Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-08-09

NSPt TulIlH9 anu OTaWlin Up
That Internal Bank.
1t was 1 o'clock in the morning. An
old lady came to the window and
looked out. She could not imagine
what l was, probably, because I was
still attired in that old overcoat. She
gave a cry and her husband and a
boy came to the door.
They could not speak English and /
could not speak Flemish, but / pointed
to my flying coat and then to the sky
and said "Fleger" (fier), which /
thought would tell them what / was.
Whether they understood or were
intimidated by the ~hard-looking ap-
pearance, 1 don't know, but certainly
it would have to be a brave old man
and boy who would start an argument
with such a villainous looking char
acter as stood before them that night !
1 had not shaved for a month, my
clothes were wet, torn and dirty, my
leggings were gone-they had gotten
so heavy 1 had to discard them-my
hair was matted and my cheeks were
flushed with fever. In my hand l
carried the rock in my handkerchief
and / made no effort to conceal it's
presence or its mission.
Anyway, they motioned me indoors,
gave me my first hot meal in more
than a month! True, it consisted only
of warm potatoes. They had been
previously cooked, but the old woman
warmed them up in milk in M of the
dirtiest kettles / had ever seen. l
asked for bread, but she shook her
head, although 1 think it must have
been for lack of it rather than be-
cause she begrudged it to me. For
if ever a man showed he was finished.
l did that night. 1 swallowed those
warm potatoes ravenouSly and l drank
four glasses of water, one after an
other. 1t was the best meal 1 had had
since the banquet" in the prison at
Courtrai.
The woman of the house was prob
ably seventy-five 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 a dol
lar and it looked so hard that ! doubt
whether you could have driven a nail
into it with a hammer!
AS 1 sat there drying myself-for 1
was in no hurry to leave the first
human habhation 1 had entered in
four weeks-I reflected on my I'M
happy lot and the unknown troubles
and dangers that lay ahead of me.
Here, for more than a month, 1 had
been leading the life of a hunted
animal-yes, worse than a hunted
animal, for nature clothes her less
favored creatures more appropriate
ly for the life they lead than I 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 a month had released
unused springs of philosophy in me,
as food sometimes does for a man.
l pointed to my torn and water
soaked clothes and conveyed to them
as best 1 could that l would be CRATE
full for an old suit, but apparently
they were too poor to have more than
they actually needed themselves, and
/ rose to go. l had aroused them out
of bed and 1 knew 1 ought not to keep
them up longer than was absolutely
necessary.
AS 1 approached the door 1 got a
glance at myself in a mirror. 1 was
the awfulest sight 1 had laid eyes on
The glimpse l got of myself startled
me almost as much as if l had seer a
dreaded German helmet! My left eye
was fairly well healed by this time
and 1 al beginning to regain sight
of it, but my face was so haggard and
my beard so long and unkempt that 1
looked like Santa Claus on a bat!
AS they let me out of the door 1
pointed to the opposite direction to
the one l intended taking and started
off in the direction I had indicated.
Later I changed my course completely
to throw off any possible pursuit.
The next day I was so worn out from
exposure and exhaustion that / threw
away my coat, thinking that the less
weight 1 had to carry the better it
would be for me, but when night came
Il 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 I had so thoughtlessly dis,
carded, but l decided to go on with.
out 1t.
1 then began to discard everything
that I had in my pocket, finally throw
ing my wrist watch into a canal. A
wrist-watch does not add much
weight, but when you plod along and
have not eaten for a month it finally
becomes rather heavy. The next
thing / discarded was a pair of flying
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