The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1918-10-04


check them over, destroy anything
preserve, and send the whole busi-
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
fcially only missing" or is known to
be a prisoner Of war, they are kept
either at the squadron headquarters
or sent to his bankers.
In my case as soon as it was learned
that had fallen from the sky, it was
assumed that l had been killed and
officer detailed to check over my eff
fects. The list they made and to
which they affixed their signatures.
as 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 l was in
London thought would go and claim
it.
When I arrived at the bank l ap-
piled to the proper window for my
mail and trunk.
"Who are you?" 1 was asked rather
sharply.
well, l guess no one has any
greater right to Pat O'Brien's effects
than 1 have" 1 replied, "and 1 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 a
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 a properly authenu-
ticated order from him to give them
to you"
He was very positive about it all,
but quite polite, and 1 thought /
would kid him no more.
"Well," I said, Il can't very well
present proofs to you that Pat O'Brien
! is dead, but will do the best can to
prove to you that he is alive, and if
you haven't quite forgotten his sig
nature 1 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 run
ming any risks" and 1 scribbled my
signature on a scrap Of paper and
| handed it to him.
He looked at ms 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, "how did you ever get
away?" and 1 had to sit right down
and tell him and half dozen other
people in the bank all about my eX-
periences.
1 had been in England about five
| days when 1 received q telegram
which, at first, occasioned me almost
!
sight of a German spiked helmet had
caused me in Belgium. 1t 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
10 80 a. m. Please acknowledge
"CROMER."
OF course, there was only one
thing to do and that was to obey ord
the king was my commander in chief,
l had to go, and so l sat down and
sent off the following answer:
Earl Cromer, Buckingham Palace,
London:
81 will attend Buckingham palace
as directed, Friday, December 7th, at
1890.
LIEUT.. PAT O'BRIEN."
In the interval that elapsed, l must
confess, the ordeal of calling on the
king of England loomed up more
dreadfully every day, and 1 really
believed l 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 go through
what l believed to be in store for me.
Orders were orders, however, and
there was no way of getting out Of it.
As it turned out. it wasn't half as bad
as | had feared-on the contrary, it
was one of the most agreeable expe-
riences of my life.
CHAPTER XIX.