Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-10-11

lege, l knew a ten-foot vault is consid-
cred high-school boys accomplish
ment, but there were two great diff
| f1culties in the way of this solution.
In the first place it would be no easy
| matter to get pole of the right
length, weight and strength to serve
the purpose. More particularly, how
ever, the pole-vault idea seemed to me
to be out of the question because of
the fact that on either side of the cleo
| tric fence, six feet from it, was a six
| foot barbed wire barrier. To vault
safely over nine-foot electrically
charged fence was one thing, but to
combine with it a twelve-foot broad
| vault was feat which even a college
athlete in the pink of condition would
be apt to funk. Indeed, don't be-
lieve it is possible.
Another plan that seemed halfway
reasonable was to build pair of stilts
about twelve or fourteen feet high and
walk over the barriers one by one. As
a youngster 1 had acquired consider
able skill in stilt-walking and / have
no doubt that with the proper equip
ment it would have been quite feas-
ible. to have walked out of Belgium
as easily as possible in that way, but
whether or not l was going to have a
chance to construct the necessary
stills remained to be seen.
There were a good many bicycles in
| use by the German soldiers in Belgium
and it had often occurred to me that
| if / could have stolen one, the tires
would have made excellent gloves and
| insulated coverings for my feet in
case it was necessary for me to at
| tempt to climb over the electric fence
bodily. But as I had never been able
to steal a bicycle this avenue of es-
cape was closed to me.
1 decided to wait until / arrived at
| the barrier and then make up my mind
| how to proceed.
To find a decent place to sleep that
night, l crawIed under a barbed wire
fence, thinking it led into some field.
AS passed under, one of the barbs
caught in my coat and in trying to
( pull myself from it l shook the fence
| for several yards.
Instantly there came out of the night
the nerve-racking command: Halt -
Again 1 feared l was done for. !
crouched close down on the ground in
the darkness, not knowing whether to
take to my legs and trust to the Huns
missing me in the darkness if he fired
or stay where I was. It was foggy
as well as dark, and although I knew
the sentry was only few feet away
from me decided to stand, or rather
lie, pat. l think my heart made almost
as much noise as the rafting of the
wire in the first place, and it was a
1 tense few moments to me.
heard the German say few words
to himself, but didn't understand them
of course, and then he made q sound
as if to call dog. and realized that
his theory of the noise he had heard
was that dog had made it's way
through the fence.
For perhaps five minutes 1 didn't
stir, and then figuring that the German
had probably continued on his beat
crept quietly under the wire again
this time being mighty careful to hug
the ground so close that 1 wouldn't
touch the wire, and made off in a diff.
ferent direction. Evidently the barbed
wire fence had been thrown around an
ammunition depot or something of the
kind, and it was not field at all that
l had tried to get into.
l figured that other sentries were
probably in the neighborhood and
proceeded very gingerly.
After l had got about a mile away
from this spot l came to an humble
Belgian house and / knocked at the
door and applied for food in my usual
way, pointing to my mouth to indi
cate was hungry and to my ears an6
mouth to imply that L was deaf an6
dumb. The Belgian woman who lived
in the house brought me a piece OF
bread and two cold potatoes and as
sat there eating them she eyed me
very keenly.
I haven't the slightest doubt that
she realized was fugitive. She lived
so near the border that it was more
for that reason, I appreciated more
fully the extent of the risk she ran, for
no doubt the Germans were constantly
watching the conduct of these Bel
gians who lived near the line
My theory that she realized that
was not Belgian at all. but prob
ably some English fugitive, was con
frmed a moment later, when, as
made ready to go, she touched me OF
the arm and indicated that / was tt
wait moment. She went to burea,
) and brought out two pieces of fame.
Belgian lace which she insisted upol
my taking away, although at that par
ticular moment had as much use 70,
Belgian lace as an elephant for +,
safety razor, but l was touched will
: her thoughtfulness and pressed he