The Cordova daily times., 1918-08-26

. didn't know the Dutch had n fence
 too" l advanced to the fence and 1 examined 1t closely. and judge of my l aStonishm,nt when l saw beyond 1t nine-foot fence apparently holding live wires exactly llli" the one which had nearly been the death of me, 1 had very littl" time to conjecture ! what II all meant, for just then l heard guard coming He was walk 1 Ing so fast that l was sure 1t was a l Dutch sentry, as the Huns walk much | slower.
 1 was so bcwildered, however, that l decided to take no chances. and as the road was fairly good l wandered i down 1t and away from that mysteri- 1 "uS. fence. About half mile down I I could S"" the light of sentry sta . ton and l thought ] would go there i and tell my story t0 tn" Scntrics. real 1 lzing that aS l was unarmcd it was ! perfectly safe for me tn announce myself to tn" Dutch authorities. I ] could h" int"rnrd only if l entered Holland under arms
 i As 1 approached the sentry box l noticed three mon in gray uniforms, the regulation Dutch color. l was on ] tn" v"rG" of shouting tn them when tn" thought struck me that there was Just chance l might be mistaken, as the German uniforms were the same color, and l had suffered too many privations and too many narrow escapes to lose all at thIS time by 1 jumping et conclusions.
 l had just turned or the road to go back into some bushes when out of the darkness I heard that dread Ger man command:
 Halt! Halt"
 He didn't need to hollcr twice I heard and needed the first time Then 1 l heard another man come running up, 1 and there was considerable talking, but whether they were Germans or ! lollanders I was still uncertain. He evidently thought someone was on the other side of the fence.
 Finally I heard one of them laugh and saw him walk back to the sentry station where the guard was billeted, and l crawlcd little nearer to try to make out just what It meant. 1 had begun to think it was all night mare.
 1 Between myself and the light in the sentry station, I then noticed the stepping figure of q man bending over as if to conceal himself and on his head was the spiked helmet of Ger man soldier,
 1 knew then what another narrow eSCap" I had had, for l am quite sure he would have shot me without Ccre- mony if I had fooishly made myself known. I would have been buried at once and no one would have been any wiser, even though, technically speak ing. l was on neutral territory and i'm mune from capture or attack. This new shock only served to be wilder me more I was completely lost. There seemed to be frontier be l hind me and frontier in front of me. 1 Evidently, however, what had hap i pened was that l had lost my sense of direction and had wandered in the ! arc of circle returning to the same fence that l had been so long in get ] ting through. This solution of the mystery came to me suddenly and l at i once searched tho landscape for some thing in the way of n landmark to l guide me. For once my faithful 1 friend, the North Star, had failed me. l The sky was pitch black and there wasn't q star in the heavens. ! In the distance. at about what ap- 1 pcared to be about three miles away, ! but which turned out to be six. 1 could discern the lights of village, and I knew it must be a Dutch village, as lights are not allowed in Belgium in that indiScriminnte way.
 My course was now clear. I would make Il hcrine for that village. Before had gone very far l found myself In q marsh or swamp and l turned back little, hoping to find better path. Finding none, l rctraCed my strpji and kept straight ahead, determined to reach that village at all costs and to SWervc neither to the right or left until l got there.
 One moment l would be in water up to my knees and the next I would sink in mud clear up to my waist. l paid no attention to my condition. It was merely a repetition of what l had gone through many times before, but this time I had Il definite goal and once l reached it I knew my troubles would be over
 It took me perhaps three hours to reach firm ground. The path l struck led to within half mile of the village. I shall never forget that path; il was almost aS welcome to my feet Us the opposite bank of the Mouse had
 seemed
 The first habitatiOn l came to was a
 little workshop with n bright light
 shining outside. It must have been
 after midnight. but the people inside
 were apparently just quitting work
 There were three men and two boys
 engaged in making wooden shoes.
 It wasn't necessary for me to ex-
 plain to them that 1 was n refugee,