Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-01-21
Shaffer's Last
Flight

all mad they were all cussing and
they were doing 1t at once.
Talk about the babble of tongues.
The Tower of Babel had nothing on
this. But never had 1 seen men
more united in thought, for they
were truly allies. No four nations
ever strove for the same object as
their four representatives strove for
that shirt. What finally happened
to 1t, 1 don't know, for friend
came along just then and gave me
one of the four basins he had gar
nered from the combat. Il fear,
though that the story of the shirt
did not have a happy ending. Just
the same, I was betting on the
Frenchman!
Loaded Down.
It was not long before we were
on the march and according TO ru-
NOR, a fifteen mile march aehad of
us. Judging from the way some of
those Frenchmen were loaded down
I could not see how they were doing
to make ii. It's a cinch they needed
no guards for with all that junk
on their backs escape was out of
the question. A big wooden box
half as tall as they were besides
blankets, several sacks filled to
bulging also, and n water bottle.
Where they got these wooden boxes
will always remain n mystery to me,
for there was no wood in camp and
little that could be fashioned into
a box outside; yet two days after.
prisoner arrived, he had his wooden
box with all his valuables locked
therein, meaning eatables. y French
Lieutenant, who was in chrage of
returning prisoners at Cambria once
YOIl EranrH n will keen
all he finds, whether it be a tin can,
wooden shoe or n carrot. Certainly
the latter. It's sure a fact. A
turtle has nothing on him, for he
corries his whole house with him,
too-kitchen, dining room and bed
room. Loaded down this way he
went on the march, and many being
in an unhealthy condition soon fell
by the wayside from exhaustion. 1t
was a pitiful sight, indeed. and
even more so, when the Boche guard
came along and prodded the unfor-
tunate to his feet with his rifle. And
said all-in captive tighten his pack.
He did not. He would not even cut
loose his wooden shoes. In fact,
had no pity for some of them. for
they seemed as weak in the head
as in the legs. Why carry a lot of
strong enough to carry it?
Travelling Light.
AS for myself, 1 was travelling
light, using one blanket as an over
coat and the other tied snugly over
my back. / also had a small sack
in which, had the loaf of bread,
which l had been at so much pains
and expense to get for that nights
getaway. I had not given up the
idea as yet, not by a long shot. For
was travelling light on purpose. If
an opportunity presented itself l
sure was going TO grab 1t, for
had a general idea of the lay of the
land, thereabouts and in which di-
rection the lines were and what was
more important l had loaf of black
bread, supposed to last me three
days. So 1 waited the chance.
Meanwhile we passe1 through the
city of Mora-Cornet. Every thing
was confusion here, for the Boche
were getting out. and following
their usual custom, taking every
thing portable with them. Not even
the coal scuttle escaped, and as for
bed and table linen, you can well
believe, none of that was overlooked
for the Boche was sadly in need of
that, as his hospitals had been US
ing paper bandages for a long time.
We certainly had covered most of
that 10 miles before I decided my
opportunity had arrived. Right
ahead of US the road passed through
a dense forest. Here, by golly, was
a heaven-sent chance.
(Here the Shaffer narrative ends,
the last letters from France being
delayed. The story will be continu-
ed as quickly as the new letters ar
rive