The Meeker herald. [volume] (Meeker, Colo.) 1885-current, 1917-01-13
Good Enough
For a Servian
BY ETHEL HOLMES

When the British troops were max
Ing their way from SalOniki. Greece, to
assist the Servians In repelling the Bull
advance was desirious Of communicate
ing with the Servians nearest to him
In order to arrange for junction be-
tween the two forces. Entering
peasants hut, he found Greek fami-
~, the Oldest daughter being a pretty
girl OF sixteen.
would you like to earn these?" the
general asked of the girl, showing her
a handful of gold pieces.
Her eyes sparkled. and she admitted
that she would.
well, then, take a basket of eggs
and go northward. ostensibly to sell
them to such soldiers as you meet.
One of the eggs will contain mes
sage. Give 1t to the first Servian off,
GER you meet"
Suppose" asked the girls mother,
this egg containing the message falls
into the hands of Bulgarian?"
"In that case" replied the general
ut would go very hard with your
daughter. But" he added. IF she
manages well think she will get 1t
through without any difficulty"
The woman looked at the gold, then
at her daughter. The latter looked at
the gold and told the general that she
would undertake the mission. The gen
| eral called for basket Of eggs and.
taking one. Clipped small hole In the
| shell, let out the contents, rolled u bit
of tissue paper on which the message
| had been written into wlsp the size
Of n match, put 1t through the hole In
| the shell. filled the remaining space
with sand, then sealed the hole with
bit Of white plaster.
| The girl was expected to 20 some
distance; therefore horse and cart
on the place were requisitioned to take
her. AS she drove away the general
bid her godspeed. and II she got the
message through and returned safely
she should have hundred gold pieces.
Possibly she might be intrusted with
a return message. but 1t had been ar
ranged by the one In the egg that 1t
should be oral.
leading northwestward till she came
to n picket guard of Bulgarians sta
toned to prevent any communication
between the French and English and
the Serbians. Maria showed them her
eggs. and when they seemed disposed
to turn her back she gave each Of
the men couple of them. They were
very hungry; therefore the bribe was
sufficient.
She next came to quite a large force
Of Bulgnrinns. and the officer I'm charge
refused to let her pass. She made up
sad story about her mother being Ill
and she had gone out to get some eggs
for her to eat. The officer referred
the matter to his commander. who.
moved by Maria's story. ordered that
woman be employed to search her
and II nothing was found OH her to let
her go on. The search was thorough.
the cart being also carefully looked
over. OF course nothing was found.
Then Maria gave away all the eggs
she did not need for her mother and
went on. having been given pass
which would enable her to 60 as far
as she liked
She soon met with n party of Bull
garians engaged In placing obstruc-
tons on the road. They stopped her.
but when she showed her pass they
were willing to let her go on. But.
being short Of rations. they contiscated
her eggs. This frightened her.
Some of them are not fresh" she
said. II don't think you will care to
eat such"
With that the officer in command
took up the eggs one after the other
and held them to the sunlight to look
through them. When he came to the
egg with the message. before raising
It to the light he held it in his hand
a moment to Judge its weight.
This one Is bad. know" he said
1T doesn't weigh the same as the
others.''
Maria's heart stood still.
The officer held the egg up to the
sun. and. since no light passed through
It. he put 1t in the basket. saying:
MY dear. If you meet with Ser
vinn you are quite welcome to give him
that egg. It Is not good enough for a
Bulgarian. but 1t Is too good for n
Servian.''
A way WIS made through the OBJ
structions for Maria's cart, and she
drove away amid the laughter Of the
men mt their officers joke.
That was the last stop Maria made
The next men she met were some Ser.
Wan cavalry. She gave the egg to their
commander. telling him that 1t con.
tained message. He escorted her to
his general. who took the paper from
the eggshell and read It with intense
interest. 1t named the location and
the date at which the British and the
Servians would form a junction, and.