Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-03-12
Who Captured
Him?
Was 1t a French War De-
tective or a Pretty Girl?
By JOHN Y. LARNED

When the great European war broke
out Arthur Eggleston, u young Ameri.
can reporter. anxious to make his way
in the world. full of the vigor of youth
and not averse to adventure, saw his
opportunity. He took the first steam
er for London that sailed and in due
time arrived at that city.
Crossing the channel with a con-.
tingent of British troops, he landed at
Ostend during that period when the
German forces were hammering at the
forts of Liege and the French and
British forces were gathering to resist
the invasion into France. He applied
for permission to attach himself TO
the British headquarters, but was re-
fused on the ground that no newspaper
correspondents would be allowed to
accompany the, army. At the French
headquarters he received the same re-
Spouse to his application.
Eggleston, having crossed the Allan
tic ocean and the British channel to
report the big fight. determined to fol-
low in the allies rear. hang about
their tanks. anything except get in
their way. and report what he could
gather. He found himself at Lille
when the allied armies had begun their
retreat, but before they had reached
that city. He also found "the General
Safety" a detective force used to hunt
down and eradicate spies. When one
is hunting for any particular thing the
identity of which Is doubtful he is very
apt to find 1t. With a lot of spy hunt
ers in the field a scarecrow set up to
keep the crows away from the corn Is
not safe.
Eggleston was walking in Lille one
day when a file of French soldiers
under the command of a lieutenant
came down the street, stopping per-
sons here and there. The American
did not dream of danger and. when
they reached him and the officer de-
manded to know who he was, where
he had come from and where he was
going, told him that he was a newspa.
per correspondent looking for news.
The officer. not being satisfied with this,
informed him that he must take him to
the headquarters of the General safety.
Eggleston was conducted to a build
ing in a room of which an officer, sit
ting behind a desk, regarded him ON.
inously. The Frenchman began ask.
ing him questions In French, and Egg.
gleston understood most of them, an.
swering without hesitation, but when
his questioner branched into German
did not understand. It did not at once
occur to him that the man suspected
him of being n German spy and was
trying to catch him. Presently Eggles-
ton b%ethought himself of his passport
and produced it. This established the
fact that he was an American, and he
was thereafter treated with great con-
s%ideration.
! Eggleston spent some time in Lille
without being permitted to go near the
armies. One day he was walking along
a residence street when he heard a
feminine voice say in French:
Monsieur, have you any news of the
armies? Will they come this way?
We are all packed ready to move"
Turning. he saw a pretty girl leaning
out of a window. He had studied the
French language ut school and had
picked up a Frenchman on the way
across the Atlantic. with whom he had
talked necessarily in order to gather
enough French 10 enable him to get on
in France. SO he replied rs best he
could that he was profoundly ignorant
of what vas going on at the front; he
was trying to get there, but thus far
had been unsuccessful. Noticing that
his French was not of the best, the
girl asked him if he were not English.
No: he was American. The English
We're very popular since they had come
to assist the French. but before that
Americans were the best liked. An
elderly lady came to the window, anx-
iously asked for news and gave Egg
gleston an Invitation to ONE in. He
accepted it A glass of wine was
brought out, and the three sat discuss
ing the probabilities of the family hav-
tnS " iCANC AhNiA dOLAC III Nalt ldCAi
belongings across country to the coast.
as the Belgians were doing.
And so it happened that Eggleston.
instead Of writing up the thunder of
guns. the explosion of shells. the rattle
of rifles. the groans of the wounded.
spent several days dallying with a pref
ty girl. at the end of which time, since
he did not go to the guns. the guns
came to him. and while they were yet
in the distance he helped his friends,
the Legires. to remove their effects-or
a small portion of them-to a cart be
secured for them and saw them on
their way to the southwark, after
which he began to do some work as a
war correspondent.
Eggleston. keeping as near the re-
treating French and English lines as
he dared. preceded their retreat toward
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