The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1918-10-03
lcbes from the lowest electric wire

lie that this wire could not be charged,
as It was In contact with the ground,
but still there was not room between
the live wire and this underground
wire for me to crawl through, and /
ether had to go back or dig deep
enough under this wire to crawl under
1t or else pull 1t up.
This underground wire was about
rs big around as lead pencil and
there was no chance of breaking 1t.
The jack-knife i had had at the start
of my travels l had long since lost
and even If / had had something to
hammer with, the noise would have
made the method impractlcable.
went OF digging. When the total
distance betw cen the live wire and the
bottom Of the hole / had dug was
thirty Inches, took hold Of the ground
wire and pulled on 1t with all my
strength.
1t wouldn't bulge. It was stretched
taut across the narrow ditch l had
dug-about fourteen inches wide
and all the tugglng didn't serve to
loosen 1t.
was just about to give up in de-
spair when staple gave way in the
nearest post. That enabled me to pull
the wire through the ground a little
and I renewed my efforts. After a
moment or two of pulling as had
never pulled In my life before. a
staple on the next post gave way,
and my work became easier. had
more leeway now and pulled and
pulled again until in all eight staples
had given way.
Every time a staple gave way, II
sounded in my ears like the report of
gun, although | suppose It didn't
really make very much noise. Never
theless, each time l would put my ear
to the ground to listen for the guard.
If I heard him / would stop working
and lie perfectly still in the dark till
he had gone by.
BY pulling on the wire, / was now
able to drag 1t through the ground
enough to place It back from the
fence and go on digging.
The deeper | went the harder be-
came the work, because by this time
my finger nails were broken and /
was nervous-afraid every moment
that l would touch the charged wire.
kept at 1t. however, with my mind
constantly on the hole l was digging
and the liberty which was almost with
in my reach.
Finally / figured that had enough
space to crawl through and still leave
couple Of inches between my back
and the live wire.
Before | went under that wire no
ticed that the lace which the Belgian
woman had given me rs souvenir
made my pocket bulge, and lest 1t
might be the innocent means Of cleo
trocutlng me by touching the live wire,
l took 1t out, rolled 1t up and threw 1t
over lne DuTTleT HTSt.
Then lay down on my stomach and
crawled or rather writhed under the
wire like snake, with my feet first,
and there wasn't any question Of my
hugging mother earth as closely as
possible because realized that even
to touch the wire above me with my
ha oil inc nnt
Anxious as was to get on the other
side, | didn't hurry this operation. /
feared that there might be some little
detail that had overlooked and / ex-
erclsed the greatest possible care In
going under, taking nothing for
granted.
When l finally got through and
Strengthened up, there were still sew
eral feet Of Belgium between me and
liberty, represented by the six feet
which separated the electric barrier
from the last barbed wire fence, but
before / went another step l went
down on my knees and thanked God
for my long series of escapes and es-
peclally for this last achievement,
which seemed to me to be about all
that was necessary to bring me free
dom.
Then I crawled under the barbed
wire fence and breathed the free air of
Holland. / had no clear Idea just
where | was and didn't care much.
| was out Of the power of the Germans
and that was enough. l had walked
perhaps a hundred yards, when l re-
membered the lace had thrown over
the barrier, and dangerous us real
lied the undertaking to be, l deter
mined to walk back and get 1t. This
necessltated my going back onto Bel
glan soil again, but 1t seemed shame
to leave the lace there, and by eXer-
clsing little care l figured l could
get 1t easily enough.
When l came to the spot at which l
had made my way under the barbed
wire, / put my ear to the ground and
listened for the sentry. heard him
coming and lay prone on the ground
till he had passed. The fact that he
might observe the hole in the ground
or the ladder occurred to me as l lay
there, and 1t seemed like an age be-
fore he finally marched out Of ear
shot. Then l went under the barbed
wire again, retrieved the lace and once
again made my way to Dutch terri
tory.
1t does not take long to describe the
events just referred to-, but the incl
dents themselves consumed several
hours In all. To dig the hole must
have taken me more than two hours
and | had to stop frequently to hide
while the sentry passed Many times,
indeed, | thought heard him coming