New-York tribune., 1918-01-13

several very OlaDOllcaI consequences may
ensuc.
In the middle of that empty road, in
that alien land under the hostile stars,
took my electric torch and endeavored to
discover what was the matter. From the
moment | remembered the probable salt
wet cause Of my mishap I had pretty
hopeless feeling. At the end Of ten min
utcs felt not merely quite hopeless, but
utterly lpless-helpless as a child be-
fore charging elephant, hopeless as a
man at the bottom of an alpine crevasse.
Ignition, carburetor, what had been DAM
aged? In good daylight it might take me
an hour or two first to discover and then
to mend. In the radiance of my torch
would probably spend a night or two and
be none the wiser.
And meantime the precious dark hours
were slipping away and scattered all over
the miles of country lay foemen sleeping
nothing but foes. | was in a sea-girt
isle, with but one solitary friend, and he
was nearly twenty miles away and l had
the strctest orders not to approach him
save under the cover of darkness. Enough
cause for a few pretty black moments,
think you will allow.
And then | took myself by the scruff
of the neck and gave myself hearty
shake Had ] been picked for this errand
because was d coward or resourceless
fool? No. Well, then, | must keep my
head and use my wits, and if | could not
achieve the best thing, | must try to do
the second best. | ran over all the fac
tors in the problem.
Firstly, to wait in the middle of that road,
trying to- accomplish a job which l knew
perfectly well it was thousand chances
pcrverse folly.
Second, to leave my cycle in a ditch and
try to cover the distance on my own two
legs before daybreak was a physical i'm
possibility. My cycle being one of the
modern kind, with no pedals, | could not
even essay the dreadful task of grinding
it along with my feet. Therefore l could
not reach my haven tonight by any con-
cclVable means.
On the other hand, | would still be ex-
pected tomorrow night, for our plans were
laid to allow something for mischances; !;
so if | could conceal myself and my cycle
through the coming day, all might yet be
we'll. Therefore | must devise some plan
for concealing myself Logic had brought
NE beautifully so far, but now came the
~ ~
you may or may not know are to all prac-
teal purposes treeless and hedgcless. They
have many moors and waste places, but
Of an abominabIc kind for a fugitive
especially a fugitive with a motorcycle
The slopes arc long and usually gentle and
quite exposed; ravnes and dcls are few
and far between and further still to reach
Caves and clefts among the rocks might be
found, no doubt but l should probably
break my neck looking for them in the
dark. Conceive Of a man with a motor
cycle looking for a cave by starlight!
And then heaven-sent inspiration Wis
tied me. On board we had, of course
maps with every house marked, however
small, and who lived in it, and so on. We
&c things thoroughly, even though at the
moment there may not be any apparent
reason for some of the details. l blessed
our system now, for suddenly in my minds
eye | saw certain group of farm build
ings marked "Runous and uninhabited. ,
And now where the devil was it?
My own pocket map of course had nc
, such minute details and T had RI 1x,orl, ~,
memory hard. And then in flash I saw
the map as distinctly as if it had really
been under my eye, instead of safely un.
der the Atlantic
II have a chance STILL" said to myself
By the light of my torch l had careful