Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-04
"OutWiHing the Hum
BY Lieutenant Pat O'Brien
ing, as l did not dare to be too in

ing, as | did not dare to be too in
| quisitive.
Refused Nights Lodging
l made the old couple understand
! that ! would like to stay in their
| house all night, but the old man
/ shook his head. l bade them good
-. by and disappeared into the woods,
| leaving them To speculate as to the
/ strange foreigner they had enter
/ tanned.
From the greater density of the
population in the section through
! which l was now passing | realized
| that l must be in the outskirts of The
big city which the Belgian hal men
toned and where l was to procure a
passport.
Village after village intercepted
me, and although L tried to skirt
them wherever possible L realized
that | would never make much prog
ress if | continued that course 10
gain mile l would sometimes have
/ to make a detour of two or three
| decided that l would try my luck IN
going straight through the next VIII
laSe L came to.
As / approached it | passed num-
bers of peasants who were ambling
along the road. / was afraid TO MIN
gle with them because it was impos-
sible for me to talk to them and t
was dangerous to arouse suspicion,
even among the Belgians. For all
knew one of them might be treacher-
GUS enough to deliver me to the Ger
mans IN return for the reward he
might be sure of receiving.
About 8. o'clock that evening L
came to a point where ahead of me
on the right was n Belgian police
station-I knew it from it's red lights
and on the other side of the Street
were two German soldiers in uniform
leaning against a bicycle.
Here was a problem which called
for instant decision: if | turned back
the suspicion of the soldiers would
be instantly aroused and if | crossed
the road so as not to pass so closely
to them they might be equally sus-
picious l decided TO march braveiy
by the Huns, bluff my way through
and trust to Providence.
If anybody imagines, however, that
l was at all comfortable as l APP
preached these soldiers, he must
think that | am a much braver man
than L claim TO be. My heart beat so
loud l was afraid they would hear il.
Every step | took brought me so
much nearer to what might prove 10
be the end of all my hopes. 1t was
a nerve-racking ordeal.
l was now within a few feet of
them. Anothe" step and
They didn't turn hair! l passed
right by them - heard what they
were saying, although, of course, [
didn't understand it, and went right
on ] can't say | didn't walk a little
faster rs l left them behind, but [
triad to maintain an even gait so as
not 70 give them any idea of the in
ward eXultation L was experiencing.
No word can explain, however,
how relieved 1 really felt-to know
that l had successfully passed
thI ough the first of Il series of si:ni-
lar tests which l realized were in
store for mccullough l did not
know then now soon / was to be cOl-
fTonted with the second.
As it was, however, the incident
gave me a world of confidence. 1t
emonstrated TO me that there was
nothing in my appearance, at amy
rate, to attract the attention of the
German soldiers. Apparently looked
like a Belgian peas9nt, and II /
could only work thing so that
would never have to answer ques-
tions and thus give away my nation
alitY, l figured | would be toleraulyI
safe.
(To Be Continucd.)