Baxter Springs news., 1918-10-25


seemed to Interest German soldiers but
fniled TO hold the Belglans. and after
conjutlng my brains for while on the
problem ! came 70 the conclusion that
the shop must have been q book-shop
and the window contained German
magazines. which. naturally enough.
would be OF the greatest interest to
the Germans but OF none to the Bel
| gians.
At any rate resolved that as soon a.
night came I would 60 out and In
vestigate the window. When got the
answer ! laughed so loud that I was
afraid for the moment I must have At
tracted the attention OF the neighbors,
but I couldn't help II. The window
wns filled with huge quantities Of
sausage! The store wns a butcher
shop and one Of the principal things
they sold apparently was sausage. The
display they made. although It con-
sisted merely of sausages piled In the
window, certainly had plenty Of 'pull.
ing" power. II pulled" nine Ger
mans out Of ten out Of their course and
Indirectly pulled" me right across the
street, The idea Of those Germans be-
ing so Interested In that window dis
play as to stand In front Of the win
dow for two, three or four minutes at
a time. however, certainly seemed
funny to me, and when I got back to
the house I sat at the keyhole again
and found just as much interest a.
before In watching the Germans stop
In their tracks when they reached the
window. even though ! was now aware
what the attraction was.
One Of my chief occupations during
these days was catching flies. would
catch O fly, put him in spiders web
(there were plenty Of them In the old
house), and sit down for the spider to
come down and get him. But always
pictured myself In the same predlca.
ment and rescued the fly Just as the
spider was about to grab him. Several
times when things were dull was
tempted to see the tragedy through.
but perhaps the same Providence that
guided me safely through all perils
was guarding. too. the destiny Of those
flies. for I always weakened and the
flies never did suffer from my lust for
amusement.
The house was well supplied with
bOoks--ln fact, one Of the choicest II.
braries think ! ever saw-but they
were oil written either In Flemish or
French. could read no Flemish and
very little French. might have made
q little Roadway with the latter. but
the books all seemed too deep for me
and gave Il up. There was one thing
though that l did read and reread
from beginning to end; that was a
New York Herald which must hive ar
rived Just about the time war vas de-
clared. Several things In this In
terested me. and particularly the base
ball scores, which / studied with rs
much care as q real fan possibly could
an up-tO-date score. ! couldn't refrain
from laughing when I came to an &C
count of Zimmerman (of the Cubs)
being benched for some spat with the
umpire, and 1t afforded me just as
much interest three years after II had
hnppened-perhaps more-than some
current item of worldwide interest
had at that time.
rummagcd the house many times
from cellar to garnet In my search for
something to eat, but the harvest OF
three years Of war had made any sue
cess along that line impossible. was
like the man out in the ocean In n boat
and thirsty with water everywhere but
not q drop to drink.
] was tempted while in the city to
60 to church one Sunday, but my better
judgment told me It would be a useless
risk. OF course. someone would surely
say something to me and ! didn't
know how many Germans would be
there or what migt. happen, 30 gave
up that idea.
During oil the time / was concealed
in this house ! saw but one automobile
and that was a German stan officers.
That same afternoon / had one OF the
frlghts Of my young life.
had been gazing out Of the keyhole
as usual when / heard coming down
the street the measured tread Of Ger
man soldiers. 1t didn't sound like very
many, but there was no doubt In my
mind that German soldiers were
marching down the street. went up
stairs and peeked through the window
and sure enough squad Of German In
fantry was coming down the street
accompanied by a military motor
truck. / hadn't the slightest idea that
they We're coming after me, but stu
the possibilities of the situation gave
me more or less alarm. and / consid'
cred how ! could make my escape II
by chance l was the man they were
after. The idea Of hiding in the wine
cellar appealed to me as the most
practical; there must have been
plenty of places among the wine kegs
and cases where q man could conceal
himself. but, as a matter Of fact. I did
not believe that any such contingency
would arise.
The marching soldiers came nearer,
I could hear them at the next house.
In a moment / would see them pass