Cleveland County herald. (Rison, Ark.) 1888-current, 1918-07-04

| They could not speak English and l
could not speak Flemish, but 1 pointed
to my flying coat and then to the sky
and said 'Fleger" (flier), which 1
| thought would tell them what l was.
| Whether they understood or were
| inundated by the hard-looking ap.
| pearance, don't know, but certainly
it would have to be brave old man
| aud boy who would start an argument
with such a villainous looking char
acter as stood before them that night!
| L had not shaved for a month, my
| clothes were wet, torn and dirty, my
leggings were gone-they had gotten
| so heavy I had to discard them-my
| hair was matted and my cheeks were
| flushed with fever. In my hand I
carried the rock in my handkerchief
| and / made no effort to conceal it's
| presence or it's mission.
Anyway, they mOtioned me indoors,
gave me ny first hot meal III more
than month! True, 1t consisted only
of warm potatoes. They had been
| previously cooked, but the old woman
warmed them up in milk in one of the
dirtiest kettles [ had ever seen. I
asked for bread, but she shook her
head, although 1 think it must have
been for lack of it rather than be-
cause she begrudged it to me. For
! if ever a man showed he was finished,
| did that night. | swallowed those
warm potatoes ravenously and | drank
four glasses of water, one after an
other. 1t was the best meal / had had
since the banquet" in the prison at
| Courtrai
| The woman of the house was prob
ably seventy-fve years old and had
evidently worn wooden shoes all her
life, for she had callous spot on the
side of her foot the size of half dol
| lar and it looked so hard that l doubt
whether you could have driven a nail
into it with a hammer!
| AS l sat there drying myself-for
was in no hurry to leave the first
human habitation I had entered in
four weeks-I reflected on my I'M
happy lot and the unknown troubles
and dangers that lay ahead of me-
/ Here, for more than a month, | had
| been leading the life of hunted
animal-yes, worse than hunted
animal, for nature clothes her less
| favored creatures more appropriate
ly for the life they lead than 1 was
clothed for mine-and there was not
the slightest reason to hope that con-
| ditions would grow any better
Perhaps the first warm food 1 had
eaten for over month had released
unused springs of philosophy in me,
as food sometimes does for a man.
| pointed to my torn and water
soaked clothes and conveyed to them
| as best / could that I would be CRATE
full for an old suit, but apparently
| they were too poor to have more than
they actually needed themselves, and
I rose to go. / had aroused them out
of bed and knew l ought not to keep
them up longer than was absolutely
| necessary.
AS / . approached the door I got a
| glance at myself in a mirror. / was
the awfulest sight 1 had laid eyes on !
The glimpse l got of myself startled
me almost as much as if l had seen a
| dreaded German helmet! My left eye
was fairly well healed by this time
and l was beginning to regain sight
of it, but my face was so haggard and
my beard so long and unkempt that
looked like Santa Claus on a bat!
| AS they let me out of the door I
| pointed to the opposite direction to
the one l intended taking and started
off in the direction l had indicated.
Later l changed my course completely
to throw off any possible pursuit.
The next day was so worn out from
| exposure and exhaustion that | threw
away my coat, thinking that the less
weight 1 had to carry the better it
would be for me, but when night came
l regretted my mistake because the
nights were now getting colder. 1
thought at first it would be better for
me to retrace my steps and look for
| the coat I had so thoughtlessly dis
carded, but 1 decided to go on with
out it.
| l then began to discard everything
tlidI udu III my pOchel, 1IHdlly throw
ing my wrist watch into a canal. A
| wrist-watch does not add much
weight, but when you plod along and
have not eaten for a month it finally
| becomes rather heavy. The next
thing l discarded was pair of flying
mittens.
These mittens had gotten at Camp
| Borden, in Canada, and had become
| quite famous, as my friends termed
| them 'snow shoes" In fact, they
| were ridiculous pair of mittens, but
! the best pair l ever had and / really
| felt worse when l lost those mittens
! than anything else. | could not think
of anybody else ever using them. so [
| dug a hole in the mud and buried
them and could not help but laugh
at the thought if my friends could see
me burying my mittens, because they
were standing joke in Canada, Eng
! land and France