New Mexico state record., 1918-09-13

one side being taken up by an enor-
nous fireplace. What was in the bed
room had no way of telling. as l
did not dare to be too inquisitive.
l made the old couple understand
that would like to stay in their house
all night. but the old man shook his
head. bade them gOOd-by and dis
appeared into the woods. leaving them
to speculate as to the strange for
elgner they had entertained.
From the great density of the pOpu.
lation in this section through which |
was now passing realized that l
must be In the outskirts of the big
city which the Belgian had mentioned
and where l was to procure II pass
port.
Village after village intercepted me.
and although | tried to skirt them
wherever possible realized that l
would never make much progress If
| continued that course. To gain a
mile would sometimes have to make
a detOur Of two or three. l decided
VIA. "Vu'u ny lily iuNN III 6"ihe
straight through the next village
came to.
AS l approached it, I passed mum.
bers Of peasants who were ambling
along the road. was afraid to mingle
with them because it was impossible
for one to talk to them and it was
dangerous to arouse suspicion even
among the Belgans. For all l knew,
one of them might be treacherOus
enough to deliver me to the Germans
in return for the reward he might be
sure Of receiving.
About O'Clock that evening |
came to a point where ahead of me on
the right was a Belgian police station
on the other side of the street were
two German soldiers in uniform
leaning against Il bicycle.
Here was Il problem which called
for instant decision; If l turned back
the suspicion of the soldiers would
he instantly aroused and if crossed
the rOnd so as not to pass so closely
to them they might be equally sus-
piciOus. l decided to march bravely
by the Huns. bluff my way through
and trust to Providence. If anybody
imagines. however, that l was at all
comfortable as l approached these
soldiers, he must think l am a much
Drawer man than | claim to be. My
heart beat so loud was afraid they
would hear It, Every step took
brought me so much nearer to what
might prove to be the end Of all my
hopes. 1t was II nerve-racking ordeal.
was now within few feet of
them. Another step and
They didn't turn hair! passed
right by them-heard what they were
saying, although. Of course, didn't
understand 1t, and went right on. |
cant say | didn't walk a little faster
maintain an even gait so as not to
give them any Idea of the Inward ex-
ultation was experiencing. No words
can explain, however, how relieved
really felt-tO know that l had sue
cessfully passed through the first Of
n series Of similar tests which l real
lied were in store for me-althOugh
l did not know then how soon I was
to he confronted with the second.
AS it was. however. the incident
gave me world of confidence. 1t
demonstrated to me that there was
nothing in my appearance Mt any rate
to attract the attention of the German
soldiers. Apparently I looked like a
Belgian peasant. and If could only
work things so that would never
have to answer questions and thus
give away my nationality. figured l
would be tOlerably safe.
AS l marched along l felt so happy
couldn't help humming an mir of one