New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1915-01-27

corps, monsieur. WhOiare your n
II am an American newspaper cor
respondent. writing an account Of to-
days battle and in hurry" -, q
English e
mo-, American, !.
Il would like to see your passport,
monsieur"
+ Eggleston took his passport from his
pocket, threw 1t on the table and went
on writing. The man picked 1t up.
opened 1t, read it and compared the
personal description with the CORE
spOndent. 4. 81 tt f.a !.
Eyes blue, hair light. The Germans
all have blue eyes and light hair
Germans? What do you mean!
Don't you see that the passport reads,
"A citizen Of the United StatesY"
Monsieur. you may as well own up
first as last You are German spy
Egglest0n pushed back his chair and
stared at the man.
German spy! Why. my dear fellow.
l am an American. Can't you read
English?" &a
THE passport has been stolen. The
Germans took it from an American.
You need not try to deceive me. We
have received a warming"
What warning?'
"A German who has lived in Eng
land. who speaks English like a native.
who looks like an Englishman, armed
with the Americans passport, is with
in our lines for information. We have
received orders to look out for him
and IL we take him to shoot him at
once. Come"
Eggleston paled. He was aware
that the keen scent Of spy hunters
was leading the detectives to make
short work of suspicious persons and
supposed he was to be taken out to be
shot.
But, monsieur, was in Lille a
few days ago. where 1 made the ac-
quaintance Of those connected with
the General safety, They will vouch
for me-
"Ah, but they are not here" with a
shrug of his shoulders.
And l must suffer as spy because
those who are able to identify me are
not here?''
That is one of the hardships of war.
We can take no risks. Besides. those
men in Lille may have been deceived
in you"
when did the Germans capture the
passport you have referred top :
Yesterday"
II met the General safety detectives
last week."
At this moment another man came
into the room and looked at Eggleston
as hound would look at hare in
which he was about to set his teeth
The two Frenchmen talked together
in a low voice. Eggleston thought i,
better not to seem much troubled
about the matter and, taking up one
Of the sheets before him. pretended
to read. A third man was called into
the room, who. having been instructed
approached the American and said t.
him in German:
IF you will confess your life will be
spared @
Eggleston, who did not understand
a word of what was said to him. but
recognized that it was in the German
language, replied:
"Nicht versteh.''
This was quite enough for the
Frenchman, who held that the '.nich1
versteh" was full proof that the sus
pect was German. However, after
deliberation they concluded to refer
the case to some one higher up; sc
they placed Eggleston under guard fol-
the night.
But the allies were at that time toe
busy fighting for any one in authority
to pay any attention to an individual
case. The next morning, no reply hav
ing been received concerning the sus
pected spy, his capt0rs concluded thai
it was best to take no risks, but shoot
him. though they did not like to do SC
on an uncertainty, for in case he
should be what he pretended they
would be liable to get themselves into
trouble.
The roar of battle at times sounded
nearer and at times more distant. Or
one occasion when the guns were
louder Eggleston's captors decided t.
remove him to town farther west
During the journey they were about
to cross road running north and
south and had stopped to let train
Of refugees pass when among the lat
ter Eggleston caught glimpse of the
pretty girl he had met in Lille.
"Mademoiselley he shouted
Louise Legire turned and. seeing the
American who had assisted the fam
lily in the hour Of need. clasped her
hands with French fervency and call
ed her mothers attention to him.
A halt was called. and the refugees
and the detective came together for a
conference. Both mother and daugh-
ter were Mortified when they learned
that lie bon American" was to be
shot as spy. They told the story
of having seen him in Lille about a
week before and how he had assisted