The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-08-29

warm potatoes TuVenOubly uHu uIuhh
four glasses Of water, one after an
other. II was the best meal had had
since the banquet" In the prison at
Courtrai.
The woman of the house was prob
ably seventy-five years old and had
evidently worn wooden shoes all her
life, for she had call0us spot on the
side of her foot the size Of half dol
lar and 1t looked so hard that doubt
whether you could have driven nall
into 1t with a hammer
AS I sat there drying myself-for
was in no hurry to leave the first
human habltation / had entered In
four weeks-I reflected on my un'
happy lot and the unknown troubles
and dangers that lay ahead OF me.
Here, for more than n month, | had
been leading the life OF hunted
anlmal---yes, worse than hunted
animal, for utdre clothes her less
favored creatures more appropriate
ly for the life they lead than was
clothed for mine-and there was not
the slightest reason to hope that con-
dtlons would grow any better.
Perhaps the first warm food had
eaten for over n month had released
unused springs Of philosophy In me,
as food sometimes does for man.
pointed to my torn and water
soaked clothes and conveyed to them
as best | could that ] would be CRATE
full for an old suit, but apparently
they were too poor to have more than
they actually needed themselves, ana
/ rose to go. had aroused them out
Of bed and knew | ought not to keep
them up longer than was absolutely
necessary.
As approached the door l got n
glance ut myself In mirror. l was
the awfulest sight had laid eyes on
The glimpse l got OF myself startled
me almost as much as If had seen n
dreaded German helmet My left eye
was faIrly well healed by this time
and | was beginning to regain sight
Of It, but my face was so haggard and
my beard so long and unkempt that l
looked like Santa Claus on n batl
AS they let me out OF the door l
pointed to the opposite direction to
the one | intended taking and started
of In the direction ! had indicated.
Later / changed my course completely
to throw Off any possible pursuit.
The next day was so worn out from
exposure and exhaustion that | threw
away my coat, thinking that the less
weight | had to carry the better II
would be for me, but when night came
regretted my mistake because the
nights were now getting colder.
thought at first 1t would be better for
me to retrace my steps and look for
the coat | had so thoughtlessly dis
carded, but | decided to so on with
out 1t.
| then began to discard everything
/, that had in my pocket, finally throw
ing my wrist watch into a canal. A
wrlst-watch does not add much
weight, but when you plod along and
have not eaten for month II finally
becomes rather heavy. The neX'
thing | discarded was u pair Of flying
mlttcns.
These mlttens | had gotten Mt Cam
Borden, In Canada, and had bec0m,
: quite famous, as my friends termet
: them "snow shoes" In fact, they
were ridiculous pair of mlttcns, bu
the best pair ever had and | really
(, felt worse when | lost those mltten'
than anything else. | could not thinl
u of anybody else ever using them, so
'' dug hole I'm the mud and buried
them and could not help but lnugl
at the thought II my friends could se'
= me burylng my mittens, because the!
), were n standing Joke In Canada, Eng
= land and France.
: had on two shirts and as they wer,
:. always both wet and didn't keep IN,
=, warm, II was useless to wear both
" One of these was shirt that hat
/, bought In France, the other an Amer
lean army shirt. They were botl
" khaki and one as apt to give me AVA.
as the other, so discarded the Frencl
= shirt. The American army shirt
brought back with me to England an,
:, 1t is still In my possession.
4 When | escaped from the train still
=, had the Bavarlnn cap Of bright red Il
!, my pocket and wore 1t for man
- nights, but / took great care that N
~ one saw It. 1t also had proven yer
"a useful when swimming rivers, for
carried my map and few other b'
- longIngs in 1t und | had fully mad
a up my mind to bring II home as
w W. souvenir. But the farther | wen
10 the heavier my extra clothing became
Va so | was compelled to discard eve
a the cap. knew that II would be
tell.tnle mark If simply threw
7 away, so one night after swimming
"A river, | dug n hole In the soft mud o
- the bank and buried II, too, with COZ
7 sldernbly less ceremony than my fly
Ing mittcns had received perhaps; $
30 that was the end Of my Bavnripn hn
-. My experience at the Belgian
!, house whettcd my appetite for NOR
-, food and figured that what had bee
=, done once could be done agall
- ~ Sooner or later, realized woul
;, probably approach Belgian and fin
80 n German instead, but In such n col
80 tlngency | was determined to mea
M ure my strength against the Huns
90 necessary to effect my escape.
70 As II was, however, most OF the he
7 CLANS TO whom ! applied for food ga,
Of II to me readily enough, and If SON