Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-04-20

piaceu In fOurth-claSS compdIt- Z
ment with old, hard, wooden seats
candle placed there by guard
There were eight of us prisoners
and four guards.
AS we sat in the coach we were
an object of curiosity to the croWo
who gathered at the station.
Hope you have a nice trip!" one
OF them shouted sarcastfcally.
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 yoolr friends,
will you? You'll find plenty where
you're going!" shouted another.
Pats Report Courteous"
The German officers made no ef-
fort 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?" l
asked, respectfully enough.
Yes what of it?" he rejoined.
well, in England" l said, I'VE let
your officers who are prisoners ride
first-class. Can't you fix 1t so that
we can be similarly treated, or at
least be transferred to- second-class
compartment"
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 a damned sight
better than riding with the Ger
mans!" l yelled after him, but if he
considered that a good joke, too, he
didn't pass it on to the crowd.
Some months later when l had the
honor of telling my story to King
George, he thought this incident was
one of the best jokes he had ever
heard. L 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.
From the moment the train start
ed on its way to Germany, the
thought kept coming to my head that
unless L could make my escape be-
fore we reached that reprisal camp
| might as well make up my mind,
as far as l was concerned, the war
was over.
Plan to Escape Turned Down
1t occurred to me that If the
eight of us in that car could jump
at a given signal and seize those
four Hun guards by surprise, we'd
have a splendid chance of besting
them and jumping off the train
when it first slowed down, but when
l passed the idea on to my COM
rades they turned it down.
Even if the plan worked out as
gloriously as 1 had pictured, they
pointed out, the fact that so many
of us had escaped would al
ture. The Huns would have secured
Belgium till they had got us and
then we would all be shot. Perhaps
they were right.
Nevertheless, ] was determined
that, no matter what the others de-
cided to do, was going to make one
bid for freedom, come what might.
AS We passed through village after
village in Belgium and 1 realized
that we were getting nearer and
nearer to that dreaded reprisal
camp, concluded that my one and
only chance of getting free before
we reached it was through the win
dow! 1 would have to go through
that window while the train was
going full speed, because if 1 waited
until it had slowed up or stopped
entirely, it would be a simple matter
for the guards, to overtake or shoot
me.
1 opened the window. The guard
who sat opposite me-so close that
his feet touched mine and the stock
of his gun which he held between
his knees occasionally struck my
foot-made no objection, imagining
no doubt that l found the car too
warm or that the smoke, with which
the compartment was filled, annoyed
me.