New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-10-18

sing is to have two Of his comrade
assigned to go through his belongings
check them over. destroy anything
that 1t might not be to his interest t.
preserve. and send the whole bust
ness to his banker or his home, as tn,
case may be. Every letter is rea,
through. but their contents is neve
afterwards discussed or revealed il
any way. II the pilot is finally re
ported dead, his effects are Forwarded
tn his mex of kin. but while he is of
ficially only missing" or Is known Il
be a prisoner of war, they are KEEP
either at the squadron headquarter.
or sen to his bankers.
In my case as soon as 1t was learned
that had fallen from the sky, it wa
assumed that l had been killed ant
my chum, Paul Raney. and another
officer detailed to check over my eff
fects. The list they made and tC
which they affixed their signatures.
as | have previously mentioned, Is
now In my possession and is .One OF
the most treasured souvenirs Of my
adventure.
My trunk was sen to Cox & Co. in
due course. and now that l was in
London thought l would go and claim
it.
When | arrived at the bank l ap-
piled to the proper window for my
mail and trunk.
"WhO are you?" l was asked rather
sharply.
We'll. l guess no one has any
greater right to Pat O'Brien's effects
than have" l replied, land I would
be obliged to you If you would look
them up for me-"
That may be all right, my FRIEND"
replied the clerk, "but according to
our records Lieutenant O'Brien is a
prisoner of war in Germany, and we
can't very well turn over his effects
to anyone else unless either you pre-
sent proof that he is dead and that
you are his lawful representative, or
else deliver to us Il properly authenti-
ticated order from him to give them
to you"
He was very positive about it all,
but quite polite, and 1 thought l
would kid him no more.
"Well." l said. II can't very well
present proofs to you that Pat O'Brien
is dead. but | will do the best l can to
prove to you that he Is alive. and If
you haven't quite forgotten his sig
nature | guess l can write you out
an order that will answer all your re-
quirements and enable you to give me
Pat O'Brien's belongings without rum
ming any risks" and l scrubbed my
signature on a scrap of paper and
handed it to him.
He looked at me carefully through
the latticed window. then jumped
down from the high chair and came
outside to clasp me by the hand.
Good heavens. leftenant" he ex-
claimed. as he pumped my hand up
and down, "how did you ever get
awayT and l had to sit right down
and tell him and half a dozen other
people In the bank all about my ex.
periences.
| had been in England about five
when l received n telegram
at first. Occasioned me almost |
as much concern as the unexpected
of a German spiked helmet had
me In Belgium. 1t read as
fellows:
Z. A. O'Brien. Royal Flying
Corps, Regents Palace Hotel, Lon.
don:
The king is very glad to hear of
your escape from Germany. If you
are to be in London on Friday next,
9TH. His majesty will re-
,eive you at Buckingham palace at
80 a. m Please acknowledge.
"CROMER."
of course, there was only one
hing to do and that was to obey ord
,rs. l was an officer in the army and
he king was my commander in chief,
had to go, and SO l sat down and
sent off the following answer:
Earl Cromer, Buckingham Palace,
London:
II will attend Buckingham palace
is directed. Friday, December It'll. at
% 30.
LIEUT.. PAT O'BRIEN."
In the interval that elapsed. l must
confess, the ordeal Of calling on the
ing of England doomed up more
lr~eadfully every day. and l really
relieved l would rather have spent an
'ther day In the empty house In the
'ig city In Belgium Or. say, two more
lays at C0urtrai, than to 60 through
I believed to be In store for me.
Orders were orders. however, and
here was NJ way of getting out of 1t.
" II turned ont 1t wasn't half as bad
s ! had feareo-on the contrary, 1t
7as one Of the most agreeable expe-
fences of my life.
CHAPTER XIX.