Payette enterprise. (Payette, Canyon Co., Idaho) 1909-1935, 1918-07-25

as food sometimes does for man.
l pointed to my torn and water
soaked clothes and conveyed to them
as best l could that would be CRATE
full for an old suit, but apparently
+ they were too poor to have more than
/ they actually needed themselves, and
/ rose to go. had aroused them out
! of bed and knew / ought not to keep
J them up longer than was absolutely
/ necessary.
As | approached the door / got a
glance at myself in a mirror. 1 was
the awfulest sight had laid eyes on !
The glimpse l got of myself startled
me almost as much as if / had seen a
dreaded German helmeti My left eye
was fairly well healed by this time
and | was beginning to regain sight
of it, but my face was so haggard and
my beard so long and unkempt that
looked like Santa Claus on a bat!
As they let me out of the door l
pointed to the opposite directia to
the one / intended taking and sulrted
off in the direction l had Indicated.
Later l changed my course completely
to throw off any possible pursuit.
The next day l was so worn OUt from
exposure and exhaustion that ( threw
away my coat, thinking that the less
weight i had to carry the better it
would be for me, but when mig ht came
l regretted my mistake because the
nights were now getting colder. l
thought at first it would be bet ter for
me 10 retrace my steps and look for
the coat l had so thoughtlessl dis
carded, but 1 decided to go on with
out it.
| then began to discard ever thing
that l had in my pocket, finally throw
ing my wrist watch into a canal. A
wrist-watch does not add Iuuci
weight, but when you plod along and
have not eaten for month it fiji lally
becomes rather heavy. The next
thing discarded was pair of fl; wing
mittens.
These mittens l had gotten at ca IMP
Borden, in Canada, and had bect ,me
quite famous. as my friends tern ned
them ''snOw shoes" In fact, Il ley
were a ridiculous pair of mittens, lOut
the best pair 1 ever had and l really
felt worse when 1 lost those mite rs
than anything else. / could not thin k
of anybody else ever using them, so l
dug a hole in the mud and buriec
them and could not help but laugh
at the thought if my friends could see
me burying my mittens, because they 4
were standing joke in Canada, Eng A
land and France.
l had on two shirts and as they were /
always both wet and didn't keep me !
warm, it was useless to wear both. !
One of these was a shirt that / had
bought in France, the other an Amer
lean army shirt. They were both
khaki and one as apt to give me away
as the other, so / discarded the French
shirt. The American army shirt l
brought back with me to England and
it is still in my possession.
When l escaped from the train I still
had the Bavarian cap of bright red in
my pocket and wore it for many
nights, but L took great care that no
Dne saw it. 1t also had proven very
useful when swimming rivers, for L
carried my map and a few other bSe-
ongings in it and l had fully made
up my mind to bring it home as
souvenir. But the farther l went
he heavier my extra clothing became,
so l was compelled to discard even
he cap. l knew that it would be
.ell-tale mark if L simply threw it
lway, so one night after swimming a
liver, / dug a hole in the soft mud on
he bank and buried it, too, with con-
iderably less ceremony than my fly
ng mittens had received perhaps; so
hat was the end of my Bavarian hat
My experience at the Beigians
Ouse whetted my appetite for more
God and l figured that what had been
lone once could be done again.
sooner or later, 1 realized l would
approach Belgian and find
German instead, but in such q con-
urgency i was determined to meas
re my strength against the Huns if ]
ecessary to effect my escape. :
As 1t was, however, most of the Bel
ians to whom l applied for f ood gave
to me readily enough, and if some
f them refused me it was only be-
ause they feared l might be spy
r that the Germans would shoot them
their action were subsequently
Dund out.
About the fifth day after 1 had en-
cred Belgium 1 was spending the day
S usual in a clump of bushes when l
iscerned in the distance what APP
cared to be something hanging on II
ne. All day long l strained my eyes
wing to decide what 1t could be and
rguing with myself that it might be
,mething that / could add to my in
1equate wordrobe, but the distance
as so great that l could not identify
. 1 had a great fear that before |
ght came it would probably be re-
owed.
As soon as darkness fell, however, I
'awled out of my hiding place and
orked up to the line and got pair
overalls for my industry. The pair
oyeralls was the first bit of civil