Gilpin observer. (Central City, Colo.) 1897-1921, 1918-08-15

tenant Pat O'Brien


They could not speak English and
could not speak Flemish, but pointed
to my flying coat and then to the sky
and said "Fleger" (fier), which ]
thought would tell them what I was.
Whether they understood or were
inundated by the hard-looking ap-
pearance, I don't know. but certainly
1t would have to be brave old man
and boy who would start an argument
with such villainous looking char
acter as stood before them that night
had not shaved for a month, my
clothes were wet, torn and dirty, my
leggings were gone-they had gotten
80 heavy had to discard them-my
hair was matted and my cheeks were
flushed with fever. In my hand 1
carried the rock in my handkerchief
and I made no effort to conceal its
presence or its mission.
Anyway, they motioned me indoors,
gave me my first hot meal In more
than n month! True, It consisted only
Of warm potatoes. They had been
previously cooked, but the old woman
dirtiest kettles I had ever seen. I
asked for bread but she shook her
head, although 1 think 1t must have
been for lack Of 1t rather than be-
cause she begrudged 1t to me. For
II ever a man showed he was finished,
I did that night. swallowed those
warm potatoes ravenously and drank
four glasses of water, one after an
other. 1t was the best meal had had
since the banquet" in the prison at
Courtrai.
The woman of the house was prob
ably seventy-flve years old and had
evidently worn wooden shoes all her
life, for she had Gallons spot on the
side Of her foot the size of half dol
lar and 1t looked SO hard that doubt
whether you could have driven q nail
into 1t with hammeri
As I sat there drying myself-for 1
was In no hurry to leave the first
human habitation I had entered in
four weeks-I reflected on my I'M
happy lot and the unknown troubles
and dangers that lay ahead of me.
Here, for more than q month, 1 had
been leading the life of a hunted
animal-yes. worse than a hunted
animal, for nature clothes her less
favored creatures more appropriate
~ for the life they lead than I was
clothed for mine-and there WINS not
the slightest reason to hope that con-
ditions would grow any better.
Perhaps the first warm food 1 had
eaten for over a month had released
unused springs Of philosophy in me,
as food sometimes does for q man.
I pointed to my torn and water.
soaked clothes and conveyed to them
as best could that would be CRATE
full for an old suit, but apparently
they were too poor to have more than
they actually needed themselves, and
rose to go. had aroused them out
Of bed and knew ought not to keep
them up longer than was absolutely
necessary.
AS approached the door got
glance at myself in a mirror. was
the awfulest sight had laid eyes on
The glimpse I got Of myself startled
me almost as much as II had seen Q
dreaded German helmetl My left eye
was fairly well healed by this time
and 1 was beginning to regain sight
of 1t. but my face was so haggard and
my beard SO long and unkempt that
looked like Santa Claus on batl
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 l had indicated.
Later / changed my course completely
to throw Off any possible pursuit.
The next day was so worn out from
exposure and exhaustion that threw
away my coat, thinking that the less
weight l had to carry the better It
would be for me, but when night came
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 had so thoughtlessly dis
carded. but I decided to go on with
out II.
1 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 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 a ridiculous pair Of mittens, but
the best pair 1 ever had and l really
felt worse when l lost those mittens
than anything else. could not think
of anybody else ever using them, so I
dug a hole in the mud and buried