The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1918-10-03

ffte uhueF dTre3L anu murc0 me on ~
the gGars5hause- had not the slight
est idea but that was csiptured and
there didn't seem TO be much use In
resisting. unarmed as was and with
two other German soldiers within =
{ few feet of US.
4 Like fash II suddenly dawned on
me. however. That for all this soldier
could have known was only a Bel
gian peasant and that his object in
searching me, which he proceeded to
I! do. was TO ascertain whether had
comnIffed the coinmon crime a
SMUGGLING potatoes.
The BsIgians were allowed only .
certain amount of potatoes. and it Is
against the laws laid down BY the
Huns to deal In vegetables Of any
kind except under the rigid supervi-
sion Of the authorities. Nevertheless.
IL WAS one OF the principal vocafions
Of the average poor Belgian to buy
potatoes out In the country from
! pcasants aud then srnuggle them into
the large cities and sell them clan
destinely Mt n high price.
To stop this traffic in potatoes. the
/ ~ttfAt@a cOtaiCtt WI . A4 tttC AAu0At va
subjecting the Beigians to frequent
search, and was being held up by
this soldier for no other reason than
that be thought might be = potato
snIuggier!
He felt Of my outside clothes and
pockets. and finding no potatoes
seemed to be quite satisfied. Had he
but known who 1 WAS he could have
earned an iron cross, Or. perhaps. In
view Of the fact that I had y heavy
water bottle in my uplifted hand, 1t
might have turned out to be wooden
| cross
He said something In German.
( which, of course. / did not understand.
and then some Belgian peasants came
along and seemed to distract his atten-
I tion. Perhaps he had said: Its all
right: you may go on" or he may
have been talking TO the others in
Flemish. but nj any rate, observing
that he was more interested In the
others than he WIS in me at the mo-
mcnf. put the bottle in my pocket
and walked on.
After i walked few steps. took a
I furfiye glance backward snd noticed
the soldier who had searched me re-
Join his comrades at the curb and then
stop another fellow who had come
along. and then l disappeared In the
darkness.
this adventure left me in the same
. confident frame of mind that followed
the earlier one. was sure had
come out of it all right, but coyld
! not help thinking what \ terribly close
shave had.
Suppose the soldier hal questioned
mel The ruse / had been following
In my dealings with the Belgian peas
/, snfs-pretending was deaf and
dumb-inight possibly have worked
Eere. too. but = soIslier--a German
soldier--miKht not - easily have been
fooled II was more than an even
chance that II would have at least
aroused his suspicion and resulted In
further investigation. A search of
my clothing would hxve revealed a
dozen things which would have esssb-
lished my identity and all my sham
ming OF ,ieafre->s would have availetl
me nothing
As ] wandered along ! knew that
was now approaching the big city
which my iseigian friend had spoken
Of and which l would have to enter
II l was To get the passport, and l
realized now how essential IL was 10
have sonaeihing TO enable me to get
through the frequent examinations
TO which I expected to be subjected
Willie l was still debating In my
mind whether II was goin. TO be pos
siDie for me To enter the city that
night. saw iu the distance what np-
pcared 10 be an arc light, and as
neared II that was what 1t turned out
10 be- Beneath the light could
make out the forms of three guards.
and the thought OF having to 10
through the same kind OF ordeal that
I had just experienced filed me with
misgivings. Was 1t possible that l
conld be fortunate enough to get by
again?
As l slowed up q little. trying to
make up my mind what was best TO do.
was overtaken by group Of Bel
rian wnmen who were shutting aIons
tAtc fs"nus @htA utElutI tD mlukit
with them and see IL l couldn't convey
the impression that 1 was one OF
their party.
As we approached the arc light. the
figures of those three soldiers with
their spiked helmets looaned befor,
like regiment. I felt ~ II were
walking right into the jaws Of death
Rather than 70 through what was in
store for me. felt that would In.
| dnltely prefer to hsa firhfinR nRain In