Andreas turned out well.  He was as hardy as a hill-goat, careless how and when he ate, or where he slept, which, indeed, was mostly in the open.  It seemed to me that he had cousins all over Servia, chiefly of the female persuasion, and I am morally certain that the Turkish strain in his blood had in Andreas its natural development in a species of fin-de-siecle polygamy.  Sherman’s prize “bummer” was not in it with Andreas as a forager.  At first, indeed, I suspected him of actual plundering, so copiously did he bring in supplies, and so little had I to pay for them; but I was not long in discovering that all kinds of produce were dirt cheap in Servia, and that as I could myself buy a lamb for a quarter, it was not surprising that Andreas, to the manner born, could easily obtain one for half the money.  He was an excellent horsemaster, and the stern vigour with which he chastised the occasional neglect of the cousin whom he had brought into my service as groom, was borne in upon me by the frequent howls which were audible from the rear of my tent.  There was not a road in all Servia with whose every winding Andreas was not conversant, and this “extensive and peculiar” knowledge of his was often of great service to me.  He was a light-weight and an excellent rider; I have sent him off to Belgrade with a telegram at dusk, and he was back again by breakfast time next morning, after a gallop of quite a hundred miles.

No exertion fatigued him; I never saw the man out of humour; there was but one matter in regard to which I ever had to chide him, and in that I had perforce to let him have his own way, because I do not believe that he could restrain himself.  He had served the term in the army which is, or was then, obligatory on all Servians; and on the road or in camp he was rather more of a “peace at any price” man than ever was the late Mr. John Bright himself.  When the first fight occurred, Andreas claimed to be allowed to witness it along with me.  I demurred; he might get hit; and if anything should happen to him, what should I do for a servant?  At length I gave him the firm order to remain in camp, and started myself with the groom behind me on my second horse.  The fighting occurred eight miles from camp, and in the course of it, leaving the groom in the rear, I had accompanied the Russian General Dochtouroff into a most unpleasantly hot place, where a storm of Turkish shells were falling in the effort to hinder the withdrawal of a disabled Servian battery.  I happened to glance over my shoulder, and lo!  Andreas on foot was at my horse’s tail, obviously in a state of ecstatic enjoyment of the situation.  I peremptorily ordered him back, and he departed sullenly, calmly strolling along the line of Turkish fire.  Just then, Tchernaieff, the Servian Commander-in-Chief, had, it seemed, ordered a detachment of infantry to take in flank the Turkish guns.  From where we stood I could discern the Servian soldiers hurrying forward close under the fringe of a wood near the