The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-10-03
CHATTER xI.
] Encounter German seldlers.

me nefu OF n passport Eutt me IIcsn
cause for worry. Suppose should
run into German sentry before l
succeeded In getting dDef
decided that until reached the
big city which the Belgian had mem
toncd-nnd which l cannot name for
fear Of identifying some of the people
there who befriended mel would
procs-ed with the utmost ffecaution.
Binee had discarded my uniform
-... .... sssssin-d Civilian s.is.bs---
had not been quite as careful xs ] was
al first. While had done my trnv-
cling at night I had not gone into
hiding - early In he morning NJ
before aud l had sometimes started
again before IL WIS quite dark. rely
Ing upon the fact that would prob
ably he mistaken for Belgian ON his
way to or from work. ns the case
might he. From now On. resolved.
however. would take no more
chances
That evening came TO a river per-
hxpE seventy -five yards wide and 4
was getting ready To swim IL when !
thought l would walk = little way 1"
find. II possible. better place Ia get
to the river from the bank. had not
walked more than n few hundred
yards when ] saw boat II Was the
first time had seen boat In all my
experiences.
II WIS firmly chained. hut a. the
sfnke- were sunk IN the soft bank II
WINS not much OF job TO pull them
out. got In. drank 70 my beart's
eonfent. showed over TO the other side,
got out. drove n stake Into the ground
and moored the boat. 1t wonld have
been n simple mafter ia have drifrei
down the river. hut the river was not
shown on the map and 1 had no idea
wherv II might lead mr.. Very r~iuc-
family. therefore. hnd to abandon
The bort and proceed ON foot
made several miles fbst night sud
before daylight found safe place In
which, Ia hide for the day. FROM my
hiding Slac. I could see through The
bushes = heavy thick wood only
sbort distance away. ! decided that
would start earlier than usual. hurry
over to the w"od and perinps. In that
way. could cover two or three miles
In the daytime and gnin just 50 much
time. Travelling through the wood
would be comparatively safe. There
war railroad going through the
~ood. hut 1 did not figure that that
would mnk. II any the less safe.
About three O'Clock that afternoon,
Therefore. emerged fran my hiding
piar~ and hurried Into the woosi.
After proceeding for half mile .r
~ ] came TO the railroad. / took
sharp look ia both directions aud Sec
walked boldly over the tracks and
continued ON my why.
soon came upon . clearing and
knew that someone must be living in
the vicinity. Az I turned n group of
trees l snw N small house and In the
distance an old man working In
garden. I decided to enter the house
Bnd ask for food. figuring the woman
would probably b~ old aud would he
no match for me even n she proves!
hostile. The old woman who came
to the door In response To my knock
was older than I expected. IL she
wasn't close to 4 hundred. Iniss my
guess very inreh.
s>ffF t''hfu fEft rtsfaa H<uktIru Nui =
conid bot speak Flemish. Of course.
hut nevertheless l made her under
stand that ] wanted something To eat.
She cnme our OF the door and hoi-
lossd for her husband In shrill voice
HAT would have done credit TO girl
of eighteen. The old man came Ia
from the garden ami between the twn
of thc'~ fhs~ r~srsprd 70 get the idea
that was hungry and they gave me
piece of bread--a very small piece
which was quite a treat.
The house they lived In consisted OF
just two roonis--thc Kitchen and
bedroom. The kitchen was perhaps
fourteen feet square. eight feet OF
one side being tnken up by nm enor-
nous fireplace. What was In the bed
room l hnd no way Of telling. as
did not dare 10 he too inquisitlve.
made the old couple understand
that would like to stay in their house
all night. but the old man shook his
hend. l bade them goosi-by and dis
appeared into the woods. leaving them
10 speculate ns to the strange for
eigner they Ind entertained.
From the great density Of the popu-
lation In this sectfon through which
was now passing I realised that
must be IN the outskirts of the big
city which tho Belgian had mentioned
and where wis to procure pass
port.
Village after, village intercepted me.
and although tried to skirt them
wherever possible realised thai I
would never make much progress II