In face of the
Divan the hero flung himself from his horse, drew his sword, and stabbed
Mahmud where he sat, surrounded by his armies. Before the astounded
guards had recovered their surprise, Serge was again upon his great
charger and was out of the camp, cutting down any who barred his
passage. Mahmud did not die immediately, and his doctors slew a camel
and thrust him into the still quivering animal; when the dead beast was
cooling, they slew another, and thus the Moslem was kept alive till the
Serbian hosts had been overthrown. He and the Serbian Czar were buried
on the same field--one dead in victory, one in defeat.
We trundled slowly over the great plain whose decision altered the fate
of the world, for who knows what might have grown up under a great
Byzantine culture? The farms were solidly built houses with great
well-filled yards, surrounded by high and defensible walls. We came into
stations where long shambling youths, dressed in badly made European
clothes, lounged and ogled the girls in "this style, 14/6" dresses.
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