The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-09-05

| 'hS oihc Dtihb thhth up NY un tHOT
nous fireplace. What was In the bed
room had no way of telling, as
did not dare to be too inqulsitlve.
l made the old couple understand
that would like to stay In their house
all night, but the old man shook hi.
head. l bade them good-by and dis
appeared into the woods, leaving then
to speculate as to the strange for
elgner they had entertained.
From the great density of the popu
lation In this section through which
was now passing l realized that
must be In the outskirts Of the biz
city which the Belgian had mentioned
and where l was to procure pass
port.
Village after village Intercepted me
and although | tried to skirt them
wherever possible l realized that
would never make much progress II
l continued that course. To gain q
mile | would sometimes have to make
a detour of two or three. l decided
that l would try my luck in going
straight through the next village
came to.
AS l approached It, l passed mum
bers of peasants who were ambllng
along the road. / was afraid to minglt
with them because it was impossible
for one to talk to them and 1t was
dangerous to arouse suspicion even
among the Belgians. For all | knew
one of them might be treacherouS
enough to deliver me to the Germans
in return for the reward he might be
sure Of receiving.
About 0 o'clock that evening
came to point where ahead of me on
the right was Belgian police station
i knew ii from its red llghts-and
on the other side Of the street were
two German soldiers In uniform
leaning against bicycle.
Here was n problem which called
for instant decision; If turned back
the suspicion of the soldiers would
be instantly aroused and II / crossed
the road so as not to pass so closely
to them they might be equally sus-
plciOus. | decided to march bravely
by the Huns, bluff my way through
and trust to Providence. If anybody
imagines, however, that was ut all
comfortable rs | approached these
soldiers, he must think | am a much
braver man than | claim to be- My
heart beat so loud / was afraid they
would hear it. Every step | took
brought me so much nearer to what
might prove to be the end of all my
hopes. II was nerve-racking ordeal.
l was now within few feet of
them. Another step and
They didn't turn a hair! I passed
right by them-heard what they were
saying. although, of course, l didn't
understand it, and went right on. |
can't say l didn't walk little faster
as l left them behind, but | tried to
maintain an even gait so as not to
give lHtll ullg lutu VI llt llNuTu tA-
ultation was experiencing. No words
can explain, however, how relieved |
really felt-to know that l had sue
cessfully passed through the first of
series Of similar tests which | real
lied were in store for me-although
did not know then how soon | was
to be confronted with the second.
AS it was, however, the incident
gave me world of confidence. 1t
demonstrated to me that there was
nothing in my appearance at any rate
TO attract the attention of the. German
soldiers. Apparently l looked like n
Belgian peasant, ana If could only
work things so that | would never
have to answer questions and thus
give away my nationality. figured l
would be tolerably safe.
AS l marched along felt so happy
| couldn't help humming IN air of one