The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1918-08-09

the German practice Of torpedoing
these vessels on the score that they
also carried munitions! When /
pointed out to him that France would
hardly be sending munitions to Eng
land he lost interest in the argument.
Some days before, had made up my
mind that it would be 4 very good
thing to get hold of a map of Germany,
which l knew was in the possession OF
one of the German interpreters, be-
cause I realized that if ever the op-
portunity came to make my escape,
such a map might be of the greatest
assistance to ME.
With the idea of stealing this map,
accordingly, lieutenant and l got in
front of this Interpreters window one
day and engaged in very hot argu-
ment as to whether Heidelberg was on
the Rhine or not, and we argued back
and forth so vigorously that the Ger
man came out of his room, map in
hand, to settle it. After the matter
was entirely settled to our satisfac-
tion he went back into his room and
1 watched where he put the map.
When, therefore, learned that l was
on my way to Germany, 1 realized that
it was more important than ever Tor
me to get that map, and with the help
of my friend, we got the Interpreter
out of his room on some preteXt or
another, and while he was gone l con-
fiscated the map from the book IN
which he kept it and concealed 1t IN
my sock underneath my Logging. AS
I had anticipated, 1t later proved OF
the utmost value to me.
l got it none too soon, for half an
hour later we were on our way to
Ghent. Our party consisted of hVe
British officers and one French officer.
At Client, where we had to wait for
several hours for another train to take
us direct to the prison camp in Ger
many, two other prisoners were added
to our party.
In the interval we were locked in a
room at a hotel, a guard sitting at the
door with a rifle on his knee. 1t would
have done my heart good for the rest
of my life if could have gotten away
then and fooled that Hun-he was so
cOckSure.
Later we were marched to the train
that was to convey us to Germany. 1t
consisted of some twelve coaches,
eleven of these containing troops going
home on leave, and the twelfth re-
served for us. We were placed In a
fourth-class compartment with old,
hard, wooden seats, a filthy floor and
no lights save a candle placed there
by a guard. There were eight OF US
prisoners and four guards.
AS we sat in the coach we were an
object of curiosity to the crowd who
gathered at the station.
Hope you have nice trip!' one of
them shouted sarcastically.
Drop me a line when you get to
Berlin, will you?" shouted another in
broken English.
"When shall we see you again?'
asked third.
"Remember me to your friends, will
you? You'll find plenty where you're
going" shouted another.
The German officers made no effort
to repress the crowd, in fact, they
Joined in the general laughter which
followed every sally.
l called to a German officer who was
passing our window.
You're an officer, aren't you? 1
asked, respectfully enough.
Yes, what of it?" he rejoined.
"Well, in England" 1 said, I'VE let
your officers who are prisoners ride
first class. Can't you fix it so that we
can be similarly treated, or least be
transferred to second-class compart-
ment?"
IF 1 had my way" he replied, you'd
ride with the hogs"
Then he turned to the crowd and
told them of my request and how he
had answered me, and they all laughed
hiIariously.
This got me pretty hot.
THAT would be d sight
better than riding with the Germans :"
l yelled after him, but If he consid-
cred that a good joke, he didn't pass
it on to the crowd.
Some months later when I had the
honor of telling my story to King
George, he thought this incident was
one of the best jokes he had ever
heard. 1 don't believe he ever laughed
harder in his life.
Before our train pulled out, our
guards had to present their arms for
inspection and their rifles were loaded
in our presence to let us know that
they meant business.