The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-06-19

fore had been there long.
There was a great big cupboard
that looked more like a small house.
built against the wall Of the hospital
barracks in one corner Of the room.
and not far from the stove. Kate was
the only patient able to be on his feet.
so thought he would have to be my
chief cook and bottle washer for
while; and. besides, there was some
thing about him that made him look
pretty valuable. I had not recognized
his whistling yet, SO Slim looked to be
the right name for him.
"slim. what's that big cupboard
fort"
How'd I know3 Nuthin' In 1t"
"Slim, that would make . fine box
for coal or wood. wouldn't itf'
"Um. Whar de coal an woodf"
"Tm going out and take observa-
lions, Slim. Take the wheel while I'm
gone. and keep your eye peeled for
U-boats." So I sneaked out the door
and began looking around.
II you look at the sketch I have
made, 1t will not take you long to see
that next to Us was q vacated Russian
barracks. And 1t did not take me
much longer to see 1t. too. Back to
the hospital and Slim.
"Slim, what barracks are next to
usr'
Russian burrucks. only dey amt
ders now. Been sick"
"And you mean to tell mo you don't
know where to get woodr
"Sick men been in dem burrucks"
"Edck men here, aren't there7 Let's
60"
That did the trick. The black boy
would watch from the hospital win
dows until he saw the coast was clear,
then We would slip into the barracks
next door. and he would watch again.
When there was NO sentry near
enough to hear NJ. crashi and out
would como . dividing board from the
hunks. When We had an armful
apiece. and had broken them up to the
right lengths, all we needed was . lit
tie more watching. and then back to
the hospital and the big cupboard.
Later on. our men told me they used
to watch the smoke that poured from
the hospital chimney all the time and
wonder where ON earth W rot the
wood.
We got the same kind Of food In the
hospital that was served in the other
barracks, and would not have had
any moro than I used to, except that
sometimes some Of the twenty-six pa
tents could not eat their share. and
then, Of course. 1t was mine. One day.
though. We all had extra rat1ona.
Two Russian doctors came to visit
Us each day. and once they were fool
ish enough. or kind enough. to ask II
we had received our rations-we had
received them earlier than usual and
they were finished at the time. OF
course. said NO. 20 they ordered the
Russian in the kitchen to deliver
twenty-eight rations to N. which was
not quite three loaves Of bread. We
were that much ahead that day. but 1t
would not work when I tried the trick
again. =, -, -'.-.---''.- --
One day q German doctor came to
the hospital barracks. He would not
touch anything while he was there
not even open tbs door. All Of the
patients had little cards attached to
their beds-charts Of their condition.
When the German wanted to SEQ these
charts the Russian doctors had to hold
them for him.
was having . great time at the
hospital. wrecking the barracks next
door each day for wood. along with
Kate. and getting . little more food
sometimes, and was always nice and
warm. thought myself quite . pet.
Compared to what had been mp
against, 1t seemed like real comfort.
But the more food I got the more I
wanted. And it was food that brought
me down. after all.
Across from ~ was q barracks In
which there were English oficers, and
somehow It seemed to me that they
must have had q drag. Every once in
q while saw what looked like vege-
tables and bags Of something that was
q dead ringer for brown nour. So I
told Slim, or Kate. AZ was calling him
BY then, and with him ON guard.
sneaked out.
After two or three false starts. I got
over our barbed wire and their barbsd
WIRE and in through Q window.
There / saw carrotsi And graham
houri
took all I could carry, to divide up
with Kate, and then started eating.
20 as not to waste anything. 1t was
certainly some feast-the only thing
besides mud bread and barley codee
and shadow" soup that had to eat
in Germany. Then started back to
the hospital. 1 got over their baroed
wire all right, and Kate gave me tie
go-ahead for our entanglements, but
Just as was going over them a sentry
nabbed me. At first thought Kate
had turned traitor, because we had