The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1918-08-30

that. walked boldly through the
main street without any feeling of
alarm.
I had proceeded perhaps mile
along the main street when l noticed
ahead of me three German soldiers
standing at the curb.
Again my heart started to beat fast,
I must confess, but l was not nearly
so scared as I had been an hour or
so before.
walked ahead, determined to fol-
low my previous procedure in every
particular. q
had got to about fifteen feet away
stepped onto the sidewalk and
shouted:
"Haltw
My heart stopped beating fast-for
moment, believe, it stopped beating
altogether! I can't attempt to de-
scribe my feelings. I thought that
the Jig was up-that all I had gone
through and all had escaped would
now avail me nothing, mingled with
the feeling Of disgust with my
self because of the foolish risk I
had taken in going through the viii
lage, combined to take all the starch
out of me, and 1 could feel myself
spot where I stood rooted in my
tracks.
I had a bottle of water in one pocket
and a piece of bread in the other, and
as the Hun advanced to search me
held the bottle up in one hand and
the piece of bread in the other so that
he could see that was all had.
It occurred to me that he would
"friSk" me-that Is, feel me over for
arms or other weapons, then place
me under arrest and march me off to
the guardhouse. I had not the slight
est idea but that was captured and
there didn't seem to be much use in
resisting, unarmed as I was and with
two other German soldiers within a
few feet of us.
Like a flash it suddenly dawned on
me, however, that for all this soldier
could have known 1 was only Bel
gian peasant and that his object in
searching me, which he proceeded to
do, was to ascertain whether / had
committed the common 'crime" of
smuggling potatoes.
The Belgians were allowed only a
certain amount of potatoes, and it is
against the laws laid down by the
Huns to deal in vegetables of any
kind except under the rigid supervi-
sion of the authorities. Nevertheless,
it was one of the principal vocations
Of the average poor Belgian to buy
potatoes out in the country from
peasants and then smuggle them into
the large cities and sell them clan
destinely at high price.
To stop this traffic in potatoes, the
German soldiers were in the habit Of
subjecting the Belgians to frequent
search, and I was being held up by
this soldier for no other reason than
that he thought I might be a potato
smuggler!
He felt of my outside clothes and
pockets, and finding no potatoes
seemed to be quite satisfied. Had he
but known who 1 was he could have
earned an iron cross! Or, perhaps, in
view of the fact that I had a heavy
water bottle in my uplifted hand, it
might have turned out to be wooden
| cross!
He said something in German,
which, of course, I did not understand,
and then some Belgian peasants came
along and seemed to distract his atten-
| ton. Perhaps. he had said: "It's all
right; you may go on" or he may
have been talking to the others In
Flemish, but at any rate, observing
that he was more interested in the
others than he was in me at the mo-
ment, I put the bottle in my pocket
and walked on.
After 1 walked a few steps, took
furtive glance backward and noticed
the soldier who had searched me re-
| ioin his comrades at the curb and then
! stop another fellow who had come
along, and then 1 disappeared in the
darkness.
l cannot say that the outcome or
this adventure left me in the same
confident frame of mind that followed
the earlier one. 1 was sure I had
come out of it all right, but 1 could
not help thinking what terribly close
shave l had.
Suppose the soldier had questioned
me! The ruse / had been following
in nv dealings with the Belgian peas
ants-pretending I was deaf and
damb-night possibly have worked
here, too, but a soldier-a German
soldier-might not so easily have been
fooled. 1t was more than an even
chance that it would have at least
aroused his suspicion and resulted in
further investigation. A search OF
nv clothing would have revealed
dozen things which would have estab-
lished my identity and all my sham
ming of deafness would have availed
me nothing.
AS 1 wandered along knew that l
WAS now approaching the big city