,
rushed the turbid current of the river. The last road to safety had been
cut.

Presently the fog lifted and revealed a long line of retreating
Austrians, reaching down the road toward Obrenovatz, still heading
desperately for the bridge, as unconscious of its destruction as a line
of ants whose hill has been trampled in by a cow's hoof. But they were
not long to remain unconscious of the fact that they were now prisoners
of war.

CHAPTER LIX

SERBIANS RETAKE THE CITY--END OF THIRD INVASION

As the sun rose on December 15, 1914, the Serbian cavalry, accompanied
by King Peter, swept down from the heights of Torlak and entered the
streets of the capital. A volley from the remnant of a Hungarian
regiment met them. The cavalrymen dismounted and began driving the
Magyars down the streets, from one square to another. And while this
fight, an armed riot rather than a military action, was going on,
finally to end in the practical slaughter of all the Hungarians who
would not surrender, the king entered the cathedral of his capital to
celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving for the deliverance of his kingdom from
the hands of the enemy. And even as the Mass ended, stray shots echoed
through the streets of the city still.

Two hours later the Crown Prince Alexander, accompanied by his brother,
Prince George, a strong cavalry escort, and the British military
attache, approached Belgrade. They were met on the outskirts by a crowd
of women and children who, with a few exceptions, were all of the
inhabitants that remained, the Austrians having carried the others off
with them the day before. They had collected masses of flowers, and with
these they bombarded and decorated the incoming soldiers. The girls
brought the embroidered scarfs and sashes, which they had worked in
preparation for marriage, and these they hung about the cavalrymen's
necks until they looked as though they were celebrating at a village
wedding. Huge tricolor streamers now hung from the houses and buildings,
while bits of dirty bunting fluttered from the cottages.

In the streets of Belgrade the Austrians left 5 cannon, 8 ammunition
wagons, 440 transport wagons, and 1,000 horses. Some 150 junior officers
and 10,000 men also found their retreat suddenly cut off; among them
were few officers of high rank. In one of the officers' headquarters the
evening meal was still spread on the table, the soup half consumed, the
wine half drunk.

So ended the third A