was confusion. Men cursed, slashed, stabbed and discharged revolvers at
each other, while the horses of the opposing forces fought as well as
their riders.

The Montenegrin battery had now become silent, for to have fired would
have been to endanger the life of friend as well as foe. The horsemen
struggled desperately, hand-to-hand.

But the force of the Austrian charge had been spent. The few who remained
fought bravely, but they were no match for the fresher and more powerful
Montenegrin horsemen, among the best fighters in the whole world.

Slowly the Austrians were forced back. Then they gave ground faster and
faster, until finally those who were left turned their horses and fled
back toward their own lines. For perhaps a hundred yards the Montenegrins
pursued, then, at the call of a bugle, they halted and turned back.

A moment later the rapid-firers broke loose again, cutting great holes in
the ranks of the fleeing Austrians. The latter retreated even faster than
they had charged, but by the time they reached the shelter of their own
lines their number had been thinned by fully three-fourths.

All the way across the field dead and wounded strewed the ground. The
successful Montenegrins paused for a moment and cheered wildly; then they
took stock of their own dead and wounded, for they had not escaped
scot-free. The hand-to-hand struggle, though brief, had been severe while
it lasted, and the Austrians fought hard and well. The Montenegrin
losses, though comparatively light, had been severe.

While the cavalry action was being fought, the artillery fire had