Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1918-08-30
'0utwitting the Hun y
From page 8
BY Pat o.Brlen

further clothes. Entering Belgian
houses at night Is anything but safe
proposition. because their families ars
large and sometimes as many as seven
or eight sleep In a single room. The
barn Is usually connected with the
house proper. and there was always
the danger Of disturbing some dunb
animal even if the inmates OF the
house were not aroused.
Frequently took q chance Of
searching back yard at night in the
hope Of finding food scraps. but my
success In that direction was so slight
that l soon decided that Il wasn't
worth the risk and continued to
live on raw vegetables that I could
pick with safety In the fields and the
occasional meal that was able 10 get
from the Bel~lan peasants In the day
time.
Nevertheless l was determined to
get more In the way Of clothing and
when night came picked out a house
that looked as though It might furnish
me with what i wanted. II was n
moonlight night and II I could get In
the barn l would have fair chance OF
finding my way around by the moon.
light which would enter the windows.
The barn adjoined the main part OF
the house. but CROPPED around very
carefully and soon ! touched some
thing hanging on a peg. diCn't
know what 1t was. but confscated
It and carried II out into the nelds.
There in the moonlight examined
my booty and found that Il was an old
coat. It was too short for an over.
coat and too long for an ordinary
coat, but nevertheless I made use Of
1t. 1t had probably been an overcoat
for the Belgian who had worn II.
Some days later ] got a scarf from
a Belgian peasant and with this equip
ment I was able TO conceal my uni
form entirely.
Later on, however, I decided that Il
was too dangerous TO keep the uniform
on anyway and, when night came !
dug hole and buried II.
I never realized until / had to part
with 1t just how much I thought of
that uniform. It had been with me
through hard trials and / felt as II i
were abandoning a friend when l
parted with II. / was tempted to keep
the wings Off the tunic. but thought
that would be q dangerous concession
to sentiment in the event that was
ever captured. 1t was the only dis
tinction had left, as I had given
the Royal Flying Corps badges and
the stars Of my rank to the German
flying officers as souvenirs, but felt
that 1t was safer to discard II. As
1t finally turned out, through all my
subsequent experiences. my escape
would never have been jeopardized.
had I kept my uniform but, of course,
I had no idea what was In store for
me.
There was one thing which surprised
me very much as I journeyed through
Belgium and that was the scarcity of
dogs. Apparently most of them had
been taken by the Germans and what
are left are beasts of burden who are
too tired at night to bark or bother
intruders. This was a mighty good
thing for me, for would certainly
have stirred them up In passing
through back.yards as I sometimes
did when | was making a short cut.
One night as came out of yard
1t was so pitch dark that I could not
see ten feet ahead of me and / was
right In the back OF little village,
although did not know 1t. crawled
along fearing / might come to a cross
roads at which there would In all
probability be O German sentry.
My precaution served me in good
stead for had come out In the main
street of the village and within twenty
feet of me, sitting on some bricks
where they were building a little store,
/ could see the dim outline Of Ger
man spiked helmet!
could not cross the street and the
only thing to do was to back track.
1t meant making a long detour and
losing two hours Of precious time and
effort, but there was no help for 1t,
so plodded wearily back. cursing
the Huns at every step.
The next night while crossing some
fields came to road. It was one Of
the main roads of Belgium and was
paved with cobble stones. On these
roads you can hear wagon or horse
about a mile or two away. I listened
intently before I moved ahead and
hearing nothing concluded that the
way was clear.
AS I emerged from the field and got
my first glimpse of the road, got the
shock of my lifei In either direction.
as far as I could see, the road was
lined with German soldiersl What
they were doing In that part Of Bel.
GUM did not know, but you can be
mighty sure I didn't spend any time
trying to find out.
Again 1t was necessary to change
my course and lose a certain amount