There seems to be no end to the ingenuity of the Cossack when he is in a tight place. Listen to the following story: "A Cossack was captured near Lodz,[45] and, with his horse, was taken to the German camp, where man and beast were objects of curiosity. A Uhlan officer tried to put the Cossack horse through its paces, but it declined to budge. 'Let me get on with you,' suggested the Cossack. There were too many German soldiers about for escape to be dreamt of, so the officer laughingly agreed. As soon as the Cossack was in the saddle he uttered a couple of words, and the horse dashed off through the astonished Germans at full gallop. No one dared to shoot for fear of killing the officer. That night the Cossack joined his company with the Uhlan officer as his prisoner." [Footnote 44: The greatest of all the Russian Tsars; born 1672, died 1725. He travelled abroad for two years, during which he learned shipbuilding in Holland and England. It was he who built St. Petersburg in order to have "a window looking out on Europe."] [Footnote 45: Great industrial town of Russian Poland, about 75 miles south-west of Warsaw.] CHAPTER XI. THE FIGHTING RETREAT. While I have been telling you about the course of events in the eastern theatre of war, you have, I am sure, been eager to know how our brave fellows were faring at Mons. At the end of Chapter IV. you learned that Sir John French had decided to retreat. No true soldiers ever like to retreat, least of all British soldiers; but retreat could not now be avoided unless our little army was to be completely cut off. You will remember that Sir John received a very belated and most unexpected telegram from General Joffre at five o'clock on Sunday afternoon, August 23, 1914. This telegram informed him that the French on his right were everywhere in retreat, and that the British forces were threatened by overwhelming numbers of the enemy, who were not only advancing on their front, but were trying to turn their flanks. By this time Sir John's air scouts had assured him that General Joffre's information was correct. To hold on any longer in his present position would have been reckless folly. The only way to retrieve the fortunes of the Allies was for the British to fall back to a strong position and there make a stand.