The Cordova daily times., 1918-08-13

It Is rather Il remarkable thing that today even Il smell of turnips, raw or cooked. makes me sick, and yet il few short months ago my life depended upon them.
 Night after night as l searched for food. l was always in hopes that 1 might come upon some tomatoes or cel"ry-vegetnbles which really liked but with the exception of once, when l found some celery, 1 WAS never so fortunate. l ate so much of the celery the night l came upon 1t that l was sick for two days thereafter, but ] carried several punches away with me and used to chew on 1t us 1 walked along.
 Of course. l kept my eyes open all the time for fruit trees. but apparently 1t was too late in the year for fruit, as all that I ever was able to find were two pears, which l got out of tree. Tint was one of my red-letter days, but l was never able to repeat 1t.
 In the brooks and ponds that passed l often noticed fish of different kinds. That was either in the early morning just before l turned In for the day, or on moonlight nights~when the water seemed as clear In spots as in the daytime. It occurred to me that 1t would be Il simple matter to rig hook and line and catch some fish. but l had no means of cooking them and It was useless to fish for the sake of it.
 One night in Belgium my course took me through Ii desolate stretch of country which seemed to be absolutely uncultivntrd. 1 must have covered twelve miles during the night. without passing Il single farm or cultivated field. My stock of turnips which l had picked the night before was gor" and planned, of course, to get enouV to carry me through the following day
 The North Star was shining brightly that night and there was absolutely nothing to prevent my steering an ab- sOlutely direct course for Holland and liberty but my path seemed to lie through arid pastures. Far to the east or to the west l could hear faintly the striking of village bells, and I knew that If I changed my course l would undoubtedly strike farms and vegetables, but the North Star seemed to plead with me to fol- low 1t and I would not turn aside.
 When daylight came. the conse- Quence was l was empty handed and l hud to find a hiding place for the day 1 thought l would approach the first peasant 1 came to and ask for food. but that day had misgivlngs-a hunch-that I would get into trouble If did. and l decided to go without food altogether for that day. It wns Il foolish thing to do. found. because I not only suffered greatly from hunger all thnt day, but It Inter fered with my sleep. l would drop off to sleep for half an hour, perhaps. and during that time l would dream that Twas free, back home. living life pfAlompnrauve ease, and then ] would wake up with start and catch glimpse of the bushes surrounding me, feel the hard ground beneath me and the hunger bangs gnawing at my sides, and then I would realize how fur from home 1 really was, and l | would lie there and wonder whether I would ever really see my home again. Then I would fall asleep again and dream this time. perhaps of the [ In nl inun from the train window, of the Bava- rinn pilot whom l sent to eternity In my Inst air fight. of my tracer bullets getting closer and closer to his head. and then I would wake up again with q start and thank the Lord that l was only dreaming 1t al again instead of living through It.
 That night got an early start be cause l knew 1 had to have food. and I decided that rather than look for vegetables 1 would take a chance and apply to the first Belgian peasant whom I came to.
 It was about 8 o'clock when l came | to a small house. had picked up a | heavy stone and had bound 1t In my | handkerchief and was resolved to use 1t as a weapon If 1t berame necessary. After all I had gone through. l was resolved to win my liberty eventually at whatever cost.
 As 1t happened. found that night the first real friend had encountered in all my travelling. When I knocked timidly on the door. It was opened by a Belgian peasant. about fifty years of age. He asked me in Flemish what l wanted. but I shook my head and pointing to my ears and mouth inti- mated that I was deaf and dumb, and then I opened and closed my mouth several times to show him that l wanted food.
 He showed me inside and sat me at the table. He apparently lived alone, for his ill-furnished room had but one chair, and the plate and knife and fork he put before me seemed to be all he had. He brought me some cold potatoes and several slices of stale 1 broad and ha wyapmpd mo some milk