Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-07-23
"Outwitting
The Hun"
The Wars Greatest Story
BY Lieut.. Pat O'Brien
Continued from Last Usual
CHAPTER XVII,
BY Lieut.. Pat O'Brien


Getting Through the Lines
(Copyr1ght, 1918, by Pat Alva OBrien)
TNT AITING until it was quite dark
wv 1 made by way carefully
through a field and eventual
~ came to the mucn dreaded barrier.
1t was all that ] had heard about it.
Every foot of the border line between
Belgium and Holland IS protected In
precisely the same manner. 1t is there
to serve three purposes: first TO pre-
vent the Belgians from escaping into
Holland; second. to keep enemies, like
myself. from making their way to free
dom, and, third, to prevent assertions
on the part of the Germans themselves.
One look at 1t was enough to con-
vince any one that it probably accom-
plished all three objects about as we'll
as any continuance could, and one look
was all got of il that night, for while
I lay on my stomach gazing at the for
bidding structure I heard the meas
ured stride OF a German sentry advanc-
ing toward me. and 1 crawled away as
fast as I possibly could, determined to
spend the night somewhere in the fields
and make another and more careful sur
vey the following night
The Death-Bearing Sa-rtsr
The view 1 had obtained, however,
was SunC1GnL TO CONVINCE me ludI THO
| pole vault idea was out Of the question
| even IL 1 had a pole and was a prof.
| cient pole vaulter. The three fences
| covered a span of at least twelve feet
and to clear the last barbed wire fence
It would be necessary to vault not only
| at least ten feet high, but at least four
teen feet wide, with the certain knowl-
| edge that to touch the electrically
| charged fence meant instant death.
There would be no second chance If you
came a cropper the first time
The silt idea was also impractical
| BILE because of the lack of suitable tim
Der and tools with which to construct
| the stills
1t seemed to me that the best thing
| to do was to travel up and down the
| line a bit In the hope that some spot
might be discovered where conditions
were more favorable, although l don't
know just what I expected along those
! lines
It was mighty dtsheartening to real
| fze that only a few feet away lay GER
| tain liberty and that the only thing
preventing me from reaching it were
| three COMPOUNDED fences I thought OF
my machine and wished that some kind
/ fairy would set 1t in front of me for
| just one minute.
spent the night In q clump OF BUSH
| es and kept In hiding most or the next
day, only going abroad for an hour or
| two in the middle Of the day to inter
cept some Belgian peasant and beg for
| food. Tho Belgians in this section were
naturally very much afraid Of the Ger
| mans and Jared badly. In nearly ev-
/ cry house German soldiers were quar-
| tered and II was out Of the question
for me to apply for food in that direc-
4 ton.
The proximity Of the border made
| everyone eye each other with more or
less suspicion and 1 soon came to the
| CONCLUSION that TIE safest thing could
| do was to live on raw vegetables which
1 could steal from the fields at night
as I had previously done.
Looked Absolutely Hopeless
That night made another survey Of
the barrier in that vicinity, but it look
| ed just as hopeless as It had the night
before, and I concluded that I only
wasted my time there.
| / spent the night wandering north
! guided by the North Star, which had
served ME so faithfully in all my trav-
| cling. Every mile or two I would
| make my way carefully to the barrier
to see If condition were any better
but 1t seemed to be the same all along.
1 felt like wild animal in a cage, with
about as much chance of getting out.