Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-05-17

and I hoped to get my clothes dry, and
perhaps get 4 decent sleep. l had this
celery and a large beet, so l knew /
would be able to live the day through.
Finally I made my way over TO the
woods. It was still too dark in among
the trees TO do much in the way OF Sc
Iecting my quarters for the day, and l
could not go a step farther. So | waited
on the edge of the forest until dawn
and then set out to explore the place,
with a view to finding some nook where
l might sleep
Disgusted and Discouraged
Imagine my disgust, and discourage
ment too, when an hour or so later 4
came upon the exact place where L had
spent the day before. and l realized THAI
all night long l had been circling the
very woods | was trying to get away
from 1 think perhaps 1 had gone all
OF a quarter mile in the right direction
but then had lost my bearings
entirely and daylight found me Win
nothing accomplished.
The sun. however, did come out that
day. and l welcomed its warm rays. as
they. perhaps. have never been wei
coined before. I was very dred-Just
about all in-but 1 spent better day
IN the woods than the previous one
That night the stars came out; To-
Gated nv friend. the north star, and
tried TO make up for lost time. But
when one IS making only seven or elght
miles day, or rather a night one night
lost means a whole lot. especially Wheh
each day keeps him from freedom.
Harder TO Bear Than Hunger
Such i'll fortune and discouragements
as this were harder TO endure. 1 believe
than the actral hunger, and the &C
companying worry naturally reduced my
weight. AT times / was furiously angry
with myself for the mistakes l made
and the foolish things 1 did, but l al
ways tried TO see something funny
a bout the situation, whatever il might
be. that relieved the strain bit and
helped TO pass the time away.
4 think If a man is overburdened
with a sense of humor and wants TO
get rid of it. this trip I took would
be an excellent remedy for 1t. Right
at this time / would have welcomed
anything for a companion. l believe
even a snake would have been God
send TO me.
With a name as Irish as mine, IL
is only natural that looked for goats
along the way. thinking that 1 might
be able to milk them. There are very
few COWS in this country, and the op-
portunities for milking them fewer than
the COWS themselves because they are
housed in barns adjoining the homes and
always aIertly watched BY their for
tunate owners. I did hope that
might find a goat staked out some
place in the fields. but in all my travels
1 never saw a goat or a pig. and only
a few cows Several times 1 searched
nests for eggs, but somebody had al
ways beaten me to IT, as 1 never even
found so much as 4 nest egg.
There was no chance of getting away
with any bullying" stuff in LuXem-
bourg, I knew, because the young men
have not been forced into the army
and are still at home and as they
are decidedly pro-German, it would
have been pretty hard for me to de-
mand anything in that part of the
country. 1t was not like taking things
away from old men and women or rob-
bling people that could not stop me if
they chose to 90 so.
thought at this time that l was
suffering about the worst hardships any
human being could ever be called upon
to endure. but / was later to find that
the best of my journey was made along
about this time. There were plenty of
vegetables, even though they were raw,
and these were much better than the
things I was afterward compelled 10
eat or go without.