New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-10-04

II udO occurred TO me, IOr instance
= that 1t would not be such q Difficult
: matter to vault over the electric fence
! which was only nine feet high. In col
lege. l knew a ten-fOOt vault Is cOnsid
cred a high-schOOl boys accomplish
{ ment, but there were two great diff
fculties In the way of this solution
In the first place 1t would be no cas-,
matter to get a pole of the RICH
length. weight and strength to serv'
the purpose. More particularly. how
ever. the pOle-vault idea seemed to mi
to be out of the question because Of
the fact that on either side of the cleo
trio fence, six feet from it, vas a SIX
foot barbed wire barrier. To vault
safely over a nine-fOot electrically
charged fence was one thing, but tt
combine with it a twelve-foot broad
vault was a feat which ever Il college
athlete In the pink Of condition would
be apt to funk. Indeed, l don't be
lieve it Is possible.
Another plan that seemed halfway
reasonable was to build n pair of stills
oDout tWCINC VI AOu lCCh lCCt iiSll ohO
walk over the barriers one by one. As
a youngster I had acquired consider.
able skill In stilt-walking and l have
no doubt that with the proper equip
ment 1t would have been quite feas-
ible to have walked out of Belgium
as easily as possible in that way. but
whether or not l was going to have a
chance to construct The necessary
stills remained to be
There were a good many bicycles in
use by the German soldiers In Belgium
and 1t had often occurred to me that
If l could have stolen one. the tires
would have made excellent gloves and
insulated coverings for my feet In
case it was necessary for me to at
tempt to climb over the electric fence
bodily. But as I had never been able
to steal a bicycle this avenue of es.
cape was closed to me.
l decided to wait until l arrived at
the barrier and then make up my mind
how to proceed.
To find a decent place to sleep that
night. I crawled under a barbed wire
fence, thinking 1t led into some field.
As l passed under. one of the barbs
caught In my coat and In trying to
pull myself from 1t I shook the fence
for several yards.
Instantly there came out of the night
the nerve-racklng command: Halt "
Again I feared I was done for. I
crouched close down on the ground In
the darkness, not knowing whether to
take to my legs and trust to the Huns
missing me in the darkness If he fired,
or stay where I a 1t was foggy
as well as dark. and although l knew
the sentry was only a few feet away
from me l decided to stand. or rather
lie, pat. I think my heart made almost
as much noise as the rafting Of the
wire in the first place. and 1t was a
tense few moments to me.
1 heard the German say q few words
to himself, but didn't understand them, |
Of course, and then he made a sound
as If to call a dog, and I realized that
his theory of the noise he had heard
was that a dog had made its way
through the fence.
For perhaps five minutes I didn't
stir. and then figuring that the German
had probably continued on his beat I
crept quietly under the wire again.
time being mighty careful to hug
the ground so close that l wouldn't
touch the wire, and made of In a diff
terent direction. Evidently the barbed
wire fence had been thrown around an
ammunition depot or something of the
kind. and 1t was not a field at all that
| had tried to get into.
l figured that other sentries were
probably in the neighborhOod and l
proceeded very gingerly.
After I had got about a mile away
from this spot I came to an humble
Belgian house and I knocked at the
1oor and applied for food In my usual
way. pointing to my mouth to indi-
,ate I was hungry and to my ears and
mouth to imply that I a deaf and
lumb. The Belgian woman who lived
n the house brought me q piece of
,read and two cold potatoes and as
'at there eating them she eyed me
Tery keenly. |,
I haven't the slightest doubt that
he realized l was a fugitive. She lived
near the border that 1t was more
or that reason. I appreciated more
ully the extent of the risk she ran, for
10 doubt the Germans were constantly
Watching the conduct of these Bel
ians who lived near the line.
My theory that she realized that I
vas not a Belgian at all, but prob
by some English fugitive. was con- I
lrmed a moment later, when, as I 9
made ready to 60. she touched me on 6
he arm and Indicated that l was to I
7ait a moment. She went to q bureau
nd brought out two pieces Of fancy '
lace which she insisted upon
~ taking away, although at that par S
moment l had as much use for
lace rs an elephant for
razor, but I was touched with
er thoughtfulness and pressed her {
and to show my gratitude. She would 8
OF accept the money I offered her. 9
I carried the lace through my sub n
equent experiences. feeling that 1t t
be q fine souvenir for my
although as q matter Of fact IL q