The Washington herald., 1914-10-04


meet the road Ihe door of the cabin
was open, and from it a shaft OF light
cut across a tiny garden and showed
the white fence and the walk of shells.
-We must pass in single file in front
of that light" whispered Ford, @and
then, after we are sure he has seen US,
We must run like the devilP
I'm on in that last scene" growled
Herbert.
Only" repeated Ford with empha-
SIS, I'VE must be sure he has seen Us"
Not twenty feet from them came .
bursting roar, fash, many roars, many
flashes, many bullets.
Hes seen US !" yelled Birreli.
After the light from his open door
had shown him one German soldier
fully armed, the coast guard had seen
nothing further. But judging from the
shrieks of terror and the sounds OF
falling bodies that followed his first
shot, he was convinced he was hemmed
in by an army, and proceeded to sell his
life dearly. Clip after clip of cart
ridges he emptied into the night, now
to the front, now to the rear, now out
to sea, now at his own shadow in the
lamplight. To the people quarter of
a mile away at Morston It sounded like
a battle.
After running half a mile, Ford.
bruised and breathless, fell at full
length on the grass beside the car.
Near it, tearing from his person the
last vestiges of a German uniform, he
found Birrell- He also was pufins
painfully. = :
A scarecrow of a figure appeared
suddenly in the rays of the headlights.
II was. Herbert, scratched, bleeding,
dripping with water, and clad simply
in shirt and trousers He dragged out
his kit bag and fell into his golf clothes.
\ Anybody who wants perfectly
good German uniform" he cried, can
have mine. ! left it in the first row
of breakers. II didn't fit me, anyway"
The other two uniforms were hidden
in the seat of the carr The rifles and
helmets, to lend colo- to the invasion,
were dropped in the open read, and fIve
minutes later three gentlemen in incon-
spicuous Harris tweeds, and with, golf
clubs protruding from every part of
their car, turned into the shore road to
terror to their guilty souls and the car
q
regiment Of regulars advancing IN col
uInn of fours at the double An off,
Ger sprang to the front of the car and
seated himself beside Ford.
I'll have to commander this he
said Run back to Cromer. Don't
crush my men, but go like the devilP'
we heard firing here" explained the
officer, at the coast guard station The
guard drove them back to the sea He
counted over dozen. They made pret-
ty poor practice, for he isn't wounded;
but his gravel' walk looks as though
someone had drawn harrow over it.
wonder" exclaimed the officer sudden
ly, IF you are the three gentlemen who
first gave the alarm to Col Raglan and
then went on to warn the other coast
towns. Because, if you are, lie wants
your names
Ford could not answer. His guilty
conscience shamed him into silence.
With his siren shrieling and his horn
footing he was forcing the car through
lanes OF armed men. They packed each
side of the road. They were banked
behind the hedges. Their camp hres
blazed from every hilltop.
On the top of the hill at Overstrsnd
the head water of the East Cliff Hotel
and the bearded German stood in the
garden back of the house with the for
bidding walls. = =
we are betrayed, general" whisper
ed the head waiter.
I'VE were betrayed, baron" replied
the bearded one.
But you were in time to warn the
flotilla-"
With sigh, the older man nodded.
The last message l received over
the wireless" he said, before l de-
stroyed it, read, Your message under
stood. We are returning. Our move
ments will be explained as maneuvers.'
And" added the general, the English,
having driven us back, will be willing to
officially accept that explanation. AS
maneuvers, this night will go down into
history. Return to the hotel" he COM
manded, "and in two months YOU can
rejoin your regiment"
On the morning, after the invasion
the New York Republic published a
map OF Great Britain that covered
three columns and wood cut of Ford
lAidl was ONCI II
was printed: Lester Ford, our Lon
don correspondent, captured by the
Germans; he escapes and is the first to
warn the English people"
On tbe same morning. in an editorial
IN The Times, OF London, appeared this
paragraph.
The Germans were first seen BY the
Hon. Arthur Herbert, the eldest son of
Lord Cinaris; Mr.. Patrick Headford
Birrell-both of Balliol College, Ok
ford; and Mr.. Lester Ford, the cor
respondent of the New York Republic.
These gentlemen escaped from the
landing party that tried to make them
prisonersS and at great risk proceeded
in their motor car over roads infested
by the Germans to all coast towns of
Norfolk warning the authorities.
Should the war office fail to recognize
their services, the people of Great Brit
ain will prove that they are not un-
grateful"
A week later three young men sat at
dinner on the terrace of the Savoy.
Shall we, or shall we not" asked
HerbertS1 tell my uncle that we three,
and We thkee alone, were the invaders 80
That's hardly correct" said Ford;
"as we now know therelwere two hun
dred thousand invaders. WE were only
the three who got ashore"
Il vote we don't tell him." said Bir-
reii Il ct him think with everyhody