Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1918-10-11
st to the short account of my adven

est 10 the snort account OF my adven
lures.
He could speak English fluently, and
BE interrupted me several times to eX-
press his sympathy for the sufferings
had endured.
"o'Brien." he said, after had con-
Cluded my story. II am going TO help
you. II may take several days-per-
haps as long as two weeks-but event
ually we will provide the means TO en-
able you to get to Holland"
thanked him a thousand times and
told him that I didn't know how
could possibly repay him.
Don't think of that" he repAed;
'the satisfaction of knowing that l
have aided In placing one more victim
OF the Huns beyond their power 10
harm will more than repay me for all
the risk l shall run In helping you.
You'd better turn In now, O'BrIen. and
In the morning I'll tell you what plan
10 do"
As ] removed my clothes and noticed
that my knees were still swollen to
twice their normal size. that my left
ankle was black and blue from the
wrench l had given II when jumped
from the train and that my ribs showed
through my skin. / realized what n lot
/ had been through. As n matter OF
fact, / could not have weighed more
than one hundred ana fifty pounds Mt
Tint time, whereas l had tipped the
scales ut one hundred and ninety when
| was with my squadron In France.
] lost no time In getting into bed
and still less in getting TO sleep.
don't know what / dreamed Of that
night, hut ] had plenty of time to 20
through the experiences If my whole
life. for when | was aroused by a
knock on the door and Huyliger en-
tered In response to my invitation TO
enter, he told me that 1t was nearly
noon! l had slept for almost twelve
hours.
/ cannot say that the thought did
not run through my head that per-
haps after all l was living In Il FOOLS
paradise, and that when Huyllger re-
appeared It would be with II couple Of
German soldiers behind him, hut dis
missed such misgivings summarily, re-
ali2ng that I was doing Huyliger an
injustice to let such things enter my
head even for an instant. l had no
right 10 doubt his sincerity and 1t
would do me no good to entertain such
suspicious. II he was going TO prove
treacherous to me, l was powerless
any way To cope with him.
In few moments my host reap
pcared with tray containing my |
don't suppose shall ever |
forget that meal. II consisted OF a
cup Of cOfTee-real coffee. not the kind |
] had had at Courtrai--several slices Of |
bread. some hot potatoes and a dish
Of scrambled eggs.
Every m0uthful of that meal tasted
INV duSVl-I''u W lut anu lluNIEVI
sat on the edge OF the bed and watched
re enjoying il, ut the same time out
lining the plans lie had made for my
escape.
In brief, the scheme was to conceal
ME in convent until conditions were
ripe for me to make my way to the
border. In the meanwhile I was to be
dressed in the garb Of priest, and
when the time came for me TO leave
the city l was to pretend that ] was
Spanish sailor, because l could speak
little Spanish, which / had picked
up on the coast. To attempt to play
the part Of Belgium would become in
difficult. he pointed out. and
would bring inevitable disaster In the
event that l was called upon to speak.
Huyliger said I would be given suf-
Iicient money to bride the German
guards at the Dutch frontier, and he
assured me that everything would work
out according to schedule.
"YOurs Is not the first case. 0'Brien,
We have handled successfully he de-
clared. "Only three weeks ago heard