The Lamar register., 1918-07-17


whether / could make the opposite
bank. although 1t was not more than
thirty or forty feet away. / choked
and gasped, and my arms and legs
were completely tagged out. l sank II
little and tried to touch bottom with
my feet. but the water was still be-
yond my depth.
There are times when everyone will
pray. and was no exception. l
prayed for strength to make those
few wicked yards, and then. with all
the will power / could summon. struck
out for dear life. 1t seemed "A life
time before l finally felt the welcome
mud of bottom and was able to drag
myself up to the bank. but l got there.
The bank was rather high and / was
shaking so violently that when l took
hold of the grass to pull myself up,
the grass shook out OF my hands.
could not retain my grip. j was afraid
l would faint then and there, but ]
kept pulling and crawling frantlcally
up that Internal bank and finally
made 1t.
Then for the first time in my life J
fainted-fainted from utter exhaus
tiOn.
II was now about o'clock In tn,
morning and l was entirely unpro
tected from observation. If anyone
had come along l would have been
found lying there dead to the world.
Possibly two hours passed before ]
regained consciousness. and then. no
doubt. only because the rain was
beating In my face.
l knew that ! had TO get away. as
IL was broad daylight. Moreover
there was u tow-path right there and
any minute a beat might come along
and find me. But II was equally
dangerous for me to attempt to travel
very far. Fortunately l found some
shrubbery near by and hid there all
day. without food or drink.
That night | made little head
way. but when day broke l had
dreadful fever and was dellrious. !
talked to myself and thereby In
creased my chances of capture. In
my lucid intervals when realized that
/ had been talking. the thought sent
a chill through me. because In the
silent night even the slightest sound
carries far across the Belgian country.
I began to fear that another day OF
this would about finish me.
have a distinct recollection of
ridiculous conversation | carried on
with an imaginary Pat O'Bnen-a
sort of duplicate OF myself. | argued
with him as marched drenrily along
and he answered me back in kind
and when we disagreed. -pli.d "'-''
my one constant friend, the North
Star. to stand by me.
There you are, you old North Star"
cried aloud. "You want Inc to get
to Holland, don't you? But this Pat
O'Brien-this Pat O'Brein who calls
himself soldier-he's got a yellow
streak-North Star-and he says 1t
can't be donel He wants me to quit
to lie down here for the Huns TO
fnd me and take me back to Cour-
trai-after all you've done, North
Star? | don't want to follow him-I
just want to follow you-because you
you are taking me away from the
Huns and this Pat O'Brien-this fel-
low who keeps after me all the time
and leans on my neck and wants me
to lie down-thls yellow Pat O'Brein
wants me to go back to the Huns -
After spell of foolish chatter like
that my senses would come back to
me for a while and l would trudge
along without a word until the fever
came on me again.
i knew that l had to have food be-
cause l was about on my last legs. 1
was very much tempted to lie down
then and there and call 1t a beat.
Things seemed to be getting worse for
me the farther | went. and all the
time l had before me the spectre of
that electric barrier between Belgium
and Holland. even If l ever reached
there alive. What was the use OF
further suffering when / would prob
ably be captured in the end anyway
Before giving up. however. decided
upon one bold move. l would ap-
proach one of the houses in the vi
cinity and get food there or die in
the effort.
l picked out q small house because
/ figured there would be less likeli-
hood Of soldiers being hilleted thsrs