The Boy Allies in the Balkan Campaign | Page 6

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 Saturday," 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 flustered.
"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 passing troops.
Infantry, cavalry and artillery were still passing in dense masses,
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 massing at a point
on the Serbian frontier and it was asserted 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 attitude 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 assistance 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 attitude?" asked Colonel
Anderson.
"Well, I haven't heard anything later than I have told you, but my
personal opinion is that