The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-07-16

| check them iva, ueo,ioy anything
! that it might not be to his interest to
| preserve, and send the whole bust
! ness to his banker or his home, as the
case may be. Every letter is read
through, but their contents is never
afterwards discussed or revealed in
! any way. If the pilot is finally re-
ported dead, his effects are forwarded
to his next of kin, but while he is Of
ficially only missing" or is known to
be a prisoner of war, they are kept
i either at the squadron headquarters
! or sent to his bankers.
| In my case as soon as it was learned
| that l had fallen from the sky, it was
assumed that 1 had been killed and
! my chum, Paul Raney, and another
| officer detailed to check over my eff
| fects. The list they made and to
| which they affixed their signatures.
rs l have previously mentioned, Is
| now in my possession and Is one Of
the most treasured souvenirs Of my
adventure.
My trunk was sent to Cox & Co. in
due course, and now that / was in
London thought would go and claim
| 1t.
When I arrived at the bank I ap-
piled to the proper window for my
mail and trunk.
"WhO are your" / was asked rather
sharply.
"Well. I guess no one has any
greater right to Pat O'Brien's effects
than / have" replied. land would
be obliged to you If you would look
them up for me-"
'That may be all right, my friend"
replied the clerk, ''but according to
our records Lieutenant O'Brien is
prisoner of war in Germany, and we
can't very well turn over his effects
to anyone else unless either you pre-
sent proof that he Is dead and that
you are his lawful representative, or
else deliver to us properly authent-
ticated order from him to give them
to you"
He was very positive about it all,
but quite polite, and I thought I
would kid him no more.
"Well," I said, II can't very we'll
present proofs to you that Pat O'Brien
is dead, but / will do the best I can to
prove to you that he is alive, and If
you haven't quite forgotten his sig
nature I guess 1 can write you out
an order that will answer all your re-
quirements and enable you to give me-
Pat O'Brien's belongings without rum
ming any risks" and scrubbed my
signature on q scrap of paper and
handed 1t to him.
He looked at me carefully through
the latticed window, then jumped
down from the high chair and came
outside to clasp me by the hand.
Good heavens. leftenant!" he ex-
claimed. as he pumped my hand up
and down, show did you ever get
away| and I had to sit right down
and tell him and half a dozen other
people in the bank all about my ex-
periences.
I had been in England about i've
days when I received a telegram
which, at first. occasiOned me almost
as much concern as the unexpected
sight of q German spiked helmet had
caused me in Belgium. It read as
follows:
"Lieut. p. A. O'Brien, Royal Flying
Corps, Regents Palace Hotel, Lon
don:
"The king is very glad to hear Of
your escape from Germany. If you
are to be in London on Friday next,
December 7th, His majesty will re-
ceive you at Buckingham palace at
80 a. m. Please acknowledge.
CORONER"
Of course, there was only one
thing to do and that was to obey ord
ers. l was an officer in the army and
the king was my commander in chief,
! had to go, and so l sat down and
sent off the following answer:
Earl Cromer, Buckingham Palace,
London:
II will attend Buckingham palace
as directed, Friday, December 7th, ct
1890.
LIEUT.. PAT O'BRIEN."
In the interval that elapsed, I must
confess. the ordeal Of calling on the
king Of England doomed up more
dreadfully every day, and / really
believed would rather have spent an
other day in the empty house in the
big city in Belgium or, say. two more
days at Courtrai, than to 60 through
what believed to be in store for me.
Orders were orders, however, and
there was no way Of getting out Of It.
A It turned out, 1t wasn't half as bad
as I had feared-on the contrary. It
was one Of the most agreeable expe-
riences Of my life.
TE4 - CHAPTER XIX.