Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-01-30


long time to get out of that forest,
and then when 1 did get out 1 was
completely lost A pretty pass in
deed, and 1 had neither map nor
compass. The north star was no help
because it was cloudy.
However, I needed no instruments
to tell in which direction the front
| was, for the guns were banging
away with all the ardor and noise
of an ambitious girl practicing a mu-
| sic lesson. So L began marching in
that direction, trying my best to
keep myself headed for Montcornet.
| Once L reached that big city 1 was
sure l could find myself, for many
important roads branched out from
there, and one of them 1 was going
to take.
on the Highway
| Getting there though was not an
easy matter, for I ran into many
obstacles. I dared not stick to the
road so early in the night-it was
only p. m.-for fear of meeting
some Huns, or worse yet, one of
their trucks with the headlights full
on. / might get by the former in the
darness but the latter would surely
find me out for l was still wearing
my blue uniform. And then there
were the small villages. L ran into
quite a few of them, and each one
required going around to pass, for
walking directly through was out of
the question. 1t was too dangerous,
and my newly-gained liberty was too
sweet to take any great chances
with.
Thus I stumbled on through the
night, resting when 1 was too weary
| n Il.
short rest, up and on again, for
wanted to retrace my steps to Mont
cornet if possible that night. That 1
had several narrow escapes that
night goes without saying, for so
anxious was l to find out where
was and If I were headed right
that 1 took long chances climbing
sign posts along the road. Once 1
| was half way up the pole when saw
several Boche coming up side road,
for this was a crossroad. With a
| speed that threatened to get me seen
1 threw myself fiat on some plowed
ground near the roadside, and lay
there hardly breathing, waiting for
them to pass. Luck was with me,
for they kept on going and 1 was
soon back on the road and up the
pole. The names thereon didn't tell
| iiiN iliuSll, lOI tItN were dS
as they were unpronounceable, but
| since l was close to another village
! and detour was necessary, 1 picked
out small road going my way and
marched boldly down it. This man
euver nearly got me in Dutch again
! Tor promptly ran into a farmhouse
which Jutted onto the road. While l
was deciding whether to take a
chance and trusting to the darkness
! to hide me, walk past, a man came
walking down the road behind me. l
| lost no time in making a decision
then, but promptly jumped into an
orchard nearby. 1t was Boche,
too, but he kept on walking, and
soon L was back on the road again
making tracks past that farm house.
l got past all right, but nearly walk
| ed into man coming down a side
lane with a lantern.
Many Detours Necessary
! He was only some thirty feet away
when l saw him and you can bet |
( put on increased speed immediately.
| Farmhouses seemed to be pretty
thick in that neighborhood for 1 ran
into another one Immediately. This
one required a detour because not
! only was it ablaze with light, but men
were in the yard near the road, and
what was worse, there was a dog
about. He made himself known
quite loudly and 1 thanked him for
it, for could well imagine the yowl
he would put up if he found me
! lurking about. So l went around
! back and found myself in a sugar
beet patch. l was hungry by that
time and pretty well fed up on black
bread. Fresh vegetables sounded
Z good, even if they were raw. Turnips
in their natural state are not bad