n soldier was
chewing a hard biscuit, and a prisoner crept up to him begging for a
corner of the bread; the soldier broke off a piece and gave it to him.

About the gate of the commandant's office were gathered Serbs and
Austrians all waiting for bread. We pushed our way in. The hay was
quickly arranged, but the bread was another matter.

"We have no bread," said the commandant.

"But," we objected, "all those men waiting outside. They would not come
here if you had no bread."

The commandant pulled his moustache.

"We have bread only for soldiers."

There was a sudden commotion outside. The door was burst open; two
soldiers entered dragging with them a man--a peasant; his eyes were
staring, his face blanched. We then noticed that he was holding his
shoulders in a curious manner, and realized that his arms were bound
with his own belt. The two soldiers pushed him into an inner room, but
the officials were busy, so he was stood in a corner.

"What has he done?" we asked.

"We have only bread for soldiers," repeated the commandant. Bread was
evidently the most important.

"We have a Government order."

He scanned it, pounced upon the three franc phrase and offered us money.
We pointed out that bread was indicated to the value--

"We have no bread for the English," he said at last.

Jo once more made the nasty little speech which we had found so
effective at Kralievo. It worked like a charm. An enormous sack filled
with loaves was dragged out and from it he choose three. We mentioned
the man once more. The commandant shrugged his shoulders.

"He's going to be killed," he said. "Some soldiers looted his yard and
he shot one."

He then asked the corporal if he would take flour instead of bread. The
corporal agreed, adding that in that case, of course, they would get a
bit more.

"Of course, you won't," said the commandant.

We sent the corporal back to the camp with the loaves, and with a little
trouble found the house where Colonel P---- and Admiral T----had
lodgings. It was a gay little cottage, and both were at breakfast. They
welcomed us and generously offered us their spare eggs, though eggs were
scarce. The admiral had a large-scale map--made, of course, by
Austria--and we hunted it for our road. Paths were marked quite clearly,
and houses at most convenient intervals. It seemed a far superior path
to the Ipek pass, both regarding shelter and length.

"But," we said, "Sir Ralph suggests that we go