Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1918-06-29

LAnAQh anu Ills lAdil5lEA 10 L rance Tor &C
tive duty.
CHAPTER III-Describes fights in which
he brought down two German airplanes
and his final fight in which he was
brought down wounded within the Ger
maa lines and was made a prisoner OF
war,
CHAPTER IV-Discovers that German
hospital staff barbarously neglected the
fatally wounded and devoted their ener-
gies to restoring those who might be
returned to the firing lines. Witnesses
death In fight of his best chum. Lieut..
Paul Rainey.
CHAPTER Vile is taken to the Of
hcers' prison camp at Courtrai. There he
began planning his escape. by great sae-
rlGce he manages to save and hide away
two daily rations of bread.
CHAPTER Vile connscates a map of
Germany and Just half an hour later Is
put on a train bound for a prison camp
IN Germany lie leaps through a window
while the train is travelling al a rate Of 80
miles an hour.
CHAPTER VII-For nine days he
crRwls through Germany, hiding during
the day travelling at night, guided BY the
stars and subsisting on raw vegetables.
He covers IS miles before reaching Lux
emhurg.
CHAPTER VIII-For nine days more he
struggles on in q weakened condition
through Luxembourg in the direction OF
Belgium.
Whether they understood or were
inundated by the hard-looking ap-
pearance, l don't know, but certainly
1t would hive to be brave old man
and boy who would start an argument
with such a villainous looking char
acter as stood before them that night!
I had not shaved for a month, my
clothes were wet, torn and dirty, my
leggings were gone-they had gotten
so heavy / had to discard them-my
hair was matted and my cheeks were
flushed with fever. In my hand /
carried the rock In my handkerchief
and l made no effort to conceal Its
presence or its mission.
Anyway, they motioned me indoors,
gave me my first hot meal in more
than month! True, it consisted only
of warm potatoes. They had been
previously cooked, but the old woman
warmed them up in milk in one of the
dirtiest kettles I had ever seen. l
asked for bread, but she shook her
head, although I think it must have
been for lack of it rather than be-
cause she begrudged it to me. For
If ever a man showed he was finished,
/ did that night. / swallowed those
warm potatoes ravenously and | drank
four glasses of water, one after an
other. 1t was the best meal | had had
since the banquet" in the prison at
Courtrai.
The woman Of the house was prob
ably seventy-fve years old and had
evidently worn wooden shoes all her
life, for she had a callous spot on the
side of her foot the size Of half dol
lar and it looked SO hard that l doubt
whether you could have driven a nail
into it with a hammer!
AS sat there drying myself-for /
was in no hurry to leave the first
human habitadon I had entered in
four weeks-I reflected on my un-
happy lot and the unknown troubles
and dangers that lay ahead of me.
Here, for more than month, l had
been leading the life of a hunted
NOAoC hA1HiA q
animal, for nature clothes her less
favored creatures more appropriate
~ for the life they lead than / was
clothed for mine-and there was not
The slightest reason TO hope that con-
dltions would grow any better.
Perhaps the first warm food l had
eaten for over q month had released
unused springs of philosophy in me,
as food sometimes does for man.
l pointed to my torn and water
soaked clothes and conveyed to them
as best / could that / would be CRATE
full for an old suit, but apparently
they were too poor TO have more than
they actually needed themselves, and
rose to go. / had aroused them out
Of bed and / knew ought not to keep
them up longer than was absolutely
necessary.
AS l approached the door | got
glance at myself in a mirror. | was
the awfulest sight had laid eyes on!
The glimpse / got of myself startled
me almost as much as if had seen
dreaded German helmetl My left eye
was fairly well healed by this time
and ! was beginning to regain sight
Of it, but my face was so haggard ana
my beard so long and unkempt that
looked like Santa Claus on bat!
AS they let me out. of the door
pointed to the opposite direction to
the one i intended taking and started
on in the direction l had indicated.
Later l changed my course completely
to throw off any possible pursuit.
The next day l was SO worn out from
exposure and exhaustion that ! threw
away my coat, thinking that the less
weight had to carry the better II
would be for me, but when night came
l regretted my mistake because the
nights were now getting colder. !
thought at first it would be better Tor