Elsie Inglis - The Woman with the Torch by Eva Shaw McLaren
page 76 of 118 (64%)
page 76 of 118 (64%)
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people thou hast given thyself entirely, even thy noble life. What a
misfortune indeed for us! "May Heaven send thee eternal peace, so much merited, and so much desired by all those who knew thee, and above all and especially by all those Serbian hearts who have found in thee a great human friend." Dr. Inglis wrote every week to the committee. In the letters written towards the end of September we are aware of the anxiety about the future which is beginning to make itself felt. "Last week Austrian aeroplanes were 'announced,' and the authorities evidently believed the report; for the Arsenal was emptied of workmen--and they don't stop work willingly just now. So--as a Serbian officer said to me yesterday--'Serbia is exactly where she was a year ago.' It does seem hard lines on our little Ally.... "Well, as to how this affects us. Sir Ralph was talking about the various possibilities. _As long as the Serbians fight we'll stick to them--retreat if necessary, burning all our stores._ If they are overwhelmed we must escape, probably via Montenegro. Don't worry about us. We won't do anything rash or foolish; and if you will trust us to decide, as we must know most about the situation out here, we'll act rationally." At last, in November, 1915, the storm broke. Serbia was overrun by Germans, Austrians, and Bulgarians. All her big Allies failed her, "so |
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