The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-12-23

fate that awaited this poor fellow, but 1t was not found possible to aid him in any way, so strongly was he guard ed. 1 am told that he met his end braveIy, another martyr to the cause of Belgian freedom.
 l heard later thav ne could have got away during the attack had it not been that he went back to see what assistance he could render to Gilmore, one of the party who was believed to be alive. He arrived in time to find Gilmore breathing his last, and while he was trying to con- sole the dying man, who was in great agony, the Germans released more gas. which so affected the Belgian that he could not get away until the German patrol arrived and arrested him.
 When the Germans began their evacuation of Northern France and Belgium it was decided that we could in all probability render more vaIu- able aid in that region than in Bel gium itself, so in small parties we moved towards Lille and Cambrai The Germans had begun the evacua- l tion of the latter town when I ar rived in it, but I found that the Brt- 1 tish prisoners who had been held up owing to the congestion of the Ger man line of communications were still there.
 My credentials as a member of the Committee for the Relief of French and Belgian Civilians were good enough to account for my presence in the town, and I had no difficulty in gaining admission. Indeed, the German Commander seemed rather glad to see me, because he got the impression that I had come in re- sponse to st hint from German head quarters to relieve him of the respon- sibility for the feeding of these ci- Nilians. I said nothing to enlighten him as to my real mission, but set tied quietly down as though I had really come on the errand attributed to me.
 On the last day of the German oc- equation the British prisoners, to the number of nearly thousand, were moved out under escort with a num- Der of French and German nurses. I did not like the thought of all these men going away with the information they could give to the Allied comman- ders, but 1 did not see how it was possible to effect their rescue under the conditions which prevailed.
 I decided that it would be best to keep an eye on the movements of these prisoners, and I learned from one of the nurses that it was intend ed to halt five miles out of the town that night, and resume the journey in the morning.
 Unpleasant Experience
 Late last night British troops en- tered the town, and I told the Com mander what I knew about the pris- ouers. He agreed that it was worth while attempting to get them back, and asked if [ would act as guide to the spot where they were to camp for the night. I said that I would, but was somewhat surprised to find that he had some doubts about my bona-fides, for he made me march at the head of his troops with two soldiers on either side with revolvers ready to end my days should I show signs of treach@ry.
 It was not a, very pleasant experi- ence for me, conscious as I was of my own good faith, and when our party was fired on rather suddenly from wheat fields on either side of the road I thought they were going to kill me without wiating to see whether the attack had any connec- ton with me or not. Fortunately tIISS lltuSll tile DeIIeG or [. ana took me to the commanding officer, who questioned me very closely in order to test the truth of my state nlent. seem to have convtnved him of my honesty, for he assented when I said that I could guide the cavaI- ry across the fields to another road by which they could reach the halttng place of the convoy of prisoners
 made good my promise, and we arrived at the encampment to find the Germans in confusion, and only too glad to be taken prisoners. We managed to get the whole of the prisoners back into the town during the day though in the last stage of the operation the Germans suddenly be- came aggressive, and followed us up in force, pressing close into the town itself as though they were bent on retaking it.
 This haul of released prisoners was a lucky one for us, because among the prisoners were discovered two French Intelligence officers who had been sent into the town to find out where the Germans had placed mines to cause havoc among the occupying troops. It was found that one of the areas most dangerously mined was that selected by the British officer for bilIeting his men, and had it not been for the information given by these daring French officers the whole of the British soldiers occupying the place that night might have been blown up. Time fuses had been fix ed to the mines, and they were due to explode about three o'clock in the morning. There was only one hour in which to remove these mines, but they were safely disposed of.
 (From the International News Ser vice, Inc. Boston, Mass)
 To Be Continued. WAR ORATORX
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