The Raymer enterprise., 1918-08-15
Copyright. 1918. BY Pat Alva o'Brien


ting a share, but I did not know
whether they were Germans or not, and
l had gone through too much to risk
my liberty even for food. l swallowed
my hunger instead.
Shortly afterwards II began to rain
and about o'clock the men left, /
crawled oct as fast as I could and
scurried around looking for crumbs.
but found none. and when darkness
came ! went on my way once more.
That night came to a river and as
II was the first time my clothes had
been dry In a long time. l thought /
would try to keep them that way as
long as possible. accordingly took
OF all my things and made them into
two bundles. planning to carry one
load across and then swim back for
the other.
The river was quite wide, but am
fairly good swimmer and l figured I
could rest awhile after the FIRST trip
before going back for the second
bundle.
The first swim was uneventful. When
! landed on the other side drank till
my thirst was quenched and then
swan back. After resting awhile l
started across q third time. with my
shoes and several other things firmly
tied to my head. Just about ten feet
from the opposite bank one Of the
shoes worked Its way loose and sank
In about eight feet Of water. There
was nothing to do but finish the trip
and then 90 back and dive for the
missing shoe, as could not 60 on
with q single shoe.
Diving In my weakened condition
was considerable strain. but ! had to
have that shoe and I kept at It for
nearly an hour before / eventually
found It. and I was pretty nearly all
In by that time.
That was the last time I ever took
my shoes OF. for my feet were becom-
Ing so swollen thst figured II / took
my shoes of I might not be able to get
them on again.
This stunt Of crossing the river and
diving for the lost shoe had consumed
about three hours, and after resting
some fifteen minutes l went on my way
again. ! had gone nearly a mile when
! came to another river. about the
same size as the one had Just crossed.
l walked along the bank awhile. think
Ing l might be lucky enough to find
boat or a bridge. but after walking
about half an hour I received one Of
those dlsappointments which come
once In a lifetime" I found that this
river was the one I had Just swum! I
had swum II on the bend and was still
on the wrong side. Had I made only 4
short detour In the first place would
have avoided all the annoyance Of the
past three hours and saved my
strength and time. I was never so
mad In my life at myself as l was to
think that I had not paid more atten-
ton to the course Of the stream be-
fore l undertook to cross II, but a. a
matter Of fact, there was really no
way Of telling. The river was not
shown on the map at all.
Now I had to cross II, whereas be-
fore I could have turned It. l walked
boldly into the water. not bothering to
take my clothes OF this time, nor did
l ever bother to take them of after
wards when swimming canals and
rivers. found It was impossible to
keep them dry anyway. and so I might
just as well swim in them and saw
time.
All the next day I spent In forest,
to which my nights travel had brought
me about 8 O'Clock tn the morning. !
kept on my way through the woods
until daylight cames and then. thinking
the place would afford fairly good con
cealment. I concluded to rest until
night.
The prospects Of even q good sleep
were dismal, however. for about the
time the SUMS face should have ap-
peared. a drizzling rain began and ]
gave up my search for a dry spot
which would serve me as a bed. Some
Of the leaves were beginning to fall.
but Of course there was not enough of
them to form a covering for the
ground. and the dampness seemed to
have penetrated everywhere.
I wandered around through the
woods for two or three hours looking
for shelter. but without any success.
for, although the trees were large, the
forest was not dense. and there was
practically no brush or shrubbery.
Consequently one could get a fairly
clear view for some distance. and ]
knew 1t would be unwise to drop of
to sleep just any place. or someone
would surely happen on to me.
Once l came very near to the ends
Of the woods and heard voices Of men
driving by in a wagon. but I couldn't
make out Just what they were, and
instinct told me I had better not come
out Of the woods. 90 l turned back.
Here and there small artificial bitches
had been dug. which at q dry season