The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1893-02-23
MY SERVANT ANDREAS.

IL lIt wear LCfO hctl Id IldO lIOltGu
| proper TO throw off the yoke OF be-
Turkish suzerain an attempt to asser
her independence by force OF arms
But for very irregularly paid tribut,
she was virtually independent already
1 and probably IN all Seryia there were
not two hundred Turks. But she am
DItloGsly desired to have the name OF
a. well Us the actuality Of being inde
pendent; the Russians helped hel
with arms, officers and volunteer sol
diers, and when reached Belgrade in
lay u the year Named JucI- n,tu a
ready been fighting in which the Ser
| yldns had by no means got the worst
No word Of the Servian tongue had L
and 1t was the reverse Of pleasant fo1
a war correspondent in such plight to
learn that outside Of Belgrade nobody.
or at least hardly anybody, knew a
word Of any'other language than the
native Seryiau
As [ ate | was being attended by a
very as~iduou5 waiter, whose alertness
| and anxiety 10 please We're very con
spicuous. He was smart with quite
uuOriental smartness: he whisked
about the tables with deftness; he
! spoke 10 me in German, to the Rus
! sian officers over against mel in what /
assumed was Russian, to the Servians
! dining behind me in what | took to
be Seryian, l liked the look Of the
man; there was intelligence iii his as
/ pect. One could not call him hand
| some bat there was a character in the
keen black eye, the high features and
the pronounced chiA, fringed on either
side by bushy, black whiskers.
| | had brought no servant with me;
the average British servant is worse
than useless in a foreign country. and
the obviously polygiot courier is a
snare and a deception on a campaign.
l had my eye on Andrea5 for a couple
OF days. during which he was Of I'M
mense service to me. He seemed to
know and stand we'll with every one
III Belgrade: it was he, indeed, who
presented me to the prime minister
and the minister for war. who got to
gether for me my field necessaries.
who helped me 70 buy my horses, and
who narrated to me the progress of
the campaign 50 far as it had gone.
On the third day had Andreas in
my room, end asked whether he would
like to come with me into the field as
my servant He accepted the offer
with eifusiOn; we struck hands on the
compact; he rendered me credentials
which | ascprtained to be extremely
satisfactory, and then he gave little
sketch OF himself 1t was somewhat
mixed, as. indeed, was his origin.
Primarily he was Seryian, but his
maternal grandmother had been a
BO5niak. an earlier ancestress had
been in Q Turkish harcm, there was a
strain in his blood Of the Hungarian
ZlngarI the gypsy OF Eastern Europe
and one could not look at his pro
file without a suspicion that there was
Il jewish element in his pedigree. a
pure mougreI' was what gentleman
OF the British legation termed Andreas
aud this self contradictory epithet was
scarcely out Of place.
Andreas turned out well. He was
as hardy as hill goat, careless how
and when be ate, or where he slept.
which indeed was mostly In the open
1t seemed to me that he had cousins
all over Seryia, chiefly OF the female
persuasion. Sherman's prize "bum
mer' was not in / with Andreas as a
jordger. At first, indeed, | suspected
him OF actually plundering, so copious
ly did he bring in supplies and SO little
had | to pay for them: but | was not
long IN discovering that ali kinds Of
produce was dirt cheap in Seryia, and
that rs ] could myself buy a lamb for
quarter, Il was not surprising that
AnCreas. to the manner born, could
easily obtain one for half the money
He was an excellent hOrsemaster, and
the stern yigor with which he chastis
ed the occasional neglect OF the cousin
whom he brought into my service as
groom was borne in upon me by FIRE
quent howls which were audible from
the rear Of my tent. There was not
road in all Seryia with whose every
winding Audreas was not conversant,
and this extensive and peculiar
knowledge of his was often OF great
service to me. He was light weight
and an excellent rider. [ have sent
MIN off to Belgrade with telegram at
dusk and he was back again by break
fast time the next morning after
gallop of quite a hundred miles. No
exerhon fatigued him.
[ never saw the man ont Of humor.
There was but one matter in regard
to which | ever had to cnide him. and
that | had perforce to let him have
his own way. because [ do not believe
that ne could restrain himself He
had served term in the army. which
is, or was then, obligatory on ali Ser
yians, and on the road or in camp he
was rather more Of a peace at anv
| price man than ever was the late Mr.
| John Bright himself. When the first
| fight occurred. Andreas claimed to be
| allowed to witness It along with me.
| demured he might get hit. and if
anything should happen to him, what
! should | do for 4 servant? At length
| / gave him the firm order to remain
in camp, and started myself with the
! groom behind me on nv second horse.
The fighting occurred eight miles
from camp, and in course Of it. leaving
| the groom in vhe Tear. | accompanied
the Russian general, Dochtouroff, in
to most unpleasantly hot place.
where a storm OF Turkish shells We're
falling in the effort to hinder the with
drawal Of a disabled Seryian battery.
l happened TO glance over my shoul-
der, and 10, Andreas on foot was at
my horses tail, obviously in a state
( of ecstatic enjoyment Of the situation.
! | peremptorily ordered him back and
he departed sullenly, calmly strolIing
| along the line Of Turkish fire.
/ Just then Tehernaiff. the Servian
/ commander-in chief. had. it seemed.
/ ordered q detachment Of infantry to
take in flank the Turkish guns. From
where we stood | could discern the