Serbs, but left us alone, to our huge relief. We breathed again.

Soon after, however, Whatmough rushed up to Jan and Jo, who were talking
to a ragged woman.

"Do come and talk. An officer has arrested West and Mawson."

We ran ahead to find a perplexed mounted officer surrounded by our
party. He had come upon West and Mawson walking on ahead and took them
to be Bulgarian comitaj.

"No, that's not an English uniform," he said, and searched them for
firearms. When the others came he wavered. Miss Brindley did not look
like a comitaj; and by the time we arrived he began to talk about the
military situation in the Balkans, and rode off with the politest of
farewells.

If there isn't a telegraph wire to guide, don't take short cuts. Jan,
Stajitch, and Jo tried to race the darkness by cutting straight down a
ravine. We lost the horses, lost every one else, and we came out again
on to a hill crest. No one was to be seen. After a while the professor
rode by, led by his policeman, who had been almost suffocated by
laughter all day.

"Teshko, teshko," moaned the professor.

"Ni je teshko," we said. "But where are the horses?"

He waved a hand vaguely behind him. Rogerson, Whatmough, and Owen came
up. It was getting dark and a mist was rising. So we left the three at
the corner to mark where it was and went back. For a long time we
stumbled in the darkness, shouting, but no horses could we find. At last
we decided to turn back, wondering if they too had lost their way and
decided to camp out. There were shouts in the valley beyond. A light
flashed and some one fired off a revolver. There was a candle end in
Jan's bag, and by its dim light we found a road. It went downwards, so
we thought it might be the right one. Suddenly it turned in the wrong
direction, but as there were hoof marks on it we decided to follow it as
it must lead somewhere--we could not search the whole countryside with a
candle. Just as we were in despair the road seemed to shake itself and
twisted back again. We heard more shouting and saw a light, and at last
found Miss Brindley and Mawson, who were waiting for us.

"We have been to the village," they said.

We asked them about the horses. They said they were all there!!!!

That professor again!

Some one heard trickling water, and with a cry of joy we put our mouths
under the jet of water which spouted from a little trough which jutted
from the hill. Nothing could be seen of the village when we