Produced by Heather Clark, Josephine Paolucci and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) [Illustration: KARAGEORGES--LIBERATOR OF SERBIA] SERBIA: A SKETCH BY HELEN LEAH REED AUTHOR OF "NAPOLEON'S YOUNG NEIGHBOR" "MISS THEODORA," ETC. [Illustration] WRITTEN AND PUBLISHED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE SERBIAN DISTRESS FUND 555 Boylston Street, Boston 1917 Copyright, 1916 BY HELEN LEAH REED THE PLIMPTON PRESS NORWOOD MASS USA _Serbia, valiant daughter of the Ages, Happiness and light should be thy portion! Yet thy day is dimmed, thine heart is heavy; Long hast thou endured--a little longer Bear thy burden, for a fair tomorrow Soon will gleam upon thy flower-spread valleys, Soon will brighten all thy shadowy mountains; Soon will sparkle on thy foaming torrents Rushing toward the world beyond thy rivers. Bulgar, Turk and Magyar long assailed thee. Now the Teuton's cruel hand is on thee. Though he break thy heart and rack thy body, 'Tis not his to crush thy lofty spirit. Serbia cannot die. She lives immortal, Serbia--all thy loyal men bring comfort Fighting, fighting, and thy far-flung banner Blazons to the world thy high endeavor, --This thy strife for brotherhood and freedom-- Like an air-free bird unknowing bondage, Soaring far from carnage, smoke and tumult, Serbia--thy soul shall live forever! Serbia, undaunted, is immortal!_ Among comparatively recent books in English accessible to the general reader are: SERVIA AND THE SERVIANS _Mijatovich_--L. C. Page Co. THE SERVIAN PEOPLE _Lazarovich-Hrebelianovich_, 2 vols.--Scribners SERVIA BY THE SERVIANS _Alfred Stead_--Heinemann THE SLAV NATIONS _Tucic_--Hodder and Stoughton SERBIA, HER PEOPLE, HISTORY AND ASPIRATIONS _Petrovitch_--Stokes THE STORY OF SERVIA _Church_--Kelly HERO-TALES AND LEGENDS OF THE SERBIANS _Petrovitch_--Harrap and Co. WITH SERBIA INTO EXILE _Fortier Jones_--The Century Company The spelling of names follows "Servia by the Servians," except "Serb." The author is indebted to some of these books for facts embodied in this little sketch--as well as to several persons familiar with Serbia. She gives warm thanks to Madame Slavko Grouitch, wife of the Serbian Secretary for Foreign affairs, who first interested her in Serbia. SERBIA: A SKETCH I. SERBIA: STARTING Serbia, younger sister of the Nations, has indeed had a younger sister's portion. In her early years she grew up with little guidance from older and wiser members of the family. She did not have the advice that she needed. Perhaps she would not have followed it, though on occasion she has shown more docility than many of the family.