Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-08-02

For a day or two I had carried a KNAPP
sack, but as 1 had nothing to carry in
it l discarded it.
1 travelled rapidly, considering my
difficulties, and wan a couple Of
canals that night, covering in all per-
haps ten miles before daylight. Then
1 located in some low bushes, lying
there all day in my wet clothes and
finishing my sausage for food. That
was the last of my rations.
That night I made perhaps the same
distance, but became very hungry and
thirsty before the night was over.
For the next six days I still figured
that 1 was in Germany, and 1 was liv-
ing on nothing but cabbage, sugar
beetS and an occasional carrot, always
in the raw state just as 1 got them
out of the fields. The water I drank
was often very rank. One night l lay
in a cabbage patch for an hour tapping
the dew from the leaves with my
tongue!
During this period 1 realized that I
must avoid meeting anyone at all haz-
ards. l was in the enemy's country and
my uniform would have been a dead
~give-away. Anyone who captured me
or who gave information from which
my capture resulted might have been
sure of a handsome reward. 1 knew
that it was necessary for me to make
progress as fast as possible, but the
main consideration vas to keep out of
sight, even if it took me a year to get
to Holland, which was my objective.
From my map I estimated that 1 was
about thirty-five miles from Strassburg
when 1 made my leap from the train,
and if 1 could travel in a straight line
/ had perhaps one hundred and fifty
miles to travel. As it was, however,
I was compelled to make many detours,
and l figured that two hundred and
fifty miles was nearer the extent of the
journey ahead of me.
In several parts of this country I had
to travel through forests of young pine
trees about twelve feet high. They
were very close together and looked
almost as if they had been set out.
They proved to be a serious obstacle
to me because, 1 could not see the stars
through them and 1 was relying upon
the heaven to guide M to freedom. /
am not much of an astronomer, but I
know the Pole Star when 1 see it. But
for it I wouldn't be here today!
I believed it rained every night and
day while l was making my way
through Germany and Luxembourg.
My invariable program at this stage
of my journey was to travel steadily
all night until about six in the morn
ing, when I would commence looking
around for a place wherein to hide
during the day. Low bushes or woods
back from the road, as far as possible
from the travelled pathway, usually
served me for this purpose. Having
found such a spot I would drop down
and try to sleep. My overcoat was
my only covering, and that was usu-
ally soaked through, either from the
rain or from swimming.
The only sleep I got during those
days was from exhaustion, and it usu-
ally came to me towards dusk when
1t was time for me to start again.
1t was a mighty fortunate thing for
me that I was not a smoker. Somehow
I have never used tobacco in any form.
I was now fully repaid for whatever
pleasure l had foregone in the past as
a result of my habits in that partic-
ular, because my sufferings would GER
tainly have been intensified now if, in
addition to lack of food and rest, 1
had had to endure a craving for to-
bacco.
About the sixth night I was so
drowsy and exhausted when the time
came for me to be on the move, that
1 was very much tempted to sleep
through the night. 1 knew, however,
that that would be a bad precedent to
establish and 1 wouldn't give in.
l plugged YEARLY along and about
IL o'clock, after 1 had covered perhaps
four miles, I sat down to rest for a
moment on a shock of brush which
was sheltered from the drizzle some
what by other shocks which were
stacked there. 1t was daylight when
I awoke, and I found myself right III
a German backyard. You can imagine
that I lost no time In getting out of
that neighborhood and 1 made up my
mind right there and then that 1 would
never give away to that "tired feeling"
again.
In the daytime, in my hiding place,
wherever it happened to be, 1 had
plenty of opportunity to study my map,
and before very long 1 knew it almost
by heart. Unfortunately, however, it
did not show all the rivers and canals
which I encountered, and sometimes it
fooled me completely.
1t must have been about the ninth
night that I crossed into Luxembourg,
but though this principally is officially
neutral, it offered me no safer a haven
than Belgium would. The Huns have