Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-12-29
By Arthur Guy Empey

II wooden cage with a parrot in 1t.
In my pocket was $S.40 in silver,
but l did not care. | was again on
terra firma with the Stars and
Stripes floating above me.
I received a wonderful welcome at
home, and was of the opinion that
the hardships of my cruise were we'll
worth enduring, in view of the recep-
ton l was receiving.
But of course all wonders die out
in nine days, and mine sizzled out
like a wet iirecracker on the Fourth
of July, and it was up to me to get
busy and find something to do.
This ended my First Real Adven-
ture.
1t was in 1914,
and the Great
My Chance Worlds War was
on, and here was
in the United
States and neutral. For thirteen
years ] had been soldering but had
never been under fire. In my imag-
1natlon l could hear the guns boom
ing on the Western Front. l admit
l was trifie afraid; nevertheless l
mad a great desire to get into the
mix-up. How could L get over? l
planned out many ways, but none of
lHeIl were pracIlCal.
One day while walking down
Greenwich Street, New York, 1
passed an employment agency. Star
ing me in the face was a great flar-
ing sign, Horses for France" Under
this Men Wanted" Here was my
chance.
Upon returning to my office l I'M
mediately got in touch over the tele-
phone with two prominent men in
New York who l knew to be dis
tinctly pro-Ally. After outlining my
desire, an appointment was made for
me to meet a certain gentleman at
the Hotel Astor at four o'clock that
afternoon. L met him. He intro
duced me to g. Fren .hman. At that
time in my eyes a Frenchman was
ii hero, a man to be looked up to,
man fighting in the Great Cause.
But now a Frenchman to me is more
than hero. After being introduced
L went up into the Frenchman' S
room and talked over the matter of
horses for France for about twenty
minutes.
Upon leaving the Erenchman 1
was told to report to him three days
later, at the same time and place.
l left, bubbling over with enthusiasm
and anticipation.
During this interval of three days
L mapped out story of my life to
present to him upon our second in
terView. The eventful day at last
came, and once more l was closeted
with him. l started into tell him my
story. He interrupted me by waving
his right hand to the right and left.
1t reminded me of the butts on a
target range during rifle practice,
when the man marking the target
wigwags a miss to the firing line.
My heart sank. Then he spoke, and
l was carried from despondency to
the greatest height of expectation.
His words: Pardon me, Monsieur, /
already know your life" and in ar
amazingly short time he told me
more than l knew about myself. /
had been carefully Investigated.
My instructions received from him
are confidential, so L will not go into
them. Anyway, he handed me an
envelope and told me to follow out
carefully all details as contained
therein.
u Immediately went back to my
office, opened the envelope and on q
typewriter sheet I read: Report at
Goldsmith's Employment Agency,
No - Greenwich Street. Ship as
an ordinary horseman and during
voyage carefully follow the verbal
instructions received by you during
our interview, making careful note
of all details Immediately after hap
pening. Be cautious in doing this.
Upon landing in France report I'd
the Prefecture of Police, Bordeaux,
and to the letter obey his instruc-
tons. Good luck"
1 went home and put on my oldest
clothes; an old black suit, olive drab
shirt, a heavy pair of army shoes
and a wooden cap. had let my
beard grow and certainly looked
rough.
In passing through City Hall Park,
New York, one sees many derelicts
OF the human race sitting on the
benches. l sat down between two