Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-09-06
Continued from last week


CHAPTER IX-He endures terrible
hardships, swims rivers while delirious
from hunger, living like a hunted animal
and on the eighteenth day after jumping
from the train he crosses into Belgium.
CHAPTER x-When we'll on his way
through Belgium he is befriended one
night by a Flemish peasant, who feeds
him and directs him to a man In a Bel
gian city who will help him to get a pass
port.
CHAPTER XI-By mingling with Bel
gian peasants he manages to elude Ger
man soldiers and reaches the Belgian city
where he finds the home of the man from
whom he expects help.
CHAPTER XII-Huyliger FORCES a pass
port for O'Brien and promises to assist
him in getting into Holland. Later Huy-
Tiger and his associates. demand an eX,
orbitant sum for their services and
O'Brien breaks with them.
The Belgian turned on his heel and
started to go down the stairs.
mind you," l called after him, 81
shall wait for you till the city CLOCK
strikes twelve, and if you don't show
up with those papers by that time, the
next time you will see me is when you
confront me before the German au
-thorities. 1 am a desperate man, Huy
Tiger, and 1 mean every word 1 say"
He let himself out of the door and ]
sat on the top stair and wondered just
what he would do. Would he try tt
steal a march on me and get In a first
word to the authorities so that my
story would be discredited when l
put it to them?
OF course, my threat to give myself
up to the Huns was a pure bluff. While
I had no desire to lose the papers
which Huyliger had and which in
cluded the map and the last resting
place Of my poor chum Raney, l GER
tainly had no intention of cutting off
my nose to spite my face by surren-
dering to the Germans. 1 would have
been shot, as sure as fate, for after all
I had been able to observe behind the
German lines I would be regarded as
a spy and treated a such.
At the same time l thought l de-
tected a yellow streak in Huyliger, and
/ figured hat he would not want to
take the risk of my carrying out my
threat eve though he believed there
was but a small chance Of my doing so.
If 1 did, he would undoubtedly share
my fate, and the pictures and papers
he had Of mine were really of no use
to him, and I have never been able to
ascertain why it was he wished to re-
tain them unless they contained some
thing-some information about me-
which accounted for his complete
change of attitude towards me in the
first place, and he wanted the papers
as evidence to account to his Supe-
riors for his conduct towards me.
When he first told me that the plan
of placing me in a convent disguised
as a priest had been abandoned he eX-
planned it by saying that the cardinal
had issued orders to the priests to
help no more fugitives, and 1 have
SINCE wondered whether there was
anything in my papers which had
turned him against me and led him to
forsake me after all he had promised
to do for me-.
For perhaps two hours I sat on that
staircase musing about the peculiar
turn in my affairs, when the front door
opened and Huyliger assembled the
stairs.
II have brought you such of your be-
longings as I still had, O'Brien," he
said softly. "The rest, as l told you, I
cannot give you. They are NO longer
in my possession"
I looked through the little bunch he
hnn1oI mr. t. inal1yIo1 INV fdnnfiH-
cation disk, most of the papers I val
ued, and perhaps half of the photo
graphs.
81 don't know what your object is in
retaining the rest of my pictures, Huy-
liger," 1 replied, "but as a matter of
fact, the ones that are missing were
only of sentimental value to me and
you are welcome to them. Well call it
a beat"
1 don't know whether he understood
the idiom, but he sat down on the
stairs just below me and cogitated for
a few moments.
"O'Brien," he started finally, "Tm
sorry things have gone the way they
have. 1 feel sorry for you and / would
really like to help you. l don't sup
pose you will believe me, but the
matter of the order which which /
asked you to sign was not of my doing.
However, we won't go into that. The
proposition was made to you and you
turned it down, and that's the end of
1t. At the same time, 1 hate to leave
you to your own resources and l am
going to make one more suggestion
to you for your own good. 1 have an
other plan to get you into Holland
and If you will 60 with me to another
house, l will introduce you to a man
who I think will be in a position to
help you"
SLOW many millions of pounds will
he want for his trouble " I answered,
sarcastically.
"You can arrange that when you see
him. VIII you go?"