Baxter Springs news., 1918-11-01

| = JOehBssNS = HAe N~NeAA~A NN@N~%N~N
able skill In stilt-walking and I have
no doubt that with the proper equip
msnt Il would havo been quite feaaT
IblO b have walked out Of Belgium
as easily a. possible In that way, but
whether or not was going to have q
chance TO construct the necessary
stills remained 10 bo seen.
There were o good many bicycles In
use By the German soldiers In Belgium
and Il had often occurred to me that
II I could have stolen one. the tires
would have made excellent gloves and
insulated coverings for my feet In
case Il was necessary for me to At
tempt to climb over the electric fence
bodily. But - had never been able
to steal q bicycle this avenue Of o.
cape was closed to me.
decided to wait until arrived at
the barrier and then make up my mind
how to proceed.
To 1nd q decent place to sleep that
night, I crawled under q barbed wire
fence, thinking Il led into some field.
A I passed under. one Of the barbs
caught In my coat and In trying to
pull myself from It shook the fence
for several yards.
Instantly there came out Of the night
the nerve-racking command: "Haltr
Again feared ! was done for. ]
crouched close down on the ground In
the darkness. not knowing whether to
tnke to my legs and trust to the Huns
missing me In the darkness II he fred,
or stay where I was. 1t was foggy
as well a. dark. and although ! knew
the sentry was only O few feet away
from mo I decided to stand. or rather
lie, pat. I think my heart made almost
as much noise as the rattling Of the
wire In the FIRST place, and II was O
tense few moments to me.
Iheard the German say few words
to himself, but didn't understand them,
Of course, and then he made q sound
as II to call q dog, and ] realized that
his theory Of the noise he had heard
was that q dog had made Its way
through the fence.
For perhaps Ave minutes didn't
stir, and then figuring that the German
had probably continued on his beat !
crept quietly under the wire again.
this time being mighty careful to hug
tie ground 80 close that ] wouldn't
touch the wire. and made of In dlf.
ferent direction. Evidently the barbed
wire fence had been thrown around an
ammunition depot or something Of the
kind, and It was not q neld at all that
! had tried to get into.
figured that other sentries were
probably In the neighborhood and ]
proceeded very gingerly.
After / had got about mile away
from this spot ! came to an humble
Belgian house and I knocked at the
door and applied for food In my usual
way. pointing to my mouth to indi'
cate was hungry and to my ears and
mouth to imply that was deaf and
e1mb. The Belgian woman who lived
In the house brought me a piece Of
bread and two cold potatoes and as ]
sat there eating them she eyed me
very keenly.
haven't the slightest doubt that
she realized was fugitive. She lived
90 near the border that 1t was more
for that reason. appreciated more
fully the extent Of the risk she ran, for
no doubt The Germans were constantly
watching the conduct Of these Bel.
gians who lived near the line.
Ny theory that she realized TINT !
was not q Belgian at all, but prob
aby some English fugitive. was con-
nrmed a moment later. when, as ]
made ready to 60. she touched me on
the arm and indicated that ] was to
wait a moment. She went to bureau
and brought out two pieces Of fancy
Belgian lace which she insisted upon
my taking away, although at that par
ticular moment ! had as much use for
Belgian lace az an elephant for q
safety razor, but ! was touched with
her thoughtfulness and pressed her
hand to show my gratitude. She would
not accept the money offered her.
carried the lace through my sub
seQuent experiences, feeling that 1t
would be O ilne souvenir for my
mother. although ~ matter Of fact II
/ had known that It was going to de-
lay my fnal escape for even q single
moment. ~ It did. ] am quite sure
she would rather had not seen It.
On one piece Of lace was the Flenr
ish word "Charite" and on the other
tho word "Esperage." At the time !
took these words to mean "Charity"
and Experience" and all / hoped was
TINT / would get as much Of the one
a. I. was getting Of the other before !
finally got through. ! learned subse'
uuently that what the words really
stood for were Charity" and "HOpe."
and then / was sure that my kind Bel
Rian friend had indeed realized my
plight and that her thoughtful SOU
venIr was intended to encourage me In
the trials she must have known were
before me.
didn't let the old Belgian lady
know, because did not want to alarm
her unnecessarily, but that night /
slept In her backyard. leaving early
in the morning before It became light.
Later In the day / applied at an
"a. ho,,s. -. NanA u u,oa 0rruOia6