Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1918-08-22

had nearly been the death of mel
/ nad very little time to conjecture
what 1t all meant, for just then j
heard guard coming. He was walk
Ing so fast that 1 was sure it was a
Dutch sentry, as the Huns walk much
slower.
l was so bewildered, however, that
l decided to take no chances, and as
the road was fairly good l wandered
down 1t and away from that mysteri-
Gus fence. About half mile down
could see the light of sentry sta
ton and l thought would go there
and tell my story to the sentries, real
izing that as l was unarmed it was
! perfectly safe for me to announce
myself to the Dutch authorities
could be interned only if l entered
Holland under arms.
As 1 approached the sentry box
noticed three men in gray uniforms,
the regulation Dutch color. 1 was on
the verge of shouting to them when
| the thought struck me that there was
| just a chance 1 might be mistaken,
as the German uniforms were the
| same color, and 1 had suffered too
many privations and too many narrow
escapes to lose all at this time by
| jumping at conclusions.
l had just turned off the road to go
back into some bushes when out of
the darkness 1 heard that dread Ger
man command:
"Halt! Haiti"
He didn't need to boiler twice 1
heard and needed the first time. Then
/ heard another man come running up,
and there was considerable talking,
but whether they were Germans or
Hollanders 1 was still uncertain. He
evidently thought someone was on the
other side of the fence.
Finally 1 heard one of them laugh
and saw him walk back to the sentry
station where the guard was billeted,
and 1 crawled little nearer to try to
make out just what it meant. I had
begun to think it was all a night
mare.
Between myself and the light in the
sentry station, 1 then noticed the
STOPPING figure of q man bending over
as if to conceal himself and on his
head was the spiked helmet of Ger
man soldier!
I knew then what another narrow
escape 1 had had, for 1 am quite sure
he would have shot me without cere-
mony if 1 had foolishly made myself
known. I would have been buried at
once and no one would have been any
wiser, even though, technically speak
ing, was on neutral territory and i'm
mune from capture or attack.
This new shock only served to be-
wilder me more. l was completely
lost. There seemed to be frontier be-
hind me and frontier in front of me.
Evidently, however, what had hap
pened was that 1 had lost my sense
of direction and had wandered in the
arc of a circle, returning to the same
fence that 1 had been so long in get /
mystery came to me suddenly and at |
once searched the landscape for some |
thing in the way of a landmark to |
guide me. For once my faithful |
friend, the North Star, had failed me.
The sky was pitch black and there |
wasn't a star in the heavens.
In the distance, at about what ap- |
peared to be about three miles away, |
but which turned out to be six, could |
discern the lights of a village, and l !
knew it must be a Dutch village, as |
lights are not allowed in Belgium in /
that indiscriminate way.
My course was now clear. would |
make a Decline for that village. Before !
1 had gone very far found myself in /
a marsh or swamp and turned back /
little, hoping to find better path.
Finding none, / retraced my steps
and kept straight ahead, determined .
to reach that village at all costs and .
to swerve neither to the right or left /
until 1 got there.
One moment 1 would be in water up |
to my knees and the next 1 would sink
in mud clear up to my waist. l paid
no attention to my condition. 1t was
merely repetition of what had gone
through many times before, but this
time 1 had a definite goal and once 1
reached it 1 knew my troubles would
be over
1t took me perhaps three hours to
reach firm ground. The path l struck
led to within half mile of the village.
1 shall never forget that path; it was
almost as welcome to my feet as the
opposite bank Of the Mouse had
seemed.
The first habitation came to was a
little workshop with a bright light
shining outside. 1t must have been
after midnight, but the people inside
were apparently just quitting work.
There were three men and two boys
engaged in making wooden shoes.
1t wasn't necessary for me to ex-
plain to them that I was a refugee,
even If had been able to speak their
language. / was caked with mud up
to my shoulders and suppose my face
must have recorded some of the ex-
periences / had gone through that
memorable night.