Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-09-13

death. There would be no second
chance if you came a cropper the first
time.
The silt idea was also impractical
bic because Of the lack Of suitable
timber and tools with which to con-
struct the stills.
1t seemed to me that the best thing
to do was travel up and down the line
a bit in the hope that some spot might
be discovered where conditions were
more favorable, although 1 don't know
just what ! expected along those
lines.
1t was mighty disheartening to real
ize that only a few feet away lay GER
tain liberty and that the only things
preventing me from reaching 1t were
three COMPOUNDED fences. 1 thought of
my machine and wished that some
kind fairy would set it in front of me
for just one minute.
/ spent the night in a clump Of
bushes and kept in hiding most of the
next day, only going abroad for an
hour or two in the middle of the day
to intercept some Belgian peasant
and beg for food. The Belgians in this
section were naturally very much
afraid of the Germans and I Jared
badly. In nearly every house German
soldiers were quartered and 1t was
out of the question for me to apply
for food in that direction. The proX-
unity of the border made everyone
eye each other with more or less sus-
picion and I soon came to the conclu-
sion that the safest thing 1 could do
was to live on raw vegetables which 1
could steal from the fields at night as
1 had previously done.
That night 1 made another survey
of the barrier in that vicinity, but it
looked just as hopeless as it had the
night before and I concluded that l
only wasted my time there.
1 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 1 would make
my way carefully to the barrier to see
if conditions were any better, but it
SGGllGu W DS lDc SdLlG 4 diOASs L -
like a wild animal in a cage, with
about as much chance of getting out.
The section of the country in which
1 was now wandering vas very heavily
wooded and there vas really no very
great difficulty in keeping myself con-
cealed, which I did all day long, striv-
ing all the time to think of some way
in which I could circumvent that
cursed barrier.
The idea of a huge stepladder oc-
Cured to me, but l searched hour after
hour in vain for lumber or fallen trees
out of which l could construct one. If
1 could only obtain something which
would enable me to reach a point
about nine feet in the air it would be
a comparatively simple matter to
jump from that point over the electric
fence.
Then 1 thought that perhaps I could
construct a simple ladder and lean it
against one of the posts upon which
the electric wires were strung, climb to
the top and then leap over, getting
over the barbed wire fences in the
same way.
This seemed to be the most likely
plan and all night long | sat construct
ing a ladder for this purpose.
I was fortunate enough to find a
number of fallen pine trees from ten
to twenty feet long. 1 selected two of
them which seemed sufficiently strong
and broke off all the branches, which
1 used as rungs, tying them to the
poles with grass and strips from my
handkerchief and shirt as best 1
could.
1t was not a very workmanlike
looking ladder when / finally got
through with it. l leaned it against
a tree to test it and it wobbled cOnsid-
erably. 1t was more like a rope lad
der than a wooden one, but l strength
ened it here and there and decided
that it would probably serve the pur-
pose.
1 kept the ladder in the woods all
day and could hardly wait until dark
to make the supreme test. If it proved
successful my troubles were over;
within a few hours I would be in a
neutral country out Of all danger. If
l failed-I dismissed the idea sum-
marily. There was 40 use worrying
about failure; the thing to do was to
succeed.
The few hours that were to pass
before night came on seemed endless,
but / utilized them to REINFORCE my
ladder, tying the rungs more securely
with long grass which I picked in the
woods.
At last night came, ard with my
ladder in hand l made for the barrier.
In front of it there was a cleared
space of about one hundred yards,
which had been prepared to make the
work of the guards easier in watch
ing it.
1 waited in the neighborhood until l
heard the sentry pass the spot where l
was in hiding and then i hurried
across the clearing, showed my ladder