they were offered up as a living sacrifice on the
altar of Russia's ambitions.

Montenegro meanwhile was very bitter. Yanko had failed to take
Prizren. The population railed against the Government. The King had
never recovered popularity since the bomb affair. Some of the
condemned were still in prison.

Had Prizren been taken, things would have been very different. All
Montenegro had been trained from childhood to sing: "Onward, onward,
let me see Prizren!" and though the town consisted of nearly four
thousand Albanian houses and but 950 Serb ones, Prizren had become a
sort of insanity with them. Not only Prizren was not taken by
Montenegro, but Scutari was not either. The population now turned
with savage desire on Scutari, about which previously little had
been said.

It had been believed that Constantinople would soon fall, and that
the four Crown princes would enter it in state. Though how they
could have been so simple as to think Russia would permit this, it
is hard to understand.

The cry rose: "Russia helped us in 1877, why does she not come
forward now?" Whatever the heads of the land knew, the rank and file
had confidently expected Russian intervention.

Only by dragging in Austria could Russia's hand be forced. The Serbs
endeavoured to goad Austria into action. News reached us that they
had imprisoned and maltreated Prochaska, the Austrian Consul in
Prizren, and Montenegro's delight and expectation were immense. His
nose, said the Montenegrins, should be cut off just as though he
were a Turk. Prochaska was, in fact, a brother Slav, a Czech, a
capable man, whom I had met in 1908. Austria, it was confidently
asserted at the inn dinner table, would be forced to fight--or for
ever hide disgraced. Yanko Vukotitch's secretary, who had been up at
Prizren, described to me with the greatest gusto what happened: "Oh,
if you could but have seen what the officers did to Prochasko! They
rolled him on the ground, spat in his face, tore the Austrian flag,
did all that you can imagine that is most dirty upon him! Austria
will never dare tell the world what we did to her consul. All Europe
would laugh at her, and she would have to declare war."

"But why was this done?" I asked.

"Because he asked some dirty Albanians to his consulate."

"But a consul has the right to ask whom he pleases to his consulate.
It was his duty also to protect the Catholics."

"Very well. This is to teach Austria we have no need of her