“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 Bulgaria, sooner or later, will join the Germans.”

“Fools,” said Colonel Anderson, briefly.

“And Greece?” inquired Chester.

“I don’t know, but I believe Greece will keep out of the war just as long as she possibly can.  Certainly, the Greek people will never consent to aiding the Germans.”