The Press., 1915-10-27
ARace Between
 A Blown Horse
 And a Sound Man
By WILLIAM CHANDLER

out Ben Iddings, an American, nine teen years old, was seized with a de sire to see something of the fracas He had no preferences for either side but found 1t more convenient to go to England and enlist there. Having been a national guardsman at home he knew something of the duties of g that crossed the channel after the first expeditionary force of regulars. He be longed to the cavalry.
 One cold day in December he was scouting with a small portion of his regiment when they encountered a su perior body of uhlans and were not only put to flight, but scattered. Ben instead of getting started toward the lines of the allies was headed in the and he got away from his pursuers | under cover of the darkness. Wander | ing about, he came upon a house | Quite sure of a welcome from any Belgian, he rode boldly up to the doOl and shouted. An old woman appeared | Ben told her that he was soldier in | the British army and received wei come. He was invited to put his horse in an outhouse and make himself al home in the dwelling.
 The oldest daughter of the family was pretty girl year or two younger than Ben. He was a good looking young fellow. and the girl could not conceal her admiration for him. Al ready Red Cross supplies for the Bel gians had begun to arrive from Ameri- ca, and when Ben avowed that he had come from that liberal land the whole family was quite ready to fall down and worship him. They persuaded him not to try to regain the British lines until the next day, when some expe- dient might occur to them by which they could assist him to do so.
 Early in the morning Ben was awak ened by men talking German under his window. and the Belgian girl rapped at his door and warned him that uh lans were below. Ben sprang out of bel and hurried on his clothes, and the gir led him to garret, where she hid him under some old furniture. The uhlans found his horse in the shed and de manded to know where its owner was They were invited to search the house which they did, not overcarefully, and failed to find Ben. After a brief stOI they made off. taking Ben's horse with them.
 Scarcely had they departed when g violent snOwstOrm came on, with 6 high wind which blew the snow in huge drifts. The family with whom Ben was in hiding owned an old sleigh but the horse had been appropriated by the army. It was suggested that if they could borrow a horse some one might drive Ben in the sleigh to Il place where he could make a run for the lines of the allies. A boy about fifteen years old volunteered to SCOUT the country for a horse and found one that had been left in a barn by a sol dier who had taken a better one in his place. The boy brought the horse home and, since there was harness at hand the animal was hitched to the sleigh.
 The oldest daughter, whom they call. ed Elizabeth, was selected to drive the
 
 self up under the seat, and blankets were used to cover him. When all was ready the girl touched the horse with the whip and Ben left his hosts, fol lowed by blessings as one coming from the liberal land.
 German troops were passed on the road, and had 1t not been that a pret- nj, I T i f, Frylf tI,n couple in the sleigh would have got very far. Twice German soldiers de- bated whether or not they should take the horse, but in the first case Eliza beth kept them off by a smile, and in the second it was decided that the ami nal was not worth appropriating.
 But after these two escapes they en- countered a third, more serious. Ap- preaching a house, Elizabeth saw a man in the uniform of a uhlan leaving it with the evident intent to intercept her. She concluded that he was in need of a mount and would take any horse he could get. Applying the whip. she succeeded in getting by the house before the uhlan reached the road. He called on her to stop and when she pushed on fired a shot over her head. She paid no attention to this, and the man followed her on a run.
 The horse was already winded and despite a sound drubbing could not be urged to a pace that would enable his driver to gain on the man. She noti- fled Ben that he would be captured. and he came to the conclusion that he must fight for his liberty. He had his revolver, but a fight within the enc my's lines was liable to call new enc mics, and he preferred some other method.
 They came to rise in the ground on the other side of which was a deep hollow. On either side of the road was a ditch that had been filled with snow When they reached the bottom of the depression Ben. who had come out from under the seat and was looking about for means of escape. seeing the drift. jumped into it, sank to his waist and managed to get the rest of his body under before the pursuer came to the crest. Ben lay still, Elizabeth drove on. and the uhlan passed with out seeing him.
 Whether the uhlan captured the horse or not does not signify. Ben. after his pursuer had passed. emerged from the snow. took to a wood and none the worse for his experience.
 A Famous Statue.