The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1918-11-16

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| VI course. you Will have to return
u Us the passport we gave you Eefora
we can give You the real one" said
huyigerS brother.
maven t the slightest objection" /
itpiled, II the new passport is all you
'i,1ihl Ior II. viii you let me see it?
ihere was considerable hesitation on
the part of Huyliger's brother and the
other chap at this. e
why, l don't think that's necessary
az all Mr.. O'Brien," said the former.
tUu give us the old passport and wa
VIII De very glad to give you the new
one Tor 1t. Isn't that fair enough?' ,
1T may be fair enough, my friends"
ielorted, seeing that it was useless to
conceal further the fact that / was
iuliy aware of their whole plan and
why had been brought to this house.
:. may De fair enough. my friends" /
sald, but you will get the passport
,hat have here" Datting my side and
lhulcatlng my inside breast pocket
only of my dead body!"
| suppose the three of them could
nave made short work Of me then and
.ilere II they had wanted to go the
| unit, and no one would ever have
oeeh the wiser, but had gone through
% much and was feeling so mean tos
wards the whole world just at that
moment that | was determined to sell
my lie as dearly as possible.
nave that passport here" re.
phed' and am going to keep it. II
you gentlemen think you can take 10
from me you are welcome to tryl"
10 tell the truth, was spelling for
hght' and half wished they would
start something. The man who had
llVed in the house had evidently been
collector of ancient pottery, for the
walls were lined with great pieces of
eafthenWare which had every earmark
OF possessing great value. They car.
talhly possessed great weight. I fig.
ured that If the worst came to the
worst that pottery would come in
mighty handy. A single blow with one
OF those big vases would put q man
out as neatly as possible and as there
was lots Of pottery and only three men.
believed had an excellent chance OF
holding my own in the combat which I
had invited.
had already picked out in my mind
what was going to use, and got up,
stood with my back to the wall and
told them that If they ever figured on
getting the passport, then would ba
their best chance.
Apparently they realized that
meant business and they Immediately
began to expostulate at the attitude
was taking.
One Of the men spoke excellent
English. In fact, he told me that he
could speak five languages, and If he
could lie in the others as we'll as I
knew he did In my own tongue, he was
not only an accomplished linguist, but
a most versatile liar into the bargain.
MY dear fellow" said the linguIst.
ut is not that we want to deprive you Of
the passport. Good heavens! If 1t will
aid you in getting out of the country,
wish you could have six just like it.
But for our own protection, you owe
1t to us to proceed on your journey
as best you can without 1t because Sas
long as you have it in your possession
you jeOpardiZe our lives, too. DONE
you think 1t is fairer that you should
risk your own safety rather than place
the lives Of three innocent men In
danger?"
'That may be as 1t is, my friends.
retorted. "and am glad you realize
your danger. Keep it in mind, for in
case any of you should happen to feel
Inclined to notify the German authori-
ties that I am in this part of the coun,
try, think it over before you do so.
Remember always that if the Germans
get me, they get the passport, too, and
f they get the passport your lives
Won't be worth a damn! When tell
he history of that clever little piece
# pasteboard, I will implicate all three
# you, and whoever is working with
'ou, and as I am an officer I rather
hink my word will be taken before,
ours. Good night''
The bluff evidently worked, because
was able to get out of the city with.
ut molestation from the Germans.
I have never seen these mLn since.
hope l never SHAH, because I am
fraid I might be tempted to do some
hing for which 1 might otherwise be-
orry.
l do not mean to imply that all Bel
ians are like this. l had evidently
allen into the hands Of a gang who
ere endeavoring to make capital ont
the misfortunes Of those who were
.ferred to them for help. In all coun-
les there are bad as well as good.
I'd In country which has suffered so
UGH as poor Belgium it is no wonder
some of the survivors have lost their
nse of moral perspective.
know that the average poor peas
It In Belgium would divide his scantv
tons with needy fugitive sooner
an wealthy Belgian would dole
It a morsel from his comparatively
ell-stocked larder. Perhaps the Door
We less to lose than the rich If their
nerOsity or charity is discovered hv
e Huns.
There have been many Belgians shot
: helping escaped prisoners and Other