The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-07-06
morning just before 1 rnrn.,

morning just before 1 rnrna,
the day, or on moonlight nights MI
the water seemed as clear +. "ne
as in The DAYTIME. 1t occurred 10 opu ~
that it would Il simple matter y, y, u
a hook aEG line az catch Same :, 81 7,
bit | had 10 means q cookinr .h ~
ano it was useless to fish for tba , 80,
Of it. sax
oIe night II belgium nv oo,,
took lie chfon@h : aesolate stretos
country which seemed to 5e ahsa,n..,
uncu!tiv&te1. I must have co..
twelve miles during the ..ignt witsau
passing a single farm or cultivat~
field. My stock Of turnips which
had picked the night before was o.
and l planned, Of course, to get epougs
to carry me through the fo,lowin'
day.
The North Star was shining briybt,J
that night and there was absou,nI,.
nothing to prevent my steering An oh.
solutely direct course for Holland and
liberty, but my path seemed 10 uo
through arid pastures. Far To tho
east or to the west could hear
family the striking of village bells
and / knew that If l changed nv
course l would undoubtedly strike
farms and vegetables, but the North
Star seemed to plead with me to fol.
low it and l would not turn aside.
When daylight came, the conse.
quence was l was empty handed and
had to find hiding place for the dav.
1 thought I would approach the first
peasant l came to and ask for food.
but that day l had misgivings-a
hunch-that l would get into trouble
If 1 did, and l decided to go without
food altogether for that day.
1t was Il foolish thing to do, found.
because l not only suffered greatly
from hunger all that day, but it inter.
fered with my sleep. l would drop Of
to sleep for half an hour, perhaps.
and during that time I would dream
that l was free, back home, living
life of comparative ease, and then II
would wake up with start and catchI
a glimpse of the bushes surrounding
me, feel the hard ground beneath mel
and the hunger pangs gnawing at myI
sides, and then I would realize howl
far from home l really was, and II
would lie there and wonder whetherI
I would ever really see my homeI
again. Then would fall asleep againI
and dream this time, perhaps Of theJ
days I spent in Courtrai, or my leapI
from the train window, Of the 'Bava.I
rian pilot whom / sent to eternity inI
my last air fight, Of my tracer bulletsI
getting closer and closer to his head
and then l would wake up again with
a start and thank the Lord that ! was
only dreaming 1t all again instead Of
living through 1t!
That night I got an early start be-
cause I knew had to have food, and
I decided that rather than look for
vegetables I would take chance and
apply to the first Belgian peasant
whom came to.
It was about 8 o'clock when came
to a small house. I had picked up .
heavy stone and had bound 1t in my
handkerchief and I was resolved to use
it as a weapon If it became necessary.
After all I had gone through, / was
resolved to win my liberty eventually
at whatever cost.
AS it happened, found that night
the first real friend 1 had encountered
in all my travelling. When l knocked
timidly on the door, it was opened BY
Belgian peasant. about fifty years or
age. He asked me in Flemish what
wanted, but l shook my head and
pointing to my ears and mouth init
mated that / was deaf and dumb, and
then I opened and closed my mouth
several times to show him that !
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 anu
fork he put before me seemed to De ail
he had. He brought me some cola
potatoes and several slices of stale
bread, and he warmed me some milk
on a small oil stove.
/ ate ravenously and all the time
was engaged I knew that he was e5s
ing me closely.
Before was half through he came
over to me. touching me on the Shout
der. and STOPPING over 20 that his mp
almost touched my ear, he said y
broken English. "You are an h
nshman-I know it-and you can nesE
and talk II you wish-am ! not rigntt
There was a smile on his face ano
a friendly attitude about him that toio
me instinctively that he could =
trusted. and replied: you nav
guessed right-only am an Anne"
can, not an Englishman."
He looked at me pityingly and nhes
my cup again with warm milk.
II His kindness and apparent WlianS
ness to help me almost overcame nv
and l felt like warning him OF tas
consequences he would suffer II ths
Huns discovered he had befrlenueN
me. had heard that twenty Beigians
had been shot for helping Belglans