The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1918-09-06

Whether they understood or were
inundated by the hard-looking ap-
pearance, I don't know, but certainly
and boy who would start an argument
with such villalnous 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-thsy had gotten
SO heavy l had to discard them-my |
hair was matted and my cheeks were
carried the rock In my handkerchief |
and l made no effort to conceal Its
presence or Its mission.
Anyway, they motioned me indoors,
gave me my first hot meal In more |
than month True, It consisted only |
OF warm potatoes. They had been |
previously cooked, but the old woman
warmed them up in milk in one OF the
dlrtiest kettles / had ever seen.
asked for bread, but she shook her
head, although l think 1t must have
been for lack OF 1t rather than be-
cause she begrudged it to me. For
If ever man showed he was finished,
l did that night. I 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-five years old and had
evidently worn wooden shoes all her
life, for she had a callous spot on the
side Of her foot the size Of half dol
lar and 1t looked so hard that doubt
whether you could have driven a nail
into it with hammer
| AS l sat there drying myself-for l
was in no hurry to leave the first
human habitation l had entered in
four weeks-I reflected on my I'M
happy lot and the unknown troubles
and dangers that lay ahead of me.
| 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 l 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 l had
eaten for over a month had released
unused springs of philosophy in me,
as food sometimes does for man.
/ pointed to my torn and water
soaked clothes and conveyed to them
as best I 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 60. had aroused them out
of bed and l knew I ought not to keep
them up longer than was absolutely
| necessary.
AS i approached the door I got a
glance at myself in a mirror. 1 was
the awfulest sight l had laid eyes on !
The glimpse l got of myself startled
me almost as much as If 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 q bat
AS they let me out of the door l
pointed to the opposite direction to
off in the direction I had indicated.
Later changed my course completely
to throw off any possible pursuit.
The next day l was so worn out from
exposure and exhaustion that l threw
away my coat, thinking that the less
weight l had to carry the better ii
would be for me, but when night came
| regretted my mistake because the
nights were now getting colder.
thought at first it would be better for
me to retrace my steps and look for
the coat l had so thoughtlessly dis
carded, but l decided to go on with
out 1t.
l then began to discard everything
that had in my pocket, finally throw
ing my wrist watch into a canal A
/, wrlst-watch does not add much
weight, but when you plod along and
! have not eaten for a month 1t finally
: becomes rather heavy. The mex
thing l discarded was pair Of flying
mittens.
These mittens / had gotten at CAM
Borden, in Canada, and had become
quite famous, as my friends tarmet
them "snow shoes" In far4 thu
were a ridiculous pair If mItAns, b,f
the best pair l ever had and ! realL
e felt worse when l lost tbose- mittea
than anything else. l could hot thial
. of anybody else ever using them, so
/ dug a hole in the mud and buried
j them and could not help but laugl
/ at the thought If my friends could Sc,
!, me burying my mittens, because the.
r were a standing joke in Canada, Eng
e land and France.
q l had On two shirts and as they wer
always both wet and didn't ketp IN
n warm, 1t was useless to wear both
d One Of these was shirt that ha,
e bought In France, the other an A-a"r
$ lean army shirt. They were o..
e khaki and one as apt to give me ava
a as the other, so discarded the Frenc