I'lioto l)y Frederick Moore 



A WARM DRINK ON A COI.D DAY 



Here is an open-air cafe, such as are not infrequently seen in the streets of Bucharest 

 in winter, and the vender is selhng a native warm drink. The Rumanians are a sober people 

 and use the wine of their country very sparingly. 



the Bulgarian provinces, where the re- 

 bellion and massacres of the previous 

 year had given Russia cause again to in- 

 terfere in behalf of the Christian sub- 

 jects of the Sultan. 



The Rumanians declared war on their 

 overlord, and offered their army to assist 

 the Czar; but the confident Russians, 

 who had subsequently to mobilize twice 

 the number of troops with which they 

 began the war, declined the assistance of 

 the Rumanians, until after Osman Pasha 

 had repulsed their charges repeatedly, 

 with terrible Russian losses. 



Then the Czar sent an appeal, which 

 came to be historic, asking Prince 

 Charles to cross the Danube where he 

 could and come to the aid of the Chris- 

 tian cause. The humbled Russians were 

 willing then to give the prince of Ru- 

 mania, who marched with his army, com- 



mand of the combined forces besieging 

 Plevna. 



Prince Charles put his newly-trained 

 troops in front of the famous Gravitza 

 redoubt, the most powerful fortress of 

 the Turks ; and, when the next assault 

 came, they took it, and, what is more, 

 held it against repeated counter attacks 

 till the city finally fell. 



But, as I have said, the friendship of 

 Russia and Rumania did not survive the 

 war. The Rumanians had been for more 

 than a century tampering with fire in 

 dealing with Russia. They should have 

 foreseen, if they did not, that Russia 

 would exact some territorial compensa- 

 tion for this war. 



Where was she to get the reward of 

 victory? She was then in the same po- 

 sition that Rumania is now — she had no 

 frontier in Europe contiguous to Turkey. 



1071 



