Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1918-09-20


piciOus. l decided to march bravely
by the Huns, bluff my way through
and trust to Providence. If anybody
imagines, however, that I was at all
comfortable as l approached these
soldiers, bo must think l am much
braver man than 1 claim to be. My
heart beat so loud I was afraid they
would hear it. Every step l took
brought me so much nearer to what
might prove to be the end of all my
hopes. 1t was Il nerve-racking ordeal.
l was now within few feet of
them. Another step and
They didn't turn hairl I passed
right by them-heard what they We're
saying, although, of course, I didn't
understand it, and went right on. 1
can't say 1 didn't walk a little faster
as 1 left them behind, but l tried to
maintain an even gait so as not to
give them any idea of the inward ex-
ultatiOn l was experiencing. No words
can explain, however, how relieved l
really felt-to know that 1 ha,. sue
cessfully passed through the 9rst of
a series of similar tests which real
lied were in store for me-although
I did not know then how soon l was
to he confronted with the second.
AS it was, however, the incident
gave me q world of confidence. 1t
demonstrated to me that there was
nothing in my appearance at any rate
to attract the attention of the German
soldiers. Apparently l looked like
Belgian peasant, and if could only
work things so that l would never
have to answer questions and thus
give away my nationality, 1 figured 1
would be tolerably safe.
AS I marched along / felt so happy
1 couldn't help humming an air of one
of the new patriotic songs that we
used to sing at the airdrome back in
Ypres.
In this happy frame of mind l COW
cred the next three miles in about an
hour and then came to another little
village. My usual course would have
been to go around it-through fields,
back yards, woods or whatever else
lay in my way-but 1 had gained so
much time by going through the last
village instead of detouring around
it and my appearance seemed to be so
unsuspicious that decided to try the
same stunt again.
I stopped humming and kept very
much on the alert, but apart from
that, l walked boldly through the
main street without any feeling of
alarm.
l had proceeded perhaps a mile
along the main street when / noticed
ahead of me three German soldiers
| standing at the curb
Again my heart started to beat fast
l must confess, but was not nearly
so scared as l had been an hour OF
| so before.
| l walked ahead, determined to fol
low my previous procedure in every
| particular.
had got to about fifteen feet away
from the soldiers when one of then
stepped onto the sidewalk an(
! shouted:
''Halt.''
My heart stopped beating fast-fol
a moment, believe, 1t stopped beatins
altogether l can't attempt TO de
scribe my feelings. | thought tha
the jig was up-that all l had gone
through and all L had escaped woulC
now avail me nothing, mingled will
the feeling of disgust with my
self because of the foolish risk
had taken in going through the vii
lage, combined to take all the starcl
out of me, and l could feel mysel
willing as the soldier advanced to tn
spot where 1 stood rooted in IN,
tracks.
had bottle Of water in one poke
and piece of bread in the other, ant
as the Hun advanced to search me
held the bottle up in one hand ant
the piece of bread in the other so tina
he could see that was all l had.
1t occurred to me that he woul,
''frisk" me-that is, feel me over fo
arms or other weapons, then plac
me under arrest and march me off t
the guardhOuse. / had not the slight
est idea but that / was captured AM
there didn't seem to be much use il