hes dry. Got away by
three, Hardinge coming with us. Night came on before we got home. Our
car is a beastly nuisance in the dark, the lamps, electric and worked
from the magneto, only giving light when going at full speed, which is
impossible on these roads. I was just boasting to Harding that I had
never run into anything except the owl, when I hit a cow. Figures
appeared cursing from the darkness; we cursed back for allowing the
animal to stray; other figures appeared cursing on our side. The motor
was pushed back, the cow got up and walked off, and on we went. Found Jo
on night shift. Got some supper, fixed up a bed for Hardinge, and so
self to bed.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER XVI

LAST DAYS AT VRNTZE

Up till now Vrntze was undisturbed by the war; the fine ladies were
walking the streets much as usual, and were bringing pressure upon
Gaschitch, the commandant, to make us close one of our hospitals, so
that it might be reopened as a lodging-house. The chemist and Jan had an
amusing conversation about the uncle of Nicholas I. It seems he was a
great poet.

"Sir," said the chemist, earnestly, "I can assure you that he was one of
the greatest poets that ever has lived. Were Serbian a language as
universally spoken as is English, he would stand beside Shakespeare in
the world's estimation, if not before. The depth of his philosophy, sir,
it is astounding and so deep. There are passages in his poetry which I
have studied for weeks on end and never yet been able to understand."

The true explanation is that the great poet translated an old work of
German philosophy into Serbian, and very likely did not understand all
the original himself.

We got more letters urging us to return. Our studios in Paris and all
our work of the last eight years seemed in danger of being sold up. So
Jan went once more to the Chief. He asked us to stay until at least the
first batch of wounded arrived, for none of the others had had
experience of the receiving arrangements, and of the disinfecting. We
moved our beds and baggage to the school, which Jo was to take over as a
convalescent hospital.

By the way, one of our doctors had a queer soothsaying experience. She
was told that she was one day going to a foreign country with an S in
the name. She would be quite safe in her first job, but that she would
be offered a post in a large grey building from which if she accepted
she might not escape alive, but in any case would be flyi