Baxter Springs news., 1918-11-01

timber and tools with whicA % con-
struct the stills.
II seemed to me that the best thing
b DO was travel up and down the line
q bit In the hope that some spot might
b discovered where conditions were
more favorable. although ] don't know
Just what I expected along those
lines.
Il was mighty disheartening TO real
Inc that only few feet away lay Ger
tain liberty and that the only things
preventing me from reaching Il were
three confounded fences. thought Of
my machine and wished that some
kind fairy would set Il In front Of me
for Just one minute.
] spent the night IN q clumD Of
bushes and kept In hiding most Of the
next day. only going abroad for IN
hour or two In the middle Of the day
b intercept some Belgian peasant
and beg for food. The Belgians In this
section were naturally very much
afraid Of the Germans and fared
badly. In nearly every house German
soldiers were qunrtered and It was
ont Of the question for me TO apply
for food In that direction. The prOx-
unity Of the border made everyone
ego each other with more or less SuS-
picion and ! soon came to the eonclu-
sion that the safest thing ! could do
was TO live on raw vegetables which I
could steal from the fields at night %
! had previously done.
That night ! mnde another survey
Of the barrier in that vicinity. but It
looked Just a. hopeless as II had the
night before and concluded that ]
only wasted my time there.
! spent the night wandering north.
guided BY the North Star which had
served me 30 faithfully In all my trav'
cling. Every mile or two would make
my way carefully to the barrier to SEQ
II conditions were any better, but 1t
seemed to be the same all along. Ifelt
like q Wild animal In q cage, with
about as much chance Of getting out.
The section Of the country In which
! was now wandering was very heavily
wooded and there was really no very
great difficulty In keeping myself con-
ceaied. which did all day long. striv-
Ing all the time to think Of some way
in which could circumvent that
cursed barrier.
The idea Of a huge stepladder oc-
Cured to me, but I searched hour after
hour In vain for lumber or fallen trees
out Of which could construct one. II
/ could only obtain something which
would enable me to reach q point
about nine feet in the air 1t would be
q comparatively simple matter to
jump from that point over the electric
fence.
Then I thought that perhaps I could
construct a simple ladder and lean 1t
against one Of the posts upon which
the electric wires were strung, climb to
the top and then leap over, getting
over the barbed wire fences In the
same way.
This seemed to be the most likely
plan and all night long I sat construct
ing O ladder for this purpose.
I was fortunate enough to and q
number Of fallen pine trees from ten
to twenty feet long. / selected two OF
them which seemed sufficiently strong
and broke on all the branches, which
I used as rungs, tying them to the
poles with grass md strips from my
handkerchief and shirt as best ]
could.
Il was not q very workmanlike
looking ladder when ! finally got
through with II. l leaned It against
a tree to test-it and It wObbled cOnsld-
erably. 1t was more like rope lad
der than q wooden one. but ! strength
ened Il here and there and decided
that It would probably serve the puT-
pose.
I kept the ladder In the woods all
day and could hardly wait until dark
TO make the supreme test. II 1t proved
successful my troubles were over;
within q few hours / would be In Q
neutral country out Of all danger. II
I failed-I dismissed the Idea sum-
marily, There was no use worrying
about failure; the thing to do was to
succeed.
The few hours that were to pass
before night came on seemed endless
but / utilized them to re-entorce my
ladder, tying the rungs more securely
with long grpss which ! picked In the
woods.
At last night came. and with my
ladder In hand I made for the barrier.
In front Of It there was q cleared
space Of about one hundred yards.
which had been prepared to make the
work Of the guards easier in watch
ing It.
IwaIted in the nelghborhOod until ]
heard the sentry pass the spot where !
was IN hiding and then ! hurried
across the clearing, showed my ladder
under the barbed wire and endeav.
ored to follow It. Ny clothing caught
IN the wire, but I wrenched myself
clear and crawled to the electric bar"
rier.
nv plan was to place the ladder
aRainst one Of the posts, climb up to
the top and then jump. There would
be q fall Of nine or ten feet and ]
might possibly sprain an ankle o.