Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1918-10-04

country which seemed to be absolutely
uncultlyated. must have covered
twelve miles during the night, without
passIng q single farm or cultivated
field. My stock Of turnips which i
had picked the night before was gone
and l planned. OF course. to get enough
to carry me through the following
day.
The North Star was shining brightly
that night aud there was absolutely
nothing to prevent my steering an aD'
solutely direct course for Holland and
liberty. but my path seemed to lie
through arid pastures. Far to the
east or to the west I could hear
family the striking Of village bells.
and / knew that II ! changed my
course would undoubtedly strike
farms and vegetables, but the North
Star seemed to plead with me to fol-
low It and would not turn aside.
When daylight came, the conse-
Quence was I was empty handed and l
had to find q hiding place for the day.
/ thought I would approach the first
peasant / came to and ask for food.
but that day ! had misgivings-a
hunch-that I would get into trouble
II I did, and decided to 60 without
food altogether for that day.
Il was foolish thing to do. l found.
because not only suffered greatly
from hunger all that day, but It inter-
fered with my sleep. ! would drop on
to sleep for half an hour, perhaps.
and during that time I would dream
that / was free. back home, living .
life Of comparative ease. and then !
would wake up with a start and eaten
a glimpse nf the bushes surrounding
me. feel the hard ground beneath me
and the hunger pangs gnnwing at my
sides, and then would realize how
far from home I really was, and /
would lie there and wonder whether
/ would ever really see my home
again. Then would fall asleep again
and dream this time. perhaps OF the
days / spent In Courtrai. or my leap
from the train window. Of the Bava'
rian pilot whom ! sent to eternity In
my last air fight. Of my tracer bullets
getting closer and closer to his head,
and then l would wake IN again with
a start and thank the Lord that / was
only dreaming II I'LL again Instead or
living through II!
That night l got On early start be-
cause knew had to have food, and
/ decided that rather than look for
vegetables I would take a chance and
apply to the first Belgian peasant
whom I came to.
1t was about s o'clock when I came
10 a small house. l had picked up q
heavy stone and had bound 1t In my
handkerchief and was resolved to use
II as a weapon II It became necessary.
After all l had gone through. was
resolved to win my liberty eventually
ut whatever cost.
As 1t happened. I found that night
the first real friend had encountered
In oil my travelling. When I knocked
timldly on the door, It was opened by
a Belgian peasant. about flfty years Of
age. He asked me In Flemish what 1
wanted, but / shook my head and
polnting to my ears and mouth init
mated that was deaf and dumb, and
then I opened and closed my mouth
several times to show him that i
wanted food.
He showed me inside and sat me at
the table. He apparently lived alone,
for his ill-furnlshed room had but one
chair, and the plate and knife and
fork he put before me seemed to be all
he had. He brought me some cold
potatoes and several slices Of stale
bread, and he warmed me some milk
on small oil stove.
I ate ravenOusly and all the time j
was engaged l knew that he was eye
Ing me closely.
Before / was half through he came
over to me, touching me on the shout
der, and STOPPING over so that his lips
almost touched my ear, he said In
broken English. "You are an Eng
llshman-I know it-and you can hear
and talk II you wlsh-am / not rightT
There was u smile on his face and
a friendly attitude about him that told
me InstInctlvely that he could be
trusted, and / replied: "YOu have
guessed rlght-Only l am an Ameri'
Gun, not an Englishman."
He looked at me pityingly and filled
my cup again with warm milk.
His kindness and apparent willing
ness to help me almost Overcame me-
and / felt like warning him OF the
consequences he would suffer II the
Huns discovered he had befriended
me. had heard that twenty Belgians
had been shot for helping Belgians
to escape into Holland, and j hated
to think what might happen to this
good old Samaritan II the Huns ever
knew that he had helped an escaped
American prisoner.
After my meal was finished, / told
him in as simple language as ] could
command of some of the experiences
l had gone through and outlined my
future plans.
"YOu will never be able to get to
Holland" he declared, without q
passport. The nearer you get to the
frontier the more German soldiers
you will encounter, and without q