Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1918-07-18

river was the one / had Just SWum
had sTum it On the bend and was still
on the wrong side. Had / made only q
short detour in the first place l would
have avoided all the annoyance Of the
past three hours and saved my
strength and time. 1 was never 50
mad in my life at myself as 1 was 10
think that 1 had not paid more atten-
ton to the course Of the stream be-
fore / undertook to cross IL, but as q
matter Of fact, there was really no
way Of telling. The river was not
shown on the map at all
Now 1 had 10 cross it, whereas be
fore could have turned IT. / walked
boldly into the water, not bOthering 10
take my clothes of this time, nor did
/ ever bother 10 take them of after
wards when swimming canals and
rivers. found IT was impossible TO
keep them dry anyway, and so I might
Just as well swim in them and save
time.
All the NEXT day spent in forest
TO which my nights travel had brought
me about O'Clock in the morning. /
kept on my way through the woods
until daylight came, and then, thinking
the place would afford fairly good con-
cealment, I concluded TO rest until
night.
The prospects Of even good sleep
were dismal, however, for about the
time the suns face should have ap-
peared, a drilling rain began and 1
gave up ny search for dry spot
which would serve me as a bed Some
Of the leaves were beginning 70 fall,
but Of course there was not enough Of
them to form q covering for the
ground, and the dampness seemed 70
have penetrated everywhere.
I wandered around through the
woods for two or three hours looking
for shelter, but without any success,
for, although the trees were large the
forest was not dense, and there was
practically no brush or shrubbery.
Consequently one could get fairly
clear view for some distance, and l
knew it would be unwise 10 drop of
TO sleep Just any place, or someone
would surely happen on 10 me.
Once 1 came very near TO the ends
of the woods and heard voices Of men
driving by in q wagon, but 1 couldn't
make out Just what they were, and
instinct told me had better not come
out Of the woods. so I turned back
Here and there small artificial bitches
had been dug. which az 6 dry season
might have Graded a weary fugitive,
but now they TOO. were filed with
water. Once I singled out q good big
tree and large branches and thought
might climb into it and go 10 sleep,
but the longer l looked st il the more
realized that il would require more
energy than I had in my present weak
and exhausted condition, so didn't at
tempt that
Finally I chose g spot that looked q
bit drier than the rest. concluded 10
take g chance on being discovered and
threw myself down for nap. l was
extremely nervous, though, throughout
that whole day. and would scarcely get
settled into q comfortable position and
doze of for g few minutes when
startled by some sound in the woods, !
would suddenly awake
After what seemed like a year or
more, night finally came, and with a
"dud' sky, lOw-hanging clouds and still
more rain. There was not q star in the
sky, Of course, and that made il very
bad. because without the aid OF the
stars l had absolutely no way Of know
ing which direction 1 was going 1t
was just a case of taking q chance l
probably would have been better Of IL
1 had simply picked out g place and
stayed there until the weather i'm
proved. but naturally was impatient
10 be on my way when each day with
out food only leSSened my strength and
my ultimate chances Of reaching the
frontier.
So l left the woods and struck of in
the direction which I thought was
north. hadn't been at all sure Of my
bearings the day before, and as il had
rained the sun failed entirely 10 help
me out. but l was almost sure had
the right direction and trusted 10 luck.
That night found more rivers. canals
and swampS than ever found in my
life before, but had the good fortune
10 stumble on 10 some celery, and after
my diet Of beets il surely was a treat
Perhaps it's unnecessary TO add that ]
took on & good supply Of celery and
for days went along chewing celery
like g cow would s cud.
Along towards morning, when I sup
posed I had gotten in q fairly good lisp
Of my iourney-perhaps seven or eight
began TO recognize certain OBJ
jects as familiar landmarks. At least.
I thought I had seen them before and
as travelled along 1 knew positively I
had seen certain objects very recently.
OF az my right-not over q quarter Of
= mile-I noticed some fairl Y good
sized woods and thought 1 would 80
over there TO hide that day, because IL
ooked as though the sun was going to
shine and hoped TO get my clothes
IL