The Pulaskian., 1918-10-18

They could not speak English and I could not speak Flemish but pointed to my flying coat and then to the sky and said "Fleger" (flier), which I thought would tell them what was.
 Whether they understood or were intimidated by the hard-lool1ing ap- pearance, l don't know, but certainly 1t would have to be a brave old man and boy who would start an argument with such a villainous looking char acter as stood before them that night l had not shaved for a month, my clothes were wet, torn and dirty, my leggings were gone-they had gotten so heavy I had to discard them-my hair was matted and my cheeks were flushed with fever. in my hand I carried the rock in my handkerchief and made no effort to conceal it's presence or it's mission.
 Anyway, they motioned me indoors, gave me my first hot meal in more than monthl True, it consisted only of warm potatoes. They had been previously cooked, but the old woman warmed them up in milk in one of the dirtiest kettles I had ever seen. asked for bread, but she shook her head, although I think it must have been for lack of it rather than be- cause she begrudged it to me. For If ever man showed he was finished, l did that night. I swallowed those warm potatoes rayenously and drank four glasses of water, one after an other. It was the best meal had had since the .'banquetn in the prison at Courtrai.
 The woman of the house was prob ably seventy-fiye years old and had evidently worn wooden shoes all her life, for she had callous spot on the side of her foot the size of half dol lar and it looked so hard that I doubt whether you could have driven a nail into it with hammer!
 As l sat there drying myself-for I was in no hurry to leave the first human habitation I had entered in four weeks-I reflected on my un- happy lot and the unknown troubles and dangers that lay ahead of me. Here, for more than a month, I had been leading the life of a hunted animal-yes, worse than hunted animal, for nature clothes her less favored creatures more appropriate ly for the life they lead than I was clothed for mine-and there was not the slightest reason to hope that con ditions would grow any better.
 Perhaps the first warm food I had eaten for over month had released unused springs of philosophy in me, as food sometimes does for a man.
 pointed to my torn and water soaked clothes and conveyed to them as best l could that I would be grate- fui for an old suit, but apparently they were too poor to have more than they actually needed themselves, and I rose to go. had aroused them out of bed and knew ought not to keep them up longer than was absolutely necessary.
 AS l approached the door I got a glance at myself in a mirror. I was the awfulest sight I had laid eyes on The glimpse got of myself startled me almost as much as if I had seen a dreaded German helmetl My left eye was fairly well healed by this time and I was beginning to regain sight of it, but my face was so haggard and my beard so long and unkempt that I looked like Santa Claus on a bat!
 As they let me out of the door I pointed to the opposite direction to the one intended taking and started off in the direction I had indicated. Later I changed my course completely to throw off any possible pursuit.
 The next day was so worn out from exposure and exhaustion that I threw away my coat, thinking that the less weight I had to carry the better it would be for me, but when night came l regretted my mistake because the nights were now getting colder. I thought at first it would be better for me to retrace my steps and look for the coat I had so thoughtlessly dis carded, but I decided to go on with out it.
 I then began to discard everything that had in my pocket, finally throw ing my wrist watch into canal. A wrist-watch does not add much weight, but when you plod along and have not eaten for month it finally becomes rather heavy. The next thing l discarded was a pair of flying mittens.
 These mittens I had gotten at Camp Borden, in Canada, and had become quite famous, as my friends termed them ''snow shoes" In fact, they were ridiculous pair of mittens, but the best pair I ever had and I really felt worse when I lost those mittens than anything else. I could not think of anybody else ever using them, so I dug hole in the mud and buried them and could not help but laugh at the thought if my friends could see me burying my mittenS because they