New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-08-30
my shoes Off I might not be able to get


my shoes Off l might not be able to &c
them on again.
This stunt of crossing the river an
diving for the lost shoe had consume
about three hours, and after restin
some fifteen minutes l went on my wa,
again. l had gone nearly a mile whel
| came to another river, about tn
same size as the one had just crossed
walked along the bank awhile, think
Ing / might be lucky enough to find
boat or a bridge, but after walking
about half an hour l received n o
those dlsappOintments which "com'
once In a lifetime" I found that thi!
river was the one I had just swum!
had swum 1t on the bend and was still
on the wrong side. Had l made only
short detOur in the first place l wOult
have avoided all the annoyance of the
past three hours and saved my
strength and time. l was never sc
mad In my life at myself as l was to
think that I had not paid more atten'
ton to the ourse Of the stream be-
fore / undertook to cross 1t, but as q
matter Of fact, there was really nc
way Of telling. The river was not
shown on the map at all.
Now l had to cross 1t, whereas be.
fore l could have turned 1t. I walked
boldly into the water. not bothering to
take my clothes Off this time, nor did
4 ever bother to take them of after
wards when swimming canals and
rivers. l found It was impossible to
keep them dry anyway, and so l might
just as well swim in them and save
time.
All the next day I spent in a forest,
to which my nights travel had brought
me about 5 O'Clock In the morning. l
kept on my way through the woods
until daylight came, and then, thinking
the place would afford fairly good con-
cealment, I concluded to rest until
night.
The prospects of even a good sleep
were dismal, however, for about the
time the suns face should have ap-
peared, a drizzling rain began and I
gave up my search for a dry spot
which would serve me as Il bed. Some
Of the leaves were beginning to fall,
but Of curse there was not enough of
tfrem to form q covering for the
ground, and the dampness seemed to
have penetrated everywhere.
I wandered around through the
woods for two or three hours looking
for shelter, but without any success.
for, although the trees were large, the
forest was not dense, and there was
practically no brush or shrubbery.
Consequently one could get n fairly
clear view for some distance, and I
knew It would be unwise to drop off
to sleep just any place, or someone
would surely happen on to me.
Once l came very near to the ends
Of the woods and heard voices Of men
driving by In a wagon, but I couldn't
make out just what they were. and
instinct told me l had better not come
out ~ the woods, so l turned back.
Here and there small artificial bitches
had been dug. which at a dry season
might have Graded a weary fugitive,
but now they, too, were filled with
water. Once I singled out a good big
tree and large branches and thought I
might climb into 1t and go to sleep,
but the longer l looked at 1t the more
I realized that 1t would require more
energy than I had In my present weak
and exhausted condition. so didn't at
tempt that.
Finally l chose a spot that looked a
bit drler than the rest, concluded to
take a chance on being discovered and
threw myself down for a nap. l was
extremely nervous, though. throughout
that whole day, and would scarcely get
into n comfortable position and
dOze Off for a few minutes when.
by ONE sound In the woods. I
would suddenly awake.
After what seemed like a year or
more, night finally came, and with a
'dud" sky. l~ow-hanging clouds and still
rain. There was not a star In the
Of course, and that made 1t very
bad, because without the aid Of the
I had absolutely nc way of know
Ing which direction 1 was going. 1t
was just a case of taking a chance. I
probably would have been better of If
| had simply picked out a place and
there until the weather i'm
but naturally I was impatient
to be on my way when each day with
out food only lessened my strength and
my ultimate chances Of reaching the
So l left the woods and struck off In
the direction which I thought was
north. 1 hadn't been at all sure of my
bearings the day before. and as it had
aimed the sun failed entirely to help
out. but l was almost SURE I had
he right direction and trusted to luck.
That night l found more rivers, canals
md swamps than I ever found In my
life before, but I had the good fortune
% stumble on to some celery, and after
ny diet of beets It surely was a treat.
Perhaps it's unnecessary to add that !
ook on a good supply Of celery and
or days l went along chewing celery
ike a COW would a cud.
Along towards morning. when l sup
,osed 1 had gotten In a fairly good lap
# my jOurney-perhaps seven or eight
niles-I began to recognize certain OBJ
ects as familiar landmarks. At least.
thought 1 had seen them before and
IS 1 travelled along l knew positively l
lad seen certain objects very recently.
off at my right-not over a quarter of
mile-I noticed some fairl y good