Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-18
"OutWiHing the Hum
By Lieutenant Pat O'Brien
(Copyrfsnt, 1919. o. Tat Alva oBrien)

1900
best l could.
1t was not a very workmanlike
looking ladder when l finally got
through with it. 1 leaned it against
tree to test it and it wobbled con-
siderably. 1t was more like a rope
ladder than a wooden one, but /
| strengthened it here and there and
decided that it would probably serve
! the purpose.
l kept the ladder in the woods all
day and could hardly wait until dark
| to make the supreme test. If it
proved successful my troubles were
over; within a few hours | would be
in a neutral country out of all dan
ger. If it failed-I dismissed the
| idea summarily. There was no use
worrying about failure; the thing to
do was to succeed.
The few hours that were to pass
before night came on seemed end
| less, but L utilized them to reinforce
my ladder, tying the rungs more Sc.
curely with long grass which
plucked in the woods.
At last night came. and with my
! ladder in hand | made fer the bar
rier. In front of it there was Il
cleared space of about 100 yards,
which had been prepared to make
! the work of the guards easier in
watching it.
Almost Fatally Shocked
l heard the sentry pass the spot
where | was hiding and then | hur-
ried across the clearing, showed my
: ladder under the barbed wire and
endeavored to follow it. My clothing
caught in the wire, but l wrenched
myself clear and crawled to the
electric barrier.
My plan was to place the ladder
against one of the posts, climb up to
| the top and then jump. There would
be a fall of nine or ten feet, and L
break my leg, but if that was all
that stood between me and freedom
l wasn't going to stop to consider it.
/ put my ear to the ground to
listen for the coming of the sentry.
There was not a sound. Eagerly but
carefully l placed the ladder against
the post and started up. Only a few
feet separated me from liberty, and
my heart beat fast.
/ had climbed perhaps three rungs
| of my ladder when / became aware
of an unlocked for difficulty.
The ladder was slipping.
Just as | took the next rung the
ladder slipped, came in contact with
| the live wire, and the current passed
through the wet sticks and into my
body. There was a blue flash, my
hold on the ladder relaxed and l fell
heavily to the ground unconscious.
o course, l had not received the
| full force of the current or 1 would
not now be here. l must have re-
mained unconscious for a few mo-
ments, but l came to just in time to
| hear the German guard coming, and
| the thought came to me that IL
didn't get that ladder concealed at
once he would see it, even though,
fortunately for me, it was an un-
usually dark night.
Could Have Tripped Sentry
l pulled the ladder out of his path
and lay down fiat on the. ground not
seven feet away from his feet. lie
passed so close that | could nave
pushed the ladder out and tripped
him up.
1t occurred to me that l could have
climbed back under the barbed wire
fence and waited for the sentry TO
return an dthen felled him with
blow on the head, as he had no idea,
of course, that there was any one in
the vicinity. / wouldn't have hesi-
tated to take life, because my only
thought was to get into Holland, but
1 thought that as long as he didn't
DOIneE IllG bhO SoASSN S'hAAto
to do was not to bother him, but to
continue my efforts during his peri
odic absences.
His beat at this point was appar-
emily fairly long and allowed me
more time to work than l had hoped
for.
My mishap with the ladder had
convinced me that escape in that
way was not feasible. The shock
that 1 had received had unnerved
me and 1 was afraid to risk it again,
particularly as / realized that 1 had
! Jared more fortunately than l could
hope to again if 1 met with similar
mishap. There was no way of max
ing that ladder hold, and I gave up
the idea of using it.
I was now right in front of this
electric barrier, and as l studied 1t l
saw another way of getting by. If I