Page:Diary of a Prisoner in World War I by Josef Šrámek.pdf/51

 salvation. In the most critical moment God sent us help. There were fallen horses lying on the road. We attacked them like a pack of wolves, cut off pieces of meat, made fires, and cooked and smoked the meat. We were saved by fallen horses. The half-raw pieces of meat, dirty from smoke, tasted like the best pork to me. We even fried some meat to store! What a scene. Everybody full of blood, cutting and tearing. One searching for the heart, another one trying to break the skull with a stone to get the horse's brain, which should be even better than a pig's! Joy was shining from everyone's eyes today as we filled up after a long time.

Unfortunately many have paid the price of death for their voracity. Farther along the way, every ten steps lay a corpse of an Austrian or a Serb who will disappear here unrecognized and whose dear ones at home will be waiting in vain.

Yesterday we arrived in Lesino, and in the evening we had to wade over the river Semeni. The river was deep and wild, above my chest. One moment the current started to carry me away. I felt dizzy and thought I was lost. From the other side men started to shout at me, and that brought me to my senses somewhat. Many captives stayed in the river, and many died during the night.

We made a fire and spent the whole night drying ourselves. In the morning the