Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1918-05-07
Continued from Last Issue)
CHAPTER VI.
A Lean for Liberty.

many.
One of guards told me during the
| day that we were destined for reprisal
camp at Strassburg. They were send
| ing US there to keep our airmen from
| bombing the place.
He explained that the English carried
German officers on hospital ships for
! similar purpose and he excused the Ger.
man practice of torpedoing these YES
| sells OH the score that they also carried
munitions When L pointed out to him
that France would hardly be sending
munitions to England, he lost interest
| in the argument
Some days before l had made up my
mind that it would be very good thing
! to get hold of a map of Germany, which
/ knew was in the possession Of one
| of the German interpreters. because L
| realized that if ever the opportunity
| came to make my escape, such map
| might be of the greatest assistance TO
| me. ..
With the idea of stealing this map,
accordingly, a lieutenant and got IN
front of this interpreters window one
| day and engaged in very hot argu-
ment as to whether Heidelberg was on
| the Rhine or not, and we argued back
! and forth so vigorously that the Ger
| man came out of his room, map in hand,
! to settle it, After the matter was en-
| tireIy settled to our satisfaction, he
went back into his room and l watched
where he put the map.
Hides Map in His Sock
When, therefore, l learned that l was
on my way to Germany, l realized that
it was more important than ever Tor me
70 get that map, and with the help of
NV friends. we got the interpreter out
of his room on some preteXt or another
and while he was gone / coniscated the
nan from the book in which he kept II
and concealed it in my sock underneath
NV logging, AS I had anticipated, I
Later nroyed of the utmost value to me-
got it none too soon, for nall an
hour later we were on our way TO Gheh.'
Onr nartv consisted of five British Of
fcers and one French officer. At Client,
where we had to wait for several hours
for another train to take us direct TO
the prison in Germany, two other
prisoners were added to our party.
In the interval we were locked in
room at a hotel, guard sitting at the
door with a rife on his knee IL Woulo
have done my heart good. for the rest oil
NV life if 1 could have gotten away
thor ana fooled that Hun--he was SO
cocksure,
Later we were marched to the train
that was to convey us to Germany. 1t
consisted of some twelve coaches, eleven
of them containing troops going nome
on leave, and the twelfth reserved FOR
us We were placed in a fourth-clasS
compartment with old, hard, wooden
seats. q filthy floor and no lights save
candle placed there by guard. There
were eight of us prisoners and four
guards
AS we sat in the coac1 we were an
object of curiosity to the crowd VINO !
gathered at the station.
Hope you have a nice trip!' one OF
them shouted sarcastically.
Drop me a line when you get to Ber-
lin. will you?" shouted another In broken !
English --.sS .... t
. when shall we see you again?" asked
a third. -,
Remember me to your friends, will
Won? You'll find plenty where you're
going!" shouted another.
Pats 'Retort Courteous
The German officers made no effort to
repress the crowd; in fact, they joined
in the general laughter which followed
every sally.
| called to German othcer VINO was
passing our window.
you're an officer, aren't you?"
asked, respectfully enough.
YES, what of it?" he rejoined.
We'll, in England" | said, I'VE let
YOUR officers who are prisoners ride hrst- |
class. Can't you fix it so that we can be
similarly treated. or at least be trans I
ferred to second-class compartment
Got Peeved
IF l 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
hilariously.
hot
That would be a damned sight bet |
ter than riding with the Germans!' 1
yelled after him, but if he considered
that a good joke, too, he didn't pass II
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 1 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 they |
meant business.
From the moment the train started /
on it's way to Germany, the thought |
kept coming to my head that unless l
could make my escape before we reach
ed that reprisal camp l might as we'll |
make up my mind as far as | was con- |
cerned that 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 splendid |
chance of besting them and jumping off
the train when it first slowed down, |
but when l passed the idea on to my
comrades they turned it down.
Even if the plan worked out as glo- |
riously as l had pictured, they pointed |
out, the fact that many of US had |
escaped would almost inevitably result !
in our recapture. The Huns would have |
secured Belgium till they got us and |
then we would all be shot. Perhaps !
they were right
Nevertheless, I was determined that |
no matter what the others decided to /
do, l was going to make one bid for |
freedom, come what might. i
AS we passed through village after /
village in Belgium and / realized that i
we were getting nearer and nearer to |
that dreadful reprisal camp, | conclud- /
ed that my one and only chance of get /
ting free before we reached II was
through the window! I would have to |
go through that window while the train
was going full speed because if I wait
ed until it had slowed up or stopped |
entirely, il would be a simple matter
for the guards to overtake or shoot |
me.