Declaration of War with Russia--An Ominous Silence--The First Shot--An Interrupted Luncheon--Under Fire at last--Disappearance of the Inhabitants--A Move Underground--Running the Gauntlet--Blowing up a Gunboat--Our Hospital shelled--Killing the Wounded--Operations under Fire--A Terrible Coincidence--How a Turkish Mother died--Some Marvellous Escapes--Circassians on a Raiding Expedition--Cattle-lifting on a Grand Scale--A Long Bombardment--Insignificant Losses--Osman Pasha in the Batteries--Rewarding a Good Shot--Circassian Peccadilloes--Osman Pasha's Plans--He is baffled by Red Tape--A Fatal Delay--Good-bye to the Kyrchehir--Marching out from Widdin--A Picturesque Bivouac--False Alarms--A Forced March--How the Russian Army was placed--Fall of Nicopolis--A Race to the Balkans--Sleeping in a Tomb--Pushing on to Plevna--A Terrible Night--Lost in the Bush--Many Cases of Sunstroke--Goose for Dinner--I flesh my Maiden Sword--A Record March--We cross the Vid at last--Arrival at Plevna. Although we knew that war was coming, still the actual declaration fell with the suddenness of a bombshell. On April 25 I had done my hospital work, and was walking down the street, when I noticed a great commotion, and saw groups of people talking excitedly together and orderlies galloping about in all directions. Presently Tallat Bey, a nephew of Osman Pasha and one of the headquarters staff, came cantering down the street. I stopped him to ask what all the excitement was about, and he told me that war had been declared by Russia on the previous day. A regular hum pervaded Widdin all that day, as the people repeated to one another the ominous news that Turkey would have to fight once more for her very life. We had been arranging all our ambulance work beforehand; and old Hassib Bey undertook, in compliance with my request, that I should be attached to the first troops that took the field. But strangely enough, though war had been declared, and though we could see the Roumanian troops busily engaged in completing the fortification of Kalafat, several days went by without a shot being fired from either the Widdin or Kalafat batteries, and we were left looking at each other in grim expectation and suspense.