Evening star., 1932-10-30

by. Hello, you, shouted, 'bOrder In
spector!' He stopped, plucky young
fellow-I jumped in and sped after
the other car. Five times shot at the
tires, but the car rushed OF. You still
have one more bullet said to myself,
but that is the last. There in the big
curve you must flatten his tires or he
will escape
"At the curve we were nearer him, and
1 let the last bullet fly. Crash-the tire
f1attened, he lost control of the steering
gear and ran against the rocks. Three
of his ribs were broken when we pulled
him out of his cage We laid him by the
roadside and looked over his load. Three
thousand pounds of coffee. A fine haul.
Three of my colleagues came along
almost at once, also many people from
the country about, who wanted share
Suddenly thought I saw a ghost-the
smuggler, who until then could not even
speak, sprang up from the road, jumped
on a bicycle and disappeared-with his
three broken ribs. The four of us went
after him, and after half mile we had
him. SWINE he said as we laid hold OF
him, four against one, that is nothing
to be proud OF!
\A/E had arrived at the place where the
w attack tonight was expected. Be-
fore us lay rolling meadow land cut with
bitches, hillocks thickly covered with
brush, between them narrow paths. We
were forbidden to speak further. In
silence we lay in the brush and waited.
band pass by in order to close their
retreat.
I locked at the men lying near me,
close against the damp earth, their fea-
lures clearly discernible in the livid
moonlight. Hard, tense faces-like
hunters in shooting box-only here it
was a hunt on human beings.
Faraway rolled train; COW in the
pasture mooed emptily. The minutes
dragged by Beyond, on the other side
of the border, tower clock struck 1890.
Then, suddenly, out of the darkness
appeared a form on bicycle; cautious
ly, like the leader of herd of animals,
he eyed the lay of the land, then rode
on, hardly three meters from us.
rs that a accommodating party?" I
whispered. A hand was laid heavily on
my mouth. The Bavarian nodded. In
the same moment from behind us came
a call: Halt! Border Inspector"
A shot broke the stiffness, and then
we heard long shrill bowling -Aii-aiii.
We jumped up. "Damn!" yelled the
Bavarian, now that idiot has shot the
pathfinder. And the band has slipped
through our hands," In confirmation
thereof came the cracking and snap
ping of breaking twigs and brush from
the valley below us.
We ran to the place where the shot
had resounded. A man lay in the grass,
motionless, eyes closed.
"Dead?"
"No, only shot in the leg"
A stream of reproaches poured upon
the unlucky rif1eman, young officer
who, in his excitement, had shot too soon.
The border law Is hard law.
COUTH of Aachen is a German country
- road which leads through Belgian
territory. 1t forms small Belgian en-
clave, cut off from the motherland by
the road, which has become snug
glers' Ell Dorado. Here colonies of Bel
gian stands have sprung up, and much
of their business consists of illegal ex-
porting. To German customs officials
falls the task of escorting trucks which
bring goods from Belgium into the en-
clave over the German road. And most
of what comes in during the day is
smuggled across the border at night, they
say
Farther north Belgian railroad runs
straight through German territory-the