards. "Also some of them, can they be spared, will be rushed to the aid of the Serbians, who, from all accounts, are being sorely pressed by the new German offensive."

"New German offensive?" exclaimed Hal.

"Why, yes. Haven't you heard of it?"

"No. Will you explain?"

"I'll try," said Colonel Edwards. "I'll revert back to the start. On Friday, August 13, news reached London, where I was then stationed, that an Austro-German army of more than 300,000 men was ma.s.sing at a point on the Serbian frontier and it was a.s.serted that the Kaiser was about to strike a blow at Serbia in order to improve Teuton prospects in the Balkans, where Roumania and Greece had been reported as waiting a favorable opportunity to join the Allies.

"The great German victories in Russia, following the fall of Warsaw, had, however, caused the Balkan kingdoms to waver, and Bulgaria was said to have strong pro-German leanings. On August 16 the Austro-German army crossed the frontier and began a bombardment of Belgrade, the capital.

This led to a crisis in the Greek parliament, where the Venizelos party caused the downfall of the cabinet, which supported the king's att.i.tude of strict neutrality--a neutrality he had promised his consort, who is the sister of the Kaiser, as you know.

"On August 21 Serbia made it known that in accordance with the advice of the Allies, she was willing to grant the demands of Bulgaria for the return of territory taken in the last Balkan war, and for a time it seemed that Bulgaria would enter the war on the side of the Allies.

However, on September 19 it was said that Bulgaria would join the Central Powers, thus permitting Germany to establish an unbroken line of allies from the Baltic to the Bosporus.

"On October 5, the Allies, upon invitation of the Greek premier, began the disembarkation of troops at Saloniki to go to the a.s.sistance of the Serbians; and, so far as I know, they are still landing."

The three friends had listened attentively to this account of the Balkan situation. They had heard some inkling of the seriousness of the Serbian plight, but had not realized until now that Germany had at last set out to crush the little Balkan kingdom as she had crushed Belgium in the early days of the great war.

"And what is the latest on the Bulgarian att.i.tude?" asked Colonel Anderson.

"Well, I haven't heard anything later than I have told you, but my personal opinion is that Bulgaria, sooner or later, will join the Germans."

"Fools," said Colonel Anderson, briefly.