Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-10

.iaNe mere patting my side pocket,
only off my dead body"
suppose the three of them could
nave made short work of me then
and there if they had wanted to go
tne limit, and no one would ever have
oeen the wiser, but 1 was feeling so
mean toward the whole world Just
at that moment that l was deter
mined to sell my life as dearly as
possible.
Spelling For Fight
Il have the passport here" l re-
peated, and I'm going to keep it. If
you gentlemen think you can take it
from me, you are welcome to try"
10 tell the truth, ] was spelling for
| a Tight and l half wished they would
start something. The man who had
! lived in the house had evidently been
| a collector of ancient pottery, for the
| walls were lined with great pieces of
| earthenware which had every ear
mark of possessing great value. They
certainly possessed great weight.
L figured that IL the worst came TO
the worst that pottery would come
! in mighty handy. A single blow with
; one of those big vases would put q
man out as neatly as possible and as
| there was lots Of pottery and only
three men, believed 1 had an eX-
cellent chance of holding my own in
Tie COIlDdC WHICH udu llNllSu.
1 had already picked out in my
| mind what 1 was going to use, and
got up, stood with my back to the
wall and told them that if they ever
figured on getting the passport then
would be their test chance.
able to speak either Flemish or Ger
man l could not go out and my food,
although 1 still had the money with
which to do it. That was one of the
things that CALLED me-the thought
that 1 had the wherewithal in my
jeans. to buy all the food I needed
and yet no way of getting it with
out endangering my liberty and life.
Forages For Food at Night
At night, however, after it was
dark, would steal quietly out of the
Apparently they realized that 1
meant business ana they immNil-
ately began to eXpostulate at the at
titude l was taking.
One of the men spoke excellent
English. In fact, he told me that he
could speak five languages, and if re
could lie in the others as well as
know he did in my own tongue, hel
was not only an accomplished lin
guist but most versatile liar intoi
the bargain.
They Expostulate in Vain
They argued and eXpostulated with
me Tor some tlm2.
MY dear fellow" said the linguist,
'it is not that we want to deprive
you of the passport. Good heavens!
if it will aid you in getting out of
the country l wish you could have
six just like it. But for our own pro-
lection you owe it to us to proceed
on your journey as best you cam
without it, because as long as You
have it in your possession you Jeo-
pardize our lives, too. Don't you
think it is fairer that you should fisk
your own safety rather than place
the lives of three innocent men In
danger?"
THAT may be as it is, my friend"
retorted, as 1 made my way to the
door, land am glad you realize your
danger. Keep 1t in mind. for in case
any of you should happen to feel IN
clined to notify the German authorl-
ties that l am in this part of the
country, think it over before you do
so. Remember always that II thel
Germans get me, they get the pass !
port, too, and if they get the pass
port your lives won't be worth a
damn! When / tell the history of
that clever little piece of pasteboard
l will implicate all three of you, and
whoever else is working with you,
and as am an officer / rather think
my word will be taken before yours. |
Good-night!"
The bluff evidently worked, be-
cause / was able TO get out of the
city without molestation from the
Germans.
have never seen these men since.
I hope I never shall, because l am
afraid I might be tempted to do
something for which / might other
wise be sorry.
Few BeIgians Like Them
I do not mean TO imply that all !
BeIgians are like this. l had evil !
dently fallen into the hands of a !
gang who were cndeavoring to make
capital out of the misfortune Of
those who referred to them for help. /
In all countries there are bad as we'll
as good, and in II country which has
suffered so mich as poor Belgium 1t
Is no wonder if some of the survivors
have lost their sense of moral per-
spective.
I know tilpt the average poor peas !
ant in Belgium would divide his
scanty rations with needy fugitive
sooner than a wealthy Belgian would !
dole out a morseI from his compara-
lively well-stocked larder. Perhaps !
the poor have less to lose than the
rich if their generosity or charity
is discovered by the Huns.
There have been many Belgians
shot for helping escaped prisoners
and other fugitives; and it is not to
be wondered at that they are willing
to take as few chances as possible. ,
A man with a family, especially, docs /
not feel justified in helping stran-
ger when he knows that he and his
whole family may be shot or sent to
prison for their pains.
Although I suffered much freAm the !
attitude of Huyliger and his associ- |
ates. l suppose 1 ought to hold no
grudge against them in view of the
unenViable predicament in which |
they are themselves.
CHAPTER XIII.
Five Days In An Empty House.
The five days l spent in that house |
seemed to me like five years. Dur
ing all that time / had very little to !
eat-less, in fact, than l had been
getting in the fields. 1 did not feel |
it so badly, perhaps, because OF the !
fact that l was no longer exposed !,
to the other priVations which before !
had combined to make my condition I
so wretched. 1 now had a good !
place to sleep, at any rate, and I did /
not awake every half hour or so as |
had been accustomed to do in the |
fields and woods and, of course, my
hunger was not aggravated by thei
physical exertions which had been /.
necessary before.
Navarth class narhans hacauSa ri