Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-03

a bidon of wine. William Lass and
Weisser, the Germans, were with us
frequently. Our constant topic Of
conversation was lie promenade as
the LeGionnaircs call desertion.
Studied Map Carefully.
We had map we studied carefully,
and we discovered we were only -
miles from the British frontier. as the
crow flies. We decided to make the
break
| had Just received - francs as n
prize for my shooting nj Ra2Zas
Every year the general commandment
hunS up a prize for the best marks
manShip. There had been SO much
fighting in the last year they had
been unable to hold the competition
II was decided to distribute the money
among men nominated by the lieuten.
ants for good shooting in battle.
The others had few francs. We
pooled our money and houSht canned
goods. cigarettes and other things
from the camp followers. May l..
1926. after the noon siesta. we loft
camp, each man carrying a couple OF
hidons and his muSette.
We passed the sentries without
question 1t was commonplace
thing to see a Iecionnaire leave
camp With his musette or a couple OF
hidonS. Below us on the slope lay one
Of The Sultan Attrache's palaces. in
which was a CiStern OF the finest
water in the neichhorhood Our pan
was 10 remain there until dark and
then strike out across the country
and pass the frontier between Bosra
AMI Decra
To avoid suspicion we went to work
washing our clothes We washed
everything we had. To kill time. To.
ward shutdown we hid ourselves in q
room IF the palace. Harvey and |
were determined to start. but Lass
and Neisser could not make up their
minds
I've gone this far and I've missed
the + O'Clock rarporte," | said. land
I'm going"
Nearly Betrayed by Wall.
We waited until we heard the guard
changed above us. knew then il
was o'clock. Then we started down
the hill The slope was cut up with
a numhf Of stone walls We scram.
hled over the first of these. Coming
over. Harvey dislndeed a number of
stones. They clattered down the wall
We lay hreathless. waiting for a ma.
chine gun burst from the camp above
nut nothing happened. Several min.
ntes later we started again The next
wall we took more cautiously, and so
IN until we had reached the fields
below Sueida
We had picked a moonless night. !
TOOK my bearings on star | calcu.
lated would hiring US out of the hills
AT point where we could pick IN the
signal lights of Rosra and Gazalie
livery night Gazalie Sicnaled Rosra.
which in turn Signaled Sueida. which
IN turn was in communication with
Ezra.
We Travelled until dawn. Then we
hid in a mass of rocks on top Of
hill. When ii became light enough |
made a reconnaissance. | discovered
that we were right on the hill. in front
81 Mousseifre. over which the Druse
had poured in the first action I saw
in Syria. had intended hearing
more 10 the left. but during the night
the others thought | was too far over
and we had got hit off our course,
BIT ! was not alarmed ut this. We
were still well in line with our oh.
jective.
Hid Until Sunset.
We ate breakfast. smoked a cigar.
cite or two. and took turns watching
and sleeping. We could see Sueida
from our hiding place. There seemed
no signs of unusual activity. But
there were too many people wander.
ing round with plows for our com