New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1918-09-06

'''i SiiootS Vi NutNl JIG ullti an
other. 1t was the best meal l had had
since the banquet" in the prison at
Courtrui.
The woman of the house was prob
ably s%eventy-tive 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 q dol
lar and it looked SO hard that l doubt
whether you could have driven a nail
into it with II hammer!
AS ! sat there drying myself-fOr I
was in no hurry to leave the first
human habitation l had entered in
four weeks-I reflected on my UNI
happy lot and the unknown troubles
and dangers that lay ahead of me.
Here, for more than Il month, | had
been leading the life of Il hunted
animal-yes, worse than n hunted
animal. for nature clothes her less
favored creatures more appropriate
ly for the life they lead than l was
clothed for mine-and there was not
the slightest reason to hope that con-
ditions would grow any better.
Perhaps the first warm food l had
eaten for over II month had released
unused springs Of philosophy in me,
a. food sometimes does for a man.
pointed to my torn and water
soaked clothes and conveyed to them
as best l could that l would be CRATE
full for an old suit, but apparently
they were o poor to have more than
they actually needed themselves, and
l rose to 60. l had aroused them out
of bed and | knew l ought not to keep
them up longer than was absolutely
necessary.
AS l approached the door l got a
glance at myself in n mirror. l was
the awfulest sight l had laid eyes on !!
The glimpse l got of myself startled
me almost as much as if l had seen a
dreaded German helmet! My left eye
WAS fairly well healed by this time
and l was beginning to regain sight
of it. but my face was so haggard II
my beard so long and unkemRt that l
looked like Santa Claus on Il bat!
AS they let me out Of the door l
pointed to the opposite direction to
the one l intended taking and started
off 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 l threw
away my coat. thinking that the less
weight | had to carry the better it
would be for me, but when night came
| regretted my mistake because the
nights were now getting colder. l
thought at first it would be better for
me to retrace my steps and look for
the coat l had so thoughtlessly dis
cirded, but l decided to go on with.
out It.
| then began to discard everything
that | had in my pocket, finally throw
ing my wrist watch into a canal. A
w%riSt-watch does not add much
weight. but when you plod along and
have not eaten for a month 1t finally
becomes rather heavy. The next
thing | discarded was a pair Of flying
mittcns.
These mittens l had gotten at Camp
Borden, In Canada. and had become
quite famous, as my friends termed
them ''snow Shoes" In fact, they
were a ridiculous pair of mittens, but
the best pair l eve had and ! really
felt worse when ! lost those mittens
than anything else. / could not think
of anybody else ever using them. so l
dug a hole in the mud and buried
them and could not help but laugh
at the thought if my friends could see
me burying my mittens, because they
were n standing joke in Canada. Eng
land and France.
had on two shirts and as they were
always both wet and didn't keep me
warm, it was useless to wear both.
One of these was a shirt that l had
bought in France. the other an Amer
lean army shirt. They We're both
khaki and one as apt to give me away
as the other, so l discarded the French
shirt. The American army shirt l
brought back with me to England and
it is still in my possession.
When l escaped from the train l still
had the Bavarian cap of bright red In
my pocket and wore it for many
one saw 1t. 1t also had proven very
useful when swimming rivers. for l
carried my map and a few other be-
longings In 1t and | had fully made
up my mind to bring 1t home as a
souvenir. But the farther l went
the heavier my extra clothing became,
so l was compelled to discard even
the cap. l knew that it would be a
tell-tale mark if l simply threw 1t
away, so one night after swimming a
river. ! dug a hole in the soft mud on
the bank and buried it. too, with con-
siderably less ceremony than my fly
ing mittens had received perhaps; so
that was the end of my Bavarian hat.
My experience at the Belgian's
house whetted my appetite for more
food and l figured that what had been
done once could be done again.
Sooner or later. l realized I would
probably approach a Belgian and find
German instead. but In such a con-
tingency I was determined to meas
ure my strength against the Huns If
to effect my escape.
AS 1t vas, however, o Of the Bel
gians to whom I applied for food gave
1t to me readily enough, and II some !
of them refused me 1t was only be-
cause they feared I might be a spy
that the Germans would shoot them
il their action were subsequently