The Raymer enterprise., 1918-08-22

1t. II had probably been an overcoat
for the Belgian who had worn II.
Some days later I got scarf from
Belgian peasant and with this equip
ment was able to conceal my uni
form entirely.
Later on. however. l decided that 1t
was too dangerous to keep the uniform
on anyway and when night came !
dug a hole and buried 1t.
l never realized until / had to part
with 1t just how much l thought of
that uniform. II had been with me
through hard trials naS felt as II !
were abandoning a friend when l
parted with 1t. was tempted to keep
the wings of the tunic. but thought
that would be dangerous concession
to sentiment In the event that was
ever captured. II was the only dis
:lnction had left, as l had given
the Royal Flying Corps badges and
the stars Of my rank to the German
flying officers as souvenirs. but | felt
that 1t was safer to discard 1t. As
1t finally turned out. through all my
subsequent experiences. my escape
would never have been jeopardized
had I kept my uniform but. Of course.
| had no Idea what was In store for
me.
There was one thing which surprised
me very much as journeyed through
Belgium and that was the scarcity Of
dogs. Apparently most Of them had
been taken by the Germans and what
are left are beasts Of burden who are
too tired at night to bark or bother
intruders. This was a mighty good
thing for me. for ! would certainly
have stirred them up In passing
through back.yards as / sometimes
did when was making a short cut.
One night as I came out Of yard
it was so pitch dark that l could not
see ten feet ahead Of me and ! was
right In the back Of a little village.
although ! did not know 1t. ! erawled
along fearing might come to q cross
roads at which there would In all
probability be a German sentry.
Ny precnution served me In good
stead for had come out In the main
street OF the village and within twenty
feet Of me, sitting on some bricks
where they were building little store,
/ could see the dim outline Of Ger
man spiked helmetl
could not cross the street and the
only thing to do was to back track.
II meant making a long detour and
losing two hours Of precious time and
effort, but there was no help for 1t,
so l plodded YEARLY back, eursing
the Huns at every step.
The next night while crossing some
fields came to road. 1t was one Of
the main roads Of Belgium and was
paved with cobble stones. On these
roads you can hear q wagon or horse
about . mile or two away. ! listened
intently before l moved ahead and
hearing nothing concluded that the
way was clear.
AS I emerged from the field and got
my first glimpse Of the road, got the
shock Of my lifei In either direction,
as far as l could see. the road was
lined with German soldiers! What
they were doing In that part Of Bel
gium ! did not know, but you can be
mighty sure ! didn't spend any time
trying to find out.
Again 1t was necessary to change
my course and lose a certain amount
OF ground. but by this time / had be-
come fairly well reconciled to these
reyerses and they did not depress mo
as much as they did at first.
At this period Of my adventure, II q
day or night passed without Its thrill
began to feel almost diappointed.
but such disappolntments were
rather rare. .~.r
One evening as was about to swim
a canal about two hundred feet wide.
suddenly noticed about one hundred
yards away canal boat moored to
the side.
II was at a sort of out-of-the-way
place and | wondered what the canal
boat had stopped for. l crawled up
to see. As neared the boat five men
were leaving 1t and I noticed them
cross over into the fields. At a safe
distance / followed them and they had
not gone very far before saw what
they were after. They were commit
ting the common but heinous crime Of
stealing potatoes!
Without the means to cook them,
potatoes didn't interest me a bit and
thought that the boat itself would
probably yield me more than the po.
tato patch. Knowing the canal-hands
would probably take their time In the
fields, l climbed up the stern Of the
boat lelsurely and without any partic-
ular plans to conceal myself. Just as
my head appeared above the stern OF
the boat ! saw silhouetted against
the sky, the dread outline Of a Ger
man soldier-spiked helmet and all
A chill ran down my spine as !
dropped to the bank Of the canal and
skunk away. Evidently the sentry had
not seen me or, II he had. he had prob.