n quite
into the shade by a new step on Serbia's part. She decided to
purchase the artillery for her reconstructed army from the Creusot
works in France. This so infuriated Austria that she declared a
complete boycott of all Serbian goods. Serbia retorted and the
frontiers were absolutely closed; so tightly indeed that along the
Serbian frontier I found the officials complained of a meat
shortage, and a great trade in smuggled fowls was run at night.

Feeling ran very high. Bosnia being under military occupation
naturally bristled with officers and men. The officers talked very
freely. Not once did I ever hear the Serbo-Bulgar convention
mentioned. It was always the guns. They said it was not a question
of trade in armaments. That did not matter. It was the question of
policy. Serbia showed plainly now to all the world that she was
ranged on the side of Russia and France against the Central Powers.
"She has joined the Franco-Russian combine against us." They were
quite right too, though being then unaccustomed to war, I thought
their suspicions unreasonable. And neither I nor they knew that this
step had followed immediately on the commencement of "military
conversations" between France and England. But that this arming of
Serbia was directly connected with the ringing-in policy of France
and Russia is now obvious. Poor Edward VII may have thought he was
peace-making, when he let Petar Karageorgevitch's gory past be
forgotten and forgiven, and agreed to give up his visit to
Montenegro so as not to wound that monarch's sensitive feelings--but
he little knew the Balkans.

Scarcely one of the Austrian military or civil authorities I spoke
with had ever visited Serbia or Montenegro. They all regarded the
two as semi-savage lands used as tools against them by Russia. When
I arrived at Vishegrad, close on the Serb frontier, feeling was
running high. Serbia showed no sign of giving way as had been
expected. I told the officials their boycott was bound to fail, as
you cannot starve out a people whose main assets are maize and pigs.
"You will see I am right. They will simply go on eating pigs till
you are tired." The Bezirksvorsteher was annoyed at this, but
interested. I said "Get me a horse and a guide, and I will go into
Serbia and see." He retorted It was impossible as the frontier was
closed, but he hired me the horse and a very black gypsy, a wild
enough creature, and I went.

Was halted at the border blockhouse, whic