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diff --git a/42490-8.txt b/42490-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c999ba --- /dev/null +++ b/42490-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6205 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Outwitting the Hun, by Pat O'Brien + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Outwitting the Hun + My Escape from a German Prison Camp + +Author: Pat O'Brien + +Release Date: April 8, 2013 [EBook #42490] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUTWITTING THE HUN *** + + + + +Produced by sp1nd, Richard J. Shiffer and the Distributed +Proofreading volunteers at http://www.pgdp.net for Project +Gutenberg. (This file was produced from images generously +made available by The Internet Archive.) + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text +as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and +other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an obvious +error is noted at the end of this ebook.] + + + + +OUTWITTING THE HUN + + +[Illustration: LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN, R. F. C.] + + + + + OUTWITTING + THE HUN + + _My Escape from a + German Prison Camp_ + + BY + + LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN + + _Royal Flying Corps_ + + ILLUSTRATED + + [Illustration] + + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS + NEW YORK AND LONDON + + + OUTWITTING THE HUN + + + Copyright, 1918, by Lieutenant Pat O'Brien + Printed in the United States of America + Published March, 1918 + + + + + TO + + THE NORTH STAR + + WHOSE GUIDING LIGHT MARKED THE + PATHWAY TO FREEDOM FOR A WEARY + FUGITIVE, THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED + IN HUMBLE GRATITUDE + AND ABIDING FAITH + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + PREFACE xi + + I. THE FOLLY OF DESPAIR 1 + + II. I BECOME A FIGHTING-SCOUT 7 + + III. CAPTURED BY THE HUNS 21 + + IV. CLIPPED WINGS 34 + + V. THE PRISON-CAMP AT COURTRAI 53 + + VI. A LEAP FOR LIBERTY 77 + + VII. CRAWLING THROUGH GERMANY 88 + + VIII. NINE DAYS IN LUXEMBOURG 97 + + IX. I ENTER BELGIUM 112 + + X. EXPERIENCES IN BELGIUM 132 + + XI. I ENCOUNTER GERMAN SOLDIERS 145 + + XII. THE FORGED PASSPORT 159 + + XIII. FIVE DAYS IN AN EMPTY HOUSE 186 + + XIV. A NIGHT OF DISSIPATION 207 + + XV. OBSERVATIONS IN A BELGIAN CITY 219 + + XVI. I APPROACH THE FRONTIER 225 + + XVII. GETTING THROUGH THE LINES 236 + + XVIII. EXPERIENCES IN HOLLAND 250 + + XIX. I AM PRESENTED TO THE KING 273 + + XX. HOME AGAIN! 281 + + +[Transcriber's Note: Illustrations were interleaved between pages in the +original text. In this version, they have been moved to be between +paragraphs. Page numbers below reflect the position of the illustration +in the original text.] + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN, R. F. C. _Frontispiece_ + + THE AEROPLANE WHICH LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN + USED IN HIS LAST BATTLE WITH THE HUNS + WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT DOWN AND + MADE PRISONER _Facing p._ 30 + + THE IDENTIFICATION DISK WORN BY LIEUTENANT + O'BRIEN WHEN HE WAS CAPTURED + BY THE HUNS. IT REVEALED TO + THEM THAT HE WAS AN AMERICAN " 36 + + LIEUT. PAUL H. RANEY OF TORONTO AND LIEUT. + PAT O'BRIEN " 50 + + MAILING-CARD SENT BY GERMAN GOVERNMENT + TO PAT O'BRIEN'S SISTER, MRS. CLARA + CLEGG OF MOMENCE, ILLINOIS " 60 + + OBVERSE SIDE OF CARD SHOWN ABOVE " 60 + + A GROUP OF PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE PRISON-CAMP + AT COURTRAI, BELGIUM " 70 + + THE FORGED PASSPORT PREPARED IN A BELGIAN + CITY TO AID LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN'S + ESCAPE INTO HOLLAND, BUT WHICH WAS + NEVER USED " 164 + + COPY OF TELEGRAM INVITING LIEUTENANT + O'BRIEN TO MEET KING GEORGE " 270 + + COPY OF TELEGRAM SENT BY LIEUTENANT + O'BRIEN IN ANSWER TO AN INVITATION + TO MEET KING GEORGE " 270 + + + + +PREFACE + + +There is a common idea that the age of miracles is past. Perhaps it +is, but if so, the change must have come about within the past few +weeks--after I escaped into Holland. For if anything is certain in this +life it is this: this book never would have been written but for the +succession of miracles set forth in these pages. + +Miracles, luck, coincidence, Providence--it doesn't matter much what you +call it--certainly played an important part in the series of hairbreadth +escapes in which I figured during my short but eventful appearance in +the great drama now being enacted across the seas. Without it, all my +efforts and sufferings would have been quite unavailing. + +No one realizes this better than I do and I want to repeat it right here +because elsewhere in these pages I may appear occasionally to overlook +or minimize it: without the help of Providence I would not be here +to-day. + +But this same Providence which brought me home safely, despite all the +dangers which beset me, may work similar miracles for others, and it is +in the hope of encouraging other poor devils who may find themselves in +situations as hopeless apparently as mine oftentimes were that this book +is written. + +When this cruel war is over--which I trust may be sooner than I expect +it to be--I hope I shall have an opportunity to revisit the scenes of my +adventures and to thank in person in an adequate manner every one who +extended a helping hand to me when I was a wretched fugitive. All of +them took great risks in befriending an escaped prisoner, and they did +it without the slightest hope of reward. At the same time I hope I shall +have a chance to pay my compliments to those who endeavored to take +advantage of my distress. + +In the meanwhile, however, I can only express my thanks in this +ineffective manner, trusting that in some mysterious way a copy of this +book may fall into the hands of every one who befriended me. I hope +particularly that every good Hollander who played the part of the Good +Samaritan to me so bountifully after my escape from Belgium will see +these pages and feel that I am absolutely sincere when I say that words +cannot begin to express my sense of gratitude to the Dutch people. + +It is needless for me to add how deeply I feel for my fellow-prisoners +in Germany who were less fortunate than I. Poor, poor fellows!--they are +the real victims of the war. I hope that every one of them may soon be +restored to that freedom whose value I never fully realized until after +I had had to fight so hard to regain it. + + PAT O'BRIEN. + + MOMENCE, ILLINOIS, _January 14, 1918_. + + + + +OUTWITTING THE HUN + + + + +I + +THE FOLLY OF DESPAIR + + +Less than nine months ago eighteen officers of the Royal Flying Corps, +which had been training in Canada, left for England on the _Megantic_. + +If any of them was over twenty-five years of age, he had successfully +concealed the fact, because they don't accept older men for the R. F. C. + +Nine of the eighteen were British subjects; the other nine were +Americans, who, tired of waiting for their own country to take her place +with the Allies, had joined the British colors in Canada. I was one of +the latter. + +We were going to England to earn our "wings"--a qualification which must +be won before a member of the R. F. C. is allowed to hunt the Huns on +the western front. + +That was in May, 1917. + +By August 1st most of us were full-fledged pilots, actively engaged at +various parts of the line in daily conflict with the enemy. + +By December 15th every man Jack of us who had met the enemy in France, +with one exception, had appeared on the casualty list. The exception +was H. K. Boysen, an American, who at last report was fighting on the +Italian front, still unscathed. Whether his good fortune has stood by +him up to this time I don't know, but if it has I would be very much +surprised. + +Of the others five were killed in action--three Americans, one Canadian, +and one Englishman. Three more were in all probability killed in action, +although officially they are listed merely as "missing." One of these +was an American, one a Canadian, and the third a Scotchman. Three more, +two of them Americans, were seriously wounded. Another, a Canadian, is +a prisoner in Germany. I know nothing of the others. + +What happened to me is narrated in these pages. I wish, instead, I could +tell the story of each of my brave comrades, for not one of them was +downed, I am sure, without upholding the best traditions of the R. F. +C. Unfortunately, however, of the eighteen who sailed on the _Megantic_ +last May, I happened to be the first to fall into the hands of the Huns, +and what befell my comrades after that, with one exception, I know only +second hand. + +The exception was the case of poor, brave Paul Raney--my closest +chum--whose last battle I witnessed from my German prison--but that is a +story I shall tell in its proper place. + +In one way, however, I think the story of my own "big adventure" and my +miraculous escape may, perhaps, serve a purpose as useful as that of +the heroic fate of my less fortunate comrades. Their story, it is true, +might inspire others to deeds of heroism, but mine, I hope, will convey +the equally valuable lesson of the folly of despair. + +Many were the times in the course of my struggles when it seemed +absolutely useless to continue. In a hostile country, where discovery +meant death, wounded, sick, famished, friendless, hundreds of miles +from the nearest neutral territory the frontier of which was so closely +guarded that even if I got there it seemed too much to hope that I could +ever get through, what was the use of enduring further agony? + +And yet here I am, in the Land of Liberty--although in a somewhat +obscure corner, the little town of Momence, Illinois, where I was +born--not very much the worse for wear after all I've been through, and, +as I write these words, not eight months have passed since my seventeen +comrades and I sailed from Canada on the _Megantic_! + +Can it be possible that I was spared to convey a message of hope to +others who are destined for similar trials? I am afraid there will be +many of them. + +Years ago I heard of the epitaph which is said to have been found on a +child's grave: + + If I was so soon to be done for, + O Lord, what was I ever begun for? + +The way it has come to me since I returned from Europe is: + + If, O Lord, I was _not_ to be done for, + What were my sufferings e'er begun for? + +Perhaps the answer lies in the suggestion I have made. + +At any rate, if this record of my adventures should prove instrumental +in sustaining others who need encouragement, I shall not feel that my +sufferings were in vain. + +It is hardly likely that any one will quite duplicate my experiences, +but I haven't the slightest doubt that many will have to go through +trials equally nerve-racking and suffer disappointments just as +disheartening. + +It would be very far from the mark to imagine that the optimism which I +am preaching now so glibly sustained me through all my troubles. On the +contrary, I am free to confess that I frequently gave way to despair +and often, for hours at a time, felt so dejected and discouraged that +I really didn't care what happened to me. Indeed, I rather hoped that +something _would_ happen to put an end to my misery. + +But, despite all my despondency and hopelessness, the worst never +happened, and I can't help thinking that my salvation must have been +designed to show the way to others. + + + + +II + +I BECOME A FIGHTING-SCOUT + + +I started flying, in Chicago, in 1912. I was then eighteen years old, +but I had had a hankering for the air ever since I can remember. + +As a youngster I followed the exploits of the Wrights with the greatest +interest, although I must confess I sometimes hoped that they wouldn't +really conquer the air until I had had a whack at it myself. I got more +whacks than I was looking for later on. + +Needless to say, my parents were very much opposed to my risking my +life at what was undoubtedly at that time one of the most hazardous +"pastimes" a young fellow could select, and every time I had a smash-up +or some other mishap I was ordered never to go near an aviation field +again. + +So I went out to California. There another fellow and I built our own +machine, which we flew in various parts of the state. + +In the early part of 1916, when trouble was brewing in Mexico, I joined +the American Flying Corps. I was sent to San Diego, where the army +flying school is located, and spent about eight months there, but as I +was anxious to get into active service and there didn't seem much chance +of America ever getting into the war, I resigned and, crossing over to +Canada, joined the Royal Flying Corps at Victoria, B. C. + +I was sent to Camp Borden, Toronto, first to receive instruction and +later to instruct. While a cadet I made the first loop ever made +by a cadet in Canada, and after I had performed the stunt I half +expected to be kicked out of the service for it. Apparently, however, +they considered the source and let it go at that. Later on I had the +satisfaction of introducing the loop as part of the regular course of +instruction for cadets in the R. F. C., and I want to say right here +that Camp Borden has turned out some of the best fliers that have ever +gone to France. + +In May, 1917, I and seventeen other Canadian fliers left for England on +the _Megantic_, where we were to qualify for service in France. + +Our squadron consisted of nine Americans, C. C. Robinson, H. A. Miller, +F. S. McClurg, A. A. Allen, E. B. Garnett, H. K. Boysen, H. A. Smeeton, +A. Taylor, and myself; and nine Britishers, Paul H. Raney, J. R. Park, +C. Nelmes, C. R. Moore, T. L. Atkinson, F. C. Conry, A. Muir, E. A. L. +F. Smith, and A. C. Jones. + +Within a few weeks after our arrival in England all of us had won our +"wings"--the insignia worn on the left breast by every pilot on the +western front. + +We were all sent to a place in France known as the Pool Pilots' Mess. +Here men gather from all the training squadrons in Canada and England +and await assignments to the particular squadron of which they are to +become members. + +The Pool Pilots' Mess is situated a few miles back of the lines. +Whenever a pilot is shot down or killed the Pool Pilots' Mess is +notified to send another to take his place. + +There are so many casualties every day in the R. F. C. at one point of +the front or another that the demand for new pilots is quite active, +but when a fellow is itching to get into the fight as badly as I and my +friends were I must confess that we got a little impatient, although we +realized that every time a new man was called it meant that some one +else had, in all probability, been killed, wounded, or captured. + +One morning an order came in for a scout pilot, and one of my friends +was assigned. I can tell you the rest of us were as envious of him as +if it were the last chance any of us were ever going to have to get to +the front. As it was, however, hardly more than three hours had elapsed +before another wire was received at the Mess and I was ordered to +follow my friend. I afterward learned that as soon as he arrived at the +squadron he had prevailed upon the commanding officer of the squadron to +wire for me. + +At the Pool Pilots' Mess it was the custom of the officers to wear +"shorts"--breeches that are about eight inches long, like the Boy Scouts +wear, leaving a space of about eight inches of open country between the +top of the puttees and the end of the "shorts." The Australians wore +them in Salonica and at the Dardanelles. + +When the order came in for me, I had these "shorts" on, and I didn't +have time to change into other clothes. Indeed, I was in such a sweat to +get to the front that if I had been in my pajamas I think I would have +gone that way. As it was, it was raining and I threw an overcoat over +me, jumped into the machine, and we made record time to the aerodrome to +which I had been ordered to report. + +As I alighted from the automobile my overcoat blew open and displayed +my manly form attired in "shorts" instead of in the regulation flying +breeches, and the sight aroused considerable commotion in camp. + +"Must be a Yankee!" I overheard one officer say to another as I +approached. "No one but a Yank would have the cheek to show up that way, +you know!" + +But they laughed good-naturedly as I came up to them and welcomed me to +the squadron, and I was soon very much at home. + +My squadron was one of four stationed at an aerodrome about eighteen +miles back of the Ypres line. There were eighteen pilots in our +squadron, which was a scout-squadron, scout-machines carrying but one +man. + +A scout, sometimes called a fighting-scout, has no bomb-dropping or +reconnoitering to do. His duty is just to fight, or, as the order was +given to me, "You are expected to pick fights and not wait until they +come to you!" + +When bomb-droppers go out over the lines in the daytime, a +scout-squadron usually convoys them. The bomb-droppers fly at about +twelve thousand feet, the scouts a thousand feet or so above them to +protect them. + +If at any time they should be attacked, it is the duty of the scouts to +dive down and carry on the fight, the orders of the bomb-droppers being +to go on dropping bombs and not to fight unless they have to. There is +seldom a time that machines go out over the lines on this work in the +daytime that they are not attacked at some time or other, and so the +scouts usually have plenty of work to do. In addition to these attacks, +however, the squadron is invariably under constant bombardment from the +ground, but that doesn't worry us very much, as we know pretty well how +to avoid being hit from that quarter. + +On my first flight, after joining the squadron, I was taken out over +the lines to get a look at things, map out my location in case I was +ever lost, locate the forests, lakes, and other landmarks, and get the +general lay of the land. + +One thing that was impressed upon me very emphatically was the location +of the hospitals, so that in case I was ever wounded and had the +strength to pick my landing I could land as near as possible to a +hospital. All these things a new pilot goes through during the first two +or three days after joining a squadron. + +Our regular routine was two flights a day, each of two hours' duration. +After doing our regular patrol, it was our privilege to go off on our +own hook, if we wished, before going back to the squadron. + +I soon found out that my squadron was some hot squadron, our fliers +being almost always assigned to special-duty work, such as shooting up +trenches at a height of fifty feet from the ground! + +I received my baptism into this kind of work the third time I went out +over the lines, and I would recommend it to any one who is hankering for +excitement. You are not only apt to be attacked by hostile aircraft from +above, but you are swept by machine-gun fire from below. I have seen +some of our machines come back from this work sometimes so riddled with +bullets that I wondered how they ever held together. Before we started +out on one of these jobs we were mighty careful to see that our motors +were in perfect condition, because they told us the "war-bread was bad +in Germany." + +One morning, shortly after I joined the squadron, three of us started +over the line on our own accord. We soon observed four enemy machines, +two-seaters, coming toward us. This type of machine is used by the Huns +for artillery work and bomb-dropping, and we knew they were on mischief +bent. Each machine had a machine-gun in front, worked by the pilot, and +the observer also had a gun with which he could spray all around. + +When we first noticed the Huns our machines were about six miles back of +the German lines and we were lying high up in the sky, keeping the sun +behind us, so that the enemy could not see us. + +We picked out three of the machines and dove down on them. I went right +by the man I picked for myself and his observer in the rear seat kept +pumping at me to beat the band. Not one of my shots took effect as I +went right under him, but I turned and gave him another burst of bullets +and down he went in a spinning nose dive, one of his wings going one way +and one another. As I saw him crash to the ground I knew that I had got +my first hostile aircraft. One of my comrades was equally successful, +but the other two German machines got away. We chased them back until +things got too hot for us by reason of the appearance of other German +machines, and then we called it a day. + +This experience whetted my appetite for more of the same kind, and I did +not have long to wait. + +It may be well to explain here just what a spinning nose dive is. A +few years ago the spinning nose dive was considered one of the most +dangerous things a pilot could attempt, and many men were killed +getting into this spin and not knowing how to come out of it. In fact, +lots of pilots thought that when once you got into a spinning nose dive +there was no way of coming out of it. It is now used, however, in actual +flying. + +The machines that are used in France are controlled in two ways, both +by hands and by feet, the feet working the yoke or rudder bar which +controls the rudder that steers the machine. The lateral controls and +fore and aft, which cause the machine to rise or lower, are controlled +by a contrivance called a "joy-stick." If, when flying in the air, a +pilot should release his hold on this stick, it will gradually come back +toward the pilot. + +In that position the machine will begin to climb. So if a pilot is shot +and loses control of this "joy-stick" his machine begins to ascend, and +climbs until the angle formed becomes too great for it to continue or +the motor to pull the plane; for a fraction of a second it stops, and +the motor then being the heaviest, it causes the nose of the machine to +fall forward, pitching down at a terrific rate of speed and spinning at +the same time. If the motor is still running, it naturally increases the +speed much more than it would if the motor were shut off, and there is +great danger that the wings will double up, causing the machine to break +apart. Although spins are made with the motor on, you are dropping like +a ball being dropped out of the sky and the velocity increases with the +power of the motor. + +This spinning nose dive has been frequently used in "stunt" flying in +recent years, but is now put to practical use by pilots in getting +away from hostile machines, for when a man is spinning, it is almost +impossible to hit him, and the man making the attack invariably thinks +his enemy is going down to certain death in the spin. + +This is all right when a man is over his own territory, because he can +right his machine and come out of it; but if it happens over German +territory, the Huns would only follow him down, and when he came out of +the spin they would be above him, having all the advantage, and would +shoot him down with ease. + +It is a good way of getting down into a cloud, and is used very often +by both sides, but it requires skill and courage by the pilot making it +if he ever expects to come out alive. + +A spin being made by a pilot intentionally looks exactly like a spin +that is made by a machine actually being shot down, so one never knows +whether it is forced or intentional until the pilot either rights his +machine and comes out of it or crashes to the ground. + +Another dive similar to this one is known as just the plain "dive." +Assume, for instance, that a pilot flying at a height of several +thousand feet is shot, loses control of his machine, and the nose of the +plane starts down with the motor full on. He is going at a tremendous +speed and in many instances is going so straight and swiftly that the +speed is too great for the machine, because it was never constructed +to withstand the enormous pressure forced against the wings, and they +consequently crumple up. + +If, too, in an effort to straighten the machine, the elevators should +become affected, as often happens in trying to bring a machine out of +a dive, the strain is again too great on the wings, and there is the +same disastrous result. Oftentimes, when the petrol-tank is punctured by +a tracer-bullet from another machine in the air, the plane that is hit +catches on fire and either gets into a spin or a straight dive and heads +for the earth, hundreds of miles an hour, a mass of flame, looking like +a brilliant comet in the sky. + +The spinning nose dive is used to greater advantage by the Germans than +by our own pilots, for the reason that when a fight gets too hot for the +German he will put his machine in a spin, and as the chances are nine +out of ten that we are fighting over German territory, he simply spins +down out of our range, straightens out before he reaches the ground, and +goes on home to his aerodrome. It is useless to follow him down inside +the German lines, for you would in all probability be shot down before +you could attain sufficient altitude to cross the line again. + +It often happens that a pilot will be chasing another machine when +suddenly he sees it start to spin. Perhaps they are fifteen or eighteen +thousand feet in the air, and the hostile machine spins down for +thousands of feet. He thinks he has hit the other machine and goes home +happy that he has brought down another Hun. He reports the occurrence to +the squadron, telling how he shot down his enemy; but when the rest of +the squadron come in with their report, or some artillery observation +balloon sends in a report, it develops that when a few hundred feet from +the ground the supposed dead man in the spin has come out of the spin +and gone merrily on his way for his own aerodrome. + + + + +III + +CAPTURED BY THE HUNS + + +I shall not easily forget the 17th of August, 1917. I killed two Huns in +a double-seated machine in the morning, another in the evening, and then +I was captured myself. I may have spent more eventful days in my life, +but I can't recall any just now. + +That morning, in crossing the line on early morning patrol, I noticed +two German balloons. I decided that as soon as my patrol was over I +would go off on my own hook and see what a German balloon looked like at +close quarters. + +These observation balloons are used by both sides in conjunction with +the artillery. A man sits up in the balloon with a wireless apparatus +and directs the firing of the guns. From his point of vantage he can +follow the work of his own artillery with a remarkable degree of +accuracy and at the same time he can observe the enemy's movements and +report them. + +The Germans are very good at this work and they use a great number of +these balloons. It was considered a very important part of our work to +keep them out of the sky. + +There are two ways of going after a balloon in a machine. One of them is +to cross the lines at a low altitude, flying so near the ground that the +man with the anti-aircraft gun can't bother you. You fly along until you +get to the level of the balloon, and if, in the mean time, they have not +drawn the balloon down, you open fire on it and the bullets you use will +set it on fire if they land. + +The other way is to fly over where you know the balloons to be, put your +machine in a spin so that they can't hit you, get above them, spin over +the balloon, and then open fire. In going back over the line you cross +at a few hundred feet. + +This is one of the hardest jobs in the service. There is less danger in +attacking an enemy's aircraft. + +Nevertheless, I had made up my mind either to get those balloons or +make them descend, and I only hoped that they would stay on the job +until I had a chance at them. + +When our two hours' duty was up, therefore, I dropped out of the +formation as we crossed the lines and turned back again. + +I was at a height of fifteen thousand feet, considerably higher than +the balloons. Shutting my motor off, I dropped down through the clouds, +thinking to find the balloons at about five or six miles behind the +German lines. + +Just as I came out of the cloud-banks I saw below me, about a thousand +feet, a two-seater hostile machine doing artillery observation and +directing the German guns. This was at a point about four miles behind +the German lines. + +Evidently the German artillery saw me and put out ground signals to +attract the Hun machine's attention, for I saw the observer quit his +work and grab his gun, while the pilot stuck the nose of his machine +straight down. + +But they were too late to escape me. I was diving toward them at a speed +of probably two hundred miles an hour, shooting all the time as fast as +possible. Their only chance lay in the possibility that the force of my +dive might break my wings. I knew my danger in that direction, but as +soon as I came out of my dive the Huns would have their chance to get +me, and I knew I had to get them first and take a chance on my wings +holding out. + +Fortunately, some of my first bullets found their mark and I was able to +come out of my dive at about four thousand feet. They never came out of +theirs! + +But right then came the hottest situation in the air I had experienced +up to that time. The depth of my dive had brought me within reach of the +machine-guns from the ground and they also put a "barrage" around me of +shrapnel from anti-aircraft guns, and I had an opportunity to "ride the +barrage," as they call it in the R. F. C. To make the situation more +interesting, they began shooting "flaming onions" at me. + +"Flaming onions" are rockets shot from a rocket-gun. They are used to +hit a machine when it is flying low and they are effective up to about +five thousand feet. Sometimes they are shot up one after another in +strings of about eight, and they are one of the hardest things to go +through. If they hit the machine it is bound to catch fire and then the +jig is up. + +All the time, too, I was being attacked by "Archie"--the anti-aircraft +fire. I escaped the machine-guns and the "flaming onions," but "Archie" +got me four or five times. Every time a bullet plugged me, or rather my +machine, it made a loud bang, on account of the tension on the material +covering the wings. + +None of their shots hurt me until I was about a mile from our lines, +and then they hit my motor. Fortunately I still had altitude enough +to drift on to our own side of the lines, for my motor was completely +out of commission. They just raised the dickens with me all the time I +was descending, and I began to think I would strike the ground before +crossing the line, but there was a slight wind in my favor and it +carried me two miles behind our lines. There the balloons I had gone out +to get had the satisfaction of "pin-pointing" me. Through the directions +which they were able to give to their artillery, they commenced shelling +my machine where it lay. + +Their particular work is to direct the fire of their artillery, and they +are used just as the artillery observation airplanes are. Usually two +men are stationed in each balloon. They ascend to a height of several +thousand feet about five miles behind their own lines and are equipped +with wireless and signaling apparatus. They watch the burst of their own +artillery, check up the position, get the range, and direct the next +shot. + +When conditions are favorable they are able to direct the shots so +accurately that it is a simple matter to destroy the object of their +attack. It was such a balloon as this that got my position, marked +me out, called for an artillery shot, and they commenced shelling my +machine where it lay. If I had got the two balloons instead of the +airplane, I probably would not have lost my machine, for he would in all +probability have gone on home and not bothered about getting my range +and causing the destruction of my machine. + +I landed in a part of the country that was literally covered with +shell-holes. Fortunately my machine was not badly damaged by the forced +landing. I leisurely got out, walked around it to see what the damage +was, and concluded that it could be easily repaired. In fact, I thought, +if I could find a space long enough between shell-holes to get a start +before leaving the ground, that I would be able to fly on from there. + +I was still examining my plane and considering the matter of a few +slight repairs, without any particular thought for my own safety in that +unprotected spot, when a shell came whizzing through the air, knocked me +to the ground, and landed a few feet away. It had no sooner struck than +I made a run for cover and crawled into a shell-hole. I would have liked +to have got farther away, but I didn't know where the next shell would +burst, and I thought I was fairly safe there, so I squatted down and let +them blaze away. + +The only damage I suffered was from the mud which splattered up in my +face and over my clothes. That was my introduction to a shell-hole, and +I resolved right there that the infantry could have all the shell-hole +fighting they wanted, but it did not appeal to me, though they live in +them through many a long night and I had only sought shelter there for +a few minutes. + +After the Germans had completely demolished my machine and ceased firing +I waited there a short time, fearing perhaps they might send over a +lucky shot, hoping to get me, after all. But evidently they concluded +enough shells had been wasted on one man. I crawled out cautiously, +shook the mud off, and looked over in the direction where my machine +had once been. There wasn't enough left for a decent souvenir, but +nevertheless I got a few, such as they were, and, readily observing that +nothing could be done with what was left, I made my way back to infantry +headquarters, where I was able to telephone in a report. + +A little later one of our automobiles came out after me and took me back +to our aerodrome. Most of my squadron thought I was lost beyond a doubt +and never expected to see me again; but my friend, Paul Raney, had held +out that I was all right, and, as I was afterward told, "Don't send for +another pilot; that Irishman will be back if he has to walk." And he +knew that the only thing that kept me from walking was the fact that +our own automobile had been sent out to bring me home. + +I had lots to think about that day, and I had learned many things; one +was not to have too much confidence in my own ability. One of the men in +the squadron told me that I had better not take those chances; that it +was going to be a long war and I would have plenty of opportunities to +be killed without deliberately "wishing them on" myself. Later I was to +learn the truth of his statement. + +That night my "flight"--each squadron is divided into three flights +consisting of six men each--got ready to go out again. As I started to +put on my tunic I noticed that I was not marked up for duty as usual. + +I asked the commanding officer, a major, what the reason for that was, +and he replied that he thought I had done enough for one day. However, +I knew that if I did not go, some one else from another "flight" would +have to take my place, and I insisted upon going up with my patrol as +usual, and the major reluctantly consented. Had he known what was in +store for me I am sure he wouldn't have changed his mind so readily. + +As it was, we had only five machines for this patrol, anyway, because +as we crossed the lines one of them had to drop out on account of motor +trouble. Our patrol was up at 8 P.M., and up to within ten minutes of +that hour it had been entirely uneventful. + +At 7.50 P.M., however, while we were flying at a height of sixteen +thousand feet, we observed three other English machines which were about +three thousand feet below us pick a fight with nine Hun machines. + +I knew right then that we were in for it, because I could see over +toward the ocean a whole flock of Hun machines which evidently had +escaped the attention of our scrappy comrades below us. + +So we dove down on those nine Huns. + +At first the fight was fairly even. There were eight of us to nine of +them. But soon the other machines which I had seen in the distance, and +which were flying even higher than we were, arrived on the scene, and +when they, in turn, dove down on us, there was just twenty of them to +our eight! + +[Illustration: THE AEROPLANE WHICH LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN USED IN HIS LAST +BATTLE WITH THE HUNS WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT DOWN AND MADE PRISONER] + +Four of them singled me out. I was diving and they dove right down +after me, shooting as they came. Their tracer-bullets were coming closer +to me every moment. These tracer-bullets are balls of fire which enable +the shooter to follow the course his bullets are taking and to correct +his aim accordingly. They do no more harm to a pilot if he is hit than +an ordinary bullet, but if they hit the petrol-tank, good night! When +a machine catches fire in flight there is no way of putting it out. It +takes less than a minute for the fabric to burn off the wings, and then +the machine drops like an arrow, leaving a trail of smoke like a comet. + +As their tracer-bullets came closer and closer to me I realized that my +chances of escape were nil. Their very next shot, I felt, must hit me. + +Once, some days before, when I was flying over the line I had watched a +fight above me. A German machine was set on fire and dove down through +our formation in flame on its way to the ground. The Hun was diving at +such a sharp angle that both his wings came off, and as he passed within +a few hundred feet of me I saw the look of horror upon his face. + +Now, when I expected any moment to suffer a similar fate, I could not +help thinking of that poor Hun's last look of agony. + +I realized that my only chance lay in making an Immermann turn. This +maneuver was invented by a German--one of the greatest who ever flew +and who was killed in action some time ago. This turn, which I made +successfully, brought one of their machines right in front of me, and as +he sailed along barely ten yards away I had "the drop" on him, and he +knew it. + +His white face and startled eyes I can still see. He knew beyond +question that his last moment had come, because his position prevented +his taking aim at me, while my gun pointed straight at him. My first +tracer-bullet passed within a yard of his head, the second looked as if +it hit his shoulder, the third struck him in the neck, and then I let +him have the whole works and he went down in a spinning nose dive. + +All this time the three other Hun machines were shooting away at me. I +could hear the bullets striking my machine one after another. I hadn't +the slightest idea that I could ever beat off those three Huns, but +there was nothing for me to do but fight, and my hands were full. + +In fighting, your machine is dropping, dropping all the time. I glanced +at my instruments and my altitude was between eight and nine thousand +feet. While I was still looking at the instruments the whole blamed +works disappeared. A burst of bullets went into the instrument board and +blew it to smithereens, another bullet went through my upper lip, came +out of the roof of my mouth and lodged in my throat, and the next thing +I knew was when I came to in a German hospital the following morning at +five o'clock, German time. + +I was a prisoner of war! + + + + +IV + +CLIPPED WINGS + + +The hospital in which I found myself on the morning after my capture +was a private house made of brick, very low and dirty, and not at all +adapted for use as a hospital. It had evidently been used but a few +days, on account of the big push that was taking place at that time of +the year, and in all probability would be abandoned as soon as they had +found a better place. + +In all, the house contained four rooms and a stable, which was by far +the largest of all. Although I never looked into this "wing" of the +hospital, I was told that it, too, was filled with patients, lying on +beds of straw around on the ground. I do not know whether they, too, +were officers or privates. + +The room in which I found myself contained eight beds, three of which +were occupied by wounded German officers. The other rooms, I imagined, +had about the same number of beds as mine. There were no Red Cross +nurses in attendance, just orderlies, for this was only an emergency +hospital and too near the firing-line for nurses. The orderlies were not +old men nor very young boys, as I expected to find, but young men in the +prime of life, who evidently had been medical students. One or two of +them, I discovered, were able to speak English, but for some reason they +would not talk. Perhaps they were forbidden by the officer in charge to +do so. + +In addition to the bullet wound in my mouth, I had a swelling from my +forehead to the back of my head almost as big as my shoe--and that is +saying considerable. I couldn't move an inch without suffering intense +pain, and when the doctor told me that I had no bones broken I wondered +how a fellow would feel who had. + +German officers visited me that morning and told me that my machine +went down in a spinning nose dive from a height of between eight and +nine thousand feet, and they had the surprise of their lives when they +discovered that I had not been dashed to pieces. They had to cut me out +of my machine, which was riddled with shots and shattered to bits. + +A German doctor removed the bullet from my throat, and the first thing +he said to me when I came to was, "You are an American!" + +There was no use denying it, because the metal identification disk on my +wrist bore the inscription, "Pat O'Brien, U. S. A. Royal Flying Corps." + +Although I was suffering intense agony, the doctor, who spoke perfect +English, insisted upon conversing with me. + +"You may be all right as a sportsman," he declared, "but you are a +damned murderer just the same for being here. You Americans who got into +this thing before America came into the war are no better than common +murderers and you ought to be treated the same way!" + +The wound in my mouth made it impossible for me to answer him, and I was +suffering too much pain to be hurt very much by anything he could say. + +[Illustration: THE IDENTIFICATION DISK WORN BY LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN +WHEN HE WAS CAPTURED BY THE HUNS. IT REVEALED TO THEM THAT HE WAS +AN AMERICAN] + +He asked me if I would like an apple! I could just as easily have eaten +a brick. + +When he got no answers out of me he walked away disgustedly. + +"You don't have to worry any more," he declared, as a parting shot; "for +you the war is over!" + +I was given a little broth later in the day, and as I began to collect +my thoughts I wondered what had happened to my comrades in the battle +which had resulted so disastrously to me. As I began to realize my +plight I worried less about my physical condition than the fact that, +as the doctor had pointed out, for me the war was practically over. I +had been in it but a short time, and now I would be a prisoner for the +duration of the war! + +The next day some German flying officers visited me, and I must say +they treated me with great consideration. They told me of the man I had +brought down. They said he was a Bavarian and a fairly good pilot. They +gave me his hat as a souvenir and complimented me on the fight I had put +up. + +My helmet, which was of soft leather, was split from front to back by +a bullet from a machine-gun and they examined it with great interest. +When they brought me my uniform I found that the star of my rank which +had been on my right shoulder-strap had been shot off clean. The one on +my left shoulder-strap they asked me for as a souvenir, as also my R. +F. C. badges, which I gave them. They allowed me to keep my "wings," +which I wore on my left breast, because they were aware that that is the +proudest possession of a British flying officer. + +I think I am right in saying that the only chivalry in this war on the +German side of the trenches has been displayed by the officers of the +German Flying Corps, which comprises the pick of Germany. They pointed +out to me that I and my comrades were fighting purely for the love of +it, whereas they were fighting in defense of their country, but still, +they said, they admired us for our sportsmanship. I had a notion to ask +them if dropping bombs on London and killing so many innocent people was +in defense of their country, but I was in no position or condition to +pick a quarrel at that time. + +That same day a German officer was brought into the hospital and put in +the bunk next to mine. Of course, I casually looked at him, but did not +pay any particular attention to him at that time. He lay there for three +or four hours before I did take a real good look at him. I was positive +that he could not speak English, and naturally I did not say anything to +him. + +Once when I looked over in his direction his eyes were on me and to my +surprise he said, very sarcastically, "What the hell are you looking +at?" and then smiled. At this time I was just beginning to say a few +words, my wound having made talking difficult, but I said enough to +let him know what I was doing there and how I happened to be there. +Evidently he had heard my story from some of the others, though, because +he said it was too bad I had not broken my neck; that he did not have +much sympathy with the Flying Corps, anyway. He asked me what part of +America I came from, and I told him "California." + +After a few more questions he learned that I hailed from San Francisco, +and then added to my distress by saying, "How would you like to have a +good juicy steak right out of the Hofbräu?" Naturally, I told him it +would "hit the spot," but I hardly thought my mouth was in shape just +then to eat it. I immediately asked, of course, what he knew about the +Hofbräu, and he replied, "I was connected with the place a good many +years, and I ought to know all about it." + +After that this German officer and I became rather chummy--that is, as +far as I could be chummy with an enemy, and we whiled away a good many +long hours talking about the days we had spent in San Francisco, and +frequently in the conversation one of us would mention some prominent +Californian, or some little incident occurring there, with which we were +both familiar. + +He told me when war was declared he was, of course, intensely patriotic +and thought the only thing for him to do was to go back and aid in the +defense of his country. He found that he could not go directly from San +Francisco because the water was too well guarded by the English, so he +boarded a boat for South America. There he obtained a forged passport +and in the guise of a Montevidean took passage for New York and from +there to England. + +He passed through England without any difficulty on his forged passport, +but concluded not to risk going to Holland, for fear of exciting too +much suspicion, so went down through the Strait of Gibraltar to Italy, +which was neutral at that time, up to Austria, and thence to Germany. +He said when they put in at Gibraltar, after leaving England, there +were two suspects taken off the ship, men that he was sure were neutral +subjects, but much to his relief his own passport and credentials were +examined and passed O. K. + +The Hun spoke of his voyage from America to England as being +exceptionally pleasant, and said he had had a fine time because he +associated with the English passengers on board, his fluent English +readily admitting him to several spirited arguments on the subject of +the war which he keenly enjoyed. + +One little incident he related revealed the remarkable tact which our +enemy displayed in his associations at sea, which no doubt resulted +advantageously for him. As he expressed it, he "made a hit" one evening +when the crowd had assembled for a little music by suggesting that they +sing "God Save the King." Thereafter his popularity was assured and the +desired effect accomplished, for very soon a French officer came up to +him and said, "It's too bad that England and ourselves haven't men in +our army like you." It was too bad, he agreed, in telling me about it, +because he was confident he could have done a whole lot more for Germany +if he had been in the English army. + +In spite of his apparent loyalty, however, the man didn't seem very +enthusiastic over the war and frankly admitted one day that the old +political battles waged in California were much more to his liking than +the battles he had gone through over here. On second thought he laughed +as though it were a good joke, but he evidently intended me to infer +that he had taken a keen interest in politics in San Francisco. + +When my "chummy enemy" first started his conversation with me the German +doctor in charge reprimanded him for talking to me, but he paid no +attention to the doctor, showing that some real Americanism had soaked +into his system while he had been in the U. S. A. + +I asked him one day what he thought the German people would do after +the war; if he thought they would make Germany a republic, and, much to +my surprise, he said, very bitterly, "If I had my way about it, I would +make her a republic to-day and hang the damned Kaiser in the bargain." +And yet he was considered an excellent soldier. I concluded, however, +that he must have been a German Socialist, though he never told me so. + +On one occasion I asked him for his name, but he said that I would +probably never see him again and it didn't matter what his name was. I +did not know whether he meant that the Germans would starve me out or +just what was on his mind, for at that time I am sure he did not figure +on dying. The first two or three days I was in the hospital I thought +surely he would be up and gone long before I was, but blood poisoning +set in about that time and just a few hours before I left for Courtrai +he died. + +One of those days, while my wound was still very troublesome, I was +given an apple; whether it was just to torment me, knowing that I could +not eat it, or whether for some other reason, I do not know. But, +anyway, a German flying officer there had several in his pockets and +gave me a nice one. Of course, there was no chance of my eating it, so +when the officer had gone and I discovered this San Francisco fellow +looking at it rather longingly I picked it up, intending to toss it over +to him. But he shook his head and said, "If this was San Francisco, I +would take it, but I cannot take it from you here." I was never able to +understand just why he refused the apple, for he was usually sociable +and a good fellow to talk to, but apparently he could not forget that +I was his enemy. However, that did not stop one of the orderlies from +eating the apple. + +One practice about the hospital which impressed me particularly was that +if a German soldier did not stand much chance of recovering sufficiently +to take his place again in the war, the doctors did not exert themselves +to see that he got well. But if a man had a fairly good chance of +recovering and they thought he might be of some further use, everything +that medical skill could possibly do was done for him. I don't know +whether this was done under orders or whether the doctors just followed +their own inclinations in such cases. + +My teeth had been badly jarred up from the shot, and I hoped that I +might have a chance to have them fixed when I reached Courtrai, the +prison where I was to be taken. So I asked the doctor if it would be +possible for me to have this work done there, but he very curtly told +me that though there were several dentists at Courtrai, they were +busy enough fixing the teeth of their own men without bothering about +mine. He also added that I would not have to worry about my teeth; +that I wouldn't be getting so much food that they would be put out of +commission by working overtime. I wanted to tell him that from the way +things looked he would not be wearing his out very soon, either. + +My condition improved during the next two days and on the fourth day of +my captivity I was well enough to write a brief message to my squadron +reporting that I was a prisoner of war and "feeling fine," although, +as a matter of fact, I was never so depressed in my life. I realized, +however, that if the message reached my comrades, it would be relayed +to my mother in Momence, Illinois, and I did not want to worry her more +than was absolutely necessary. It was enough for her to know that I was +a prisoner. She did not have to know that I was wounded. + +I had hopes that my message would be carried over the lines and dropped +by one of the German flying officers. That is a courtesy which is +usually practised on both sides. I recalled how patiently we had waited +in our aerodrome for news of our men who had failed to return, and I +could picture my squadron speculating on my fate. + +That is one of the saddest things connected with service in the R. F. +C. You don't care much what happens to you, but the constant casualties +among your friends is very depressing. + +You go out with your "flight" and get into a muss. You get scattered and +when your formation is broken up you finally wing your way home alone. + +Perhaps you are the first to land. Soon another machine shows in the +sky, then another, and you patiently wait for the rest to appear. +Within an hour, perhaps, all have shown up save one, and you begin to +speculate and wonder what has happened to him. + +Has he lost his way? Has he landed at some other aerodrome? Did the Huns +get him? + +When darkness comes you realize that, at any rate, he won't be back +that night, and you hope for a telephone-call from him telling of his +whereabouts. + +If the night passes without sign or word from him he is reported as +missing, and then you watch for his casualty to appear in the war-office +lists. + +One day, perhaps a month later, a message is dropped over the line by +the German Flying Corps with a list of pilots captured or killed by the +Huns, and then, for the first time, you know definitely why it was your +comrade failed to return the day he last went over the line with his +squadron. + +I was still musing over this melancholy phase of the scout's life when +an orderly told me there was a beautiful battle going on in the air, and +he volunteered to help me outside the hospital that I might witness it, +and I readily accepted his assistance. + +That afternoon I saw one of the gamest fights I ever expect to witness. + +There were six of our machines against perhaps sixteen Huns. From the +type of the British machines I knew that they might possibly be from my +own aerodrome. Two of our machines had been apparently picked out by six +of the Huns and were bearing the brunt of the fight. The contest seemed +to me to be so unequal that victory for our men was hardly to be thought +of, and yet at one time they so completely outmaneuvered the Huns that +I thought their superior skill might save the day for them, despite the +fact that they were so hopelessly outnumbered. One thing I was sure of: +they would never give in. + +Of course it would have been a comparatively simple matter for our men, +when they saw how things were going against them, to have turned their +noses down, landed behind the German lines, and given themselves up as +prisoners, but that is not the way of the R. F. C. + +A battle of this kind seldom lasts many minutes, although every second +seems like an hour to those who participate in it and even onlookers +suffer more thrills in the course of the struggle than they would +ordinarily experience in a lifetime. It is apparent even to a novice +that the loser's fate is death. + +Of course the Germans around the hospital were all watching and rooting +for their comrades, but the English, too, had one sympathizer in that +group who made no effort to stifle his admiration for the bravery his +comrades were displaying. + +The end came suddenly. Four machines crashed to earth almost +simultaneously. It was an even break--two of theirs and two of ours. The +others apparently returned to their respective lines. + +The wound in my mouth was bothering me considerably, but by means of a +pencil and paper I requested one of the German officers to find out for +me who the English officers were who had been shot down. + +A little later he returned and handed me a photograph taken from the +body of one of the victims. It was a picture of Paul Raney, of Toronto, +and myself, taken together! Poor Raney! He was the best friend I had and +one of the best and gamest men who ever fought in France! + +It was he, I learned long after, who, when I was reported missing, had +checked over all my belongings and sent them back to England with a +signed memorandum--which is now in my possession. Poor fellow, he little +realized then that but a day or two later he would be engaged in his +last heroic battle, with me a helpless onlooker! + +The same German officer who brought me the photograph also drew a map +for me of the exact spot where Raney was buried in Flanders. I guarded +it carefully all through my subsequent adventures and finally turned it +over to his father and mother when I visited them in Toronto to perform +the hardest and saddest duty I have ever been called upon to execute--to +confirm to them in person the tidings of poor Paul's death. + +The other British pilot who fell was also from my squadron and a man I +knew well--Lieutenant Keith, of Australia. I had given him a picture of +myself only a few hours before I started on my own disastrous flight. +He was one of the star pilots of our squadron and had been in many a +desperate battle before, but this time the odds were too great for +him. He put up a wonderful fight and he gave as much as he took. + +[Illustration: LIEUT. PAUL H. RANEY OF TORONTO AND LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN + +(Raney was killed in action before the eyes of O'Brien, who was a +prisoner of war. This picture, found on the body of Raney when he fell +behind the German lines, was handed to O'Brien to identify the victim.)] + +The next two days passed without incident and I was then taken to the +Intelligence Department of the German Flying Corps, which was located +about an hour from the hospital. There I was kept two days, during which +time they put a thousand and one questions to me. While I was there I +turned over to them the message I had written in the hospital and asked +them to have one of their fliers drop it on our side of the line. + +They asked me where I would like it dropped, thinking perhaps I would +give my aerodrome away, but when I smiled and shook my head they did not +insist upon an answer. + +"I'll drop it over ----," declared one of them, naming my aerodrome, +which revealed to me that their flying corps is as efficient as other +branches of the service in the matter of obtaining valuable information. + +And right here I want to say that the more I came to know of the enemy +the more keenly I realized what a difficult task we're going to have +to lick him. In all my subsequent experience the fact that there is a +heap of fight left in the Huns still was thoroughly brought home to me. +We shall win the war eventually, if we don't slow up too soon in the +mistaken idea that the Huns are ready to lie down. + +The flying officers who questioned me were extremely anxious to find out +all they could about the part America is going to play in the war, but +they evidently came to the conclusion that America hadn't taken me very +deeply into her confidence, judging from the information they got, or +failed to get, from me. + +At any rate, they gave me up as a bad job and I was ordered to the +officers' prison at Courtrai, Belgium. + + + + +V + +THE PRISON-CAMP AT COURTRAI + + +From the Intelligence Department I was conveyed to the officers' +prison-camp at Courtrai in an automobile. It was about an hour's ride. +My escort was one of the most famous flyers in the world, barring none. +He was later killed in action, but I was told by an English airman who +witnessed his last combat that he fought a game battle and died a hero's +death. + +The prison, which had evidently been a civil prison of some kind before +the war, was located right in the heart of Courtrai. The first building +we approached was large, and in front of the archway, which formed the +main entrance, was a sentry box. Here we were challenged by the sentry, +who knocked on the door; the guard turned the key in the lock and I was +admitted. We passed through the archway and directly into a courtyard, +on which faced all of the prison buildings, the windows, of course, +being heavily barred. + +After I had given my pedigree--my name, age, address, etc.--I was shown +to a cell with bars on the windows overlooking this courtyard. I was +promptly told that at night we were to occupy these rooms, but I had +already surveyed the surroundings, taken account of the number of guards +and the locked door outside, and concluded that my chances of getting +away from some other place could be no worse than in that particular +cell. + +As I had no hat, my helmet being the only thing I wore over the lines, +I was compelled either to go bareheaded or wear the red cap of the +Bavarian whom I had shot down on that memorable day. It can be imagined +how I looked attired in a British uniform and a bright red cap. Wherever +I was taken, my outfit aroused considerable curiosity among the Belgians +and German soldiers. + +When I arrived at prison that day I still wore this cap, and as I was +taken into the courtyard, my overcoat covering my uniform, all that the +British officers who happened to be sunning themselves in the courtyard +could see was the red cap. They afterward told me they wondered who the +"big Hun" was with the bandage on his mouth. This cap I managed to keep +with me, but was never allowed to wear it on the walks we took. I either +went bareheaded or borrowed a cap from some other prisoner. + +At certain hours each day the prisoners were allowed to mingle in the +courtyard, and on the first occasion of this kind I found that there +were eleven officers imprisoned there besides myself. + +They had here interpreters who could speak all languages. One of them +was a mere boy who had been born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and had +spent all his life in America until the beginning of 1914. Then he moved +with his folks to Germany, and when he became of military age the Huns +forced him into the army. I think if the truth were known he would much +rather have been fighting for America than against her. + +I found that most of the prisoners remained at Courtrai only two or +three days. From there they were invariably taken to prisons in the +interior of Germany. + +Whether it was because I was an American or because I was a flier, I +don't know, but this rule was not followed in my case. I remained there +two weeks. + +During that period, Courtrai was constantly bombed by our airmen. +Not a single day or night passed without one or more air raids. In +the two weeks I was there I counted twenty-one of them. The town +suffered a great deal of damage. Evidently our people were aware +that the Germans had a lot of troops concentrated in this town, and, +besides, the headquarters staff was stationed there. The Kaiser himself +visited Courtrai while I was in the prison, I was told by one of the +interpreters, but he didn't call on me and, for obvious reasons, I +couldn't call on him. + +The courtyard was not a very popular place during air raids. Several +times when our airmen raided that section in the daytime I went out +and watched the machines and the shrapnel bursting all around; but the +Germans did not crowd out there, for their own anti-aircraft guns were +hammering away to keep our planes as high in the sky as possible, and +shells were likely to fall in the prison yard any moment. Of course, I +watched these battles at my own risk. + +Many nights from my prison window I watched with peculiar interest the +air raids carried on, and it was a wonderful sight with the German +searchlights playing on the sky, the "flaming onions" fired high and the +burst of the anti-aircraft guns, but rather an uncomfortable sensation +when I realized that perhaps the very next minute a bomb might be +dropped on the building in which I was a prisoner. But perhaps all of +this was better than no excitement at all, for prison life soon became +very monotonous. + +One of the hardest things I had to endure throughout the two weeks I +spent there was the sight of the Hun machines flying over Courtrai, +knowing that perhaps I never would have another chance to fly, and I +used to sit by the hour watching the German machines maneuvering over +the prison, as they had an aerodrome not far away, and every afternoon +the students--I took them for students because their flying was very +poor--appeared over the town. + +One certain Hun seemed to find particular satisfaction in flying right +down over the prison nightly, for my special discomfort and benefit it +seemed, as if he knew an airman imprisoned there was vainly longing to +try his wings again over their lines. But I used to console myself by +saying, "Never mind, old boy; there was never a bird whose wings could +not be clipped if they got him just right, and your turn will come some +day." + +One night there was an exceptionally heavy air raid going on. A number +of German officers came into my room, and they all seemed very much +frightened. I jokingly remarked that it would be fine if our airmen hit +the old prison--the percentage would be very satisfactory--one English +officer and about ten German ones. They didn't seem to appreciate the +joke, however, and, indeed, they were apparently too much alarmed at +what was going on overhead to laugh even at their own jokes. Although +these night raids seemed to take all the starch out of the Germans while +they were going on, the officers were usually as brave as lions the +next day and spoke contemptuously of the raid of the night before. + +I saw thousands of soldiers in Courtrai, and although they did not +impress me as having very good or abundant food, they were fairly well +clothed. I do not mean to imply that conditions pointed to an early end +of the war. On the contrary, from what I was able to observe on that +point, unless the Huns have an absolute crop failure, they can, in my +opinion, go on for years! The idea of our being able to win the war by +starving them out strikes me as ridiculous. This is a war that must be +won by _fighting_, and the sooner we realize that fact the sooner it +will be over. + +Rising-hour in the prison was seven o'clock. Breakfast came at eight. +This consisted of a cup of coffee and nothing else. If the prisoner had +the foresight to save some bread from the previous day, he had bread for +breakfast also, but that never happened in my case. Sometimes we had +two cups of coffee--that is, near-coffee. It was really chicory or some +cereal preparation. We had no milk or sugar. + +For lunch they gave us boiled sugar-beets or some other vegetable, +and once in a while some kind of pickled meat, but that happened very +seldom. We also received a third of a loaf of bread--war-bread. This +war-bread was as heavy as a brick, black, and sour. It was supposed to +last us from noon one day to noon the next. Except for some soup, this +was the whole lunch menu. + +Dinner came at 5.30 P.M., when we sometimes had a little jam made out +of sugar-beets, and a preparation called tea which you had to shake +vigorously or it settled in the bottom of the cup and then about all +you had was hot water. This "tea" was a sad blow to the Englishmen. If +it hadn't been called tea, they wouldn't have felt so badly about it, +perhaps, but it was adding insult to injury to call that stuff "tea" +which, with them, is almost a national institution. + +Sometimes with this meal they gave us butter instead of jam, and once in +a while we had some kind of canned meat. + +This comprised the usual run of eatables for the day--I can eat more +than that for breakfast! In the days that were to come, however, I was +to fare considerably worse. + +[Illustration: MAILING-CARD SENT BY GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO PAT O'BRIEN'S +SISTER, MRS. CLARA CLEGG OF MOMENCE, ILLINOIS] + +[Illustration: OBVERSE SIDE OF CARD SHOWN ABOVE] + +We were allowed to send out and buy a few things, but as most of the +prisoners were without funds, this was but an empty privilege. Once I +took advantage of the privilege to send my shoes to a Belgian shoemaker +to be half-soled. They charged me twenty marks--five dollars! + +Once in a while a Belgian Ladies' Relief Society visited the prison +and brought us handkerchiefs, American soap--which sells at about one +dollar and fifty cents a bar in Belgium--tooth-brushes, and other +little articles, all of which were American-made, but whether they were +supplied by the American Relief Committee or not I don't know. At any +rate, these gifts were mighty useful and were very much appreciated. + +One day I offered a button off my uniform to one of these Belgian ladies +as a souvenir, but a German guard saw me and I was never allowed to go +near the visitors afterward. + +The sanitary conditions in this prison-camp were excellent as a general +proposition. One night, however, I discovered that I had been captured +by "cooties." + +This was a novel experience to me and one that I would have been very +willing to have missed, because in the Flying Corps our aerodromes are +a number of miles back of the lines and we have good billets, and our +acquaintance with such things as "cooties" and other unwelcome visitors +is very limited. + +When I discovered my condition I made a holler and roused the guard, and +right then I got another example of German efficiency. + +This guard seemed to be even more perturbed about my complaint than I +was myself, evidently fearing that he would be blamed for my condition. + +The commandant was summoned, and I could see that he was very angry. +Some one undoubtedly got a severe reprimand for it. + +I was taken out of my cell by a guard with a rifle and conducted about a +quarter of a mile from the prison to an old factory building which had +been converted into an elaborate fumigating plant. There I was given a +pickle bath in some kind of solution, and while I was absorbing it my +clothes, bedclothes, and whatever else had been in my cell were being +put through another fumigating process. + +While I was waiting for my things to dry--it took, perhaps, half an +hour--I had a chance to observe about one hundred other victims of +"cooties"--German soldiers who had become infested in the trenches. We +were all nude, of course, but apparently it was not difficult for them +to recognize me as a foreigner even without my uniform on, for none of +them made any attempt to talk to me, although they all were very busy +talking _about_ me. I could not understand what they were saying, but I +know I was the butt of most of their jokes, and they made no effort to +conceal the fact that I was the subject of their conversation. + +When I got back to my cell I found that it had been thoroughly +fumigated, and from that time on I had no further trouble with "cooties" +or other visitors of the same kind. + +As we were not allowed to write anything but prison cards, writing +was out of the question; and as we had no reading-matter to speak +of, reading was nil. We had nothing to do to pass away the time, so +consequently cards became our only diversion, for we did, fortunately, +have some of those. + +There wasn't very much money, as a rule, in circulation, and I think for +once in my life I held most of that, not due to any particular ability +on my part in the game, but I happened to have several hundred francs in +my pockets when shot down. But we held a lottery there once a day, and I +don't believe there was ever another lottery held that was watched with +quite such intense interest as that. The drawing was always held the day +before the prize was to be awarded, so we always knew the day before who +was the lucky man. There was as much speculation as to who would win +the prize as if it had been the finest treasure in the world. The great +prize was one-third of a loaf of bread. + +Through some arrangement which I never quite figured out, it happened +that among the eight or ten officers who were there with me there was +always one-third of a loaf of bread over. There was just one way of +getting that bread, and that was to draw lots. Consequently that was +what started the lottery. I believe if a man had ever been inclined to +cheat he would have been sorely tempted in this instance, but the game +was played absolutely square, and if a man had been caught cheating, the +chances are that he would have been shunned by the rest of the officers +as long as he was in prison. I was fortunate enough to win the prize +twice. + +One man--I think he was the smallest eater in the camp--won it on three +successive days, but it was well for him that his luck deserted him on +the fourth day, for he probably would have been handled rather roughly +by the rest of the crowd, who were growing suspicious. But we handled +the drawing ourselves and knew there was nothing crooked about it, so he +was spared. + +We were allowed to buy pears, and, being small and very hard, they were +used as the stakes in many a game. But the interest in these little +games was as keen as if the stakes had been piles of money instead of +two or three half-starved pears. No man was ever so reckless, however, +in all the betting, as to wager his own rations. + +By the most scheming and sacrificing I ever did in my life I managed to +hoard two pieces of bread (grudgingly spared at the time from my daily +rations), but I was preparing for the day when I should escape--if I +ever should. It was not a sacrifice easily made, either, but instead of +eating bread I ate pears until I finally got one piece of bread ahead; +and when I could force myself to stick to the pear diet again I saved +the other piece from that day's allowance, and in days to come I had +cause to credit myself fully for the foresight. + +Whenever a new prisoner came in and his German hosts had satisfied +themselves as to his life history and taken down all the details--that +is, all he would give them--he was immediately surrounded by his +fellow-prisoners, who were eager for any bit of news or information he +could possibly give them, and as a rule he was glad to tell us because, +if he had been in the hands of the Huns for any length of time, he had +seen very few English officers. + +The conditions of this prison were bad enough when a man was in normally +good health, but it was barbarous to subject a wounded soldier to the +hardships and discomforts of the place. However, this was the fate of +a poor private we discovered there one day in terrific pain, suffering +from shrapnel in his stomach and back. All of us officers asked to have +him sent to a hospital, but the doctors curtly refused, saying it was +against orders. So the poor creature went on suffering from day to day +and was still there when I left, another victim of German cruelty. + +At one time in this prison-camp there were a French marine, a French +flying officer, and two Belgian soldiers, and of the United Kingdom +one from Canada, two from England, three from Ireland, a couple from +Scotland, one from Wales, a man from South Africa, one from Algeria, +and a New-Zealander, the last being from my own squadron, a man whom +I thought had been killed, and he was equally surprised, when brought +into the prison, to find me there. In addition there were a Chinaman and +myself from the U. S. A. + +It was quite a cosmopolitan group, and as one typical Irishman said, +"Sure, and we have every nation that's worth mentioning, including the +darn Germans, with us whites." Of course, this was not translated to +the Germans, nor was it even spoken in their hearing, or we probably +would not have had quite so cosmopolitan a bunch. Each man in the prison +was ready to uphold his native country in any argument that could +possibly be started, and it goes without saying that I never took a back +seat in any of them with my praise for America, with the Canadian and +Chinaman chiming in on my side. But they were friendly arguments; we +were all in the same boat and that was no place for quarreling. + +Every other morning, the weather allowing, we were taken to a large +swimming-pool and were allowed to have a bath. There were two pools, one +for the German officers and one for the men. Although we were officers, +we had to use the pool occupied by the men. While we were in swimming a +German guard with a rifle across his knees sat at each comer of the pool +and watched us closely as we dressed and undressed. English interpreters +accompanied us on all of these trips, so at no time could we talk +without their knowing what was going on. + +Whenever we were taken out of the prison for any purpose they always +paraded us through the most crowded streets--evidently to give the +populace an idea that they were getting lots of prisoners. The German +soldiers we passed on these occasions made no effort to hide their +smiles and sneers. + +The Belgian people were apparently very curious to see us, and they used +to turn out in large numbers whenever the word was passed that we were +out. At times the German guards would strike the women and children +who crowded too close to us. One day I smiled and spoke to a pretty +Belgian girl, and when she replied a German made a run for her. Luckily +she stepped into the house before he reached her or I am afraid my +salutation would have resulted seriously for her and I would have been +powerless to have assisted her. + +Whenever we passed a Belgian home or other building which had been +wrecked by bombs dropped by our airmen our guards made us stop a moment +or two while they passed sneering remarks among themselves. + +One of the most interesting souvenirs I have of my imprisonment at +Courtrai is a photograph of a group of us taken in the prison courtyard. +The picture was made by one of the guards, who sold copies of it to +those of us who were able to pay his price--one mark apiece. + +As we faced the camera, I suppose we all tried to look our happiest, +but the majority of us, I am afraid, were too sick at heart to raise +a smile even for this occasion. One of our Hun guards is shown in the +picture seated at the table. I am standing directly behind him, attired +in my flying tunic, which they allowed me to wear all the time I was +in prison, as is the usual custom with prisoners of war. Three of the +British officers shown in the picture, in the foreground, are clad in +"shorts." + +Through all my subsequent adventures I was able to retain a print of +this interesting picture, and although when I gaze at it now it only +serves to increase my gratification at my ultimate escape, it fills me +with regret to think that my fellow-prisoners were not so fortunate. All +of them, by this time, are undoubtedly eating their hearts up in the +prison-camps of interior Germany. Poor fellows! + +[Illustration: A GROUP OF PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE PRISON-CAMP AT +COURTRAI, BELGIUM + +(Lieutenant O'Brien, in his R. F. C. flying-tunic, is standing in the +center behind the German guard seated at the table. This picture was +taken by one of the German guards and sold to Lieutenant O'Brien for one +mark.)] + +Despite the scanty fare and the restrictions we were under in this +prison, we did manage on one occasion to arrange a regular banquet. The +planning which was necessary helped to pass the time. + +At this time there were eight of us. We decided that the principal thing +we needed to make the affair a success was potatoes, and I conceived a +plan to get them. Every other afternoon they took us for a walk in the +country, and it occurred to me that it would be a comparatively simple +matter for us to pretend to be tired and sit down when we came to the +first potato-patch. + +It worked out nicely. When we came to the first potato-patch that +afternoon we told our guards that we wanted to rest a bit and we were +allowed to sit down. In the course of the next five minutes each of us +managed to get a potato or two. Being Irish, I got six. + +When we got back to the prison I managed to steal a handkerchief full +of sugar which, with some apples that we were allowed to purchase, we +easily converted into a sort of jam. + +We now had potatoes and jam, but no bread. It happened that the Hun +who had charge of the potatoes was a great musician. It was not very +difficult to prevail upon him to play us some music, and while he went +out to get his zither I went into the bread pantry and stole a loaf of +bread. + +Most of us had saved some butter from the day before and we used it to +fry our potatoes. By bribing one of the guards he bought some eggs for +us. They cost twenty-five cents apiece, but we were determined to make +this banquet a success, no matter what it cost. + +The cooking was done by the prison cook, whom, of course, we had to +bribe. + +When the meal was ready to serve it consisted of scrambled eggs, fried +potatoes, bread and jam, and a pitcher of beer which we were allowed to +buy. + +That was the 29th of August. Had I known that it was to be the last real +meal that I was to eat for many weeks I might have enjoyed it even more +than I did, but it was certainly very good. + +We had cooked enough for eight, but while we were still eating another +joined us. He was an English officer who had just been brought in on +a stretcher. For seven days, he told us, he had lain in a shell-hole, +wounded, and he was almost famished, and we were mighty glad to share +our banquet with him. + +We called on each man for a speech, and one might have thought that we +were at a first-class club meeting. A few days after that our party was +broken up and some of the men I suppose I shall never see again. + +One of the souvenirs of my adventure is a check given me during this +"banquet" by Lieut. James Henry Dickson, of the Tenth Royal Irish +Fusileers, a fellow-prisoner. It was for twenty francs and was made +payable to the order of "Mr. Pat O'Brien, 2nd Lieut." Poor Jim forgot to +scratch out the "London" and substitute "Courtrai" on the date line, but +its value as a souvenir is just as great. When he gave it to me he had +no idea that I would have an opportunity so soon afterward to cash it in +person, although I am quite sure that whatever financial reverses I may +be destined to meet my want will never be great enough to induce me to +realize on that check. + +There was one subject that was talked about in this prison whenever +conversation lagged, and I suppose it is the same in the other prisons, +too. What were the chances of escape? + +Every man seemed to have a different idea and one way I suppose was +about as impracticable as another. None of us ever expected to get +a chance to put our ideas into execution, but it was interesting +speculation, and, anyway, one could never tell what opportunities might +present themselves. + +One suggestion was that we disguise ourselves as women. "O'Brien would +stand a better chance disguised as a horse!" declared another, referring +to the fact that my height (I am six feet two inches) would make me more +conspicuous as a woman than as a man. + +Another suggested that we steal a German Gotha--a type of aeroplane +used for long-distance bombing. It is these machines which are used for +bombing London. They are manned by three men, one sitting in front with +a machine-gun, the pilot sitting behind him, and an observer sitting +in the rear with another machine-gun. We figured that at a pinch +perhaps seven or eight of us could make our escape in a single machine. +They have two motors of very high horse-power, fly very high and make +wonderful speed. But we had no chance to put this idea to the test. + +I worked out another plan by which I thought I might have a chance if I +could ever get into one of the German aerodromes. I would conceal myself +in one of the hangars, wait until one of the German machines started +out, and as he taxied along the ground I would rush out, shout at the +top of my voice, and point excitedly at his wheels. This, I figured, +would cause the pilot to stop and get out to see what was wrong. By that +time I would be up to him and as he stooped over to inspect the machine +I could knock him senseless, jump into the machine, and be over the +lines before the Huns could make up their minds just what had happened. + +It was a fine dream, but my chance was not to come that way. + +There were dozens of other ways which we considered. One man would +be for endeavoring to make his way right through the lines. Another +thought the safest plan would be to swim some river that crossed the +lines. + +The idea of making one's way to Holland, a neutral country, occurred +to every one, but the one great obstacle in that direction, we all +realized, was the great barrier of barbed and electrically charged wire +which guards every foot of the frontier between Belgium and Holland and +which is closely watched by the German sentries. + +This barrier was a threefold affair. It consisted first of a barbed-wire +wall six feet high. Six feet beyond that was a nine-foot wall of wire +powerfully charged with electricity. To touch it meant electrocution. +Beyond that, at a distance of six feet was another wall of barbed wire +six feet high. + +Beyond the barrier lay Holland and liberty, but how to get there was a +problem which none of us could solve and few of us ever expected to have +a chance to try. + +Mine came sooner than I expected. + + + + +VI + +A LEAP FOR LIBERTY + + +I had been in prison at Courtrai nearly three weeks when, on the morning +of September 9th, I and six other officers were told that we were to be +transferred to a prison-camp in Germany. + +One of the guards told me during the day that we were destined for a +reprisal camp in Strassburg. They were sending us there to keep our +airmen from bombing the place. + +He explained that the English carried German officers on hospital-ships +for a similar purpose, and he excused the German practice of torpedoing +these vessels on the score that they also carried munitions! When I +pointed out to him that France would hardly be sending munitions to +England, he lost interest in the argument. + +Some days before I had made up my mind that it would be a very good +thing to get hold of a map of Germany which I knew was in the possession +of one of the German interpreters, because I realized that if ever the +opportunity came to make my escape such a map might be of the greatest +assistance to me. + +With the idea of stealing this map, accordingly, a lieutenant and I got +in front of this interpreter's window one day and engaged in a very hot +argument as to whether Heidelberg was on the Rhine or not, and we argued +back and forth so vigorously that the German came out of his room, map +in hand, to settle it. After the matter was entirely settled to our +satisfaction he went back into his room and I watched where he put the +map. + +When, therefore, I learned that I was on my way to Germany I realized +that it was more important than ever for me to get that map, and, with +the help of my friend, we got the interpreter out of his room on some +pretext or another, and while he was gone I confiscated the map from +the book in which he kept it and concealed it in my sock underneath +my legging. As I had anticipated, it later proved of the utmost value +to me. + +I got it none too soon, for half an hour later we were on our way to +Ghent. Our party consisted of five British officers and one French +officer. At Ghent, where we had to wait for several hours for another +train to take us direct to the prison in Germany, two other prisoners +were added to our party. + +In the interval we were locked in a room at a hotel, a guard sitting at +the door with a rifle on his knee. It would have done my heart good for +the rest of my life if I could have got away then and fooled that Hun, +he was so cocksure. + +Later we were marched to the train that was to convey us to Germany. It +consisted of some twelve coaches, eleven of them containing troops going +home on leave, and the twelfth reserved for us. We were placed in a +fourth-class compartment, with old, hard, wooden seats, a filthy floor, +and no lights save a candle placed there by a guard. There were eight of +us prisoners and four guards. + +As we sat in the coach we were an object of curiosity to the crowd who +gathered at the station. + +"Hope you have a nice trip!" one of them shouted, sarcastically. + +"Drop me a line when you get to Berlin, will you?" shouted another in +broken English. + +"When shall we see you again?" asked a third. + +"Remember me to your friends, will you? You'll find plenty where you're +going!" shouted another. + +The German officers made no effort to repress the crowd; in fact, they +joined in the general laughter which followed every sally. + +I called to a German officer who was passing our window. + +"You're an officer, aren't you?" I asked, respectfully enough. + +"Yes. What of it?" he rejoined. + +"Well, in England," I said, "we let your officers who are prisoners ride +first-class. Can't you fix it so that we can be similarly treated, or be +transferred at least to a second-class compartment?" + +"If I had my way," he replied, "you'd ride with the hogs!" + +Then he turned to the crowd and told them of my request and how he had +answered me, and they all laughed hilariously. + +This got me pretty hot. + +"That would be a damned sight better than riding with the Germans!" I +yelled after him, but if he considered that a good joke, too, he didn't +pass it on to the crowd. + +Some months later when I had the honor of telling my story to King +George he thought this incident was one of the best jokes he had ever +heard. I don't believe he ever laughed harder in his life. + +Before our train pulled out our guards had to present their arms for +inspection, and their rifles were loaded in our presence to let us know +that they meant business. + +From the moment the train started on its way to Germany the thought kept +coming to my head that unless I could make my escape before we reached +that reprisal camp I might as well make up my mind that, as far as I was +concerned, the war was over. + +It occurred to me that if the eight of us in that car could jump up at a +given signal and seize those four Hun guards by surprise, we'd have a +splendid chance of besting them and jumping off the train when it first +slowed down, but when I passed the idea on to my comrades they turned it +down. Even if the plan had worked out as gloriously as I had pictured, +they pointed out, the fact that so many of us had escaped would almost +inevitably result in our recapture. The Huns would have scoured Belgium +till they had got us and then we would all be shot. Perhaps they were +right. + +Nevertheless, I was determined that, no matter what the others decided +to do, I was going to make one bid for freedom, come what might. + +As we passed through village after village in Belgium and I realized +that we were getting nearer and nearer to that dreaded reprisal camp, I +concluded that my one and only chance of getting free before we reached +it was through the window! I would have to go through that window while +the train was going full speed, because if I waited until it had slowed +up or stopped entirely, it would be a simple matter for the guards to +overtake or shoot me. + +I opened the window. The guard who sat opposite me--so close that his +feet touched mine and the stock of his gun which he held between his +knees occasionally struck my foot--made no objection, imagining, no +doubt, that I found the car too warm or that the smoke, with which the +compartment was filled, annoyed me. + +As I opened the window the noise the train was making as it thundered +along grew louder. It seemed to say: "You're a fool if you do; you're a +fool if you don't! You're a fool if you do; you're a fool if you don't!" +And I said to myself, "The 'no's' have it," and closed down the window +again. + +As soon as the window was closed the noise of the train naturally +subsided and its speed seemed to diminish, and my plan appealed to me +stronger than ever. + +I knew the guard in front of me didn't understand a word of English, and +so, in a quiet tone of voice, I confided to the English officer who sat +next me what I planned to do. + +"For God's sake, Pat, chuck it!" he urged. "Don't be a lunatic! This +railroad is double-tracked and rock-ballasted and the other track is on +your side. You stand every chance in the world of knocking your brains +out against the rails, or hitting a bridge or a whistling post, and, if +you escape those, you will probably be hit by another train on the other +track. You haven't one chance in a thousand to make it!" + +There was a good deal of logic in what he said, but I figured that, +once I was in that reprisal camp, I might never have even one chance +in a thousand to escape, and the idea of remaining a prisoner of war +indefinitely went against my grain. I resolved to take my chance now +even at the ride of breaking my neck. + +The car was full of smoke. I looked across at the guard. He was rather +an old man, going home on leave, and he seemed to be dreaming of what +was in store for him rather than paying any particular attention to me. +Once in a while I had smiled at him and I figured that he hadn't the +slightest idea of what was going through my mind all the time we had +been traveling. + +I began to cough as though my throat were badly irritated by the smoke, +and then I opened the window again. This time the guard looked up and +showed his disapproval, but did not say anything. + +It was then four o'clock in the morning and would soon be light. I knew +I had to do it right then or never, as there would be no chance to +escape in the daytime. + +I had on a trench coat that I had used as a flying-coat and wore a +knapsack which I had constructed out of a gas-bag brought into Courtrai +by a British prisoner. In this I had two pieces of bread, a piece of +sausage, and a pair of flying-mittens. All of them had to go with me +through the window. + +The train was now going at a rate of between thirty and thirty-five +miles an hour, and again it seemed to admonish me, as it rattled along +over the ties: "You're a fool if you do; you're a fool if you don't! +You're a fool if you don't; you're a fool if you do! You're a fool if +you don't--" + +I waited no longer. Standing up on the bench as if to put the bag on the +rack, and taking hold of the rack with my left hand and a strap that +hung from the top of the car with my right, I pulled myself up, shoved +my feet and legs out of the window, and let go! + +There was a prayer on my lips as I went out and I expected a bullet +between my shoulders, but it was all over in an instant. + +I landed on my left side and face, burying my face in the rock ballast, +cutting it open and closing my left eye, skinning my hands and shins and +straining my ankle. For a few moments I was completely knocked out, and +if they shot at me through the window, in the first moments after my +escape, I had no way of knowing. + +Of course, if they could have stopped the train right then, they could +easily have recaptured me, but at the speed it was going and in the +confusion which must have followed my escape, they probably didn't stop +within half a mile from the spot where I lay. + +I came to within a few minutes, and when I examined myself and found +no bones broken I didn't stop to worry about my cuts and bruises, but +jumped up with the idea of putting as great a distance between me and +that track as possible before daylight came. Still being dazed, I forgot +all about the barbed-wire fence along the right-of-way and ran full tilt +into it. Right there I lost one of my two precious pieces of bread, +which fell out of my knapsack, but I could not stop to look for it then. + +The one thing that was uppermost in my mind was that for the moment I +was free and it was up to me now to make the most of my liberty. + + + + +VII + +CRAWLING THROUGH GERMANY + + +The exact spot at which I made my desperate leap I don't know. Perhaps, +after the war is over, some one on that train will be good enough to +tell me, and then I may go back and look for the dent I must have made +in the rock ballast. + +As I have said, I didn't stop very long that morning after I once +regained my senses. + +I was bleeding profusely from the wounds caused by the fall, but I +checked it somewhat with handkerchiefs I held to my face and I also held +the tail of my coat so as to catch the blood as it fell and not leave +telltale traces on the ground. + +Before I stopped I had gone about a mile. Then I took my course from the +stars and found that I had been going just opposite to the direction I +should be making, but I could not go back across the track there. + +Heading west, therefore, I kept this course for about two and a half +hours, but as I was very weak from loss of blood I didn't cover very +much ground in that time. Just before daylight I came to a canal which I +knew I had to cross, and I swam it with everything I had on. + +This swim, which proved to be the first of a series that I was destined +to make, taught me several things. + +In the first place, I had forgotten to remove my wrist-watch. This watch +had been broken in my fall from the air, but I had had it repaired at +Courtrai. In the leap from the train the crystal had been broken again, +but it was still going and would probably have been of great service to +me in my subsequent adventures, but the swim across the canal ruined it. + +Then, too, I had not thought to take my map out of my sock, and the +water damaged that, too. + +Thereafter, whenever I had any swimming to do, I was careful to take +such matters into consideration, and my usual practice was to make a +bundle of all the things that would be damaged by water and tie it to +my head. In this way I was able to keep them dry. + +It was now daylight and I knew that it would be suicidal for me to +attempt to travel in the daytime. My British uniform would have been +fatal to me. I decided to hide in the daytime and travel only at night. + +Not far from the canal I could see a heavily wooded piece of ground, +and I made my way there. By this time I had discovered that my left +ankle had been strained in my leap from the train, and when I got to the +woods I was glad to lie down and rest. The wound in my mouth had been +opened, too, when I jumped, and it would have been difficult for me to +have swallowed had not the piece of bread, which was to serve for my +breakfast, got wet when I swam the canal. I found a safe hiding-place +in which to spend the day and I tried to dry some of my clothes, but a +slight drizzling rainfall made that out of the question. I knew that I +ought to sleep, as I planned to travel at night, but, sore as I was, +caked with mud and blood, my clothing soaked through, and my hunger not +nearly appeased, sleep was out of the question. This seemed to me about +the longest day I had ever spent, but I was still to learn how long a +day can really be and how much longer a night! + +When night came I dragged myself together and headed northeast. + +My clothing consisted of my Flying Corps uniform, two shirts, no +underwear, leather leggings, heavy shoes, a good pair of wool socks, and +a German cap. I had a wallet containing several hundred francs in paper +money and various other papers. I also had a jack-knife which I had +stolen one day from the property-room at Courtrai where all the personal +effects taken from prisoners were kept. For a day or two I carried the +knapsack, but as I had nothing to carry in it I discarded it. + +I traveled rapidly, considering my difficulties, and swam a couple of +canals that night, covering in all perhaps ten miles before daylight. +Then I located in some low bushes, lying there all day in my wet clothes +and finishing my sausage for food. That was the last of my rations. + +That night I made perhaps the same distance, but became very hungry and +thirsty before the night was over. + +For the next six days I still figured that I was in Germany, and I was +living on nothing but cabbage, sugar-beets, and an occasional carrot, +always in the raw state, just as I got them out of the fields. The water +I drank was often very rank, as I had to get it from canals and pools. +One night I lay in a cabbage-patch for an hour lapping the dew from the +leaves with my tongue! + +During this period I realized that I must avoid meeting any one at all +hazards. I was in the enemy's country and my uniform would have been a +dead give-away. Any one who captured me or who gave information from +which my capture resulted might have been sure of a handsome reward. I +knew that it was necessary for me to make progress as fast as possible, +but the main consideration was to keep out of sight, even if it took +me a year to get to Holland, which was my objective. From my map, I +estimated that I was about thirty-five miles from Strassburg when I made +my leap from the train, and if I could travel in a straight line I had +perhaps one hundred and fifty miles to travel. As it was, however, I was +compelled to make many detours, and I figured that two hundred and fifty +miles was nearer the extent of the journey ahead of me. + +In several parts of this country I had to travel through forests of +young pine-trees about twelve feet high. They were very close together +and looked almost as if they had been set out. They proved to be a +serious obstacle to me, because I could not see the stars through them, +and I was relying upon the heavens to guide me to freedom. I am not much +of an astronomer, but I know the Pole Star when I see it. But for it I +wouldn't be here to-day! + +I believe it rained every night and day while I was making my way +through Germany to Luxembourg. + +My invariable program at this stage of my journey was to travel steadily +all night until about six in the morning, when I would commence looking +around for a place wherein to hide during the day. Low bushes or woods +back from the road, as far as possible from the traveled pathway, +usually served me for this purpose. Having found such a spot, I would +drop down and try to sleep. My overcoat was my only covering, and that +was usually soaked through either from the rain or from swimming. + +The only sleep I got during those days was from exhaustion, and it +usually came to me toward dusk when it was time for me to start again. + +It was a mighty fortunate thing for me that I was not a smoker. Somehow +I have never used tobacco in any form and I was now fully repaid for +whatever pleasure I had foregone in the past as a result of my habits +in that particular, because my sufferings would certainly have been +intensified now if in addition to lack of food and rest I had had to +endure a craving for tobacco. + +About the sixth night I was so drowsy and exhausted when the time came +for me to be on the move that I was very much tempted to sleep through +the night. I knew, however, that that would be a bad precedent to +establish and I wouldn't give in. + +I plugged wearily along and about eleven o'clock, after I had covered +perhaps four miles, I sat down to rest for a moment on a shock of brush +which was sheltered from the drizzle somewhat by other shocks which were +stacked there. It was daylight when I awoke, and I found myself right in +a German's backyard. You can imagine that I lost no time getting out of +that neighborhood, and I made up my mind right then that I would never +give way to that "tired feeling" again. + +In the daytime, in my hiding-place, wherever it happened to be, I had +plenty of opportunity to study my map, and before very long I knew it +almost by heart. Unfortunately, however, it did not show all the rivers +and canals which I encountered, and sometimes it fooled me completely. + +It must have been about the ninth night that I crossed into Luxembourg, +but while this principality is officially neutral, it offered me no +safer a haven than Belgium would. The Huns have violated the neutrality +of both and discovery would have been followed by the same consequences +as capture in Germany proper. + +In the nine days I had covered perhaps seventy-five miles and I was +that much nearer liberty, but the lack of proper food, the constant +wearing of wet clothes, and the loss of sleep and rest had reduced me to +a very much weakened condition. I doubted very much whether I would be +able to continue, but I plugged along. + + + + +VIII + +NINE DAYS IN LUXEMBOURG + + +I was now heading northwest and I thought that by keeping that course I +would get out of Luxembourg and into Belgium, where I expected to be a +little better off, because the people in Luxembourg were practically the +same as Germans. + +One of the experiences I had in Luxembourg which I shall never forget +occurred the first day that I spent there. I had traveled all night +and I was feeling very weak. I came to a small wood with plenty of low +underbrush, and I picked out a thick clump of bushes which was not in +line with any paths, crawled in, and lay down to spend the day. + +The sun could just reach me through an opening in the trees above, +and I took off all my clothes except my shirt and hung them on the +bushes to dry in the sun. As the sun moved I moved the clothes around +correspondingly, because, tired as I was, I could take only cat-naps. + +That afternoon I awoke from one of these naps with a start. There were +voices not a dozen feet from me! My first impulse was to jump to my +feet and sell my life as dearly as I could, but on second thoughts I +decided to look before I leaped. Peeping through the underbrush, I could +just discern two men calmly chopping down a tree and conversing as they +worked. I thanked my lucky stars that I had not jumped up on my first +impulse, for I was apparently quite safe as long as I lay where I was. + +It then occurred to me that if the tree upon which they were working +should happen to fall in my direction it would crush me to death! It +was tall enough to reach me and big enough to kill me if it landed in +my direction, and as I could see only the heads of the men who were +chopping it down, I was unable to tell which way they planned to have it +fall. + +There was this much in my favor: the chances of the tree falling in just +my direction were not very great and there was more than an even chance +that the men would be wise enough to fell it so that it would not, +because if it landed in the bushes the task of trimming the branches off +the trunk would be so much harder. + +But, even without this feeling of security, there was really nothing +else I could do but wait and see what fate had in store for me. I lay +there watching the top of the tree for more than an hour. Time and again +I saw it sway and fancied it was coming in my direction, and it was all +I could do to keep my place, but a moment later I would hear the crash +of the men's axes and I knew that my imagination had played me a trick. + +I was musing on the sorry plight I was in--weak, nearly starving to +death, a refugee in a hostile country and waiting patiently to see which +way a tree was going to fall--when there came a loud crack and I saw the +top of the tree sway and fall almost opposite to the place where I lay! +I had guessed right. + +Later I heard some children's voices, and again peering through the +underbrush, I saw that they had brought the men their lunch. You can't +realize how I felt to see them eating their lunch so near at hand and +to know that, hungry as I was, I could have none of it. I was greatly +tempted to go boldly up to them and take a chance of getting a share, +but I did not know whether they were Germans or not, and I had gone +through too much to risk my liberty even for food. I swallowed my hunger +instead. + +Shortly afterward it began to rain, and about four o'clock the men +left. I crawled out as fast as I could, and scurried around looking for +crumbs, but found none, and when darkness came I went on my way once +more. + +That night I came to a river, and as it was the first time my clothes +had been dry for a long time, I thought I would try to keep them that +way as long as possible. I accordingly took off all my things and made +them into two bundles, planning to carry one load across and then swim +back for the other. + +The river was quite wide, but I am a fairly good swimmer, and I figured +I could rest awhile after the first trip before going back for the +second bundle. + +The first swim was uneventful. When I landed on the other side I drank +till my thirst was quenched, and then swam back. After resting awhile +I started across a third time, with my shoes and several other things +firmly tied to my head. Just about ten feet from the opposite bank one +of the shoes worked its way loose and sank in about eight feet of water. +There was nothing to do but finish the trip and then go back and dive +for the missing shoe, as I could not go on with a single shoe. + +Diving in my weakened condition was considerable strain, but I had to +have that shoe, and I kept at it for nearly an hour before I eventually +found it, and I was pretty nearly all in by that time. + +That was the last time I ever took my shoes off, for my feet were +becoming so swollen that I figured if I took my shoes off I might be +unable to get them on again. + +This stunt of crossing the river and diving for the lost shoe had +consumed about three hours, and after resting some fifteen minutes I +went on my way again. I had hardly gone a mile when I came to another +river, about the same size as the one I had just crossed. I walked +along the bank awhile, thinking that I might be lucky enough to find a +boat or a bridge, but after walking about half an hour I received one +of those disappointments which "come once in a lifetime." I found that +this river was the one I had just swum! I had swum it on the bend and +was still on the wrong side! Had I made only a short detour in the first +place, I would have avoided all the annoyance of the past three hours +and saved my strength and time. I was never so mad in my life at myself +as I was to think that I had not paid more attention to the course of +the stream before I undertook to cross it, but, as a matter of fact, +there was really no way of telling. The river was not shown on my map at +all. + +Now I _had_ to cross it, whereas before I could have turned it. I walked +boldly into the water, not bothering to take my clothes off this time, +nor did I ever bother to take them off afterward when swimming canals +or rivers. I found it was impossible to keep them dry, anyway, and so I +might just as well swim in them and save time. + +All the next day I spent in a forest, to which my night's travel had +brought me about five o'clock in the morning. I kept on my way through +the woods until daylight came, and then, thinking the place would afford +fairly good concealment, I concluded to rest until night. + +The prospects of even a good sleep were dismal, however, for about the +time the sun's face should have appeared a drizzling rain began and I +gave up my search for a dry spot which would serve as a bed. Some of the +leaves were beginning to fall, but of course there were not enough of +them to have formed a covering for the ground, and the dampness seemed +to have penetrated everywhere. + +I wandered around through the woods for two or three hours, looking for +shelter, but without any success, for, though the trees were large, the +forest was not dense and there was practically no brush or shrubbery. +Consequently, one could get a fairly clear view for some distance, and I +knew it would be unwise to drop off to sleep just any place, or some one +would surely happen onto me. + +Once I came very near the edge of the woods and heard voices of men +driving by in a wagon, but I couldn't make out just what they were, and +instinct told me I had better not come out of the woods, so I turned +back. Here and there small artificial ditches had been dug, which at +a dry season might have cradled a weary fugitive, but now they, too, +were filled with water. Once I singled out a good big tree with large +branches and thought I might climb into it and go to sleep, but the +longer I looked at it the more I realized that it would require more +energy than I had in my present weak and exhausted condition, so I +didn't attempt that. + +Finally I chose a spot that looked a bit drier than the rest, concluded +to take a chance on being discovered, and threw myself down for a nap. +I was extremely nervous, though, throughout that whole day and would +scarcely get settled into a comfortable position and doze off for a few +minutes when, startled by some sound in the woods, I would suddenly +waken. + +After what seemed like a year or more, night finally came, and with it a +"dud" sky, low-hanging clouds, and still more rain. There was not a star +in the sky, of course, and that made it very bad, because without the +aid of the stars I had absolutely no way of knowing in which direction +I was going. It was just a case of taking a chance. I probably would +have been better off if I had simply picked out a place and stayed there +until the weather improved, but naturally I was impatient to be on my +way when each day without food only lessened my strength and my ultimate +chances of reaching the frontier. + +So I left the woods and struck off in the direction which I thought was +north. I hadn't been at all sure of my bearings the day before, and as +it had rained the sun failed entirely to help me out; but I was almost +sure I had the right direction, and trusted to luck. That night I found +more rivers, canals, and swamps than I ever found in my life before, but +I had the good fortune to stumble on to some celery, and after my diet +of beets it surely was a treat. Perhaps it's unnecessary to add that +I took on a good supply of celery, and for days I went along chewing +celery like a cow would a cud. + +Along toward morning, when I supposed I had got in a fairly good lap of +my journey--perhaps seven or eight miles--I began to recognize certain +objects as familiar landmarks. At least, I thought I had seen them +before, and as I traveled along I knew positively I had seen certain +objects very recently. Off at my right--not over a quarter of a mile--I +noticed some fairly good-sized woods, and thought I would go over there +to hide that day, because it looked as though the sun was going to +shine, and I hoped to get my clothes dry and perhaps get a decent sleep. +I had this celery and a large beet, so I knew I would be able to live +the day through. + +Finally, I made my way over to the woods. It was still too dark in among +the trees to do much in the way of selecting my quarters for the day, +and I could not go a step farther. So I waited on the edge of the forest +until dawn and then set out to explore the place with a view to finding +some nook where I might sleep. Imagine my disgust and discouragement, +too, when, an hour or so later, I came upon the exact place where I had +spent the day before, and I realized that all night long I had been +circling the very woods I was trying to get away from. I think perhaps +I had gone all of a quarter of a mile in the right direction, but then +had lost my bearings entirely and daylight found me with nothing +accomplished. + +The sun, however, did come out that day, and I welcomed its warm rays +as they perhaps have never been welcomed before. I was very tired--just +about all in--but I spent a better day in the woods than the previous +one. + +That night the stars came out; I located my friend, the North Star, +and tried to make up for lost time. But when one is making only seven +or eight miles a day, or rather a night, one night lost means a whole +lot, especially when each day keeps him from freedom. Such ill fortune +and discouragements as this were harder to endure, I believe, than the +actual hunger, and the accompanying worry naturally reduced my weight. +At times I was furiously angry with myself for the mistakes I made and +the foolish things I did, but I always tried to see something funny +about the situation, whatever it might be, that relieved the strain a +bit and helped to pass the time. I think if a man is overburdened with +a sense of humor and wants to get rid of it, this trip I took would be +an excellent remedy for it. Right at this time I would have welcomed +anything for a companion; I believe even a snake would have been a +godsend to me. + +With a name as Irish as mine, it is only natural that I looked for +goats along the way, thinking that I might be able to milk them. There +are very few cows in this country, and the opportunities for milking +them fewer than the cows themselves, because they are housed in barns +adjoining the homes and always alertly watched by their fortunate +owners. I did hope that I might find a goat staked out some place in the +fields, but in all my travels I never saw a goat or a pig, and only a +few cows. Several times I searched nests for eggs, but somebody always +had beaten me to it, as I never even found so much as a nest egg. + +There was no chance of getting away with any "bullying" stuff in +Luxembourg, I knew, because the young men have not been forced into +the army and are still at home, and as they are decidedly pro-German, +it would have been pretty hard for me to demand anything in that part +of the country. It was not like taking things away from old men and +women or robbing people that could not stop me if they chose to do so. +I thought at this time that I was suffering about the worst hardships +any human being could ever be called upon to endure, but I was later to +find out that the best of my journey was made along about this time. +There were plenty of vegetables, even though they were raw, and these +were much better than the things I was afterward compelled to eat or go +without. + +We frequently hear of men who have lived for a certain number of days +on their own resources in the woods just on a bet or to prove that the +"back to nature" theory still has its merits and will still work. My +advice to some of those nature-seekers is to, if in the future they wish +to make a real good record, try the little countries of Luxembourg and +Belgium, with a slice of Germany thrown in. + +I suppose that during this experience of mine I made many mistakes +and traveled many unnecessary miles which one with a knowledge of +woodsmanship might have avoided, and I failed to take advantage of many +things which would have been quite apparent to one who knew. It must +not be forgotten, however, that I did not undertake this adventure +voluntarily. It was "wished on me." I simply had to make the most of the +knowledge I had. + +At about this time blisters began to appear on my legs and my knees +swelled. In addition I was pretty well convinced that I had lost the +sight of my left eye. I hadn't seen a thing out of it since my leap from +the train. + +When I imagine the villainous appearance I must have presented at this +time--my unhealed wounds, eighteen days' growth of beard, and general +haggard and unkempt visage--I think the fear I felt about meeting +strangers was perhaps unwarranted. The chances are they would have been +infinitely more scared than I! + +As it was, I was nearly out of Luxembourg before I really came face +to face with any one. It was about six o'clock in the morning and I +was traveling along a regular path. Just as I approached a cross-path +I heard footsteps coming down it. I stopped short, stooped over, and +pretended to be adjusting my shoe-lace, figuring that if the stranger +turned into my path he would probably pass right by me. As luck would +have it, he continued on his way and never noticed me at all. + +After that I frequently noticed groups of Luxembourg peasants in the +distance, but I usually saw them first and managed to avoid them. + +About the eighteenth day after my leap from the train I crossed into +Belgium. It had taken me just nine days to get through Luxembourg--a +distance which a man could ordinarily cover in two, but, considering +the handicaps under which I labored, I was very well satisfied with my +progress. + + + + +IX + +I ENTER BELGIUM + + +I have said it was about the eighteenth day after my escape that I +entered Belgium, but that is more or less guesswork. I was possibly well +into that country before I realized that I had crossed the line. + +About the third day after I figured I was in Belgium I started to swim +a canal just before daylight. I was then heading due north in the +direction of the German lines. I was just about to wade into the canal +when I heard a German yelling violently, and for the first time I knew I +was being followed! + +I ran up the bank of the canal quite a distance and then swam to the +opposite side, as I reasoned they would not be looking for me there. +I found a sheltered clump of bushes in a swamp near the canal, and +in the driest part that I could find I crawled in and made myself as +comfortable as possible. The sun came up soon and kept me warm, and I +planned to camp right there, food or no food, until the Huns got tired +of searching for me. I think I heard them once or twice that day, and +my heart nearly stopped on each occasion, but evidently they decided to +look in some other direction and I was not further molested. + +At the same time I figured that it was absolutely necessary for me to +change my course even at the expense of going somewhat out of my way. +Certainly if I went north they would get me. I decided to go due west, +and I kept in that direction for four days. + +As I was in a very weak condition, I did not cover more than five miles +a night. I kept away from the roads and did all my journeying through +fields, beet-patches, woods, swamps--anywhere, provided I was not likely +to be seen and captured. Food was an important consideration to me, but +it was secondary to concealment. + +At last I brought up at the Meuse River at a place between Namur and +Huy, and it was here that I came nearest of all to giving up the +struggle. + +The Meuse at this point is about half a mile wide--as wide as the +Hudson River at West Point. Had I been in normal condition I wouldn't +have hesitated a moment to swim across. San Diego Bay, California, is +a mile and a half wide, and I had often swum across and back, and the +San Joaquin, which is also a mile and a half wide, had never proved an +obstacle to me. + +In the wretched shape in which I then was, however, the Meuse looked +like the Atlantic Ocean to me. I looked for a boat, but could find none. +I tried to get a piece of wood upon which I hoped to ferry across, but I +was equally unsuccessful. + +Get across I must, and I decided there was nothing to do but swim it. + +It was then about three o'clock in the morning. I waded in and was soon +in beyond my depth and had to swim. After about an hour of it I was very +much exhausted and I doubted whether I could make the opposite bank, +although it was not more than thirty or forty feet away. I choked and +gasped and my arms and legs were completely fagged out. I sank a little +and tried to touch bottom with my feet, but the water was still beyond +my depth. + +There are times when every one will pray, and I was no exception. I +prayed for strength to make those few wicked yards, and then, with all +the will power I could summon, struck out for dear life. It seemed a +lifetime before I finally felt the welcome mud of bottom and was able to +drag myself up to the bank, but I got there. The bank was rather high, +and I was shaking so violently that when I took hold of the grass to +pull myself up, the grass shook out of my hands. I could not retain my +grip. I was afraid I would faint then and there, but I kept pulling and +crawling frantically up that infernal bank, and finally made it. + +Then, for the first time in my life, I fainted--fainted from utter +exhaustion. + +It was now about four o'clock in the morning and I was entirely +unprotected from observation. If any one had come along I would have +been found lying there dead to the world. + +Possibly two hours passed before I regained consciousness, and then, no +doubt, only because the rain was beating in my face. + +I knew that I had to get away, as it was broad daylight. Moreover, there +was a towpath right there and any minute a boat might come along and +find me. But it was equally dangerous for me to attempt to travel very +far. Fortunately, I found some shrubbery near by, and I hid there all +day, without food or drink. + +That night I made a little headway, but when day broke I had a dreadful +fever and was delirious. I talked to myself and thereby increased my +chances of capture. In my lucid intervals, when I realized that I had +been talking, the thought sent a chill through me, because in the silent +night even the slightest sound carries far across the Belgian country. I +began to fear that another day of this would about finish me. + +I have a distinct recollection of a ridiculous conversation I carried on +with an imaginary Pat O'Brien--a sort of duplicate of myself. I argued +with him as I marched drearily along, and he answered me back in kind, +and when we disagreed I called upon my one constant friend, the North +Star, to stand by me. + +"There you are, you old North Star!" I cried, aloud. "You want me to get +to Holland, don't you? But this Pat O'Brien--this Pat O'Brien who calls +himself a soldier--he's got a yellow streak--North Star--and he says it +can't be done! He wants me to quit--to lie down here for the Huns to +find me and take me back to Courtrai--after all you've done, North Star, +to lead me to liberty. Won't you make this coward leave me, North Star? +I don't want to follow him--I just want to follow you--because you--you +are taking me away from the Huns and this Pat O'Brien--this fellow who +keeps after me all the time and leans on my neck and wants me to lie +down--this yellow Pat O'Brien wants me to go back to the Huns!" + +After a spell of foolish chatter like that my senses would come back to +me for a while and I would trudge along without a word until the fever +came on me again. + +I knew that I had to have food because I was about on my last legs. I +was very much tempted to lie down then and there and call it a heat. +Things seemed to be getting worse for me the farther I went, and all +the time I had before me the specter of that electric barrier between +Belgium and Holland, even if I ever reached there alive. What was the +use of further suffering when I would probably be captured in the end, +anyway? + +Before giving up, however, I decided upon one bold move. I would +approach one of the houses in the vicinity and get food there or die in +the effort! + +I picked out a small house, because I figured there would be less +likelihood of soldiers being billeted there. + +Then I wrapped a stone in my khaki handkerchief as a sort of camouflaged +weapon, determined to kill the occupant of the house, German or Belgian, +if that step were necessary in order to get food. I tried the well in +the yard, but it would not work, and then I went up to the door and +knocked. + +It was one o'clock in the morning. An old lady came to the window and +looked out. She could not imagine what I was, probably, because I was +still attired in that old overcoat. She gave a cry, and her husband and +a boy came to the door. + +They could not speak English and I could not speak Flemish, but I +pointed to my flying-coat and then to the sky and said "_fleger_" +("flier"), which I thought would tell them what I was. + +Whether they understood or were intimidated by my hard-looking +appearance, I don't know, but certainly it would have to be a brave old +man and boy who would start an argument with such a villainous-looking +character as stood before them that night! I had not shaved for a month, +my clothes were wet, torn, and dirty, my leggings were gone--they +had got so heavy I had discarded them--my hair was matted, and my +cheeks were flushed with fever. In my hand I carried the rock in my +handkerchief, and I made no effort to conceal its presence or its +mission. + +Anyway, they motioned me indoors and gave me my first hot meal in more +than a month. True, it consisted only of warm potatoes. They had been +previously cooked, but the old woman warmed them up in milk in one of +the dirtiest kettles I had ever seen. I asked for bread, but she shook +her head, although I think it must have been for lack of it rather +than because she begrudged it to me. For if ever a man showed he was +famished, I did that night. I swallowed those warm potatoes ravenously +and I drank four glasses of water one after another. It was the best +meal I had had since the "banquet" in the prison at Courtrai. + +The woman of the house was probably seventy-five years old and had +evidently worn wooden shoes all her life, for she had a callous spot on +the side of her foot the size of half a dollar, and it looked so hard +that I doubt whether you could have driven a nail into it with a hammer. + +As I sat there drying myself--for I was in no hurry to leave the first +human habitation I had entered in four weeks--I reflected on my unhappy +lot and the unknown troubles and dangers that lay ahead of me. Here, for +more than a month, I had been leading the life of a hunted animal--yes, +worse than a hunted animal, for Nature clothes her less favored +creatures more appropriately for the life they lead than I was clothed +for mine--and there was not the slightest reason to hope that conditions +would grow better. + +Perhaps the first warm food I had eaten for over a month had released +unused springs of philosophy in me, as food sometimes does for a man. + +I pointed to my torn and water-soaked clothes and conveyed to them as +best I could that I would be grateful for an old suit, but apparently +they were too poor to have more than they actually needed themselves, +and I rose to go. I had roused them out of bed, and I knew I ought not +to keep them up longer than was absolutely necessary. + +As I approached the door I got a glance at myself in a mirror. I was +the awfulest sight I had ever laid eyes on! The glimpse I got of myself +startled me almost as much as if I had seen a dreaded German helmet! My +left eye was fairly well healed by this time, and I was beginning to +regain the sight of it, but my face was so haggard and my beard so long +and unkempt that I looked like Santa Claus on a "bat." + +As they let me out of the door I pointed to the opposite direction +to the one I intended taking and started off in the direction I had +indicated. Later I changed my course completely to throw off any +possible pursuit. + +The next day I was so worn out from exposure and exhaustion that I +threw away my coat, thinking that the less weight I had to carry the +better it would be for me, but when night came I regretted my mistake, +because the nights were now getting colder. I thought at first it would +be best for me to retrace my steps and look for the coat I had so +thoughtlessly discarded, but I decided to go on without it. + +I then began to discard everything that I had in my pocket, finally +throwing my wrist-watch into a canal. A wrist-watch does not add much +weight, but when you plod along and have not eaten for a month it +finally becomes rather heavy. The next thing I discarded was a pair of +flying-mittens. + +These mittens I had got at Camp Borden, in Canada, and had become quite +famous, as my friends termed them "snow-shoes." In fact, they were a +ridiculous pair of mittens, but the best pair I ever had, and I really +felt worse when I lost those mittens than anything else. I could not +think of anybody else ever using them, so I dug a hole in the mud and +buried them, and could not help but laugh at the thought of what my +friends would say had they seen me burying my mittens, because they +were a standing joke in Canada, England, and France. + +I had on two shirts, and as they were always both wet and didn't keep me +warm, it was useless to wear both. One of these was a shirt that I had +bought in France, the other an American army shirt. They were both khaki +and one as apt to give me away as the other, so I discarded the French +shirt. The American army shirt I brought back with me to England, and it +is still in my possession. + +When I escaped from the train I still had that Bavarian cap of bright +red in my pocket and wore it for many nights, but I took great care that +no one saw it. It also had proved very useful when swimming rivers, for +I carried my map and a few other belongings in it, and I had fully made +up my mind to bring it home as a souvenir. But the farther I went the +heavier my extra clothing became, so I was compelled to discard even +the cap. I knew that it would be a telltale mark if I simply threw it +away, so one night after swimming a river I dug a hole in the soft mud +on the bank and buried it, too, with considerably less ceremony than +my flying-mittens had received, perhaps; and that was the end of my +Bavarian hat. + +My experience at the Belgian's house whetted my appetite for warm food, +and I figured that what had been done once could be done again. Sooner +or later I realized I would probably approach a Belgian and find a +German instead, but in such a contingency I was determined to measure my +strength against the Hun's if necessary to effect my escape. + +As it was, however, most of the Belgians to whom I applied for food gave +it to me readily enough, and if some of them refused me it was only +because they feared I might be a spy or that the Germans would shoot +them if their action were subsequently found out. + +About the fifth day after I had entered Belgium I was spending the day +as usual in a clump of bushes when I discerned in the distance what +appeared to be something hanging on a line. All day long I strained my +eyes trying to decide what it could be and arguing with myself that it +might be something that I could add to my inadequate wardrobe, but the +distance was so great that I could not identify it. I had a great fear +that before night came it would probably be removed. + +As soon as darkness fell, however, I crawled out of my hiding-place and +worked up to the line and got a pair of overalls for my industry. It was +a mighty joyful night for me. That pair of overalls was the first bit +of civilian clothes I had thus far picked up, with the exception of a +civilian cap which I had found at the prison and concealed on my person +and which I still had. The overalls were rather small and very short, +but when I put them on I found that they hung down far enough to cover +my breeches. + +It was perhaps three days later that I planned to search another house +for further clothes. Entering Belgian houses at night is anything but a +safe proposition, because their families are large and sometimes as many +as seven or eight sleep in a single room. The barn is usually connected +with the house proper, and there was always the danger of disturbing +some dumb animal, even if the inmates of the house were not aroused. + +Frequently I took a chance of searching a backyard at night in the hope +of finding food scraps, but my success in that direction was so slight +that I soon decided it wasn't worth the risk, and I continued to live on +the raw vegetables that I could pick with safety in the fields and the +occasional meal that I was able to get from the Belgian peasants in the +daytime. + +Nevertheless, I was determined to get more in the way of clothing, and +when night came I picked out a house that looked as though it might +furnish me with what I wanted. It was a moonlight night, and if I could +get in the barn I would have a fair chance of finding my way around by +the moonlight which would enter the windows. + +The barn adjoined the main part of the house, but I groped around very +carefully and soon I touched something hanging on a peg. I didn't know +what it was, but I confiscated it and carried it out into the fields. +There in the moonlight I examined my booty and found it was an old coat. +It was too short as an overcoat and too long for an ordinary coat, but +nevertheless I made use of it. It had probably been an overcoat for the +Belgian who had worn it. + +Some days later I got a scarf from a Belgian peasant, and with this +equipment I was able to conceal my uniform entirely. + +Later on, however, I decided that it was too dangerous to keep the +uniform on anyway, and when night came I dug a hole and buried it. + +I never realized until I had to part with it just how much I thought of +that uniform. It had been with me through many hard trials, and I felt +as if I were abandoning a friend when I parted with it. I was tempted +to keep the wings off the tunic, but thought that that would be a +dangerous concession to sentiment in the event that I was ever captured. +It was the only distinction I had left, as I had given the Royal Flying +Corps badges and the stars of my rank to the German Flying Officers as +souvenirs, but I felt that it was safer to discard it. As it finally +turned out, through all my subsequent experiences my escape would never +have been jeopardized had I kept my uniform, but, of course, I had no +idea what was in store for me. + +There was one thing which surprised me very much as I journeyed through +Belgium, and that was the scarcity of dogs. Apparently most of them have +been taken by the Germans, and what are left are beasts of burden who +are too tired at night to bark or bother intruders. This was a mighty +good thing for me, for I would certainly have stirred them up in passing +through backyards, as I sometimes did when I was making a short cut. + +One night as I came out of a yard it was so pitch dark I could not see +ten feet ahead of me, and I was right in the back of a little village, +although I did not know it. I crawled along, fearing I might come to a +crossroads at which there would in all probability be a German sentry. + +My precaution served me in good stead, for I had come out in the main +street of a village and within twenty feet of me, sitting on some bricks +where they were building a little store, I could see the dim outline of +a German spiked helmet! + +I could not cross the street and the only thing to do was to back-track. +It meant making a long detour and losing two hours of precious time +and effort, but there was no help for it, and I plodded wearily back, +cursing the Huns at every step. + +The next night while crossing some fields I came to a road. It was one +of the main roads of Belgium and was paved with cobblestones. On these +roads you can hear a wagon or horse about a mile or two away. I listened +intently before I moved ahead, and, hearing nothing, concluded that the +way was clear. + +As I emerged from the field and got my first glimpse of the road I got +the shock of my life! In either direction, as far as I could see, the +road was lined with German soldiers! + +What they were doing in that part of Belgium I did not know, but you can +be mighty sure I didn't spend any time trying to find out. + +Again it was necessary to change my course and lose a certain amount of +ground, but by this time I had become fairly well reconciled to these +reverses and they did not depress me as much as they had at first. + +At this period of my adventure if a day or a night passed without its +thrill I began to feel almost disappointed, but such disappointments +were rather rare. + +One evening as I was about to swim a canal about two hundred feet wide I +suddenly noticed, about one hundred yards away, a canal-boat moored to +the side. + +It was a sort of out-of-the-way place, and I wondered what the +canal-boat had stopped for. I crawled up to see. As I neared the boat +five men were leaving it, and I noticed them cross over into the fields. +At a safe distance I followed them, and they had not gone very far +before I saw what they were after. They were committing the common but +heinous crime of stealing potatoes! + +Without the means to cook them, potatoes didn't interest me a bit, and +I thought that the boat itself would probably yield me more than the +potato-patch. Knowing that the canal hands would probably take their +time in the fields, I climbed up the stern of the boat leisurely and +without any particular pains to conceal myself. Just as my head appeared +above the stern of the boat I saw, silhouetted against the sky, the +dreaded outline of a German soldier--spiked helmet and all! A chill ran +down my spine as I dropped to the bank of the canal and slunk away. +Evidently the sentry had not seen me or, if he had, he had probably +figured that I was one of the foraging party, but I realized that it +wouldn't pay in future to take anything for granted. + + + + +X + +EXPERIENCES IN BELGIUM + + +I think that one of the worst things I had to contend with in my journey +through Belgium was the number of small ditches. They intercepted me at +every half-mile or so, sometimes more frequently. The canals and the big +rivers I could swim. Of course, I got soaked to the skin every time I +did it, but I was becoming hardened to that. + +These little ditches, however, were too narrow to swim and too wide to +jump. They had perhaps two feet of water in them and three feet of mud, +and it was almost invariably a case of wading through. Some of them, no +doubt, I could have jumped if I had been in decent shape, but with a bad +ankle and in the weakened condition in which I was, it was almost out of +the question. + +One night I came to a ditch about eight or nine feet wide. I thought I +was strong enough to jump it, and it was worth trying, as the discomfort +I suffered after wading these ditches was considerable. Taking a long +run, I jumped as hard as I could, but I missed it by four or five inches +and landed in about two feet of water and three feet more of mud. +Getting out of that mess was quite a job. The water was too dirty and +too scanty to enable me to wash off the mud with which I was covered +and it was too wet to scrape off. I just had to wait until it dried and +scrape it off then. + +In many sections of Belgium through which I had to pass I encountered +large areas of swamp and marshy ground, and, rather than waste the time +involved in looking for better underfooting--which I might not have +found, anyway--I used to plod right through the mud. Apart from the +discomfort of this method of traveling and the slow time I made, there +was an added danger to me in the fact that the "squash-squash" noise +which I made might easily be overheard by Belgians and Germans and give +my position away. Nobody would cross a swamp or marsh in that part +of the country unless he was trying to get away from somebody, and I +realized my danger, but could not get around it. + +It was a common sight in Belgium to see a small donkey and a common, +ordinary milch cow hitched together, pulling a wagon. When I first +observed the unusual combination I thought it was a donkey and ox or +bull, but closer inspection revealed to me that cows were being used for +the purpose. + +From what I was able to observe, there must be very few horses left in +Belgium except those owned by the Germans. Cows and donkeys are now +doing the work formerly done by horses and mules. Altogether I spent +nearly eight weeks wandering through Belgium and in all that time I +don't believe I saw more than half a dozen horses in the possession of +the native population. + +One of the scarcest things in Germany, apparently, is rubber, for I +noticed that their motor trucks, or lorries, unlike our own, had no +rubber tires. Instead, heavy iron bands were employed. I could hear +them come rumbling along the stone roads for miles before they reached +the spot where I happened to be in hiding. When I saw these military +roads in Belgium for the first time, with their heavy cobblestones that +looked as if they would last for centuries, I realized at once why it +was that the Germans had been able to make such a rapid advance into +Belgium at the start of the war. + +I noticed that the Belgians used dogs to a considerable extent to pull +their carts, and I thought many times that if I could have stolen one +of those dogs it would have made a very good companion for me, and +might, if the occasion arose, help me out in a fight. But I had no way +of feeding it and the animal would probably have starved to death. I +could live on vegetables which I could always depend upon finding in the +fields, but a dog couldn't, and so I gave up the idea. + +The knack of making fire with two pieces of dry wood I had often read +about, but I had never put it to a test, and for various reasons I +concluded that it would be unsafe for me to build a fire even if I had +matches. In the first place, there was no absolute need for it. I +didn't have anything to cook, nor utensils to cook it in even if I had. +While the air was getting to be rather cool at night, I was usually on +the go at the time and didn't notice it. In the daytime, when I was +resting or sleeping, the sun was usually out. + +To have borrowed matches from a Belgian peasant would have been +feasible, but when I was willing to take the chance of approaching any +one it was just as easy to ask for food as matches. + +In the second place, it would have been extremely dangerous to have +built a fire even if I had needed it. You can't build a fire in Belgium, +which is the most thickly populated country in Europe, without every one +knowing it, and I was far from anxious to advertise my whereabouts. + +The villages in the part of Belgium through which I was making my course +were so close together that there was hardly ever an hour passed without +my hearing some clock strike. Every village has its clock. Many times I +could hear the clocks striking in two villages at the same time. + +But the hour had very little interest to me. My program was to travel as +fast as I could from sunset to sunrise and pay no attention to the hours +in between, and in the daytime I had only two things to worry about: +keep concealed and get as much sleep as possible. + +The cabbage that I got in Belgium consisted of the small heads that +the peasants had not cut. All the strength had concentrated in these +little heads and they would be as bitter as gall. I would have to be +pretty hungry to-day before I could ever eat cabbage again, and the same +observation applies to carrots, turnips, and sugar-beets--especially +sugar-beets. + +It is rather a remarkable thing that to-day even the smell of turnips, +raw or cooked, makes me sick, and yet a few short months ago my life +depended upon them. + +Night after night, as I searched for food, I was always in hopes that +I might come upon some tomatoes or celery--vegetables which I really +liked, but with the exception of once, when I found some celery, I was +never so fortunate. I ate so much of the celery the night I came upon it +that I was sick for two days thereafter, but I carried several bunches +away with me and used to chew on it as I walked along. + +Of course, I kept my eyes open all the time for fruit trees, but +apparently it was too late in the year for fruit, as all that I ever was +able to find were two pears which I got out of a tree. That was one of +my red-letter days, but I was never able to repeat it. + +In the brooks and ponds that I passed I often noticed fish of different +kinds. That was either in the early morning, just before I turned in for +the day, or on moonlight nights when the water seemed as clear in spots +as in the daytime. It occurred to me that it would be a simple matter to +rig a hook and line and catch some of the fish, but I had no means of +cooking them and it was useless to fish for the sake of it. + +One night in Belgium my course took me through a desolate stretch +of country which seemed to be absolutely uncultivated. I must have +covered twelve miles during the night without passing a single farm or +cultivated field. My stock of turnips which I had plucked the night +before was gone and I planned, of course, to get enough to carry me +through the following day. + +The North Star was shining brightly that night and there was absolutely +nothing to prevent my steering an absolutely direct course for Holland +and liberty, but my path seemed to lie through arid pastures. Far to the +east or to the west I could hear faintly the striking of village bells, +and I knew that if I changed my course I would undoubtedly strike farms +and vegetables, but the North Star seemed to plead with me to follow it, +and I would not turn aside. + +When daylight came the consequence was I was empty-handed, and I had to +find a hiding-place for the day. I thought I would approach the first +peasant I came to and ask for food, but that day I had misgivings--a +hunch--that I would get into trouble if I did, and I decided to go +without food altogether for that day. + +It was a foolish thing to do, I found, because I not only suffered +greatly from hunger all that day, but it interfered with my sleep. I +would drop off to sleep for half an hour, perhaps, and during that time +I would dream that I was free, back home, living a life of comparative +ease, and then I would wake up with a start and catch a glimpse of the +bushes surrounding me, feel the hard ground beneath me and the hunger +pangs gnawing at my insides, and then I would realize how far from home +I really was, and I would lie there and wonder whether I would ever +really see my home again. Then I would fall asleep again and dream this +time, perhaps, of the days I spent in Courtrai, of my leap from the +train window, of the Bavarian pilot whom I sent to eternity in my last +air-fight, of my tracer-bullets getting closer and closer to his head, +and then I would wake up again with a start and thank the Lord that I +was only dreaming it all again instead of living through it! + +That night I got an early start because I knew I had to have food, and I +decided that, rather than look for vegetables, I would take a chance and +apply to the first Belgian peasant I came to. + +It was about eight o'clock when I came to a small house. I had picked up +a heavy stone and had bound it in my handkerchief, and I was resolved to +use it as a weapon if it became necessary. After all I had gone through +I was resolved to win my liberty eventually at whatever cost. + +As it happened, I found that night the first real friend I had +encountered in all my traveling. When I knocked timidly on the door it +was opened by a Belgian peasant, about fifty years of age. He asked me +in Flemish what I wanted, but I shook my head and, pointing to my ears +and mouth, intimated that I was deaf and dumb, and then I opened and +closed my teeth several times to show him that I wanted food. + +He showed me inside and sat me at the table. He apparently lived alone, +for his ill-furnished room had but one chair, and the plate and knife +and fork he put before me seemed to be all he had. He brought me some +cold potatoes and several slices of stale bread, and he warmed me some +milk on a small oil-stove. + +I ate ravenously, and all the time I was engaged I knew that he was +eying me closely. + +Before I was half through he came over to me, touched me on the +shoulder, and, stooping over so that his lips almost touched my ear, he +said, in broken English, "You are an Englishman--I know it--and you can +hear and talk if you wish. Am I not right?" + +There was a smile on his face and a friendly attitude about him that +told me instinctively that he could be trusted, and I replied, "You have +guessed right--only I am an American, not an Englishman." + +He looked at me pityingly and filled my cup again with warm milk. + +His kindness and apparent willingness to help me almost overcame me, +and I felt like warning him of the consequences he would suffer if the +Huns discovered he had befriended me. I had heard that twenty Belgians +had been shot for helping Belgians to escape into Holland, and I hated +to think what might happen to this Good Samaritan if the Huns ever knew +that he had helped an escaped American prisoner. + +After my meal was finished I told him in as simple language as I could +command of some of the experiences I had gone through, and I outlined my +future plans. + +"You will never be able to get to Holland," he declared, "without a +passport. The nearer you get to the frontier the more German soldiers +you will encounter, and without a passport you will be a marked man." + +I asked him to suggest a way by which I could overcome this difficulty. + +He thought for several moments and studied me closely all the +time--perhaps endeavoring to make absolutely sure that I was not a +German spy--and then, apparently deciding in my favor, told me what he +thought it was best for me to do. + +"If you will call on this man," mentioning the name of a Belgian in +----, a city through which I had to pass, he advised, "you will be able +to make arrangements with him to secure a passport, and he will do +everything he can to get you out of Belgium." + +He told me where the man in question could be found and gave me some +useful directions to continue my journey, and then he led me to the +door. I thanked him a thousand times and wanted to pay him for his +kindness and help, but he would accept nothing. He did give me his +name, and you may be sure I shall never forget it, but to mention it +here might, of course, result in serious consequences for him. When the +war is over, however, or the Germans are thrown out of Belgium, I shall +make it my duty to find that kind Belgian, if to do it I have to go +through again all that I have suffered already. + + + + +XI + +I ENCOUNTER GERMAN SOLDIERS + + +What the Belgian had told me about the need of a passport gave me fresh +cause for worry. Suppose I should run into a German sentry before I +succeeded in getting one? + +I decided that until I reached the big city which the Belgian had +mentioned--and which I cannot name for fear of identifying some of +the people there who befriended me--I would proceed with the utmost +precaution. Since I had discarded my uniform and had obtained civilian +clothes I had not been quite as careful as I was at first. While I had +done my traveling at night, I had not gone into hiding so early in the +morning as before, and I had sometimes started again before it was quite +dark, relying upon the fact that I would probably be mistaken for a +Belgian on his way to or from work, as the case might be. From now on, +I resolved, however, I would take no more chances. + +That evening I came to a river perhaps seventy-five yards wide, and I +was getting ready to swim it when I thought I would walk a little way +to find, if possible, a better place to get to the river from the bank. +I had not walked more than a few hundred feet when I saw a boat. It was +the first time I had seen a boat in all my experiences. + +It was firmly chained, but as the stakes were sunk in the soft bank it +was not much of a job to pull them out. I got in, drank to my heart's +content, shoved over to the other side, got out, drove a stake into the +ground, and moored the boat. It would have been a simple matter to have +drifted down the river, but the river was not shown on my map and I had +no idea where it might lead me. Very reluctantly, therefore, I had to +abandon the boat and proceed on foot. + +I made several miles that night and before daylight found a safe +place in which to hide for the day. From my hiding-place I could see +through the bushes a heavy thick wood only a short distance away. +I decided that I would start earlier than usual, hurry over to the +wood, and perhaps in that way I could cover two or three miles in the +daytime and gain just so much time. Traveling through the wood would be +comparatively safe. There was a railroad going through the wood, but I +did not figure that that would make it any the less safe. + +About three o'clock that afternoon, therefore, I emerged from my +hiding-place and hurried into the wood. After proceeding for half a mile +or so I came to the railroad. I took a sharp look in both directions +and, seeing no signs of trains or soldiers, I walked boldly over the +tracks and continued on my way. + +I soon came upon a clearing and knew that some one must be living in the +vicinity. As I turned a group of trees I saw a small house and in the +distance an old man working in a garden. I decided to enter the house +and ask for food, figuring the woman would probably be old and would be +no match for me even if she proved hostile. The old woman who came to +the door in response to my knock was older even than I had expected. If +she wasn't close to a hundred years, I miss my guess very much. + +She could not speak English and I could not speak Flemish, of course, +but, nevertheless, I made her understand that I wanted something to eat. +She came out of the door and hollered for her husband in a shrill voice +that would have done credit to a girl of eighteen. The old man came in +from his garden and between the two of them they managed to get the +idea that I was hungry, and they gave me a piece of bread--a very small +piece--which was quite a treat. + +The house they lived in consisted of just two rooms--the kitchen and a +bedroom. The kitchen was perhaps fourteen feet square, eight feet of +one side of it being taken up by an enormous fireplace. What was in +the bedroom I had no way of telling, as I did not dare to be too +inquisitive. + +I made the old couple understand that I would like to stay in their +house all night, but the old man shook his head. I bade them good-by and +disappeared into the woods, leaving them to speculate as to the strange +foreigner they had entertained. + +From the greater density of the population in the section through which +I was now passing I realized that I must be in the outskirts of the +big city which the Belgian had mentioned and where I was to procure a +passport. + +Village after village intercepted me, and, although I tried to skirt +them wherever possible, I realized that I would never make much progress +if I continued that course. To gain a mile I would sometimes have to +make a detour of two or three. I decided that I would try my luck in +going straight through the next village I came to. + +As I approached it I passed numbers of peasants who were ambling along +the road. I was afraid to mingle with them because it was impossible for +me to talk to them and it was dangerous to arouse suspicion even among +the Belgians. For all I knew, one of them might be treacherous enough to +deliver me to the Germans in return for the reward he might be sure of +receiving. + +About nine o'clock that evening I came to a point where ahead of me +on the right was a Belgian police station--I knew it from its red +lights--and on the other side of the street were two German soldiers in +uniform leaning against a bicycle. + +Here was a problem which called for instant decision. If I turned back, +the suspicion of the soldiers would be instantly aroused, and if I +crossed the road so as not to pass so closely to them, they might be +equally suspicious. I decided to march bravely by the Huns, bluff my +way through, and trust to Providence. If anybody imagines, however, +that I was at all comfortable as I approached those soldiers, he must +think that I am a much braver man than I claim to be. My heart beat so +loud I was afraid they would hear it. Every step I took brought me so +much nearer to what might prove to be the end of all my hopes. It was a +nerve-racking ordeal. + +I was now within a few feet of them. Another step and-- + +They didn't turn a hair! I passed right by them--heard what they were +saying, although, of course, I didn't understand it, and went right +on. I can't say I didn't walk a little faster as I left them behind, +but I tried to maintain an even gait so as not to give them any idea +of the inward exultation I was experiencing. No words can explain, +however, how relieved I really felt--to know that I had successfully +passed through the first of a series of similar tests which I realized +were in store for me--although I did not know then how soon I was to be +confronted with the second. + +As it was, however, the incident gave me a world of confidence. It +demonstrated to me that there was nothing in my appearance, at any rate, +to attract the attention of the German soldiers. Apparently I looked +like a Belgian peasant, and if I could only work things so that I would +never have to answer questions and thus give away my nationality, I +figured I would be tolerably safe. + +As I marched along I felt so happy I couldn't help humming the air of +one of the new patriotic songs that we used to sing at the aerodrome +back of Ypres. + +In this happy fame of mind I covered the next three miles in about an +hour, and then I came to another little village. My usual course would +have been to go around it--through fields, backyards, woods, or whatever +else lay in my way--but I had gained so much time by going through the +last village instead of detouring around it, and my appearance seemed to +be so unsuspicious, that I decided to try the same stunt again. + +I stopped humming and kept very much on the alert, but, apart from that, +I walked boldly through the main street without any feeling of alarm. + +I had proceeded perhaps a mile along the main street when I noticed +ahead of me three German soldiers standing at the curb. + +Again my heart started to beat fast, I must confess, but I was not +nearly so scared as I had been an hour or so before. I walked ahead, +determined to follow my previous procedure in every particular. + +I had got to about fifteen feet away from the soldiers when one of them +stepped onto the sidewalk and shouted: + +"Halt!" + +My heart stopped beating fast--for a moment, I believe, it stopped +beating altogether! I can't attempt to describe my feelings. The thought +that the jig was up, that all I had gone through and all I had escaped +would now avail me nothing, mingled with a feeling of disgust with +myself because of the foolish risk I had taken in going through the +village, combined to take all the starch out of me, and I could feel +myself wilting as the soldier advanced to the spot where I stood rooted +in my tracks. + +I had a bottle of water in one pocket and a piece of bread in the other, +and as the Hun advanced to search me I held the bottle up in one hand +and the piece of bread in the other so that he could see that was all I +had. + +It occurred to me that he would "frisk" me--that is, feel me over for +arms or other weapons, then place me under arrest and march me off to +the guard-house. I had not the slightest idea but that I was captured, +and there didn't seem to be much use in resisting, unarmed as I was and +with two other German soldiers within a few feet of us. + +Like a flash it suddenly dawned on me, however, that for all this +soldier could have known I was only a Belgian peasant and that his +object in searching me, which he proceeded to do, was to ascertain +whether I had committed the common "crime" of smuggling potatoes! + +The Belgians are allowed only a certain amount of potatoes, and it is +against the laws laid down by the Huns to deal in vegetables of any kind +except under the rigid supervision of the authorities. Nevertheless, it +was one of the principal vocations of the average poor Belgian to buy +potatoes out in the country from the peasants and then smuggle them into +the large cities and sell them clandestinely at a high price. + +To stop this traffic in potatoes the German soldiers were in the habit +of subjecting the Belgians to frequent search, and I was being held up +by this soldier for no other reason than that he thought I might be a +potato-smuggler! + +He felt of my outside clothes and pockets, and, finding no potatoes, +seemed to be quite satisfied. Had he but known who I was he could have +earned an iron cross! Or perhaps, in view of the fact that I had a heavy +water-bottle in my uplifted hand, it might have turned out to be a +_wooden_ cross! + +He said something in German, which, of course, I did not understand, +and then some Belgian peasants came along and seemed to distract his +attention. Perhaps he had said, "It's all right, you may go on," or +he may have been talking to the others in Flemish, but, at any rate, +observing that he was more interested in the others than he was in me at +the moment, I put the bottle in my pocket and walked on. + +After I walked a few steps I took a furtive glance backward and noticed +the soldier who had searched me rejoin his comrades at the curb and then +stop another fellow who had come along, and then I disappeared in the +darkness. + +I cannot say that the outcome of this adventure left me in the same +confident frame of mind that followed the earlier one. It was true I had +come out of it all right, but I could not help thinking what a terribly +close shave I had. + +Suppose the soldier had questioned me? The ruse I had been following +in my dealings with the Belgian peasants--pretending I was deaf and +dumb--might possibly have worked here, too, but a soldier--a German +soldier--might not so easily have been fooled. It was more than an even +chance that it would at least have aroused his suspicions and resulted +in further investigation. A search of my clothing would have revealed +a dozen things which would have established my identity, and all my +shamming of deafness would have availed me nothing. + +As I wandered along I knew that I was now approaching the big city which +my Belgian friend had spoken of and which I would have to enter if I was +to get the passport, and I realized now how essential it was to have +something to enable me to get through the frequent examinations to which +I expected to be subjected. + +While I was still debating in my mind whether it was going to be +possible for me to enter the city that night, I saw in the distance what +appeared to be an arc-light, and as I neared it that was what it turned +out to be. Beneath the light I could make out the forms of three guards, +and the thought of having to go through the same kind of ordeal that I +had just experienced filled me with misgivings. Was it possible that I +could be fortunate enough to get by again? + +As I slowed up a little, trying to make up my mind what was best to do, +I was overtaken by a group of Belgian women who were shuffling along +the road, and I decided to mingle with them and see if I couldn't convey +the impression that I was one of their party. + +As we approached the arc-light the figures of those three soldiers with +their spiked helmets loomed up before me like a regiment. I felt as if +I were walking right into the jaws of death. Rather than go through +what was in store for me I felt that I would infinitely prefer to be +fighting again in the air with those four desperate Huns who had been +the cause of my present plight; then, at least, I would have a chance to +fight back, but now I had to risk my life and take what was coming to me +without a chance to strike a blow in my own defense. + +I shall never forget my feelings as we came within the shaft of light +projected by that great arc-light, nor the faces of those three guards +as we passed by them. I didn't look directly at them, but out of the +corner of my eye I didn't miss a detail. I held a handkerchief up to my +face as we passed them, and endeavored to imitate the slouching gait of +the Belgians as well as I could; and apparently it worked. We walked +right by those guards and they paid absolutely no attention to us. + +If ever a fellow felt like going down on his knees and praying, I did at +that moment, but it wouldn't have done to show my elation or gratitude +in that conspicuous way. + +It was then well after eleven o'clock, and I knew it would be unsafe for +me to attempt to find a lodging-place in the city, and the only thing +for me to do was to locate the man whose name the Belgian had given me. +He had given me a good description of the street and had directed me how +to get there, and I followed his instructions closely. + +After walking the streets for about half an hour I came upon one of the +landmarks my friend had described to me, and ten minutes afterward I was +knocking at the door of the man who was to make it possible for me to +reach Holland--and liberty. At least that was what I hoped. + + + + +XII + +THE FORGED PASSPORT + + +For obvious reasons I cannot describe the man to whom I applied for +the passport, nor the house in which he lived. While, in view of what +subsequently happened, I would not be very much concerned if he got +into trouble for having dealt with me, I realize that the hardships he +had endured in common with all the other inhabitants of that conquered +city may possibly have distorted his ideas of right and justice, and I +shall not deliberately bring further disaster on him by revealing his +identity. + +This man--we will call him Huyliger, because that is as unlike his +name as it is mine--was very kind to me on that memorable night when I +aroused him from his sleep and in a few words of explanation told him of +my plight. + +He invited me inside, prepared some food for me, and, putting on a +dressing-gown, came and sat by me while I ate, listening with the +greatest interest to the short account I gave him of my adventures. + +He could speak English fluently, and he interrupted me several times to +express his sympathy for the sufferings I had endured. + +"O'Brien," he said, after I had concluded my story, "I am going to +help you. It may take several days--perhaps as long as two weeks, but +eventually we will provide the means to enable you to get into Holland!" + +I thanked him a thousand times and told him that I didn't know how I +could possibly repay him. + +"Don't think of that," he replied; "the satisfaction of knowing that I +have aided in placing one more victim of the Huns beyond their power to +harm him will more than repay me for all the risk I shall run in helping +you. You'd better turn in now, O'Brien, and in the morning I'll tell you +what I plan to do." + +He showed me to a small room on the second floor, shook hands with me, +and left me to prepare for the first real night's rest I had been able +to take in nearly two months. + +As I removed my clothes and noticed that my knees were still swollen to +twice their normal size, that my left ankle was black and blue from the +wrench I had given it when I jumped from the train, and that my ribs +showed through my skin, I realized what a lot I had been through. As a +matter of fact, I could not have weighed more than one hundred and fifty +pounds at that time, whereas I had tipped the scales at one hundred and +ninety when I was with my squadron in France. + +I lost no time in getting into bed and still less in getting to sleep. +I don't know what I dreamed of that night, but I had plenty of time to +go through the experiences of my whole life, for when I was aroused by a +knock on the door, and Huyliger came in, in response to my invitation to +enter, he told me that it was nearly noon. I had slept for nearly twelve +hours. + +I cannot say that the thought did not run through my head that perhaps, +after all, I was living in a fool's paradise, and that when Huyliger +reappeared it would be with a couple of German soldiers behind him, +but I dismissed such misgivings summarily, realizing that I was doing +Huyliger an injustice to let such things enter my head even for an +instant. I had no right to doubt his sincerity, and it would do me no +good to entertain such suspicions. If he was going to prove treacherous +to me, I was powerless, anyway, to cope with him. + +In a few moments my host appeared with a tray containing my breakfast. +I don't suppose I shall ever forget that meal. It consisted of a cup of +coffee--real coffee, not the kind I had had at Courtrai--several slices +of bread, some hot potatoes, and a dish of scrambled eggs. + +Every mouthful of that meal tasted like angel-food to me, and Huyliger +sat on the edge of the bed and watched me enjoying the meal, at the same +time outlining the plans he had made for my escape. + +In brief, the scheme was to conceal me in a convent until conditions +were ripe for me to make my way to the border. In the mean while I was +to be dressed in the garb of a priest, and when the time came for me to +leave the city I was to pretend that I was a Spanish sailor, because +I could speak a little Spanish, which I had picked up on the coast. +To attempt to play the part of a Belgian would become increasingly +difficult, he pointed out, and would bring inevitable disaster in the +event that I was called upon to speak. + +Huyliger said I would be given sufficient money to bribe the German +guards at the Dutch frontier, and he assured me that everything would +work out according to schedule. + +"Yours is not the first case, O'Brien, we have handled successfully," he +declared. "Only three weeks ago I heard from an English merchant who had +escaped from a German detention camp and come to me for assistance, and +whom I had been able to get through the lines. His message telling me of +his safe arrival in Rotterdam came to me in an indirect way, of course, +but the fact that the plans we had made carried through without mishap +makes me feel that we ought to be able to do as much for you." + +I told Huyliger I was ready to follow his instructions and would do +anything he suggested. + +"I want to rejoin my squadron as soon as I possibly can, of course," I +told him, "but I realize that it will take a certain length of time for +you to make the necessary arrangements, and I will be as patient as I +can." + +The first thing to do, Huyliger told me, was to prepare a passport. He +had a blank one and it was a comparatively simple matter to fill in the +spaces, using a genuine passport which Huyliger possessed as a sample +of the handwriting of the passport clerk. My occupation was entered as +that of a sailor. My birthplace we gave as Spain, and we put my age at +thirty. As a matter of fact, at that time I could easily have passed for +thirty-five, but we figured that with proper food and a decent place +to sleep in at night I would soon regain my normal appearance and the +passport would have to serve me, perhaps, for several weeks to come. + +Filling in the blank spaces on the passport was, as I have said, a +comparatively easy matter, but that did not begin to fill the bill. +Every genuine passport bore an official rubber stamp, something like an +elaborate postmark, and I was at a loss to know how to get over that +difficulty. + +[Illustration: THE FORGED PASSPORT PREPARED IN A BELGIAN CITY TO AID +LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN'S ESCAPE INTO HOLLAND, BUT WHICH WAS NEVER USED] + +Fortunately, however, Huyliger had half of a rubber stamp which had +evidently been thrown away by the Germans, and he planned to construct +the other half out of the cork from a wine bottle. He was very skilful +with a penknife, and although he spoiled a score or more of corks before +he succeeded in getting anything like the result he was after, the +finished article was far better than our most sanguine expectations. +Indeed, after we had pared it over here and there and removed whatever +imperfections our repeated tests disclosed, we had a stamp which made +an impression so closely resembling the original that, without a +magnifying-glass, we were sure it would have been impossible to tell +that it was a counterfeit. + +Huyliger procured a camera and took a photograph of me to paste on the +passport in the place provided for that purpose, and we then had a +passport which was entirely satisfactory to both of us and would, we +hoped, prove equally so to our friends the Huns. + +It had taken two days to fix up the passport. In the mean while, +Huyliger informed me that he had changed his plans about the convent, +and that instead he would take me to an empty house where I could remain +in safety until he told me it was advisable for me to proceed to the +frontier. + +This was quite agreeable to me, as I had had some misgivings as to the +kind of a priest I would make, and it seemed to me to be safer to remain +aloof from every one in a deserted house than to have to mingle with +people or come in contact with them even with the best of disguises. + +That night I accompanied Huyliger to a fashionable section of the city +where the house in which I was to be concealed was located. + +This house turned out to be a four-story structure of brick. Huyliger +told me that it had been occupied by a wealthy Belgian before the +war, but since 1914 it had been uninhabited save for the occasional +habitation of some refugee whom Huyliger was befriending. + +Huyliger had a key and let me in, but he did not enter the house with +me, stating that he would visit me in the morning. + +I explored the place from top to bottom as well as I could without +lights. The house was elaborately furnished, but, of course, the dust +lay a quarter of an inch thick almost everywhere. It was a large house, +containing some twenty rooms. There were two rooms in the basement, +four on the first floor, four on the second, five on the third, and +five on the top. In the days that were to come I was to have plenty of +opportunity to familiarize myself with the contents of that house, but +at the time I did not know it, and I was curious enough to want to know +just what the house contained. + +Down in the basement there was a huge pantry, but it was absolutely +bare, except of dust and dirt. A door which evidently led to a +sub-basement attracted my attention, and I thought it might be a good +idea to know just where it led in case it became necessary for me to +elude searchers. + +In that cellar I found case after case of choice wine--Huyliger +subsequently told me that there were eighteen hundred bottles of it. I +was so happy at the turn my affairs had taken and in the rosy prospects +which I now entertained that I was half inclined to indulge in a little +celebration then and there. On second thoughts, however, I remembered +the old warning of the folly of shouting before you are well out of +the woods, and I decided that it would be just as well to postpone the +festivities for a while and go to bed instead. + +In such an elaborately furnished house I had naturally conjured up ideas +of a wonderfully large bed, with thick hair mattresses, downy quilts, +and big soft pillows. Indeed, I debated for a while which particular +bedroom I should honor with my presence that night. Judge of my +disappointment, therefore, when, after visiting bedroom after bedroom, +I discovered that there wasn't a bed in any one of them that was in a +condition to sleep in. All the mattresses had been removed and the rooms +were absolutely bare of everything in the way of wool, silk, or cotton +fabrics. The Germans had apparently swept the house clean. + +There was nothing to do, therefore, but to make myself as comfortable +as I could on the floor, but as I had grown accustomed by this time +to sleeping under far less comfortable conditions I swallowed my +disappointment as cheerfully as I could and lay down for the night. + +In the morning Huyliger appeared and brought me some breakfast, and +after I had eaten it he asked me what connections I had in France or +England from whom I could obtain money. + +I told him that I banked at Cox & Co., London, and that if he needed any +money I would do anything I could to get it for him, although I did not +know just how such things could be arranged. + +"Don't worry about that, O'Brien," he replied. "We'll find a way of +getting at it, all right. What I want to know is how far you are +prepared to go to compensate me for the risks I am taking and for the +service I am rendering you." + +The change in the man's attitude stunned me. I could hardly believe my +ears. + +"Of course, I shall pay you as well as I can for what you have done, +Huyliger," I replied, trying to conceal as far as possible the +disappointment his demand had occasioned me. "But don't you think that +this is hardly the proper time or occasion to talk of compensation? All +I have on me, as you know, is a few hundred francs, and that, of course, +you are welcome to, and when I get back, if I ever do, I shall not +easily forget the kindness you have shown me. I am sure you need have no +concern about my showing my gratitude in a substantial way." + +"That's all right, O'Brien," he insisted, looking at me in a knowing +sort of way. "You may take care of me afterward, and then again you may +not. I'm not satisfied to wait. I want to be taken care of _now_!" + +"Well, what do you want me to do? How much do you expect in the way of +compensation? How can I arrange to get it to you? I am willing to do +anything that is reasonable." + +"I want ---- pounds!" he replied, and he named a figure that staggered +me. If I had been Lord Kitchener instead of just an ordinary lieutenant +in the R. F. C., he would hardly have asked a larger sum. Perhaps he +thought I was. + +"Why, my dear man," I said, smilingly, thinking that perhaps he was +joking, "you don't really mean that, do you?" + +"I certainly do, O'Brien, and what is more," he threatened, "I intend to +get every cent I have asked, and you are going to help me get it!" + +He pulled out an order calling for the payment to him of the amount he +had mentioned, and demanded that I sign it. + +I waved it aside. + +"Huyliger," I said, "you have helped me out so far, and perhaps you have +the power to help me further. I appreciate what you have done for me, +although now, I think, I see what your motive was, but I certainly don't +intend to be blackmailed, and I tell you right now that I won't stand +for it!" + +"Very well," he said. "It is just as you say. But before you make up +your mind so obstinately I would advise you to think it over. I'll be +back this evening." + +My first impulse, after the man had left, was to get out of that house +just as soon as I could. I had the passport he had prepared for me, and +I figured that even without further help from him I could now get to the +border without very much difficulty, and when I got there I would have +to use my own ingenuity to get through. + +It was evident, however, that Huyliger still had an idea that I might +change my mind with regard to the payment he had demanded, and I decided +that it would be foolish to do anything until he paid me a second visit. + +At the beginning of my dealings with Huyliger I had turned over to him +some pictures, papers, and other things that I had on me when I entered +his house, including my identification disk, and I was rather afraid +that he might refuse to return them to me. + +All day long I remained in the house without a particle of food other +than the breakfast Huyliger had brought to me. From the windows I +could see plenty to interest me and help pass the time away, but of +my experiences while in that house I shall tell in detail later on, +confining my attention now to a narration of my dealings with Huyliger. + +That night he appeared, as he had promised. + +"Well, O'Brien," he asked, as he entered the room where I was awaiting +him, "what do you say? Will you sign the order or not?" + +It had occurred to me during the day that the amount demanded was so +fabulous that I might have signed the order without any danger of +its ever being paid, but the idea of this man, who had claimed to be +befriending me, endeavoring to make capital out of my plight galled me +so that I was determined not to give in to him, whether I could do so in +safety or not. + +"No, Huyliger," I replied. "I have decided to get along as best I can +without any further assistance from you. I shall see that you are +reasonably paid for what you have done, but I will not accept any +further assistance from you at any price, and, what is more, I want +you to return to me at once all the photographs and other papers and +belongings of mine which I turned over to you a day or two ago!" + +"I'm sorry about that, O'Brien," he retorted, with a show of apparent +sincerity, "but that is something I cannot do." + +"If you don't give me back those papers at once," I replied, hotly, "I +will take steps to get them and damned quick, too!" + +"I don't know just what you could do, O'Brien," he declared, coolly, +"but as a matter of fact the papers and pictures you refer to are out of +the country. I could not give them back to you if I wanted to." + +Something told me the man was lying. + +"See here, Huyliger!" I threatened, advancing toward him, putting my +hand on his shoulder and looking him straight in the eye, "I want those +papers and I want them here before midnight to-night. If I don't get +them, I shall sleep in this place just once more, and then, at eight +o'clock to-morrow morning, I shall go to the German authorities, give +myself up, show them the passport that you fixed up for me, tell them +how I got it, and explain everything!" + +Huyliger paled. We had no lights in the house, but we were standing +near a landing at the time and the moonlight was streaming through a +stained-glass window. + +The Belgian turned on his heel and started to go down the stairs. + +"Mind you," I called after him, "I shall wait for you till the city +clock strikes twelve, and if you don't show up with those papers by that +time, the next time you will see me is when you confront me before the +German authorities! I am a desperate man, Huyliger, and I mean every +word I say!" + +He let himself out of the door and I sat on the top stair and wondered +just what he would do. Would he try to steal a march on me and get in +a first word to the authorities, so that my story would be discredited +when I put it to them? + +Of course my threat to give myself up to the Huns was a pure bluff. +While I had no desire to lose the papers which Huyliger had, and which +included the map of the last resting-place of my poor chum Raney, I +certainly had no intention of cutting off my nose to spite my chin by +surrendering to the Germans. I would have been shot, as sure as fate, +for, after all I had been able to observe behind the German lines, I +would be regarded as a spy and treated as such. + +At the same time I thought I had detected a yellow streak in Huyliger, +and I figured that he would not want to take the risk of my carrying out +my threat, even though he believed there was but a small chance of my +doing so. If I did, he would undoubtedly share my fate, and the pictures +and papers he had of mine were really of no use to him, and I have never +been able to ascertain why it was he wished to retain them unless they +contained something--some information about me--which accounted for his +complete change of attitude toward me in the first place, and he wanted +the papers as evidence to account to his superiors or associates for his +conduct toward me. + +When he first told me that the plan of placing me in a convent disguised +as a priest had been abandoned he explained it by saying that the +Cardinal had issued orders to the priests to help no more fugitives, +and I have since wondered whether there was anything in my papers which +had turned him against me and led him to forsake me after all he had +promised to do for me. + +For perhaps two hours I sat on that staircase musing about the peculiar +turn in my affairs, when the front door opened and Huyliger ascended +the stairs. + +"I have brought you such of your belongings as I still had, O'Brien," he +said, softly. "The rest, as I told you, I cannot give you. They are no +longer in my possession." + +I looked through the little bunch he handed me. It included my +identification disk, most of the papers I valued, and perhaps half of +the photographs. + +"I don't know what your object is in retaining the rest of my pictures, +Huyliger," I replied, "but, as a matter of fact, the ones that are +missing were only of sentimental value to me, and you are welcome to +them if you want them. We'll call it a heat." + +I don't know whether he understood the idiom, but he sat down on the +stairs just below me and cogitated for a few moments. + +"O'Brien," he started, finally, "I'm sorry things have gone the way +they have. I feel sorry for you and I would really like to help you. I +don't suppose you will believe me, but the matter of the order which I +asked you to sign was not of my doing. However, we won't go into that. +The proposition was made to you and you turned it down, and that's an +end of it. At the same time, I hate to leave you to your own resources +and I'm going to make one more suggestion to you for your own good. I +have another plan to get you into Holland, and if you will go with me +to another house I will introduce you to a man who I think will be in a +position to help you." + +"How many millions of pounds will he want for his trouble?" I asked, +sarcastically. + +"You can arrange that when you see him. Will you go?" + +I suspected there was something fishy about the proposition, but I felt +that I could take care of myself and decided to see the thing through. +I knew Huyliger would not dare to deliver me to the authorities because +of the fact that I had the telltale passport, which would be his +death-knell as well as my own. + +Accordingly I said I would be quite willing to go with him whenever he +was ready, and he suggested that we go the next evening. + +I pointed out to him that I was entirely without food and asked him +whether he could not arrange to bring or send me something to eat while +I remained in the house. + +"I'm sorry, O'Brien," he replied, "but I'm afraid you'll have to get +along as best you can. When I brought you your breakfast this morning I +took a desperate chance. If I had been discovered by one of the German +soldiers entering this house with food in my possession, I would not +only have paid the penalty myself, but you would have been discovered, +too. It is too dangerous a proposition. Why don't you go out by yourself +and buy your food at the stores? That would give you confidence, and +you'll need plenty of it when you continue your journey to the border." + +There was a good deal of truth in what he said, and I really could not +blame him for not wanting to take any chances to help me, in view of the +relations between us. + +"Very well," I said; "I've gone without food for many hours at a time +before and I suppose I shall be able to do so again. I shall look for +you to-morrow evening." + +The next evening he came and I accompanied him to another house not +very far from the one in which I had been staying and not unlike it in +appearance. It, too, was a substantial dwelling-house which had been +untenanted since the beginning, save perhaps for such occasional visits +as Huyliger and his associates made to it. + +Huyliger let himself in and conducted me to a room on the second floor, +where he introduced me to two men. One, I could readily see by the +resemblance, was his own brother. The other was a stranger. + +Very briefly they explained to me that they had procured another +passport for me--a genuine one--which would prove far more effective +in helping to get me to the frontier than the counterfeit one they had +manufactured for me. + +I think I saw through their game right at the start, but I listened +patiently to what they had to say. + +"Of course, you will have to return to us the passport we gave you +before we can give you the real one," said Huyliger's brother. + +"I haven't the slightest objection," I replied, "if the new passport is +all you claim for it. Will you let me see it?" + +There was considerable hesitation on the part of Huyliger's brother and +the other chap at this. + +"Why, I don't think that's necessary at all, Mr. O'Brien," said the +former. "You give us the old passport and we will be very glad to give +you the new one for it. Isn't that fair enough?" + +"It may be fair enough, my friends," I retorted, seeing that it was +useless to conceal further the fact that I was fully aware of their +whole plan and why I had been brought to this house. "It may be fair +enough, my friends," I said, "but you will get the passport that I have +here," patting my side and indicating my inside breast pocket, "only off +my dead body!" + +I suppose the three of them could have made short work of me then and +there if they had wanted to go the limit, and no one would ever have +been the wiser, but I had gone through so much and I was feeling so mean +toward the whole world just at that moment that I was determined to sell +my life as dearly as possible. + +"I have that passport here," I repeated, "and I'm going to keep it. If +you gentlemen think you can take it from me, you are welcome to try!" + +To tell the truth, I was spoiling for a fight and I half wished they +would start something. The man who had lived in the house had evidently +been a collector of ancient pottery, for the walls were lined with great +pieces of earthenware which had every earmark of possessing great value. +They certainly possessed great weight. I figured that if the worst came +to the worst that pottery would come in mighty handy. A single blow +with one of those big vases would put a man out as neatly as possible, +and as there was lots of pottery and only three men I believed I had an +excellent chance of holding my own in the combat which I had invited. + +I had already picked out in my mind what I was going to use, and I got +up, stood with my back to the wall, and told them that if they ever +figured on getting the passport, then would be their best chance. + +Apparently they realized that I meant business and they immediately +began to expostulate at the attitude I was taking. + +One of the men spoke excellent English. In fact, he told me that he +could speak five languages, and if he could lie in the others as well I +know he did in my own tongue, he was not only an accomplished linguist, +but a most versatile liar into the bargain. + +They argued and expostulated with me for some time. + +"My dear fellow," said the linguist, "it is not that we want to deprive +you of the passport. Good Heavens! if it will aid you in getting out +of the country, I wish you could have six just like it. But for our +own protection you owe it to us to proceed on your journey as best you +can without it, because as long as you have it in your possession you +jeopardize our lives, too. Don't you think it is fairer that you should +risk your own safety rather than place the lives of three innocent men +in danger?" + +"That may be as it is, my friends," I retorted, as I made my way to the +door, "and I am glad you realize your danger. Keep it in mind, for in +case any of you should happen to feel inclined to notify the German +authorities that I am in this part of the country, think it over before +you do so. Remember always that if the Germans get me, they get the +passport, too, and if they get the passport, your lives won't be worth a +damn! When I tell the history of that clever little piece of pasteboard +I will implicate all three of you, and whomever else is working with +you, and as I am an officer I rather think my word will be taken before +yours. Good night!" + +The bluff evidently worked, because I was able to get out of the city +without molestation from the Germans. + +I have never seen these men since. I hope I never shall, because I am +afraid I might be tempted to do something for which I might afterward be +sorry. + +I do not mean to imply that all Belgians are like this. I had evidently +fallen into the hands of a gang who were endeavoring to make capital +out of the misfortunes of those who were referred to them for help. In +all countries there are bad as well as good, and in a country which +has suffered so much as poor Belgium it is no wonder if some of the +survivors have lost their sense of moral perspective. + +I know the average poor peasant in Belgium would divide his scanty +rations with a needy fugitive sooner than a wealthy Belgian would dole +out a morsel from his comparatively well-stocked larder. Perhaps the +poor have less to lose than the rich if their generosity or charity is +discovered by the Huns. + +There have been many Belgians shot for helping escaped prisoners and +other fugitives, and it is not to be wondered at that they are willing +to take as few chances as possible. A man with a family, especially, +does not feel justified in helping a stranger when he knows that he and +his whole family may be shot or sent to prison for their pains. + +Although I suffered much from the attitude of Huyliger and his +associates, I suppose I ought to hold no grudge against them in view of +the unenviable predicament which they are in themselves. + + + + +XIII + +FIVE DAYS IN AN EMPTY HOUSE + + +The five days I spent in that house seemed to me like five years. During +all that time I had very little to eat--less, in fact, than I had been +getting in the fields. I did not feel it so much, perhaps, because of +the fact that I was no longer exposed to the other privations which +had helped to make my condition so wretched. I now had a good place to +sleep, at any rate, and I did not awake every half-hour or so as I had +been accustomed to do in the fields and woods, and, of course, my hunger +was not aggravated by the physical exertions which had been necessary +before. + +Nevertheless, perhaps because I had more time now to think of the hunger +pains which were gnawing at me all the time, I don't believe I was ever +so miserable as I was at that period of my adventure. I felt so mean +toward the world I would have committed murder, I think, with very +little provocation. + +German soldiers were passing the house at all hours of the day. I +watched them hour after hour from the keyhole of the door--to have shown +myself at the window was out of the question because the house in which +I was concealed was supposed to be untenanted. + +Because of the fact that I was unable to speak either Flemish or German +I could not go out and buy food, although I still had the money with +which to do it. That was one of the things that galled me--the thought +that I had the wherewithal in my jeans to buy all the food I needed, and +yet no way of getting it without endangering my liberty and life. + +At night, however, after it was dark, I would steal quietly out of the +house to see what I could pick up in the way of food. By that time, of +course, the stores were closed, but I scoured the streets, the alleys, +and the byways for scraps of food, and occasionally got up courage +enough to appeal to Belgian peasants whom I met on the streets, and in +that way I managed to keep body and soul together. + +It was quite apparent to me, however, that I was worse off in the city +than I had been in the fields, and I decided to get out of that house +just as soon as I knew definitely that Huyliger had made up his mind to +do nothing further for me. + +When I was not at the keyhole of the door I spent most of my day on the +top floor in a room which looked out on the street. By keeping well away +from the window I could see much of what was going on without being +seen myself. In my restlessness I used to walk back and forth in that +room, and I kept it up so constantly that I believe I must have worn a +path on the floor. It was nine steps from one wall to the other, and as +I had little else to amuse me I figured out one day, after I had been +pacing up and down for several hours, just how much distance I would +have covered on my way to Holland if my footsteps had been taking me in +that direction instead of just up and down that old room. I was very +much surprised that in three hours I crossed the room no less than +five thousand times and the distance covered was between nine and ten +miles. It was not very gratifying to realize that after walking all that +distance I wasn't a step nearer my goal than when I started, but I had +to do something while waiting for Huyliger to help me, and pacing up and +down was a natural outlet for my restlessness. + +While looking out of that top-floor window one day I noticed a cat on a +window-ledge of the house across the street. I had a piece of a broken +mirror which I had picked up in the house and I used to amuse myself for +an hour at a time shining it in the cat's eyes across the street. At +first the animal was annoyed by the reflection and would move away, only +to come back a few moments later. By and by, however, it seemed to get +used to the glare and wouldn't budge, no matter how strong the sunlight +was. Playing with the cat in this way was the means of my getting food a +day or two later--at a time when I was so famished that I was ready to +do almost anything to appease my hunger. + +It was about seven o'clock in the evening. I was expecting Huyliger at +eight, but I hadn't the slightest hope that he would bring me food, +as he had told me that he wouldn't take the risk of having food in his +possession when calling on me. I was standing at the window in such +a way that I could see what was going on in the street without being +observed by those who passed by, when I noticed my friend the cat coming +down the steps of the opposite house with something in his mouth. +Without considering the risks I ran, I opened the front door, ran down +the steps and across the street, and pounced on the cat before it could +get away with its supper, for that, as I had imagined, was what I had +seen in its mouth. It turned out to be a piece of stewed rabbit, which I +confiscated eagerly and took back with me to the house. + +Perhaps I felt a little sorry for the cat, but I certainly had no other +qualms about eating the animal's dinner. I was much too hungry to dwell +upon niceties, and a piece of stewed rabbit was certainly too good for +a cat to eat when a man was starving. I ate it and enjoyed it, and the +incident suggested to me a way in which I might possibly obtain food +again when all other avenues failed. + +From my place of concealment I frequently saw huge carts being pushed +through the streets gathering potato peelings, refuse of cabbage, and +similar food remnants which, in America, are considered garbage and +destroyed. In Belgium they were using this "garbage" to make their bread +out of, and while the idea may sound revolting to us, the fact is that +the Germans have brought these things down to such a science that the +bread they make in this way is really very good to eat. I know it would +have been like cake to me when I was in need of food; indeed, I would +have eaten the "garbage" direct, let alone the bread. + +Although, as I have said, I suffered greatly from hunger while occupying +this house, there were one or two things I observed through the keyhole +or from the windows which made me laugh, and some of the incidents that +occurred during my voluntary imprisonment were really rather funny. + +From the keyhole I could see, for instance, a shop window on the other +side of the street, several houses down the block. All day long German +soldiers would be passing in front of the house, and I noticed that +practically every one of them would stop in front of this store window +and look in. Occasionally a soldier on duty bent would hurry past, but +I think nine out of ten of them were sufficiently interested to spend +at least a minute, and some of them three or four minutes, gazing at +whatever was being exhibited in that window, although I noticed that it +failed to attract the Belgians. + +I have a considerable streak of curiosity in me and I couldn't help +wondering what it could be in that window which almost without exception +seemed to interest German soldiers, but failed to hold the Belgians, +and after conjuring my brains for a while on the problem I came to the +conclusion that the shop must have been a book-shop and the window +contained German magazines, which, naturally enough, would be of the +greatest interest to the Germans, but of none to the Belgians. + +At any rate, I resolved that as soon as night came I would go out and +investigate the window. When I got the answer I laughed so loud that +I was afraid for the moment I must have attracted the attention of the +neighbors, but I couldn't help it. The window was filled with huge +quantities of sausage. The store was a butcher-shop, and one of the +principal things they sold, apparently, was sausage. The display they +made, although it consisted merely of quantities of sausage piled in +the windows, certainly had plenty of "pulling" power. It "pulled" nine +Germans out of ten out of their course and indirectly it "pulled" me +right across the street. The idea of those Germans being so interested +in that window display as to stand in front of the window for two, +three, or four minutes at a time, however, certainly seemed funny to me, +and when I got back to the house I sat at the keyhole again and found +just as much interest as before in watching the Germans stop in their +tracks when they reached the window, even though I was now aware what +the attraction was. + +One of my chief occupations during those days was catching flies. I +would catch a fly, put him in a spider's web--there were plenty of +them in the old house--and sit down to wait for the spider to come +and get him. But always I pictured myself in the same predicament and +rescued the fly just as the spider was about to grab him. Several times +when things were dull I was tempted to see the tragedy through, but +perhaps the same Providence that guided me safely through all perils was +guarding, too, the destiny of those flies, for I always weakened and the +flies never did suffer from my lust for amusement. + +The house was well supplied with books--in fact, one of the choicest +libraries I think I ever saw--but they were all written either in +Flemish or in French. I could read no Flemish and very little French. +I might have made a little headway with the latter, but the books all +seemed too deep for me and I gave it up. There was one thing, though, +that I did read and re-read from beginning to end--that was a New York +_Herald_ which must have arrived just about the time war was declared. +Several things in there interested me, and particularly the baseball +scores, which I studied with as much care as a real fan possibly would +an up-to-date score. I couldn't refrain from laughing when I came to an +account of Zimmerman (of the Cubs) being benched for some spat with the +umpire, and it afforded me just as much interest three years after it +had happened--perhaps more--than some current item of worldwide interest +had at the time. + +I rummaged the house many times from cellar to garret in my search for +something to eat, but the harvest of three years of war had made any +success along that line impossible. I was like the man out on the ocean +in a boat and thirsty, with water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. + +I was tempted while in this city to go to church one Sunday, but my +better judgment told me it would be a useless risk. Of course some one +would surely say something to me, and I didn't know how many Germans +would be there, or what might happen, so I gave up that idea. + +During all the time I was concealed in this house I saw but one +automobile, and that was a German staff officer's. That same afternoon I +had one of the frights of my young life. + +I had been gazing out of the keyhole as usual when I heard coming down +the street the measured tread of German soldiers. It didn't sound like +very many, but there was no doubt in my mind that German soldiers were +marching down the street. I went up-stairs and peeked through the +window, and sure enough a squad of German infantry was coming down the +street, accompanying a military truck. I hadn't the slightest idea that +they were coming after me, but still the possibilities of the situation +gave me more or less alarm, and I considered how I could make my escape +if by any chance I was the man they were after. The idea of hiding in +the wine-cellar appealed to me as the most practical; there must have +been plenty of places among the wine kegs and cases where a man could +conceal himself, but, as a matter of fact, I did not believe that any +such contingency would arise. + +The marching soldiers came nearer. I could hear them at the next house. +In a moment I would see them pass the keyhole through which I was +looking. + +"Halt!" + +At the word of command shouted by a junior officer the squad came to +attention right in front of the house. + +I waited no longer. Running down the stairs, I flew down into the +wine-cellar, and although it was almost pitch dark--the only light +coming from a grating which led to the backyard--I soon found a +satisfactory hiding-place in the extreme rear of the cellar. I had the +presence of mind to leave the door of the wine-cellar ajar, figuring +that if the soldiers found a closed door they would be more apt to +search for a fugitive behind it than if the door were open. + +My decision to get away from the front door had been made and carried +out none too soon, for I had only just located myself between two big +wine-cases when I heard the tramp of soldiers' feet marching up the +front steps, a crash at the front door, a few hasty words of command +which I did not understand, and then the noise of scurrying feet from +room to room and such a banging and hammering and smashing and crashing +that I could not make out what was going on. + +If Huyliger had revealed my hiding-place to the Huns, as I was now +confident he had, I felt that there was little prospect of their +overlooking me. They would search the house from top to bottom and, if +necessary, raze it to the ground before they would give up the search. +To escape from the house through the backyard through the iron grating, +which I had no doubt I could force, seemed to be a logical thing to do, +but the chances were that the Huns had thrown a cordon around the entire +block before the squad was sent to the house. The Germans do these +things in an efficient manner always. They take nothing for granted. + +My one chance seemed to be to stand pat in the hope that the officer in +charge might possibly come to the conclusion that he had arrived at the +house too late--that the bird had flown. + +My position in that wine-cellar was anything but a comfortable one. Rats +and mice were scurrying across the floor, and the smashing and crashing +going on overhead was anything but promising. Evidently those soldiers +imagined that I might be hiding in the walls, for it sounded as though +they were tearing off the wainscoting, the picture-molding, and, in +fact, everything that they could tear or pull apart. + +Before very long they would finish their search up-stairs and would come +down to the basement. What they would do when they discovered the wine +I had no idea. Perhaps they would let themselves loose on it and give +me my chance. With a bottle of wine in each hand I figured I could put +up a good fight in the dark, especially as I was becoming more and more +accustomed to it and could begin to distinguish things here and there, +whereas they would be as blind as bats in the sun when they entered the +pitchy darkness of the cellar. + +Perhaps it was twenty minutes before I heard what sounded like my +death-knell to me; the soldiers were coming down the cellar steps. I +clutched a wine bottle in each hand and waited with bated breath. + +Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! In a moment they would be in the cellar proper. I +could almost hear my heart beating. The mice scurried across the floor +by the scores, frightened, no doubt, by the vibration and noise made +by the descending soldiers. Some of the creatures ran across me where +I stood between the two wine-cases, but I was too much interested in +bigger game to pay attention to mice. + +Tramp! Tramp! "Halt!" Again an order was given in German, and although I +did not understand it, I am willing to bless every word of it, because +it resulted in the soldiers turning right about face, marching up the +stairs again, through the hall, and out of the front door and away! + +I could hardly believe my ears. It seemed almost too good to be true +that they could have given up the search just as they were about to come +on their quarry, but unless my ears deceived me that was what they had +done. + +The possibility that the whole thing might be a German ruse did not +escape me, and I remained in the cellar for nearly an hour after they +had apparently departed before I ventured to move, listening intently in +the mean while for the slightest sound which would reveal the presence +of a sentry up-stairs. + +Not hearing a sound, I began to feel that they had indeed given up +the hunt, for I did not believe that a German officer would be so +considerate of his men as to try to trap me rather than carry the cellar +by force if they had the slightest idea that I was there. + +I took off my shoes and crept softly and slowly to the cellar steps, and +then step by step, placing my weight down gradually so as to prevent +the steps from creaking, I climbed to the top. The sight that met my +eyes as I glanced into the kitchen told me the whole story. The water +faucets had been ripped from the sinks, the water pipes having been torn +from the walls. Everything of brass or copper had been torn off, and gas +fixtures, cooking utensils, and everything else which contain even only +a small proportion of the metals the Germans so badly needed had been +taken from the kitchen. I walked up-stairs now with more confidence, +feeling tolerably assured that the soldiers hadn't been after me at +all, but had been merely collecting metals and other materials which +they expected an elaborate dwelling-house like the one in which I was +concealed to yield. + +Later I heard that the Germans have taken practically every ounce of +brass, copper, and wool they could lay their hands on in Belgium. +Even the brass out of pianos has been ruthlessly removed, the serious +damage done to valuable property by the removal of only an insignificant +proportion of metal never being taken into consideration. I learned, +too, that all dogs over fourteen inches high had been seized by the +Germans. This furnished lots of speculation among the Belgians as to +what use the Germans were putting the animals to, the general impression +apparently being that they were being used for food. + +This, however, seemed much less likely to me than that they were being +employed as despatch dogs in the trenches, the same as we use them on +our side of the line. They might possibly kill the dogs and use their +skins for leather and their carcasses for tallow, but I feel quite sure +that the Huns are by no means so short of food that they have to eat +dogs yet awhile. + +Indeed, I want to repeat here what I have mentioned before: if any +one has the idea that this war can be won by _starving_ the Huns, he +hasn't the slightest idea how well provided the Germans are in that +respect. They have considered their food needs in connection with their +resources for several years to come, and they have gone at it in such +a methodical, systematic way, taking into consideration every possible +contingency, that, provided there is not an absolute crop failure, there +isn't the slightest doubt in my mind that they can last for years, and +the worst of it is they are quite cocksure about it. + +It is true that the German soldiers want peace. As I watched them +through the keyhole in the door I thought how unfavorably they compared +with our men. They marched along the street without laughter, without +joking, without singing. It was quite apparent that the war is telling +on them. I don't believe I saw a single German soldier who didn't look +as if he had lost his best friend--and he probably had. + +At the same time, there is a big difference--certainly a difference of +several years--between wishing the war was over and giving up, and I +don't believe the German rank and file any more than their leaders have +the slightest idea at this time of giving up at all. + +But to return to my experiences while concealed in the house. After the +visit of the soldiers, which left the house in a wretched condition, +I decided that I would continue my journey toward the frontier, +particularly as I had got all I could out of Huyliger, or rather he had +got all he was going to get out of me. + +During my concealment in the house I made various sorties into the city +at night, and I was beginning to feel more comfortable, even when German +soldiers were about. Through the keyhole I had studied very closely +the gait of the Belgians, the slovenly droop that characterized most +of them, and their general appearance, and I felt that in my own dirty +and unshaven condition I must have looked as much like the average +poor Belgian as a man could. The only thing that was against me was my +height. I was several inches taller than even the tallest Belgians. +I had often thought that red hair would have gone well with my name, +but now, of course, I was mighty glad that I was not so endowed, for +red-haired Belgians are about as rare as German charity. + +There are many, no doubt, who will wonder why I did not get more help +than I did at this time. It is easily answered. When a man is in hourly +fear of his life and the country is full of spies, as Belgium certainly +was, he is not going to help just any one that comes along seeking aid. + +One of the Germans' most successful ways of trapping the Belgians has +been to pose as an English or French prisoner who has escaped; appeal +to them for aid; implicate as many as possible, and then turn the whole +German police force loose on them. + +As I look back now on those days I think it remarkable that I received +as much help as I did, but when people are starving under the conditions +now forced upon those unfortunate people it is a great temptation to +surrender these escaped prisoners to German authorities and receive the +handsome rewards offered for them--or for alien spies, as I was classed +at that time. + +The passport which I had described me as a Spanish sailor, but I was +very dubious about its value. If I could have spoken Spanish fluently +it might have been worth something to me, but the few words I knew of +the language would not have carried me very far if I had been confronted +with a Spanish interpreter. I decided to use the passport only as a +last resort, preferring to act the part of a deaf and dumb Belgian +peasant as far as it would carry me. + +Before I finally left the house I had a remarkable experience which I +shall remember as long as I live. + + + + +XIV + +A NIGHT OF DISSIPATION + + +During the first two days I spent with Huyliger after I had first +arrived in the big city he had told me, among other things, of a +moving-picture show in town which he said I might have a chance to see +while there. + +"It is free every night in the week except Saturdays and Sundays," he +said, "and once you are inside you would not be apt to be bothered by +any one except when they come to take your order for something to drink. +While there is no admission, patrons are expected to eat or drink while +enjoying the pictures." + +A day or two later, while walking the streets at night in search of +food, I had passed this place, and was very much tempted to go in +and spend a few hours, particularly as it would perhaps give me an +opportunity to buy something to eat, although I was at a loss to know +how I was going to ask for what I wanted. + +While trying to make up my mind whether it was safe for me to go in, I +walked half a block past the place, and when I turned back again and +reached the entrance with my mind made up that I would take the chance I +ran full tilt into a German officer who was just coming out! + +That settled all my hankerings for moving pictures that night. "Where +you came from, my friend," I figured, "there must be more like you! I +guess it is a good night for walking." + +The next day, however, in recalling the incident of the evening before, +it seemed to me that I had been rather foolish. What I needed more than +anything at that time was confidence. Before I could get to the frontier +I would have to confront German soldiers many times, because there +were more of them between this city and Holland than in any section +of the country through which I had so far traveled. Safety in these +contingencies would depend largely upon the calmness I displayed. It +wouldn't do to get all excited at the mere sight of a spiked helmet. +The Belgians, I had noticed, while careful to obey the orders of the +Huns, showed no particular fear of them, and it seemed to me the sooner +I cultivated the same feeling of indifference the better I would be able +to carry off the part I was playing. + +For this reason, I made up my mind then and there that, officers or no +officers, I would go to that show that night and sit it through, no +matter what happened. While people may think that I had decided unwisely +because of the unnecessary risk involved in the adventure, it occurred +to me that perhaps, after all, that theater was about one of the safest +places I could attend, because that was about the last place Germans +would expect to find a fugitive English officer in, even if they were +searching for one. + +As soon as evening came, therefore, I decided to go to the theater. I +fixed myself up as well as possible. I had on a fairly decent pair of +trousers which Huyliger had given me and I used a clean handkerchief as +a collar. + +With my hair brushed up and my beard trimmed as neatly as possible +with a pair of rusty scissors which I had found in the house, while +my appearance was not exactly that of a Beau Brummel, I don't think I +looked much worse than the average Belgian. In these days, the average +Belgian is very poorly dressed at best. + +I can't say I had no misgivings as I made my way to the theater; +certainly I was going there more for discipline than pleasure, but I had +made up my mind and I was going to see it through. + +The entrance to the theater or beer-garden--for it was as much one as +the other--was on the side of the building, and was reached by way of +an alley which ran along the side. Near the door was a ticket-seller's +booth, but as this was one of the free nights there was no one in the +booth. + +I marched slowly down the alley, imitating as best I could the +indifferent gait of the Belgians, and when I entered the theater I +endeavored to act as though I had been there many times before. A hasty +survey of the layout of the place was sufficient to enable me to select +my seat. It was early and there were not more than half a dozen people +in the place at that time, so that I had my choice. + +There was a raised platform, perhaps two feet high, all round the walls +of the place, except at the end where the stage was located. On this +platform tables were arranged, and there were tables on the floor proper +as well. + +I decided promptly that the safest place for me was as far back as +possible where I would not be in the line of vision of others in back +of me. Accordingly, I slouched over to a table on the platform directly +opposite the stage and I took the seat against the wall. The whole place +was now in front of me. I could see everything that was going on and +every one who came in, but no one, except those who sat at my own table, +would notice me unless they deliberately turned around to look. + +The place began to fill up rapidly. Every second person who came in the +door seemed to me to be a German soldier, but when they were seated at +the tables and I got a chance later on to make a rough count, I found +that in all there were not more than a hundred soldiers in the place +and there must have been several hundred civilians. + +The first people to sit at my table were a Belgian and his wife. The +Belgian sat next to me and his wife next to him. I was hoping that other +civilians would occupy the remaining two seats at my table because I +did not relish the idea of having to sit through the show with German +soldiers within a few feet of me. That would certainly have spoiled my +pleasure for the evening. + +Every uniform that came in the door gave me cause to worry until I +was sure it was not coming in my direction. I don't suppose there was +a single soldier who came in the door whom I didn't follow to his +seat--with my eyes. + +Just before they lowered the lights two German officers came in the +door. They stood there for a moment looking the place over. Then they +made a bee-line in my direction, and I must confess my heart started to +beat a little faster. I hoped that they would find another seat before +they came to my vicinity, but they were getting nearer and nearer, and I +realized with a sickening sensation that they were headed directly for +the two seats at my table, and that was indeed the case. + +These two seats were in front of the table, facing the stage, and except +when they would be eating or drinking their backs were toward me, and +there was considerable consolation in that. From my seat I could have +reached right over and touched one of them on his bald head. It would +have been more than a touch, I am afraid, if I could have got away with +it safely. + +As the officers seated themselves a waiter came to us with a printed +bill of fare and a program. Fortunately, he waited on the others first, +and I listened intently to their orders. The officers ordered some +light wine, but my Belgian neighbor ordered "Bock" for himself and his +wife, which was what I had decided to order, anyway, as that was the +only thing I could say. Heaven knows I would far rather have ordered +something to eat, but the bill of fare meant nothing to me, and I was +afraid to take a chance at the pronunciation of the dishes it set forth. + +There were a number of drinks listed which I suppose I might safely +enough have ordered. For instance, I noticed "Lemon Squash, 1.50," +"Ginger Beer, 1-," "Sparkling Dry Ginger Ale, 1-," "Apollinaris, 1-," +and "Schweppes Soda, 0.80," but it occurred to me that the mere fact +that I selected something that was listed in English might attract +attention to me and something in my pronunciation might give further +cause for suspicion. + +It seemed better to parrot the Belgian and order "Bock," and that was +what I decided to do. + +One item on the bill of fare tantalized me considerably. Although it was +listed among the "Prizzen der dranken," which I took to mean "Prices of +drinks," it sounded very much to me like something to eat, and Heaven +knows I would rather have had one honest mouthful of food than all the +drinks in the world. The item I refer to was "Dubbel Gersten de Flesch +(Michaux)." A _double_ portion of anything would have been mighty +welcome to me, but I would have been quite contented with a _single_ +"Gersten"--whatever that might happen to be--if I had only had the +courage to ask for it. + +To keep myself as composed as possible, I devoted a lot of attention +to that bill of fare, and I think by the time the waiter came around +I almost knew it by heart. One drink that almost made me laugh out +loud was listed as "Lemonades Gazeuses," but I might just as well have +introduced myself to the German officers by my right name and rank as to +have attempted to pronounce it. + +When the waiter came to me, therefore, I said "Bock" as casually as I +could, and felt somewhat relieved that I got through this part of the +ordeal so easily. + +While the waiter was away I had a chance to examine the bill of fare, +and I observed that a glass of beer cost eighty centimes. The smallest +change I had was a two-mark paper bill. + +Apparently the German officers were similarly fixed, and when they +offered their bill to the waiter he handed it back to them with a remark +which I took to mean that he couldn't make change. + +Right there I was in a quandary. To offer him my bill after he had just +told the officers he didn't have change would have seemed strange, and +yet I couldn't explain to him that I was in the same boat and he would +have to come to me again later. The only thing to do, therefore, was to +offer him the bill as though I hadn't heard or noticed what had happened +with the Germans, and I did so. He said the same thing to me as he had +said to the officers, perhaps a little more sharply, and gave me back +the bill. Later on he returned to the table with a handful of change and +we closed the transaction. I gave him twenty-five centimes as a tip--I +had never yet been in a place where it was necessary to talk to do that. + +During my first half-hour in that theater, to say I was on pins and +needles is to express my feelings mildly. The truth of the matter is +I was never so uneasy in my life. Every minute seemed like an hour, +and I was on the point of getting up and leaving a dozen times. There +were altogether too many soldiers in the place to suit me, and when the +German officers seated themselves right at my table I thought that was +about all I could stand. As it was, however, the lights went out shortly +afterward and in the dark I felt considerably easier. + +After the first picture, when the lights went up again, I had regained +my composure considerably and I took advantage of the opportunity to +study the various types of people in the place. + +From my seat I had a splendid chance to see them all. At one table there +was a German medical corps officer with three Red Cross nurses. That +was the only time I had ever seen a German nurse, for when I was in the +hospital I had seen only men orderlies. Nurses don't work so near the +first-line trenches. + +The German soldiers at the different tables were very quiet and orderly. +They drank Bock beer and conversed among themselves, but there was no +hilarity or rough-housing of any kind. + +As I sat there, within an arm's reach of those German officers and +realized what they would have given to know what a chance they had to +capture an escaped British officer, I could hardly help smiling to +myself, but when I thought of the big risk I was taking, more or less +unnecessarily, I began to wonder whether I had not acted foolishly in +undertaking it. + +Nevertheless, the evening passed off uneventfully, and when the show +was over I mixed with the crowd and disappeared, feeling very proud of +myself and with a good deal more confidence than I had enjoyed at the +start. + +I had passed a night which will live in my life as long as I live. The +bill of fare, program, and a "throw-away" bill advertising the name of +the attraction which was to be presented the following week, which was +handed to me as I came out, I still have and they are among the most +valued souvenirs of my adventure. + + + + +XV + +OBSERVATIONS IN A BELGIAN CITY + + +One night, shortly before I left this city, our airmen raided the place. +I didn't venture out of the house at the time, but the next night I +thought I would go out and see what damage had been done. + +When it became dark I left the house, accordingly, and, mixing with the +crowd, which consisted largely of Germans, I went from one place to +another to see what our "strafing" had accomplished. Naturally I avoided +speaking to any one. If a man or woman appeared about to speak to me, I +just turned my head and looked or walked away in some other direction. +I must have been taken for an unsociable sort of individual a good many +times, and if I had encountered the same person twice I suppose my +conduct might have aroused suspicion. + +I had a first-class observation of the damage that was really done by +our bombs. One bomb had landed very near the main railroad station, and +if it had been only thirty yards nearer would have completely demolished +it. As the station was undoubtedly our airman's objective, I was very +much impressed with the accuracy of his aim. It is by no means an easy +thing to hit a building from the air when you are going at anywhere from +fifty to one hundred miles an hour and are being shot at from beneath +from a dozen different angles--unless, of course, you are taking one of +those desperate chances and flying so low that you cannot very well miss +your mark, and the Huns can't very well miss you, either! + +I walked by the station and mingled with the crowds which stood in the +entrances. They paid no more attention to me than they did to real +Belgians, and the fact that the lights were all out in this city at +night made it impossible, anyway, for any one to get as good a look at +me as if it had been light. + +During the time that I was in this city I suppose I wandered from one +end of it to the other. In one place, where the German staff had its +headquarters, a huge German flag hung from the window, and I think I +would have given ten years of my life to have stolen it. Even if I could +have pulled it down, however, it would have been impossible for me to +have concealed it, and to have carried it away with me as a souvenir +would have been out of the question. + +As I went along the street one night a lady standing on the comer +stopped me and spoke to me. My first impulse, of course, was to answer +her, explaining that I could not understand, but I stopped myself in +time, pointed to my ears and mouth, and shook my head, indicating that +I was deaf and dumb, and she nodded understandingly and walked on. +Incidents of this kind were not unusual, and I was always in fear that +the time would come when some inquisitive and suspicious German would +encounter me and not be so easily satisfied. + +There are many things that I saw in this city which, for various +reasons, it is impossible for me to relate until after the war is over. +Some of them, I think, will create more surprise than the incidents I +am free to reveal now. + +It used to amuse me, as I went along the streets of this town, looking +in the shop windows, with German soldiers at my side looking at the same +things, to think how close I was to them and they had no way of knowing. +I was quite convinced that if I were discovered my fate would have been +death, because I not only had the forged passport on me, but I had been +so many days behind the German lines after I had escaped that they +couldn't safely let me live with the information I possessed. + +One night I walked boldly across a park. I heard footsteps behind me +and, turning around, saw two German soldiers. I slowed up a trifle to +let them get ahead of me. It was rather dark and I got a chance to see +what a wonderful uniform the German military authorities have picked +out. The soldiers had not gone more than a few feet ahead of me when +they disappeared in the darkness like one of those melting pictures on +the moving-picture screen. + +As I wandered through the streets I frequently glanced in the café +windows as I passed. German officers were usually dining there, but +they didn't conduct themselves with anything like the light-heartedness +which characterizes the Allied officers in London and Paris. I was +rather surprised at this, because in this part of Belgium they were much +freer than they would have been in Berlin, where, I understand, food is +comparatively scarce and the restrictions are very rigid. + +As I have said, my own condition in this city was in some respects worse +than it had been when I was making my way through the open country. +While I had a place to sleep and my clothes were no longer constantly +soaking, my opportunities for getting food were considerably less than +they had been. Nearly all the time I was half famished, and I decided +that I would get out of there at once, since I was entirely through with +Huyliger. + +My physical condition was greatly improved. While the lack of food +showed itself on me, I had regained some of my strength, my wounds +were healed, my ankle was stronger, and, although my knees were still +considerably enlarged, I felt that I was in better shape than I had been +at any time since my leap from the train, and I was ready to go through +whatever was in store for me. + + + + +XVI + +I APPROACH THE FRONTIER + + +To get out of the city it would be necessary to pass two guards. This +I had learned in the course of my walks at night, having frequently +traveled to the city limits with the idea of finding out just what +conditions I would have to meet when the time came for me to leave. + +A German soldier's uniform, however, no longer worried me as it had at +first. I had mingled with the Huns so much in the city that I began to +feel that I was really a Belgian, and I assumed the indifference that +the latter seemed to feel. + +I decided, therefore, to walk out of the city in the daytime when the +sentries would be less apt to be on the watch. It worked splendidly. I +was not held up a moment, the sentries evidently taking me for a Belgian +peasant on his way to work. + +Traveling faster than I had ever done before since my escape, I was soon +out in the open country, and the first Belgian I came to I approached +for food. He gave me half his lunch and we sat down on the side of the +road to eat it. Of course, he tried to talk to me, but I used the old +ruse of pretending I was deaf and dumb and he was quite convinced that +it was so. He made various efforts to talk to me in pantomime, but I +could not make out what he was getting at, and I think he must have +concluded that I was not only half-starved, deaf, and dumb, but "luny" +into the bargain. + +When night came I looked around for a place to rest. I had decided to +travel in the daytime as well as night, because I understood that I was +only a few miles from the frontier, and I was naturally anxious to get +there at the earliest possible moment, although I realized that there I +would encounter the most hazardous part of my whole adventure. To get +through that heavily guarded barbed and electrically charged barrier was +a problem that I hated to think of, even, although the hours I spent +endeavoring to devise some way of outwitting the Huns were many. + +It had occurred to me, for instance, that it would not be such a +difficult matter to vault over the electric fence, which was only +nine feet high. In college, I know, a ten-foot vault is considered a +high-school boy's accomplishment, but there were two great difficulties +in the way of this solution. In the first place, it would be no easy +matter to get a pole of the right length, weight, and strength to serve +the purpose. More particularly, however, the pole-vault idea seemed to +be out of the question because of the fact that on either side of the +electric fence, six feet from it, was a six-foot barbed-wire barrier. To +vault safely over a nine-foot electrically charged fence was one thing, +but to combine with it a twelve-foot broad vault was a feat which even a +college athlete in the pink of condition would be apt to flunk. Indeed, +I don't believe it is possible. + +Another plan that seemed half-way reasonable was to build a pair of +stilts about twelve or fourteen feet high and walk over the barriers +one by one. As a youngster I had acquired considerable skill in +stilt-walking, and I have no doubt that with the proper equipment it +would have been quite feasible to have walked out of Belgium as easily +as possible in that way, but whether or not I was going to have a chance +to construct the necessary stilts remained to be seen. + +There were a good many bicycles in use by the German soldiers in +Belgium, and it had often occurred to me that if I could have stolen +one, the tires would have made excellent gloves and insulated coverings +for my feet in case it was necessary for me to attempt to climb over the +electric fence bodily. But as I had never been able to steal a bicycle, +this avenue of escape was closed to me. + +I decided to wait until I arrived at the barrier and then make up my +mind how to proceed. + +To find a decent place to sleep that night I crawled under a barbed-wire +fence, thinking it led into some field. As I passed under, one of the +barbs caught in my coat, and in trying to pull myself free I shook the +fence for several yards. + +Instantly there came out of the night the nerve-racking command, "Halt!" + +Again I feared I was done for. I crouched close down on the ground in +the darkness, not knowing whether to take to my legs and trust to the +Hun's missing me in the darkness if he fired, or stay right where I was. +It was foggy as well as dark, and although I knew the sentry was only a +few feet away from me I decided to stand, or rather lie still. I think +my heart made almost as much noise as the rattling of the wire in the +first place, but it was a tense few moments for me. + +I heard the German say a few words to himself, but didn't understand +them, of course, and then he made a sound as if to call a dog, and I +realized that his theory of the noise he had heard was that a dog had +made its way through the fence. + +For perhaps five minutes I didn't stir, and then, figuring that the +German had probably continued on his beat, I crept quietly under +the wire again, this time being mighty careful to hug the ground so +close that I wouldn't touch the wire, and made off in a different +direction. Evidently the barbed-wire fence had been thrown around an +ammunition-depot or something of the kind and it was not a field at all +that I had tried to get into. + +I figured that other sentries were probably in the neighborhood and I +proceeded very gingerly. + +After I had got about a mile away from this spot I came to a humble +Belgian house, and I knocked at the door and applied for food in my +usual way, pointing to my mouth to indicate I was hungry and to my ears +and mouth to imply that I was deaf and dumb. The Belgian woman who lived +in the house brought me a piece of bread and two cold potatoes, and as I +sat there eating them she eyed me very keenly. + +I haven't the slightest doubt that she realized I was a fugitive. +She lived so near the border that it was more than likely that other +fugitives had come to her before, and for that reason I appreciated more +fully the extent of the risk she ran, for no doubt the Germans were +constantly watching the conduct of these Belgians who lived near the +line. + +My theory that she realized that I was not a Belgian at all, but +probably some English fugitive, was confirmed a moment later when, as +I made ready to go, she touched me on the arm and indicated that I was +to wait a moment. She went to a bureau and brought out two pieces of +fancy Belgian lace, which she insisted upon my taking away, although at +that particular moment I had as much use for Belgian lace as an elephant +has for a safety-razor, but I was touched with her thoughtfulness and +pressed her hand to show my gratitude. She would not accept the money I +offered her. + +I carried that lace through my subsequent experiences, feeling that it +would be a fine souvenir for my mother, although, as a matter of fact, +if she had known that it was going to delay my final escape for even a +single moment, as it did, I am quite sure she would rather I had never +seen it. + +On one piece of lace was the Flemish word "_Charité_" and on the +other the word "_Espérance_." At the time, I took these words to mean +"Charity" and "Experience," and all I hoped was that I would get as +much of the one as I was getting of the other before I finally got +through. I learned subsequently that what the words really stood for was +"Charity" and "Hope," and then I was sure that my kind Belgian friend +had indeed realized my plight and that her thoughtful souvenir was +intended to encourage me in the trials she must have known were before +me. + +I didn't let the old Belgian lady know, because I did not want to alarm +her unnecessarily, but that night I slept in her backyard, leaving early +in the morning before it became light. + +Later in the day I applied at another house for food. It was occupied +by a father and mother and ten children. I hesitated to ask them for +food without offering to pay for it, as I realized what a task it must +have been for them to support themselves without having to feed a hungry +man. Accordingly, I gave the man a mark and then indicated that I wanted +something to eat. They were just about to eat, themselves, apparently, +and they let me partake of their meal, which consisted of a huge bowl of +some kind of soup which I was unable to identify and which they served +in ordinary wash-basins! I don't know that they ever used the basins to +wash in as well, but whether they did or not did not worry me very much. +The soup was good and I enjoyed it very much. + +All the time I was there I could see the father and the eldest son, a +boy about seventeen, were extremely nervous. I had indicated to them +that I was deaf and dumb, but if they believed me it didn't seem to make +them any more comfortable. + +I lingered at the house for about an hour after the meal, and during +that time a young man came to call on the eldest daughter, a young woman +of perhaps eighteen. The caller eyed me very suspiciously, although +I must have resembled anything but a British officer. They spoke in +Flemish and I did not understand a word they said, but I think they were +discussing my probable identity. During their conversation, I had a +chance to look around the rooms. There were three altogether, two fairly +large and one somewhat smaller, about fourteen feet long and six deep. +In this smaller room there were two double-decked beds, which were +apparently intended to house the whole family, although how the whole +twelve of them could sleep in that one room will ever remain a mystery +to me. + +From the kitchen you could walk directly into the cow-barn, where two +cows were kept, and this, as I have pointed out before, is the usual +construction of the poorer Belgian houses. + +I could not make out why the caller seemed to be so antagonistic to me, +and yet I am sure he was arguing with the family against me. Perhaps +the fact that I wasn't wearing wooden shoes--I doubt whether I could +have obtained a pair big enough for me--had convinced him that I was not +really a Belgian, because there was nothing about me otherwise which +could have given him that idea. + +At that time--and I suppose it is true to-day--about ninety per cent. of +the people in Belgium were wearing wooden shoes. Among the peasants I +don't believe I ever saw any other kind of footwear, and they are more +common there than they are in Holland. The Dutch wear them more as a +matter of custom. In Belgium they are a dire necessity because of the +lack of leather. I was told that during the coming year practically all +the peasants and poorer people in Germany, too, will adopt wooden shoes +for farm-work, as that is one direction in which wood can be substituted +for leather without much loss. + +When the young man left I left shortly afterward, as I was not at all +comfortable about what his intentions were regarding me. For all I knew, +he might have gone to notify the German authorities that there was a +strange man in the vicinity--more, perhaps, to protect his friends from +suspicion of having aided me than to injure me. + +At any rate, I was not going to take any chances and I got out of that +neighborhood as rapidly as I could. + +That night found me right on the frontier of Holland. + + + + +XVII + +GETTING THROUGH THE LINES + + +Waiting until it was quite dark, I made my way carefully through a field +and eventually came to the much-dreaded barrier. + +It was all that I had heard about it. Every foot of the border-line +between Belgium and Holland is protected in precisely the same manner. +It is there to serve three purposes: first, to keep the Belgians from +escaping into Holland; second, to keep enemies, like myself, from +making their way to freedom; and, third, to prevent desertions on the +part of Germans themselves. One look at it was enough to convince any +one that it probably accomplished all three objects about as well as +any contrivance could, and one look was all I got of it that night, +for while I lay on my stomach gazing at the forbidding structure I +heard the measured stride of a German sentry advancing toward me, and I +crawled away as fast as I possibly could, determined to spend the night +somewhere in the fields and make another and more careful survey the +following night. + +The view I had obtained, however, was sufficient to convince me that +the pole-vault idea was out of the question even if I had a pole +and were a proficient pole-vaulter. The three fences covered a span +of at least twelve feet, and to clear the last barbed-wire fence it +would be necessary to vault not only at least ten feet high, but at +least fourteen feet wide, with certain knowledge that to touch the +electrically charged fence meant instant death. There would be no second +chance if you came a cropper the first time. + +The stilt idea was also impracticable because of the lack of suitable +timber and tools with which to construct the stilts. + +It seemed to me that the best thing to do was to travel up and down +the line a bit in the hope that some spot might be discovered where +conditions were more favorable, although I don't know just what I +expected along those lines. + +It was mighty disheartening to realize that only a few feet away lay +certain liberty and that the only thing that prevented me from reaching +it were three confounded fences. I thought of my machine and wished that +some kind fairy would set it in front of me for just one minute. + +I spent the night in a clump of bushes and kept in hiding most of the +next day, only going abroad for an hour or two in the middle of the +day to intercept some Belgian peasant and beg for food. The Belgians +in this section were naturally very much afraid of the Germans, and I +fared badly. In nearly every house German soldiers were quartered, and +it was out of the question for me to apply for food in that direction. +The proximity of the border made every one eye one another with more or +less suspicion, and I soon came to the conclusion that the safest thing +I could do was to live on raw vegetables, which I could steal from the +fields at night as I had previously done. + +That night I made another survey of the barrier in that vicinity, but it +looked just as hopeless as it had the night before, and I concluded that +I only wasted time there. + +I spent the night wandering west, guided by the North Star, which had +served me so faithfully in all my traveling. Every mile or two I would +make my way carefully to the barrier to see if conditions were any +better, but it seemed to be the same all along. I felt like a wild +animal in a cage, with about as much chance of getting out. + +The section of the country in which I was now wandering was very heavily +wooded and there was really no very great difficulty in keeping myself +concealed, which I did all day long, striving all the time to think of +some way in which I could circumvent that cursed barrier. + +The idea of a huge step-ladder occurred to me, but I searched hour after +hour in vain for lumber or fallen trees out of which I could construct +one. If I could only obtain something which would enable me to reach a +point about nine feet in the air, it would be a comparatively simple +matter to jump from that point over the electric fence. + +Then I thought that perhaps I could construct a simple ladder and lean +it against one of the posts upon which the electric wires were strung, +climb to the top and leap over, getting over the barbed-wire fences in +the same way. + +This seemed to be the most likely plan, and all night long I sat +constructing a ladder for this purpose. + +I was fortunate enough to find a number of fallen pine-trees from ten +to twenty feet long. I selected two of them which seemed sufficiently +strong and broke off all the branches, which I used as rungs, tying them +to the poles with grass and strips from my handkerchief and shirt as +best I could. + +It was not a very workmanlike-looking ladder when I finally got +through with it. I leaned it against a tree to test it and it wabbled +considerably. It was more like a rope ladder than a wooden one, but I +strengthened it here and there and decided that it would probably serve +the purpose. + +I kept the ladder in the woods all day and could hardly wait until dark +to make the supreme test. If it proved successful, my troubles were +over; within a few hours I would be in a neutral country out of all +danger. If it failed--I dismissed the idea summarily. There was no use +worrying about failure; the thing to do was to succeed. + +The few hours that were to pass before night came on seemed endless, but +I utilized them to reinforce my ladder, tying the rungs more securely +with long grass which I plucked in the woods. + +At last night came, and with my ladder in hand I made for the barrier. +In front of it there was a cleared space of about one hundred yards, +which had been prepared to make the work of the guards easier in +watching it. + +I waited in the neighborhood until I heard the sentry pass the spot +where I was in hiding, and then I hurried across the clearing, shoved my +ladder under the barbed wire, and endeavored to follow it. My clothing +caught in the wire, but I wrenched myself clear and crawled to the +electric barrier. + +My plan was to place the ladder against one of the posts, climb up to +the top, and then jump. There would be a fall of nine or ten feet, and I +might possibly sprain my ankle or break my leg, but if that was all that +stood between me and freedom I wasn't going to stop to consider it. + +I put my ear to the ground to listen for the coming of the sentry. There +was not a sound. Eagerly but carefully I placed the ladder against the +post and started up. Only a few feet separated me from liberty, and my +heart beat fast. + +I had climbed perhaps three rungs of my ladder when I became aware of an +unlooked-for difficulty. + +The ladder was slipping! + +Just as I took the next rung the ladder slipped, came in contact with +the live wire, and the current passed through the wet sticks and into my +body. There was a blue flash, my hold on the ladder relaxed, and I fell +heavily to the ground unconscious! + +Of course, I had not received the full force of the current or I would +not now be here. I must have remained unconscious for a few moments, but +I came to just in time to hear the German guard coming, and the thought +came to me that if I didn't get that ladder concealed at once, he would +see it even though, fortunately for me, it was an unusually dark night. + +I pulled the ladder out of his path and lay down flat on the ground, +not seven feet away from his beat. He passed so close that I could have +pushed the ladder out and tripped him up. + +It occurred to me that I could have climbed back under the barbed-wire +fence and waited for the sentry to return and then felled him with a +blow on the head, as he had no idea, of course, that there was any one +in the vicinity. I wouldn't have hesitated to take life, because my only +thought now was to get into Holland, but I thought that as long as he +didn't bother me perhaps the safest thing to do was not to bother him, +but to continue my efforts during his periodic absences. + +His beat at this point was apparently fairly long and allowed me more +time to work than I had hoped for. + +My mishap with the ladder had convinced me that escape in that way was +not feasible. The shock that I had received had unnerved me and I was +afraid to risk it again, particularly as I realized that I had fared +more fortunately than I could hope to again if I met with a similar +mishap. There was no way of making that ladder hold, and I gave up the +idea of using it. + +I was now right in front of this electric barrier, and as I studied it I +saw another way of getting by. If I couldn't get over it, what was the +matter with getting under it? + +The bottom wire was only two inches from the ground, and, of course, I +couldn't touch it, but my plan was to dig underneath it and then crawl +through the hole in the ground. + +I had only my hands to dig with, but I went at it with a will, and +fortunately the ground was not very hard. + +When I had dug about six inches, making a distance in all of eight +inches from the lowest electric wire, I came to an underground wire. I +knew enough about electricity to realize that this wire could not be +charged, as it was in contact with the ground, but still there was not +room between the live wire and this underground wire for me to crawl +through, and I either had to go on digging deep enough under this wire +to crawl under it or else pull it up. + +This underground wire was about as big around as a lead-pencil and there +was no chance of breaking it. The jack-knife I had had at the start of +my travels I had long since lost, and even if I had had something to +hammer with, the noise would have made that method impracticable. + +I went on digging. When the total distance between the live wire and the +bottom of the hole I had dug was thirty inches I took hold of the ground +wire and pulled on it with all my strength. + +It wouldn't budge. It was stretched taut across the narrow ditch I had +dug--about fourteen inches wide--and all my tugging didn't serve to +loosen it. + +I was just about to give it up in despair when a staple gave way in the +nearest post. This enabled me to pull the wire through the ground a +little, and I renewed my efforts. After a moment or two of pulling as I +had never pulled in my life before a staple on the next post gave way, +and my work became easier. I had more leeway now and pulled and pulled +again until in all eight staples had given way. + +Every time a staple gave way it sounded in my ears like the report +of a gun, although I suppose it didn't really make very much noise. +Nevertheless, each time I would put my ear to the ground to listen for +the guard, and, not hearing him, went on with my work. + +By pulling on the wire I was now able to drag it through the ground +enough to place it back from the fence and go on digging. + +The deeper I went the harder became the work, because by this time my +finger-nails were broken and I was nervous--afraid every moment that I +would touch the charged wire. + +I kept at it, however, with my mind constantly on the hole I was digging +and the liberty which was almost within my reach. + +Finally I figured that I had enough space to crawl through and still +leave a couple of inches between my back and the live wire. + +Before I went under that wire I noticed that the lace which the Belgian +woman had given me as a souvenir made my pocket bulge, and lest it might +be the innocent means of electrocuting me by touching the live wire, I +took it out, rolled it up, and threw it over the barrier. + +Then I lay down on my stomach and crawled or rather writhed under the +wire like a snake, with my feet first, and there wasn't any question of +my hugging Mother Earth as closely as possible, because I realized that +even to touch the wire above me with my back meant instant death. + +Anxious as I was to get on the other side, I didn't hurry this +operation. I feared that there might be some little detail that I had +overlooked, and I exercised the greatest possible care in going under, +taking nothing for granted. + +When I finally got through and straightened up there were still several +feet of Belgium between me and liberty, represented by the six feet +which separated the electric barrier from the last barbed-wire fence, +but before I went another step I went down on my knees and thanked God +for my long series of escapes and especially for this last achievement, +which seemed to me to be about all that was necessary to bring me +freedom. + +Then I crawled under the barbed-wire fence and breathed the free air +of Holland! I had no clear idea just where I was, and I didn't much +care. I was out of the power of the Germans, and that was enough. I had +walked perhaps a hundred yards when I remembered the lace I had thrown +over the barrier, and, dangerous as I realized the undertaking to be, I +determined to walk back and get it. This necessitated my going back on +to Belgian soil again, but it seemed a shame to leave the lace there, +and by exercising a little care I figured I could get it easily enough. + +When I came to the spot at which I had made my way under the barbed wire +I put my ear to the ground and listened for the sentry. I heard him +coming and lay prone on the ground till he had passed. The fact that he +might observe the hole in the ground or the ladder occurred to me as I +lay there, and it seemed like an age before he finally marched out of +earshot. Then I went under the barbed wire again, retrieved the lace, +and once again made my way to Dutch territory. + +It does not take long to describe the events just referred to, but the +incidents themselves consumed several hours in all. To dig the hole +must have taken me more than two hours, and I had to stop frequently +to hide while the sentry passed. Many times, indeed, I thought I heard +him coming and stopped my work, and then discovered that it was only +my imagination. I certainly suffered enough that night to last me a +lifetime. With a German guard on one side, death from electrocution +on the other, and starvation staring me in the face, my plight was +anything but a comfortable one. + +It was the 19th of November, 1917, when I got through the wires. I had +made my leap from the train on September 9th. Altogether, therefore, +just seventy-two days had elapsed since I escaped from the Huns. If I +live to be as old as Methuselah, I never expect to live through another +seventy-two days so crammed full of incident and hazard and lucky +escapes. + + + + +XVIII + +EXPERIENCES IN HOLLAND + + +But I was not yet quite out of the woods. + +I now knew that I was in Holland, but just where I had no idea. I walked +for about thirty minutes and came to a path leading to the right, and I +had proceeded along it but a few hundred yards when I saw in front of me +a fence exactly like the one I had crossed. + +"This is funny," I said to myself. "I didn't know the Dutch had a fence, +too." I advanced to the fence and examined it closely, and judge of my +astonishment when I saw beyond it a nine-foot fence apparently holding +live wires exactly like the one which had nearly been the death of me! + +I had very little time to conjecture what it all meant, for just then I +heard a guard coming. He was walking so fast that I was sure it was a +Dutch sentry, as the Huns walk much more slowly. + +I was so bewildered, however, that I decided to take no chances, and +as the road was fairly good I wandered down it and away from that +mysterious fence. About half a mile down I could see the light of a +sentry station, and I thought I would go there and tell my story to the +sentries, realizing that as I was unarmed it was perfectly safe for me +to announce myself to the Dutch authorities. I could be interned only if +I entered Holland under arms. + +As I approached the sentry box I noticed three men in gray uniforms, +the regulation Dutch color. I was on the verge of shouting to them when +the thought struck me that there was just a chance I might be mistaken, +as the German uniforms were the same color, and I had suffered too many +privations and too many narrow escapes to lose all at this time. + +I had just turned off the road to go back into some bushes when out of +the darkness I heard that dread German command: + +"Halt! Halt!" + +He didn't need to holler twice. I heard and heeded the first time. Then +I heard another man come running up, and there was considerable talking, +but whether they were Germans or Hollanders I was still uncertain. +Evidently, however, he thought the noise must be a dog or the wind. + +Finally I heard one of them laugh and heard him walk back to the sentry +station where the guard was billeted, and I crawled a little nearer to +try to make out just what it all meant. I had begun to think it was all +a nightmare. + +Between myself and the light in the sentry station I then noticed the +stooping figure of a man bending over as if to conceal himself, and on +his head was the spiked helmet of a German soldier! + +I knew then what another narrow escape I had had, for I am quite sure +he would have shot me without ceremony if I had foolishly made myself +known. I would have been buried at once and no one would have been any +the wiser, even though, technically speaking, I was on neutral territory +and immune from capture or attack. + +This new shock only served to bewilder me the more. I was completely +lost. There seemed to be frontier behind me and frontier in front of +me. Evidently, however, what had happened was that I had lost my sense +of direction and had wandered in the arc of a circle, returning to the +same fence that I had been so long in getting through. This solution of +the mystery came to me suddenly, and I at once searched the landscape +for something in the way of a landmark to guide me. For once my faithful +friend, the North Star, had failed me. The sky was pitch black and there +wasn't a star in the heavens. + +In the distance, at what appeared to be about three miles away, but +which turned out to be six, I could discern the lights of a village, and +I knew that it must be a Dutch village, as lights are not allowed in +Belgium in that indiscriminate way. + +My course was now clear. I would make a bee-line for that village. +Before I had gone very far I found myself in a marsh or swamp, and I +turned back a little, hoping to find a better path. Finding none, I +retraced my steps and kept straight ahead, determined to reach that +village at all costs and to swerve neither to the right nor to the left +until I got there. + +One moment I would be in water up to my knees and the next I would +sink in clear up to my waist. I paid no attention to my condition. It +was merely a repetition of what I had gone through many times before, +but this time I had a definite goal, and, once I reached it, I knew my +troubles would be over. + +It took me perhaps three hours to reach firm ground. The path I struck +led to within half a mile of the village. I shall never forget that +path; it was almost as welcome to my feet as the opposite bank of the +Meuse had seemed. + +The first habitation I came to was a little workshop with a bright light +shining outside. It must have been after midnight, but the people inside +were apparently just quitting work. There were three men and two boys +engaged in making wooden shoes. + +It wasn't necessary for me to explain to them that I was a refugee, even +if I had been able to speak their language. I was caked with mud up to +my shoulders, and I suppose my face must have recorded some of the +experiences I had gone through that memorable night. + +"I want the British consul," I told them. + +Apparently they didn't understand, but one of them volunteered to +conduct me to the village. They seemed to be only too anxious to do all +they could for me; evidently they realized I was a British soldier. + +It was very late when my companion finally escorted me into the village, +but he aroused some people he knew from their beds and they dressed and +came down to feed me. + +The family consisted of an old lady and her husband and a son who was a +soldier in the Dutch army. The cold shivers ran down my back while he +sat beside me, because every now and again I caught a glimpse of his +gray uniform and it resembled very much that of the German soldiers. + +Some of the neighbors, aroused by the commotion, got up to see what it +was all about, and came in and watched while I ate the meal those good +Dutch people prepared for me. Ordinarily, I suppose, I would have been +embarrassed with so many people staring at me while I ate, as though I +were some strange animal that had just been captured, but just then I +was too famished to notice or care very much what other people did. + +There will always be a warm place in my heart for the Dutch people. +I had heard lots of persons say that they were not inclined to help +refugees, but my experience did not bear these reports out. They +certainly did much more for me than I ever expected. + +I had a little German money left, but as the value of German money is +only about half in Holland, I didn't have enough to pay the fare to +Rotterdam, which was my next objective. It was due to the generosity of +these people that I was able to reach the British consul as quickly as +I did. Some day I hope to return to Holland and repay every single soul +who played the part of Good Samaritan to me. + +With the money that these people gave me I was able to get a third-class +ticket to Rotterdam, and I am glad that I didn't have enough to travel +first-class, for I would have looked as much out of place in a +first-class carriage as a Hun would appear in heaven. + +That night I slept in the house of my Dutch friends, where they fixed +me up most comfortably. In the morning they gave me breakfast and then +escorted me to the station. + +While I was waiting in the station a crowd gathered round me, and soon +it seemed as if the whole town had turned out to get a look at me. It +was very embarrassing, particularly as I could give them no information +regarding the cause of my condition, although, of course, they all knew +that I was a refugee from Belgium. + +As the train pulled out of the station the crowd gave a loud cheer, and +the tears almost came to my eyes as I contrasted in my mind the conduct +of this crowd and the one that had gathered at the station in Ghent when +I had departed a prisoner en route for the reprisal camp. I breathed a +sigh of relief as I thought of that reprisal camp and how fortunate I +had really been, despite all my suffering, to have escaped it. Now, at +any rate, I was a free man and I would soon be sending home the joyful +news that I had made good my escape. + +At Einhoffen two Dutch officers got into the compartment with me. They +looked at me with very much disfavor, not knowing, of course, that I was +a British officer. My clothes were still pretty much in the condition +they were when I crossed the border, although I had been able to scrape +off some of the mud I had collected the night before. I had not shaved +nor trimmed my beard for many days, and I must have presented a sorry +appearance. I could hardly blame them for edging away from me. + +The trip from Einhoffen to Rotterdam passed without special incident. +At various stations passengers would get into the compartment and, +observing my unusual appearance, would endeavor to start a conversation +with me. None of them spoke English, however, and they had to use their +own imagination as to my identity. + +When I arrived at Rotterdam I asked a policeman who stood in front of +the station where I could find the British consul, but I could not make +him understand. I next applied to a taxicab driver. + +"English consul--British consul--American consul--French consul," +I said, hoping that if he didn't understand one he might recognize +another. + +He eyed me with suspicion and motioned me to get in and drove off. I had +no idea where he was taking me, but after a quarter of an hour's ride he +brought up in front of the British consulate. Never before was I so glad +to see the Union Jack! + +I beckoned to the chauffeur to go with me up to the office, as I had no +money with which to pay him, and when we got to the consulate I told +them that if they would pay the taxi fare I would tell them who I was +and how I happened to be there. + +They knew at once that I was an escaped prisoner and they readily paid +the chauffeur and invited me to give some account of myself. + +They treated me most cordially and were intensely interested in the +brief account I gave them of my adventures. Word was sent to the +consul-general, and he immediately sent for me. When I went in he shook +hands with me, greeting me very heartily and offering me a chair. + +He then sat down, screwed a monocle on his eye, and viewed me from top +to toe. I could see that only good breeding kept him from laughing at +the spectacle I presented. I could see he wanted to laugh in the worst +way. + +"Go ahead and laugh!" I said. "You can't offend me the way I feel this +blessed day!" And he needed no second invitation. Incidentally, it gave +me a chance to laugh at him, for I was about as much amused as he was. + +After he had laughed himself about sick he got up and slapped me on the +back and invited me to tell him my story. + +"Lieutenant," he said, when I had concluded, "you can have anything you +want. I think your experiences entitle you to it." + +"Well, Consul," I replied, "I would like a bath, a shave, a hair-cut, +and some civilized clothes about as badly as a man ever needed them, I +suppose, but before that I would like to get a cable off to America to +my mother, telling her that I am safe and on my way to England." + +The consul gave the necessary instructions, and I had the satisfaction +of knowing before I left the office that the cable, with its good +tidings, was on its way to America. + +Then he sent for one of the naval men who had been interned there since +the beginning of the war and who was able to speak Dutch, and told him +to take good care of me. + +After I had been bathed and shaved and had a hair-cut, I bought some new +clothes and had something to eat, and I felt like a new man. + +As I walked through the streets of Rotterdam, breathing the air of +freedom again and realizing that there was no longer any danger of being +captured and taken back to prison, it was a wonderful sensation. + +I don't believe there will ever be a country that will appear in my +eyes quite as good as Holland did then. I had to be somewhat careful, +however, because Holland was full of German spies, and I knew they +would be keen to learn all they possibly could about my escape and my +adventures, so that the authorities in Belgium could mete out punishment +to every one who was in any respect to blame for it. As I was in +Rotterdam only a day, they didn't have very much opportunity to learn +anything from me. + +The naval officer who accompanied me and acted as interpreter for me +introduced me to many other soldiers and sailors who had escaped from +Belgium when the Germans took Antwerp, and as they had arrived in +Holland in uniform and under arms the laws of neutrality compelled their +internment, and they had been there ever since. + +The life of a man who is interned in a neutral country, I learned, is +anything but satisfactory. He gets one month a year to visit his home. +If he lives in England, that is not so bad, but if he happens to live +farther away, the time he has to spend with his folks is very short, as +the month's leave does not take into consideration the time consumed in +traveling to and from Holland. + +The possibility of escape from internment is always there, but the +British authorities have an agreement with the Dutch government to send +refugees back immediately. In this respect, therefore, the position of +a man who is interned is worse than that of a prisoner who, if he does +succeed in making his escape, is naturally received with open arms in +his native land. Apart from this restraint, however, internment, with +all its drawbacks, is a thousand times--yes, a million times better than +being a prisoner of war in Germany. + +It seems to me that when the war is over and the men who have been +imprisoned in Germany return home they should be given a bigger and +greater reception than the most victorious army that ever marched into a +city, for they will have suffered and gone through more than the world +will ever be able to understand. + +No doubt you will find in the German prison-camps one or two +faint-hearted individuals with a pronounced yellow streak who +voluntarily gave up the struggle and gave up their liberty rather than +risk their lives or limbs. These sad cases, however, are, I am sure, +extremely few. Nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand of the men +fighting in the Allied lines would rather be in the front-line trenches, +fighting every day, with all the horrors and all the risks, than be a +prisoner of war in Germany, for the men in France have a very keen +realization of what that means. + +But to return to my day in Rotterdam. + +After I was fixed up I returned to the consulate and arrangements were +made for my transportation to England at once. Fortunately there was a +boat leaving that very night, and I was allowed to take passage on it. + +Just as we were leaving Rotterdam the boat I was on rammed our own +convoy, one of the destroyers, and injured it so badly that it had to +put back to port. It would have been a strange climax to my adventure +if the disaster had resulted in the sinking of my boat and I had lost +my life while on my way to England after having successfully outwitted +the Huns. But my luck was with me to the last, and while the accident +resulted in some delay, our boat was not seriously damaged and made +the trip over in schedule time and without further incident, another +destroyer having been assigned to escort us through the danger zone in +place of the one which we had put out of commission. + +When I arrived in London the reaction from the strain I had been under +for nearly three months immediately became apparent. My nerves were +in such a state that it was absolutely impossible for me to cross the +street without being in deadly fear of being run over or trampled on. +I stood at the curb, like an old woman from the country on her first +visit to the city, and I would not venture across until some knowing +policeman, recognizing my condition, came to my assistance and convoyed +me across. + +Indeed, there are a great number of English officers at home at all +times "getting back their nerve" after a long spell of active service +at the front, so that my condition was anything but novel to the London +bobbies. + +It was not many days, however, before I regained control of myself and +felt in first-class shape. + +Although the British authorities in Holland had wired my mother from +Holland that I was safe and on my way to England, the first thing I did +when we landed was to send her a cable myself. + +The cable read as follows: + + _Mrs. M. J. O'Brien, Momence, Ill., U. S. A._: + + Just escaped from Germany. Letter follows. + + PAT. + +As I delivered it to the cable-despatcher I could just imagine the +exultation with which my mother would receive it and the pride she would +feel as she exhibited it among her neighbors and friends. + +I could hear the volley of "I told you so's" that greeted her good +tidings. + +"It would take more than the Kaiser to keep Pat in Germany!" I could +hear one of them saying. + +"Knew he'd be back for Christmas, anyway," I could hear another remark. + +"I had an idea that Pat and his comrades might spend Christmas in +Berlin," I could hear another admitting, "but I didn't think any other +part of Germany would appeal to him very much." + +"Mrs. O'Brien, did Pat write you how many German prisoners he brought +back with him?" I could hear still another credulous friend inquiring. + +It was all very amusing and gratifying to me, and I must confess I felt +quite cocky as I walked into the War Department to report. + +For the next five days I was kept very busy answering questions put +to me by the military authorities regarding what I had observed as to +conditions in Germany and behind the lines. + +What I reported was taken down by a stenographer and made part of the +official records, but I did not give them my story in narrative form. +The information I was able to give was naturally of interest to various +branches of the service, and experts in every line of government work +took it in turns to question me. One morning would be devoted, for +instance, to answering questions of a military nature--German methods +behind the front-line trenches, tactics, morale of troops, and similar +matters. Then the aviation experts would take a whack at me and discuss +with me all I had observed of German flying-corps methods and equipment. +Then, again, the food experts would interrogate me as to what I had +learned of food conditions in Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium, and as +I had lived pretty close to the ground for the best part of seventy-two +days I was able to give them some fairly accurate reports as to actual +agricultural conditions, many of the things I told them probably having +more significance to them than they had to me. + +There were many things I had observed which I have not referred to +in these pages because their value to us might be diminished if the +Germans knew we were aware of them, but they were all reported to the +authorities, and it was very gratifying to me to hear that the experts +considered some of them of the greatest value. + +One of the most amusing incidents of my return occurred when I called at +my banker's in London to get my personal effects. + +The practice in the Royal Flying Corps when a pilot is reported missing +is to have two of his comrades assigned to go through his belongings, +check them over, destroy anything that it might not be to his interest +to preserve, and send the whole business to his banker or his home, +as the case may be. Every letter is read through, but its contents is +never afterward discussed nor revealed in any way. If the pilot is +finally reported dead, his effects are forwarded to his next of kin, +but while he is officially only "missing" or is known to be a prisoner +of war they are kept either at the squadron headquarters or sent to his +banker's. + +In my case, as soon as it was learned that I had fallen from the sky it +was assumed that I had been killed, and my chum, Paid Raney, and another +officer were detailed to check over my effects. The list they made and +to which they affixed their signatures, as I have previously mentioned, +is now in my possession and is one of the most treasured souvenirs of my +adventure. + +My trunk was sent to Cox & Co. in due course, and now that I was in +London I thought I would go and claim it. + +When I arrived in the bank I applied at the proper window for my mail +and trunk. + +"Who are you?" I was asked, rather sharply. + +"Well, I guess no one has any greater right to Pat O'Brien's effects +than I have," I replied, "and I would be obliged to you if you would +look them up for me." + +"That may be all right, my friend," replied the clerk, "but according +to our records Lieutenant O'Brien is a prisoner of war in Germany, +and we can't very well turn over his effects to any one else unless +either you present proof that he is dead and that you are his lawful +representative, or else deliver to us a properly authenticated order +from him to give them to you." + +He was very positive about it all, but quite polite, and I thought I +would kid him no more. + +"Well," I said, "I can't very well present proofs to you that Pat +O'Brien is dead, but I will do the best I can to prove to you that he is +alive, and if you haven't quite forgotten his signature I guess I can +write you out an order that will answer all your requirements and enable +you to give me Pat O'Brien's belongings without running any risks." And +I scribbled my signature on a scrap of paper and handed it to him. + +He looked at me carefully through the latticed window, then jumped down +from his chair and came outside to clasp me by the hand. + +"Good Heavens, Lieutenant!" he exclaimed as he pumped my hand up and +down. "How did you ever get away?" And I had to sit right down +and tell him and half a dozen other people in the bank all about my +experiences. + +[Illustration: COPY OF TELEGRAM INVITING LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN TO MEET KING +GEORGE] + +[Illustration: COPY OF TELEGRAM SENT BY LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN IN ANSWER TO +AN INVITATION TO MEET KING GEORGE] + +I had been in England about ten days when I received a telegram which, +at first, occasioned me almost as much concern as the unexpected sight +of a German spiked helmet had caused me in Belgium. It read as follows: + + _Lieut. P. A. O'Brien, Royal Flying Corps, Regent's Palace + Hotel, London_: + + The King is very glad to hear of your escape from Germany. + If you are to be in London on Friday next, December 7th, His + Majesty will receive you at Buckingham Palace at 10:30 A.M. Please + acknowledge. + + CROMER. + +Of course, there was only one thing to do and that was to obey orders. I +was an officer in the army and the King was my commander-in-chief. I had +to go, and so I sat down and sent off the following answer: + + _Earl Cromer, Buckingham Palace, London_: + + I will attend Buckingham Palace as directed, Friday, December + 7th, at 10:30. + + LIEUTENANT PAT O'BRIEN. + +In the interval that elapsed I must confess, the ordeal of calling on +the King of England loomed up more dreadfully every day, and I really +believe I would rather have spent another day in that empty house in the +big city in Belgium, or, say, two days at Courtrai, than go through what +I believed to be in store for me. + +Orders were orders, however, and there was no way of getting out of it. +As it turned out it wasn't half so bad as I had feared; on the contrary, +it was one of the most agreeable experiences of my life. + + + + +XIX + +I AM PRESENTED TO THE KING + + +When the dreaded 7th of December arrived I hailed a taxicab and in as +matter-of-fact tone of voice as I could command directed the chauffeur +to drive me to Buckingham Palace, as though I were paying my regular +morning call on the King. + +My friends' version of this incident, I have since heard, is that +I seated myself in the taxi and, leaning through the window, said, +"Buckingham Palace!" whereupon the taxi driver got down, opened the +door, and exclaimed, threateningly: + +"If you don't get out quietly and chuck your drunken talk, I'll jolly +quick call a bobby, bli' me if I won't!" + +But I can only give my word that nothing of the kind occurred. + +When I arrived at the palace gate the sentry on guard asked me who +I was, and then let me pass at once up to the front entrance of the +palace. + +There I was met by an elaborately uniformed and equally elaborately +decorated personage, who, judging by the long row of medals he wore, +must have seen long and distinguished service for the King. + +I was relieved of my overcoat, hat, and stick and conducted up a long +stairway, where I was turned over to another functionary, who led me to +the reception-room of Earl Cromer, the King's secretary. + +There I was introduced to another earl and a duke whose names I do not +remember. I was becoming so bewildered, in fact, that it is a wonder +that I remember as much as I do of this eventful day. + +I had heard many times that before being presented to the King a man is +coached carefully as to just how he is to act and what he is to say and +do, and all this time I was wondering when this drilling would commence. +I certainly had no idea that I was to be ushered into the august +presence of the King without some preliminary instruction. + +Earl Cromer and the other noblemen talked to me for a while and got me +to relate in brief the story of my experiences, and they appeared to be +very much interested. Perhaps they did it only to give me confidence and +as a sort of rehearsal for the main performance, which was scheduled to +take place much sooner than I expected. + +I had barely completed my story when the door opened and an attendant +entered and announced: + +"The King will receive Leftenant O'Brien!" + +If he had announced that the Kaiser was outside with a squad of German +guards to take me back to Courtrai my heart could not have sunk deeper. + +Earl Cromer beckoned me to follow him, and we went into a large room, +where I supposed I was at last to receive my coaching, but I observed +the earl bow to a man standing there and realized that I was standing in +the presence of the King of England. + +"Your Majesty, Leftenant O'Brien!" the earl announced, and then +immediately backed from the room. I believed I would have followed +right behind him, but by that time the King had me by the hand and was +congratulating me, and he spoke so very cordially and democratically +that he put me at my ease at once. + +He then asked me how I felt and whether I was in a condition to +converse, and when I told him I was he said he would be very much +pleased to hear my story in detail. + +"Were you treated any worse by the Germans, Leftenant," he asked, "on +account of being an American? I've heard that the Germans had threatened +to shoot Americans serving in the British army if they captured them, +classing them as murderers because America was a neutral country and +Americans had no right to mix in the war. Did you find that to be the +case?" + +I told him that I had heard similar reports, but that I did not +notice any appreciable difference in my treatment from that accorded +Britishers. + +The King declared that he believed my escape was due to my pluck and +will power, and that it was one of the most remarkable escapes he had +ever heard of, which I thought was quite a compliment, coming as it did +from the King of England. + +"I hope that all the Americans will give as good an account of +themselves as you have, Leftenant," he said, "and I feel quite sure they +will. I fully appreciate all the service rendered us by Americans before +the States entered the war." + +At this point I asked him if I was taking too much time. + +"Not at all, Leftenant, not at all!" he replied, most cordially. "I +was extremely interested in the brief report that came to me of your +wonderful escape, and I sent for you because I wanted to hear the whole +story first-hand, and I am very glad you were able to come." + +I had not expected to remain more than a few minutes, as I understood +that four minutes is considered a long audience with the King. Fifty-two +minutes elapsed before I finally left there! + +During all this time I had done most of the talking, in response to the +King's request to tell my story. Occasionally he interrupted to ask a +question about a point he wanted me to make clear, but for the most part +he was content to play the part of listener. + +He seemed to be very keen on everything, and when I described some of +the tight holes I got into during my escape he evinced his sympathy. +Occasionally I introduced some of the few humorous incidents of my +adventure, and in every instance he laughed heartily. + +Altogether the impression I got of him was that he is a very genial, +gracious, and alert sovereign. I know I have felt more ill at ease when +talking to a major than when speaking to the King--but perhaps I had +more cause to. + +During the whole interview we were left entirely alone, which impressed +me as significant of the democratic manner of the present King of +England, and I certainly came away with the utmost respect for him. + +In all of my conversation, I recalled afterward, I never addressed the +King as "Your Majesty," but used the military "sir." As I was a British +officer and he was the head of the army, he probably appreciated this +manner of address more than if I had used the usual "Your Majesty." +Perhaps he attributed it to the fact that I was an American. At any +rate, he didn't evince any displeasure at my departure from what I +understand is the usual form of address. + +Before I left he asked me what my plans for the future were. + +"Why, sir, I hope to rejoin my squadron at the earliest possible +moment!" I replied. + +"No, Leftenant," he rejoined, "that is out of the question. We can't +risk losing you for good by sending you back to a part of the front +opposed by Germany, because if you were unfortunate enough to be +captured again they would undoubtedly shoot you." + +"Well, if I can't serve in France, sir," I suggested, "wouldn't it be +feasible for me to fly in Italy or Salonica?" + +"No," he replied; "that would be almost as bad. The only thing that +I can suggest for you to do is either to take up instruction--a very +valuable form of service--or perhaps it might be safe enough for you to +serve in Egypt; but, just at present, Leftenant, I think you have done +enough, anyway." + +Then he rose and shook hands with me and wished me the best of luck, and +we both said, "Good-by." + +In the adjoining room I met Earl Cromer again, and as he accompanied me +to the door he seemed to be surprised at the length of my visit. + +"His Majesty must have been very much interested in your story," he +said. + +As I left the palace a policeman and a sentry outside came smartly to +attention. Perhaps they figured I had been made a general. + +As I was riding back to the hotel in a taxi I reflected on the +remarkable course of events which in the short space of nine months had +taken me through so much and ended up, like the finish of a book, with +my being received by his Majesty the King! When I first joined the Royal +Flying Corps I never expected to see the inside of Buckingham Palace, +much less to be received by the King. + + + + +XX + +HOME AGAIN! + + +That same day, in the evening, I was tendered a banquet at the Hotel +Savoy by a fellow-officer who had bet three other friends of mine that +I would be home by Christmas. This wager had been made at the time he +heard that I was a prisoner of war, and the dinner was the stake. + +The first intimation he had of my safe return from Germany and the fact +that he had won his bet was a telegram I sent him reading as follows: + + _Lieutenant Louis Grant_: + + War-bread bad, so I came home. + + PAT. + +He said he would not part with that message for a thousand dollars. + +Other banquets followed in fast succession. After I had survived nine +of them I figured that I was now in as much danger of succumbing to a +surfeit of rich food as I had previously been of dying from starvation, +and for my own protection I decided to leave London. Moreover, my +thoughts and my heart were turning back to the land of my birth, where I +knew there was a loving old mother who was longing for more substantial +evidence of my safe escape than the cables and letters she had received. + +Strangely enough, on the boat which carried me across the Atlantic I saw +an R. F. C. man--Lieutenant Lascelles. + +I walked over to him, held out my hand, and said, "Hello!" + +He looked at me steadily for at least a minute. + +"My friend, you certainly look like Pat O'Brien," he declared, "but I +can't believe my eyes. Who are you?" + +I quickly convinced him that his eyes were still to be relied upon, +and then he stared at me for another minute or two, shaking his head +dubiously. + +His mystification was quite explicable. The last time he had seen me I +was going down to earth with a bullet in my face and my machine doing +a spinning nose dive. He was one of my comrades in the flying corps and +was in the fight which resulted in my capture. He said he had read the +report that I was a prisoner of war, but he had never believed it, as he +did not think it possible for me to survive that fall. + +He was one of the few men living out of eighteen who were originally +in my squadron--I do not mean the eighteen with whom I sailed from +Canada last May, but the squadron I joined in France. He rehearsed +for me the fate of all my old friends in the squadron, and it was a +mighty sad story. All of them had been killed except one or two who +were in dry-dock for repairs. He himself was on his way to Australia to +recuperate and get his nerves back into shape again. He had been in many +desperate combats. + +As we sat on the deck exchanging experiences I would frequently notice +him gazing intently in my face as if he were not quite sure that the +whole proposition was not a hoax and that I was not an impostor. + +Outside of this unexpected meeting, my trip across was uneventful. + +I arrived in St. John, New Brunswick, and eventually the little town of +Momence, Illinois, on the Kankakee River. + +I have said that I was never so happy to arrive in a country as I was +when I first set foot on Dutch soil. Now I'm afraid I shall have to take +that statement back. Not until I finally landed in Momence and realized +that I was again in the town of my childhood days did I enjoy that +feeling of absolute security which one never really appreciates until +after a visit to foreign parts. + +Now that I am back, the whole adventure constantly recurs to me as a +dream, and I'm never quite sure that I won't wake up and find it so. + + +THE END + + + * * * * * + + +[Transcriber's Notes: + +The transcriber made these changes to the text to correct obvious +errors: + + 1. p. 172 woulb --> would + 2. p. 265 geting --> getting + +End of Transcriber's Notes] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Outwitting the Hun, by Pat O'Brien + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUTWITTING THE HUN *** + +***** This file should be named 42490-8.txt or 42490-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/4/9/42490/ + +Produced by sp1nd, Richard J. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Outwitting the Hun + My Escape from a German Prison Camp + +Author: Pat O'Brien + +Release Date: April 8, 2013 [EBook #42490] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUTWITTING THE HUN *** + + + + +Produced by sp1nd, Richard J. Shiffer and the Distributed +Proofreading volunteers at http://www.pgdp.net for Project +Gutenberg. (This file was produced from images generously +made available by The Internet Archive.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="trans-note"> +<p class="heading">Transcriber's Note</p> +<p>Every effort has been made to replicate this text as +faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other +inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an obvious error +is noted at the <a href="#END">end</a> of this ebook.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <img src="images/cover2.jpg" alt="Cover" /> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_1" id="illo_1"> +<img src="images/i_004.jpg" alt="LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN, R. F. C." /></a> +<div class="caption"> +<p>LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN, R. F. C.</p> +</div> +</div> + +<div id="title-page"> +<h1>OUTWITTING<br /> +THE HUN</h1> + +<p><big><i>My Escape from a<br /> +German Prison Camp</i></big></p> + + +<p><small>BY</small><br /> +LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN<br /> +<small><i>Royal Flying Corps</i></small></p> + +<p>ILLUSTRATED</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/i_002.jpg" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p>HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS<br /> +<span class="spacious"><small>NEW YORK AND LONDON</small></span></p> + +<div id="copyright"> +<p class="space-above">Outwitting the Hun</p> +<hr class="tiny tight" /> +<p>Copyright, 1918, by Lieutenant Pat O'Brien<br /> +Printed in the United States of America<br /> +Published March, 1918</p> +</div> + +</div> + +<div id="dedication"> +<p>TO<br /> + +<big>THE NORTH STAR</big><br /> + +WHOSE GUIDING LIGHT MARKED THE<br /> +PATHWAY TO FREEDOM FOR A WEARY<br /> +FUGITIVE, THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED<br /> +IN HUMBLE GRATITUDE<br /> +AND ABIDING FAITH </p> +</div> + +<hr class="chap" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</a></h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table class="toc" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><td class="left sc">chap.</td><td align="left"> </td><td class="right sc">page</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="left"> </td><td class="left sc"><a href="#PREFACE">Preface</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#PREFACE">xi</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">I.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#I">The Folly of Despair</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#I">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">II.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#II">I Become a Fighting-scout</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#II">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">III.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#III">Captured by the Huns</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#III">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">IV.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#IV">Clipped Wings</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#IV">34</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">V.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#V">The Prison-camp at Courtrai</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#V">53</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">VI.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#VI">A Leap for Liberty</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#VI">77</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">VII.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#VII">Crawling Through Germany</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#VII">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">VIII.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#VIII">Nine Days in Luxembourg</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#VIII">97</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">IX.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#IX">I Enter Belgium</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#IX">112</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">X.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#X">Experiences in Belgium</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#X">132</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XI.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XI">I Encounter German Soldiers</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XI">145</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XII.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XII">The Forged Passport</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XII">159</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XIII.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XIII">Five Days in an Empty House</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XIII">186</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XIV.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XIV">A Night of Dissipation</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XIV">207</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XV.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XV">Observations in a Belgian City</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XV">219</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XVI.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XVI">I Approach the Frontier</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XVI">225</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XVII.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XVII">Getting Through the Lines</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XVII">236</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XVIII.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XVIII">Experiences in Holland</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XVIII">250</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XIX.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XIX">I Am Presented to the King</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XIX">273</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left">XX.</td><td class="left sc"><a href="#XX">Home Again!</a></td><td class="right"><a href="#XX">281</a></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<div class="trans-note"> +<p class="heading">Transcriber's Note</p> +<p>Illustrations were interleaved between pages +in the original text. In this version, they have been moved to the +following paragraph. Page numbers below reflect the position of the +illustration in the original text.</p> +</div> + + +<h2>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + + +<div class="center"> +<table class="illus" summary="Illustrations"> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">Lieut. Pat O'Brien, R. F. C.</td><td colspan="2" class="right"><a href="#illo_1"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">The Aeroplane which Lieutenant O'Brien Used in His Last Battle with the Huns When He Was Brought Down and Made Prisoner</td><td class="right bottom"><i>Facing p.</i></td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_2">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">The Identification Disk Worn by Lieutenant O'Brien When He Was Captured by the Huns. It Revealed to Them that He Was an American</td><td class="center bottom">"</td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_3">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">Lieut. Paul H. Raney of Toronto and Lieut. Pat O'Brien</td><td class="center bottom">"</td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_4">50</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">Mailing-card Sent by German Government to Pat O'Brien's Sister, Mrs. Clara Clegg of Momence, Illinois</td><td class="center bottom">"</td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_5">60</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">Obverse Side of Card Shown Above</td><td class="center bottom">"</td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_6">60</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">A Group of Prisoners of War in the Prison-camp at Courtrai, Belgium</td><td class="center bottom">"</td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_7">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">The Forged Passport Prepared in a Belgian City to Aid Lieutenant O'Brien's Escape into Holland, but Which Was Never Used</td><td class="center bottom">"</td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_8">164</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">Copy of Telegram Inviting Lieutenant O'Brien to Meet King George</td><td class="center bottom">"</td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_9">270</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="left hang sc">Copy of Telegram Sent by Lieutenant O'Brien in Answer to an Invitation to Meet King George</td><td class="center bottom">"</td><td class="right bottom"><a href="#illo_10">270</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE">PREFACE</a></h2> + + +<p>There is a common idea that the age of miracles is past. Perhaps it +is, but if so, the change must have come about within the past few +weeks—after I escaped into Holland. For if anything is certain in this +life it is this: this book never would have been written but for the +succession of miracles set forth in these pages.</p> + +<p>Miracles, luck, coincidence, Providence—it doesn't matter much what you +call it—certainly played an important part in the series of hairbreadth +escapes in which I figured during my short but eventful appearance in +the great drama now being enacted across the seas. Without it, all my +efforts and sufferings would have been quite unavailing.</p> + +<p>No one realizes this better than I do and I want to repeat it right here +because elsewhere in these pages I may appear <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> +occasionally to overlook or minimize it: without the help of Providence I would not be here +to-day.</p> + +<p>But this same Providence which brought me home safely, despite all the +dangers which beset me, may work similar miracles for others, and it is +in the hope of encouraging other poor devils who may find themselves in +situations as hopeless apparently as mine oftentimes were that this book +is written.</p> + +<p>When this cruel war is over—which I trust may be sooner than I expect +it to be—I hope I shall have an opportunity to revisit the scenes of my +adventures and to thank in person in an adequate manner every one who +extended a helping hand to me when I was a wretched fugitive. All of +them took great risks in befriending an escaped prisoner, and they did +it without the slightest hope of reward. At the same time I hope I shall +have a chance to pay my compliments to those who endeavored to take +advantage of my distress.</p> + +<p>In the meanwhile, however, I can only express my thanks in this +ineffective manner, trusting that in some mysterious way a copy of this +book may fall into the hands <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span> +of every one who befriended me. I hope +particularly that every good Hollander who played the part of the Good +Samaritan to me so bountifully after my escape from Belgium will see +these pages and feel that I am absolutely sincere when I say that words +cannot begin to express my sense of gratitude to the Dutch people.</p> + +<p>It is needless for me to add how deeply I feel for my fellow-prisoners +in Germany who were less fortunate than I. Poor, poor fellows!—they are +the real victims of the war. I hope that every one of them may soon be +restored to that freedom whose value I never fully realized until after +I had had to fight so hard to regain it.</p> + +<p class="author">Pat O'Brien.</p> +<p> +<small><span class="smcap">Momence, Illinois</span>, <i>January 14, 1918</i>.</small> +</p> + + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<div id="half-title"> +OUTWITTING THE HUN +</div> + + +<hr class="chap" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="I" id="I">I<br /> +THE FOLLY OF DESPAIR</a></h2> + + +<p>Less than nine months ago eighteen officers of the Royal Flying Corps, +which had been training in Canada, left for England on the <i>Megantic</i>.</p> + +<p>If any of them was over twenty-five years of age, he had successfully +concealed the fact, because they don't accept older men for the R. F. C.</p> + +<p>Nine of the eighteen were British subjects; the other nine were +Americans, who, tired of waiting for their own country to take her place +with the Allies, had joined the British colors in Canada. I was one of +the latter.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<p>We were going to England to earn our "wings"—a qualification which must +be won before a member of the R. F. C. is allowed to hunt the Huns on +the western front.</p> + +<p>That was in May, 1917.</p> + +<p>By August 1st most of us were full-fledged pilots, actively engaged at +various parts of the line in daily conflict with the enemy.</p> + +<p>By December 15th every man Jack of us who had met the enemy in France, +with one exception, had appeared on the casualty list. The exception +was H. K. Boysen, an American, who at last report was fighting on the +Italian front, still unscathed. Whether his good fortune has stood by +him up to this time I don't know, but if it has I would be very much +surprised.</p> + +<p>Of the others five were killed in action—three Americans, one Canadian, +and one Englishman. Three more were in all probability killed in action, +although officially they are listed merely as "missing." One of these +was an American, one a Canadian, and the third a Scotchman. Three more, +two of them Americans, were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> seriously wounded. Another, a Canadian, is +a prisoner in Germany. I know nothing of the others.</p> + +<p>What happened to me is narrated in these pages. I wish, instead, I could +tell the story of each of my brave comrades, for not one of them was +downed, I am sure, without upholding the best traditions of the R. F. +C. Unfortunately, however, of the eighteen who sailed on the <i>Megantic</i> +last May, I happened to be the first to fall into the hands of the Huns, +and what befell my comrades after that, with one exception, I know only +second hand.</p> + +<p>The exception was the case of poor, brave Paul Raney—my closest +chum—whose last battle I witnessed from my German prison—but that is a +story I shall tell in its proper place.</p> + +<p>In one way, however, I think the story of my own "big adventure" and my +miraculous escape may, perhaps, serve a purpose as useful as that of +the heroic fate of my less fortunate comrades. Their story, it is true, +might inspire others to deeds of heroism, but mine, I hope, will convey +the equally valuable lesson of the folly of despair.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p>Many were the times in the course of my struggles when it seemed +absolutely useless to continue. In a hostile country, where discovery +meant death, wounded, sick, famished, friendless, hundreds of miles +from the nearest neutral territory the frontier of which was so closely +guarded that even if I got there it seemed too much to hope that I could +ever get through, what was the use of enduring further agony?</p> + +<p>And yet here I am, in the Land of Liberty—although in a somewhat +obscure corner, the little town of Momence, Illinois, where I was +born—not very much the worse for wear after all I've been through, and, +as I write these words, not eight months have passed since my seventeen +comrades and I sailed from Canada on the <i>Megantic</i>!</p> + +<p>Can it be possible that I was spared to convey a message of hope to +others who are destined for similar trials? I am afraid there will be +many of them.</p> + +<p>Years ago I heard of the epitaph which is said to have been found on a +child's grave:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse i0">If I was so soon to be done for,</div> +<div class="verse i0">O Lord, what was I ever begun for?</div> +</div></div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> +<p>The way it has come to me since I returned from Europe is:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"><div class="poetry"><div class="stanza"> +<div class="verse i0">If, O Lord, I was <i>not</i> to be done for,</div> +<div class="verse i0">What were my sufferings e'er begun for?</div> +</div></div></div> + +<p>Perhaps the answer lies in the suggestion I have made.</p> + +<p>At any rate, if this record of my adventures should prove instrumental +in sustaining others who need encouragement, I shall not feel that my +sufferings were in vain.</p> + +<p>It is hardly likely that any one will quite duplicate my experiences, +but I haven't the slightest doubt that many will have to go through +trials equally nerve-racking and suffer disappointments just as +disheartening.</p> + +<p>It would be very far from the mark to imagine that the optimism which I +am preaching now so glibly sustained me through all my troubles. On the +contrary, I am free to confess that I frequently gave way to despair +and often, for hours at a time, felt so dejected and discouraged that +I really didn't care what happened to me. Indeed, I rather hoped that +something<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> <i>would</i> happen to put an end to my misery.</p> + +<p>But, despite all my despondency and hopelessness, the worst never +happened, and I can't help thinking that my salvation must have been +designed to show the way to others.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="II" id="II">II<br /> +I BECOME A FIGHTING-SCOUT</a></h2> + + +<p>I started flying, in Chicago, in 1912. I was then eighteen years old, +but I had had a hankering for the air ever since I can remember.</p> + +<p>As a youngster I followed the exploits of the Wrights with the greatest +interest, although I must confess I sometimes hoped that they wouldn't +really conquer the air until I had had a whack at it myself. I got more +whacks than I was looking for later on.</p> + +<p>Needless to say, my parents were very much opposed to my risking my +life at what was undoubtedly at that time one of the most hazardous +"pastimes" a young fellow could select, and every time I had a smash-up +or some other mishap I was ordered never to go near an aviation field +again.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>So I went out to California. There another fellow and I built our own +machine, which we flew in various parts of the state.</p> + +<p>In the early part of 1916, when trouble was brewing in Mexico, I joined +the American Flying Corps. I was sent to San Diego, where the army +flying school is located, and spent about eight months there, but as I +was anxious to get into active service and there didn't seem much chance +of America ever getting into the war, I resigned and, crossing over to +Canada, joined the Royal Flying Corps at Victoria, B. C.</p> + +<p>I was sent to Camp Borden, Toronto, first to receive instruction and +later to instruct. While a cadet I made the first loop ever made +by a cadet in Canada, and after I had performed the stunt I half +expected to be kicked out of the service for it. Apparently, however, +they considered the source and let it go at that. Later on I had the +satisfaction of introducing the loop as part of the regular course of +instruction for cadets in the R. F. C., and I want to say right here +that Camp Borden has turned out some of the best fliers that have ever +gone to France.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<p>In May, 1917, I and seventeen other Canadian fliers left for England on +the <i>Megantic</i>, where we were to qualify for service in France.</p> + +<p>Our squadron consisted of nine Americans, C. C. Robinson, H. A. Miller, +F. S. McClurg, A. A. Allen, E. B. Garnett, H. K. Boysen, H. A. Smeeton, +A. Taylor, and myself; and nine Britishers, Paul H. Raney, J. R. Park, +C. Nelmes, C. R. Moore, T. L. Atkinson, F. C. Conry, A. Muir, E. A. L. +F. Smith, and A. C. Jones.</p> + +<p>Within a few weeks after our arrival in England all of us had won our +"wings"—the insignia worn on the left breast by every pilot on the +western front.</p> + +<p>We were all sent to a place in France known as the Pool Pilots' Mess. +Here men gather from all the training squadrons in Canada and England +and await assignments to the particular squadron of which they are to +become members.</p> + +<p>The Pool Pilots' Mess is situated a few miles back of the lines. +Whenever a pilot is shot down or killed the Pool Pilots' Mess is +notified to send another to take his place.</p> + +<p>There are so many casualties every day<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> in the R. F. C. at one point of +the front or another that the demand for new pilots is quite active, +but when a fellow is itching to get into the fight as badly as I and my +friends were I must confess that we got a little impatient, although we +realized that every time a new man was called it meant that some one +else had, in all probability, been killed, wounded, or captured.</p> + +<p>One morning an order came in for a scout pilot, and one of my friends +was assigned. I can tell you the rest of us were as envious of him as +if it were the last chance any of us were ever going to have to get to +the front. As it was, however, hardly more than three hours had elapsed +before another wire was received at the Mess and I was ordered to +follow my friend. I afterward learned that as soon as he arrived at the +squadron he had prevailed upon the commanding officer of the squadron to +wire for me.</p> + +<p>At the Pool Pilots' Mess it was the custom of the officers to wear +"shorts"—breeches that are about eight inches long, like the Boy Scouts +wear, leaving a space of about eight inches of open country between the +top of the puttees and the end of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> the "shorts." The Australians wore +them in Salonica and at the Dardanelles.</p> + +<p>When the order came in for me, I had these "shorts" on, and I didn't +have time to change into other clothes. Indeed, I was in such a sweat to +get to the front that if I had been in my pajamas I think I would have +gone that way. As it was, it was raining and I threw an overcoat over +me, jumped into the machine, and we made record time to the aerodrome to +which I had been ordered to report.</p> + +<p>As I alighted from the automobile my overcoat blew open and displayed +my manly form attired in "shorts" instead of in the regulation flying +breeches, and the sight aroused considerable commotion in camp.</p> + +<p>"Must be a Yankee!" I overheard one officer say to another as I +approached. "No one but a Yank would have the cheek to show up that way, +you know!"</p> + +<p>But they laughed good-naturedly as I came up to them and welcomed me to +the squadron, and I was soon very much at home.</p> + +<p>My squadron was one of four stationed at an aerodrome about eighteen +miles back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> of the Ypres line. There were eighteen pilots in our +squadron, which was a scout-squadron, scout-machines carrying but one +man.</p> + +<p>A scout, sometimes called a fighting-scout, has no bomb-dropping or +reconnoitering to do. His duty is just to fight, or, as the order was +given to me, "You are expected to pick fights and not wait until they +come to you!"</p> + +<p>When bomb-droppers go out over the lines in the daytime, a +scout-squadron usually convoys them. The bomb-droppers fly at about +twelve thousand feet, the scouts a thousand feet or so above them to +protect them.</p> + +<p>If at any time they should be attacked, it is the duty of the scouts to +dive down and carry on the fight, the orders of the bomb-droppers being +to go on dropping bombs and not to fight unless they have to. There is +seldom a time that machines go out over the lines on this work in the +daytime that they are not attacked at some time or other, and so the +scouts usually have plenty of work to do. In addition to these attacks, +however, the squadron is invariably under constant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> bombardment from the +ground, but that doesn't worry us very much, as we know pretty well how +to avoid being hit from that quarter.</p> + +<p>On my first flight, after joining the squadron, I was taken out over +the lines to get a look at things, map out my location in case I was +ever lost, locate the forests, lakes, and other landmarks, and get the +general lay of the land.</p> + +<p>One thing that was impressed upon me very emphatically was the location +of the hospitals, so that in case I was ever wounded and had the +strength to pick my landing I could land as near as possible to a +hospital. All these things a new pilot goes through during the first two +or three days after joining a squadron.</p> + +<p>Our regular routine was two flights a day, each of two hours' duration. +After doing our regular patrol, it was our privilege to go off on our +own hook, if we wished, before going back to the squadron.</p> + +<p>I soon found out that my squadron was some hot squadron, our fliers +being almost always assigned to special-duty work, such as shooting up +trenches at a height of fifty feet from the ground!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<p>I received my baptism into this kind of work the third time I went out +over the lines, and I would recommend it to any one who is hankering for +excitement. You are not only apt to be attacked by hostile aircraft from +above, but you are swept by machine-gun fire from below. I have seen +some of our machines come back from this work sometimes so riddled with +bullets that I wondered how they ever held together. Before we started +out on one of these jobs we were mighty careful to see that our motors +were in perfect condition, because they told us the "war-bread was bad +in Germany."</p> + +<p>One morning, shortly after I joined the squadron, three of us started +over the line on our own accord. We soon observed four enemy machines, +two-seaters, coming toward us. This type of machine is used by the Huns +for artillery work and bomb-dropping, and we knew they were on mischief +bent. Each machine had a machine-gun in front, worked by the pilot, and +the observer also had a gun with which he could spray all around.</p> + +<p>When we first noticed the Huns our machines were about six miles back of +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> German lines and we were lying high up in the sky, keeping the sun +behind us, so that the enemy could not see us.</p> + +<p>We picked out three of the machines and dove down on them. I went right +by the man I picked for myself and his observer in the rear seat kept +pumping at me to beat the band. Not one of my shots took effect as I +went right under him, but I turned and gave him another burst of bullets +and down he went in a spinning nose dive, one of his wings going one way +and one another. As I saw him crash to the ground I knew that I had got +my first hostile aircraft. One of my comrades was equally successful, +but the other two German machines got away. We chased them back until +things got too hot for us by reason of the appearance of other German +machines, and then we called it a day.</p> + +<p>This experience whetted my appetite for more of the same kind, and I did +not have long to wait.</p> + +<p>It may be well to explain here just what a spinning nose dive is. A +few years ago the spinning nose dive was considered one of the most +dangerous things a pilot could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> attempt, and many men were killed +getting into this spin and not knowing how to come out of it. In fact, +lots of pilots thought that when once you got into a spinning nose dive +there was no way of coming out of it. It is now used, however, in actual +flying.</p> + +<p>The machines that are used in France are controlled in two ways, both +by hands and by feet, the feet working the yoke or rudder bar which +controls the rudder that steers the machine. The lateral controls and +fore and aft, which cause the machine to rise or lower, are controlled +by a contrivance called a "joy-stick." If, when flying in the air, a +pilot should release his hold on this stick, it will gradually come back +toward the pilot.</p> + +<p>In that position the machine will begin to climb. So if a pilot is shot +and loses control of this "joy-stick" his machine begins to ascend, and +climbs until the angle formed becomes too great for it to continue or +the motor to pull the plane; for a fraction of a second it stops, and +the motor then being the heaviest, it causes the nose of the machine to +fall forward, pitching down at a terrific rate of speed and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> spinning at +the same time. If the motor is still running, it naturally increases the +speed much more than it would if the motor were shut off, and there is +great danger that the wings will double up, causing the machine to break +apart. Although spins are made with the motor on, you are dropping like +a ball being dropped out of the sky and the velocity increases with the +power of the motor.</p> + +<p>This spinning nose dive has been frequently used in "stunt" flying in +recent years, but is now put to practical use by pilots in getting +away from hostile machines, for when a man is spinning, it is almost +impossible to hit him, and the man making the attack invariably thinks +his enemy is going down to certain death in the spin.</p> + +<p>This is all right when a man is over his own territory, because he can +right his machine and come out of it; but if it happens over German +territory, the Huns would only follow him down, and when he came out of +the spin they would be above him, having all the advantage, and would +shoot him down with ease.</p> + +<p>It is a good way of getting down into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> a cloud, and is used very often +by both sides, but it requires skill and courage by the pilot making it +if he ever expects to come out alive.</p> + +<p>A spin being made by a pilot intentionally looks exactly like a spin +that is made by a machine actually being shot down, so one never knows +whether it is forced or intentional until the pilot either rights his +machine and comes out of it or crashes to the ground.</p> + +<p>Another dive similar to this one is known as just the plain "dive." +Assume, for instance, that a pilot flying at a height of several +thousand feet is shot, loses control of his machine, and the nose of the +plane starts down with the motor full on. He is going at a tremendous +speed and in many instances is going so straight and swiftly that the +speed is too great for the machine, because it was never constructed +to withstand the enormous pressure forced against the wings, and they +consequently crumple up.</p> + +<p>If, too, in an effort to straighten the machine, the elevators should +become affected, as often happens in trying to bring a machine out of +a dive, the strain is again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> too great on the wings, and there is the +same disastrous result. Oftentimes, when the petrol-tank is punctured by +a tracer-bullet from another machine in the air, the plane that is hit +catches on fire and either gets into a spin or a straight dive and heads +for the earth, hundreds of miles an hour, a mass of flame, looking like +a brilliant comet in the sky.</p> + +<p>The spinning nose dive is used to greater advantage by the Germans than +by our own pilots, for the reason that when a fight gets too hot for the +German he will put his machine in a spin, and as the chances are nine +out of ten that we are fighting over German territory, he simply spins +down out of our range, straightens out before he reaches the ground, and +goes on home to his aerodrome. It is useless to follow him down inside +the German lines, for you would in all probability be shot down before +you could attain sufficient altitude to cross the line again.</p> + +<p>It often happens that a pilot will be chasing another machine when +suddenly he sees it start to spin. Perhaps they are fifteen or eighteen +thousand feet in the air, and the hostile machine spins down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> for +thousands of feet. He thinks he has hit the other machine and goes home +happy that he has brought down another Hun. He reports the occurrence to +the squadron, telling how he shot down his enemy; but when the rest of +the squadron come in with their report, or some artillery observation +balloon sends in a report, it develops that when a few hundred feet from +the ground the supposed dead man in the spin has come out of the spin +and gone merrily on his way for his own aerodrome.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="III" id="III">III<br /> +CAPTURED BY THE HUNS</a></h2> + + +<p>I shall not easily forget the 17th of August, 1917. I killed two Huns in +a double-seated machine in the morning, another in the evening, and then +I was captured myself. I may have spent more eventful days in my life, +but I can't recall any just now.</p> + +<p>That morning, in crossing the line on early morning patrol, I noticed +two German balloons. I decided that as soon as my patrol was over I +would go off on my own hook and see what a German balloon looked like at +close quarters.</p> + +<p>These observation balloons are used by both sides in conjunction with +the artillery. A man sits up in the balloon with a wireless apparatus +and directs the firing of the guns. From his point of vantage he can +follow the work of his own artillery with a remarkable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> degree of +accuracy and at the same time he can observe the enemy's movements and +report them.</p> + +<p>The Germans are very good at this work and they use a great number of +these balloons. It was considered a very important part of our work to +keep them out of the sky.</p> + +<p>There are two ways of going after a balloon in a machine. One of them is +to cross the lines at a low altitude, flying so near the ground that the +man with the anti-aircraft gun can't bother you. You fly along until you +get to the level of the balloon, and if, in the mean time, they have not +drawn the balloon down, you open fire on it and the bullets you use will +set it on fire if they land.</p> + +<p>The other way is to fly over where you know the balloons to be, put your +machine in a spin so that they can't hit you, get above them, spin over +the balloon, and then open fire. In going back over the line you cross +at a few hundred feet.</p> + +<p>This is one of the hardest jobs in the service. There is less danger in +attacking an enemy's aircraft.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, I had made up my mind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> either to get those balloons or +make them descend, and I only hoped that they would stay on the job +until I had a chance at them.</p> + +<p>When our two hours' duty was up, therefore, I dropped out of the +formation as we crossed the lines and turned back again.</p> + +<p>I was at a height of fifteen thousand feet, considerably higher than +the balloons. Shutting my motor off, I dropped down through the clouds, +thinking to find the balloons at about five or six miles behind the +German lines.</p> + +<p>Just as I came out of the cloud-banks I saw below me, about a thousand +feet, a two-seater hostile machine doing artillery observation and +directing the German guns. This was at a point about four miles behind +the German lines.</p> + +<p>Evidently the German artillery saw me and put out ground signals to +attract the Hun machine's attention, for I saw the observer quit his +work and grab his gun, while the pilot stuck the nose of his machine +straight down.</p> + +<p>But they were too late to escape me. I was diving toward them at a speed +of probably two hundred miles an hour, shooting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> all the time as fast as +possible. Their only chance lay in the possibility that the force of my +dive might break my wings. I knew my danger in that direction, but as +soon as I came out of my dive the Huns would have their chance to get +me, and I knew I had to get them first and take a chance on my wings +holding out.</p> + +<p>Fortunately, some of my first bullets found their mark and I was able to +come out of my dive at about four thousand feet. They never came out of +theirs!</p> + +<p>But right then came the hottest situation in the air I had experienced +up to that time. The depth of my dive had brought me within reach of the +machine-guns from the ground and they also put a "barrage" around me of +shrapnel from anti-aircraft guns, and I had an opportunity to "ride the +barrage," as they call it in the R. F. C. To make the situation more +interesting, they began shooting "flaming onions" at me.</p> + +<p>"Flaming onions" are rockets shot from a rocket-gun. They are used to +hit a machine when it is flying low and they are effective up to about +five thousand feet. Sometimes they are shot up one after another<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> in +strings of about eight, and they are one of the hardest things to go +through. If they hit the machine it is bound to catch fire and then the +jig is up.</p> + +<p>All the time, too, I was being attacked by "Archie"—the anti-aircraft +fire. I escaped the machine-guns and the "flaming onions," but "Archie" +got me four or five times. Every time a bullet plugged me, or rather my +machine, it made a loud bang, on account of the tension on the material +covering the wings.</p> + +<p>None of their shots hurt me until I was about a mile from our lines, +and then they hit my motor. Fortunately I still had altitude enough +to drift on to our own side of the lines, for my motor was completely +out of commission. They just raised the dickens with me all the time I +was descending, and I began to think I would strike the ground before +crossing the line, but there was a slight wind in my favor and it +carried me two miles behind our lines. There the balloons I had gone out +to get had the satisfaction of "pin-pointing" me. Through the directions +which they were able to give to their artillery, they commenced shelling +my machine where it lay.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>Their particular work is to direct the fire of their artillery, and they +are used just as the artillery observation airplanes are. Usually two +men are stationed in each balloon. They ascend to a height of several +thousand feet about five miles behind their own lines and are equipped +with wireless and signaling apparatus. They watch the burst of their own +artillery, check up the position, get the range, and direct the next +shot.</p> + +<p>When conditions are favorable they are able to direct the shots so +accurately that it is a simple matter to destroy the object of their +attack. It was such a balloon as this that got my position, marked +me out, called for an artillery shot, and they commenced shelling my +machine where it lay. If I had got the two balloons instead of the +airplane, I probably would not have lost my machine, for he would in all +probability have gone on home and not bothered about getting my range +and causing the destruction of my machine.</p> + +<p>I landed in a part of the country that was literally covered with +shell-holes. Fortunately my machine was not badly damaged by the forced +landing. I leisurely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> got out, walked around it to see what the damage +was, and concluded that it could be easily repaired. In fact, I thought, +if I could find a space long enough between shell-holes to get a start +before leaving the ground, that I would be able to fly on from there.</p> + +<p>I was still examining my plane and considering the matter of a few +slight repairs, without any particular thought for my own safety in that +unprotected spot, when a shell came whizzing through the air, knocked me +to the ground, and landed a few feet away. It had no sooner struck than +I made a run for cover and crawled into a shell-hole. I would have liked +to have got farther away, but I didn't know where the next shell would +burst, and I thought I was fairly safe there, so I squatted down and let +them blaze away.</p> + +<p>The only damage I suffered was from the mud which splattered up in my +face and over my clothes. That was my introduction to a shell-hole, and +I resolved right there that the infantry could have all the shell-hole +fighting they wanted, but it did not appeal to me, though they live in +them through many a long night and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> I had only sought shelter there for +a few minutes.</p> + +<p>After the Germans had completely demolished my machine and ceased firing +I waited there a short time, fearing perhaps they might send over a +lucky shot, hoping to get me, after all. But evidently they concluded +enough shells had been wasted on one man. I crawled out cautiously, +shook the mud off, and looked over in the direction where my machine +had once been. There wasn't enough left for a decent souvenir, but +nevertheless I got a few, such as they were, and, readily observing that +nothing could be done with what was left, I made my way back to infantry +headquarters, where I was able to telephone in a report.</p> + +<p>A little later one of our automobiles came out after me and took me back +to our aerodrome. Most of my squadron thought I was lost beyond a doubt +and never expected to see me again; but my friend, Paul Raney, had held +out that I was all right, and, as I was afterward told, "Don't send for +another pilot; that Irishman will be back if he has to walk." And he +knew that the only thing that kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> me from walking was the fact that +our own automobile had been sent out to bring me home.</p> + +<p>I had lots to think about that day, and I had learned many things; one +was not to have too much confidence in my own ability. One of the men in +the squadron told me that I had better not take those chances; that it +was going to be a long war and I would have plenty of opportunities to +be killed without deliberately "wishing them on" myself. Later I was to +learn the truth of his statement.</p> + +<p>That night my "flight"—each squadron is divided into three flights +consisting of six men each—got ready to go out again. As I started to +put on my tunic I noticed that I was not marked up for duty as usual.</p> + +<p>I asked the commanding officer, a major, what the reason for that was, +and he replied that he thought I had done enough for one day. However, +I knew that if I did not go, some one else from another "flight" would +have to take my place, and I insisted upon going up with my patrol as +usual, and the major reluctantly consented. Had he known what was in +store<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> for me I am sure he wouldn't have changed his mind so readily.</p> + +<p>As it was, we had only five machines for this patrol, anyway, because +as we crossed the lines one of them had to drop out on account of motor +trouble. Our patrol was up at 8 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and up to within ten +minutes of that hour it had been entirely uneventful.</p> + +<p>At 7.50 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, however, while we were flying at a height of +sixteen thousand feet, we observed three other English machines which +were about three thousand feet below us pick a fight with nine Hun +machines.</p> + +<p>I knew right then that we were in for it, because I could see over +toward the ocean a whole flock of Hun machines which evidently had +escaped the attention of our scrappy comrades below us.</p> + +<p>So we dove down on those nine Huns.</p> + +<p>At first the fight was fairly even. There were eight of us to nine of +them. But soon the other machines which I had seen in the distance, and +which were flying even higher than we were, arrived on the scene, and +when they, in turn, dove down on us, there was just twenty of them to +our eight!</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_2" id="illo_2"> +<img src="images/i_049.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"><p>THE AEROPLANE WHICH LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN USED IN HIS LAST +BATTLE WITH THE HUNS WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT DOWN AND MADE PRISONER</p></div> +</div> + +<p>Four of them singled me out. I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> diving and they dove right down +after me, shooting as they came. Their tracer-bullets were coming closer +to me every moment. These tracer-bullets are balls of fire which enable +the shooter to follow the course his bullets are taking and to correct +his aim accordingly. They do no more harm to a pilot if he is hit than +an ordinary bullet, but if they hit the petrol-tank, good night! When +a machine catches fire in flight there is no way of putting it out. It +takes less than a minute for the fabric to burn off the wings, and then +the machine drops like an arrow, leaving a trail of smoke like a comet.</p> + +<p>As their tracer-bullets came closer and closer to me I realized that my +chances of escape were nil. Their very next shot, I felt, must hit me.</p> + +<p>Once, some days before, when I was flying over the line I had watched a +fight above me. A German machine was set on fire and dove down through +our formation in flame on its way to the ground. The Hun was diving at +such a sharp angle that both his wings came off, and as he passed within +a few hundred feet of me I saw the look of horror upon his face.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now, when I expected any moment to suffer a similar fate, I could not +help thinking of that poor Hun's last look of agony.</p> + +<p>I realized that my only chance lay in making an Immermann turn. This +maneuver was invented by a German—one of the greatest who ever flew +and who was killed in action some time ago. This turn, which I made +successfully, brought one of their machines right in front of me, and as +he sailed along barely ten yards away I had "the drop" on him, and he +knew it.</p> + +<p>His white face and startled eyes I can still see. He knew beyond +question that his last moment had come, because his position prevented +his taking aim at me, while my gun pointed straight at him. My first +tracer-bullet passed within a yard of his head, the second looked as if +it hit his shoulder, the third struck him in the neck, and then I let +him have the whole works and he went down in a spinning nose dive.</p> + +<p>All this time the three other Hun machines were shooting away at me. I +could hear the bullets striking my machine one after another. I hadn't +the slightest idea that I could ever beat off those three Huns,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> but +there was nothing for me to do but fight, and my hands were full.</p> + +<p>In fighting, your machine is dropping, dropping all the time. I glanced +at my instruments and my altitude was between eight and nine thousand +feet. While I was still looking at the instruments the whole blamed +works disappeared. A burst of bullets went into the instrument board and +blew it to smithereens, another bullet went through my upper lip, came +out of the roof of my mouth and lodged in my throat, and the next thing +I knew was when I came to in a German hospital the following morning at +five o'clock, German time.</p> + +<p>I was a prisoner of war!</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV">IV<br /> +CLIPPED WINGS</a></h2> + + +<p>The hospital in which I found myself on the morning after my capture +was a private house made of brick, very low and dirty, and not at all +adapted for use as a hospital. It had evidently been used but a few +days, on account of the big push that was taking place at that time of +the year, and in all probability would be abandoned as soon as they had +found a better place.</p> + +<p>In all, the house contained four rooms and a stable, which was by far +the largest of all. Although I never looked into this "wing" of the +hospital, I was told that it, too, was filled with patients, lying on +beds of straw around on the ground. I do not know whether they, too, +were officers or privates.</p> + +<p>The room in which I found myself contained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> eight beds, three of which +were occupied by wounded German officers. The other rooms, I imagined, +had about the same number of beds as mine. There were no Red Cross +nurses in attendance, just orderlies, for this was only an emergency +hospital and too near the firing-line for nurses. The orderlies were not +old men nor very young boys, as I expected to find, but young men in the +prime of life, who evidently had been medical students. One or two of +them, I discovered, were able to speak English, but for some reason they +would not talk. Perhaps they were forbidden by the officer in charge to +do so.</p> + +<p>In addition to the bullet wound in my mouth, I had a swelling from my +forehead to the back of my head almost as big as my shoe—and that is +saying considerable. I couldn't move an inch without suffering intense +pain, and when the doctor told me that I had no bones broken I wondered +how a fellow would feel who had.</p> + +<p>German officers visited me that morning and told me that my machine +went down in a spinning nose dive from a height of between eight and +nine thousand feet, and they had the surprise of their lives when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> they +discovered that I had not been dashed to pieces. They had to cut me out +of my machine, which was riddled with shots and shattered to bits.</p> + +<p>A German doctor removed the bullet from my throat, and the first thing +he said to me when I came to was, "You are an American!"</p> + +<p>There was no use denying it, because the metal identification disk on my +wrist bore the inscription, "Pat O'Brien, U. S. A. Royal Flying Corps."</p> + +<p>Although I was suffering intense agony, the doctor, who spoke perfect +English, insisted upon conversing with me.</p> + +<p>"You may be all right as a sportsman," he declared, "but you are a +damned murderer just the same for being here. You Americans who got into +this thing before America came into the war are no better than common +murderers and you ought to be treated the same way!"</p> + +<p>The wound in my mouth made it impossible for me to answer him, and I was +suffering too much pain to be hurt very much by anything he could say.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_3" id="illo_3"> +<img src="images/i_057.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"><p>THE IDENTIFICATION DISK WORN BY LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN WHEN +HE WAS CAPTURED BY THE HUNS. IT REVEALED TO THEM THAT HE WAS AN AMERICAN</p></div> +</div> + +<p>He asked me if I would like an apple! I could just as easily have eaten +a brick.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p> + +<p>When he got no answers out of me he walked away disgustedly.</p> + +<p>"You don't have to worry any more," he declared, as a parting shot; "for +you the war is over!"</p> + +<p>I was given a little broth later in the day, and as I began to collect +my thoughts I wondered what had happened to my comrades in the battle +which had resulted so disastrously to me. As I began to realize my +plight I worried less about my physical condition than the fact that, +as the doctor had pointed out, for me the war was practically over. I +had been in it but a short time, and now I would be a prisoner for the +duration of the war!</p> + +<p>The next day some German flying officers visited me, and I must say +they treated me with great consideration. They told me of the man I had +brought down. They said he was a Bavarian and a fairly good pilot. They +gave me his hat as a souvenir and complimented me on the fight I had put +up.</p> + +<p>My helmet, which was of soft leather, was split from front to back by +a bullet from a machine-gun and they examined it with great interest. +When they brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> me my uniform I found that the star of my rank which +had been on my right shoulder-strap had been shot off clean. The one on +my left shoulder-strap they asked me for as a souvenir, as also my R. +F. C. badges, which I gave them. They allowed me to keep my "wings," +which I wore on my left breast, because they were aware that that is the +proudest possession of a British flying officer.</p> + +<p>I think I am right in saying that the only chivalry in this war on the +German side of the trenches has been displayed by the officers of the +German Flying Corps, which comprises the pick of Germany. They pointed +out to me that I and my comrades were fighting purely for the love of +it, whereas they were fighting in defense of their country, but still, +they said, they admired us for our sportsmanship. I had a notion to ask +them if dropping bombs on London and killing so many innocent people was +in defense of their country, but I was in no position or condition to +pick a quarrel at that time.</p> + +<p>That same day a German officer was brought into the hospital and put in +the bunk next to mine. Of course, I casually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> looked at him, but did not +pay any particular attention to him at that time. He lay there for three +or four hours before I did take a real good look at him. I was positive +that he could not speak English, and naturally I did not say anything to +him.</p> + +<p>Once when I looked over in his direction his eyes were on me and to my +surprise he said, very sarcastically, "What the hell are you looking +at?" and then smiled. At this time I was just beginning to say a few +words, my wound having made talking difficult, but I said enough to +let him know what I was doing there and how I happened to be there. +Evidently he had heard my story from some of the others, though, because +he said it was too bad I had not broken my neck; that he did not have +much sympathy with the Flying Corps, anyway. He asked me what part of +America I came from, and I told him "California."</p> + +<p>After a few more questions he learned that I hailed from San Francisco, +and then added to my distress by saying, "How would you like to have a +good juicy steak right out of the Hofbräu?" Naturally, I told him it +would "hit the spot," but I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> hardly thought my mouth was in shape just +then to eat it. I immediately asked, of course, what he knew about the +Hofbräu, and he replied, "I was connected with the place a good many +years, and I ought to know all about it."</p> + +<p>After that this German officer and I became rather chummy—that is, as +far as I could be chummy with an enemy, and we whiled away a good many +long hours talking about the days we had spent in San Francisco, and +frequently in the conversation one of us would mention some prominent +Californian, or some little incident occurring there, with which we were +both familiar.</p> + +<p>He told me when war was declared he was, of course, intensely patriotic +and thought the only thing for him to do was to go back and aid in the +defense of his country. He found that he could not go directly from San +Francisco because the water was too well guarded by the English, so he +boarded a boat for South America. There he obtained a forged passport +and in the guise of a Montevidean took passage for New York and from +there to England.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + +<p>He passed through England without any difficulty on his forged passport, +but concluded not to risk going to Holland, for fear of exciting too +much suspicion, so went down through the Strait of Gibraltar to Italy, +which was neutral at that time, up to Austria, and thence to Germany. +He said when they put in at Gibraltar, after leaving England, there +were two suspects taken off the ship, men that he was sure were neutral +subjects, but much to his relief his own passport and credentials were +examined and passed O. K.</p> + +<p>The Hun spoke of his voyage from America to England as being +exceptionally pleasant, and said he had had a fine time because he +associated with the English passengers on board, his fluent English +readily admitting him to several spirited arguments on the subject of +the war which he keenly enjoyed.</p> + +<p>One little incident he related revealed the remarkable tact which our +enemy displayed in his associations at sea, which no doubt resulted +advantageously for him. As he expressed it, he "made a hit" one evening +when the crowd had assembled for a little music by suggesting that they +sing "God<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> Save the King." Thereafter his popularity was assured and the +desired effect accomplished, for very soon a French officer came up to +him and said, "It's too bad that England and ourselves haven't men in +our army like you." It was too bad, he agreed, in telling me about it, +because he was confident he could have done a whole lot more for Germany +if he had been in the English army.</p> + +<p>In spite of his apparent loyalty, however, the man didn't seem very +enthusiastic over the war and frankly admitted one day that the old +political battles waged in California were much more to his liking than +the battles he had gone through over here. On second thought he laughed +as though it were a good joke, but he evidently intended me to infer +that he had taken a keen interest in politics in San Francisco.</p> + +<p>When my "chummy enemy" first started his conversation with me the German +doctor in charge reprimanded him for talking to me, but he paid no +attention to the doctor, showing that some real Americanism had soaked +into his system while he had been in the U. S. A.</p> + +<p>I asked him one day what he thought the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> German people would do after +the war; if he thought they would make Germany a republic, and, much to +my surprise, he said, very bitterly, "If I had my way about it, I would +make her a republic to-day and hang the damned Kaiser in the bargain." +And yet he was considered an excellent soldier. I concluded, however, +that he must have been a German Socialist, though he never told me so.</p> + +<p>On one occasion I asked him for his name, but he said that I would +probably never see him again and it didn't matter what his name was. I +did not know whether he meant that the Germans would starve me out or +just what was on his mind, for at that time I am sure he did not figure +on dying. The first two or three days I was in the hospital I thought +surely he would be up and gone long before I was, but blood poisoning +set in about that time and just a few hours before I left for Courtrai +he died.</p> + +<p>One of those days, while my wound was still very troublesome, I was +given an apple; whether it was just to torment me, knowing that I could +not eat it, or whether for some other reason, I do not know.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> But, +anyway, a German flying officer there had several in his pockets and +gave me a nice one. Of course, there was no chance of my eating it, so +when the officer had gone and I discovered this San Francisco fellow +looking at it rather longingly I picked it up, intending to toss it over +to him. But he shook his head and said, "If this was San Francisco, I +would take it, but I cannot take it from you here." I was never able to +understand just why he refused the apple, for he was usually sociable +and a good fellow to talk to, but apparently he could not forget that +I was his enemy. However, that did not stop one of the orderlies from +eating the apple.</p> + +<p>One practice about the hospital which impressed me particularly was that +if a German soldier did not stand much chance of recovering sufficiently +to take his place again in the war, the doctors did not exert themselves +to see that he got well. But if a man had a fairly good chance of +recovering and they thought he might be of some further use, everything +that medical skill could possibly do was done for him. I don't know +whether this was done under<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> orders or whether the doctors just followed +their own inclinations in such cases.</p> + +<p>My teeth had been badly jarred up from the shot, and I hoped that I +might have a chance to have them fixed when I reached Courtrai, the +prison where I was to be taken. So I asked the doctor if it would be +possible for me to have this work done there, but he very curtly told +me that though there were several dentists at Courtrai, they were +busy enough fixing the teeth of their own men without bothering about +mine. He also added that I would not have to worry about my teeth; +that I wouldn't be getting so much food that they would be put out of +commission by working overtime. I wanted to tell him that from the way +things looked he would not be wearing his out very soon, either.</p> + +<p>My condition improved during the next two days and on the fourth day of +my captivity I was well enough to write a brief message to my squadron +reporting that I was a prisoner of war and "feeling fine," although, +as a matter of fact, I was never so depressed in my life. I realized, +however, that if the message reached my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> comrades, it would be relayed +to my mother in Momence, Illinois, and I did not want to worry her more +than was absolutely necessary. It was enough for her to know that I was +a prisoner. She did not have to know that I was wounded.</p> + +<p>I had hopes that my message would be carried over the lines and dropped +by one of the German flying officers. That is a courtesy which is +usually practised on both sides. I recalled how patiently we had waited +in our aerodrome for news of our men who had failed to return, and I +could picture my squadron speculating on my fate.</p> + +<p>That is one of the saddest things connected with service in the R. F. +C. You don't care much what happens to you, but the constant casualties +among your friends is very depressing.</p> + +<p>You go out with your "flight" and get into a muss. You get scattered and +when your formation is broken up you finally wing your way home alone.</p> + +<p>Perhaps you are the first to land. Soon another machine shows in the +sky, then another, and you patiently wait for the rest to appear. +Within an hour, perhaps,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> all have shown up save one, and you begin to +speculate and wonder what has happened to him.</p> + +<p>Has he lost his way? Has he landed at some other aerodrome? Did the Huns +get him?</p> + +<p>When darkness comes you realize that, at any rate, he won't be back +that night, and you hope for a telephone-call from him telling of his +whereabouts.</p> + +<p>If the night passes without sign or word from him he is reported as +missing, and then you watch for his casualty to appear in the war-office +lists.</p> + +<p>One day, perhaps a month later, a message is dropped over the line by +the German Flying Corps with a list of pilots captured or killed by the +Huns, and then, for the first time, you know definitely why it was your +comrade failed to return the day he last went over the line with his +squadron.</p> + +<p>I was still musing over this melancholy phase of the scout's life when +an orderly told me there was a beautiful battle going on in the air, and +he volunteered to help me outside the hospital that I might witness it, +and I readily accepted his assistance.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>That afternoon I saw one of the gamest fights I ever expect to witness.</p> + +<p>There were six of our machines against perhaps sixteen Huns. From the +type of the British machines I knew that they might possibly be from my +own aerodrome. Two of our machines had been apparently picked out by six +of the Huns and were bearing the brunt of the fight. The contest seemed +to me to be so unequal that victory for our men was hardly to be thought +of, and yet at one time they so completely outmaneuvered the Huns that +I thought their superior skill might save the day for them, despite the +fact that they were so hopelessly outnumbered. One thing I was sure of: +they would never give in.</p> + +<p>Of course it would have been a comparatively simple matter for our men, +when they saw how things were going against them, to have turned their +noses down, landed behind the German lines, and given themselves up as +prisoners, but that is not the way of the R. F. C.</p> + +<p>A battle of this kind seldom lasts many minutes, although every second +seems like an hour to those who participate in it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> and even onlookers +suffer more thrills in the course of the struggle than they would +ordinarily experience in a lifetime. It is apparent even to a novice +that the loser's fate is death.</p> + +<p>Of course the Germans around the hospital were all watching and rooting +for their comrades, but the English, too, had one sympathizer in that +group who made no effort to stifle his admiration for the bravery his +comrades were displaying.</p> + +<p>The end came suddenly. Four machines crashed to earth almost +simultaneously. It was an even break—two of theirs and two of ours. The +others apparently returned to their respective lines.</p> + +<p>The wound in my mouth was bothering me considerably, but by means of a +pencil and paper I requested one of the German officers to find out for +me who the English officers were who had been shot down.</p> + +<p>A little later he returned and handed me a photograph taken from the +body of one of the victims. It was a picture of Paul Raney, of Toronto, +and myself, taken together! Poor Raney! He was the best friend I had and +one of the best and gamest men who ever fought in France!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was he, I learned long after, who, when I was reported missing, had +checked over all my belongings and sent them back to England with a +signed memorandum—which is now in my possession. Poor fellow, he little +realized then that but a day or two later he would be engaged in his +last heroic battle, with me a helpless onlooker!</p> + +<p>The same German officer who brought me the photograph also drew a map +for me of the exact spot where Raney was buried in Flanders. I guarded +it carefully all through my subsequent adventures and finally turned it +over to his father and mother when I visited them in Toronto to perform +the hardest and saddest duty I have ever been called upon to execute—to +confirm to them in person the tidings of poor Paul's death.</p> + +<p>The other British pilot who fell was also from my squadron and a man I +knew well—Lieutenant Keith, of Australia. I had given him a picture of +myself only a few hours before I started on my own disastrous flight. +He was one of the star pilots of our squadron and had been in many a +desperate battle before, but this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> time the odds were too great for +him. He put up a wonderful fight and he gave as much as he took.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_4" id="illo_4"> +<img src="images/i_073.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"><p>LIEUT. PAUL H. RANEY OF TORONTO AND LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN</p> + +<p>(Raney was killed in action before the eyes of O'Brien, who was a +prisoner of war. This picture, found on the body of Raney when he fell +behind the German lines, was handed to O'Brien to identify the victim.)</p></div> +</div> + +<p>The next two days passed without incident and I was then taken to the +Intelligence Department of the German Flying Corps, which was located +about an hour from the hospital. There I was kept two days, during which +time they put a thousand and one questions to me. While I was there I +turned over to them the message I had written in the hospital and asked +them to have one of their fliers drop it on our side of the line.</p> + +<p>They asked me where I would like it dropped, thinking perhaps I would +give my aerodrome away, but when I smiled and shook my head they did not +insist upon an answer.</p> + +<p>"I'll drop it over ——," declared one of them, naming my aerodrome, +which revealed to me that their flying corps is as efficient as other +branches of the service in the matter of obtaining valuable information.</p> + +<p>And right here I want to say that the more I came to know of the enemy +the more keenly I realized what a difficult<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> task we're going to have +to lick him. In all my subsequent experience the fact that there is a +heap of fight left in the Huns still was thoroughly brought home to me. +We shall win the war eventually, if we don't slow up too soon in the +mistaken idea that the Huns are ready to lie down.</p> + +<p>The flying officers who questioned me were extremely anxious to find out +all they could about the part America is going to play in the war, but +they evidently came to the conclusion that America hadn't taken me very +deeply into her confidence, judging from the information they got, or +failed to get, from me.</p> + +<p>At any rate, they gave me up as a bad job and I was ordered to the +officers' prison at Courtrai, Belgium.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="V" id="V">V<br /> +THE PRISON-CAMP AT COURTRAI</a></h2> + + +<p>From the Intelligence Department I was conveyed to the officers' +prison-camp at Courtrai in an automobile. It was about an hour's ride. +My escort was one of the most famous flyers in the world, barring none. +He was later killed in action, but I was told by an English airman who +witnessed his last combat that he fought a game battle and died a hero's +death.</p> + +<p>The prison, which had evidently been a civil prison of some kind before +the war, was located right in the heart of Courtrai. The first building +we approached was large, and in front of the archway, which formed the +main entrance, was a sentry box. Here we were challenged by the sentry, +who knocked on the door; the guard turned the key in the lock and I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +admitted. We passed through the archway and directly into a courtyard, +on which faced all of the prison buildings, the windows, of course, +being heavily barred.</p> + +<p>After I had given my pedigree—my name, age, address, etc.—I was shown +to a cell with bars on the windows overlooking this courtyard. I was +promptly told that at night we were to occupy these rooms, but I had +already surveyed the surroundings, taken account of the number of guards +and the locked door outside, and concluded that my chances of getting +away from some other place could be no worse than in that particular +cell.</p> + +<p>As I had no hat, my helmet being the only thing I wore over the lines, +I was compelled either to go bareheaded or wear the red cap of the +Bavarian whom I had shot down on that memorable day. It can be imagined +how I looked attired in a British uniform and a bright red cap. Wherever +I was taken, my outfit aroused considerable curiosity among the Belgians +and German soldiers.</p> + +<p>When I arrived at prison that day I still wore this cap, and as I was +taken into the courtyard, my overcoat covering my uniform,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> all that the +British officers who happened to be sunning themselves in the courtyard +could see was the red cap. They afterward told me they wondered who the +"big Hun" was with the bandage on his mouth. This cap I managed to keep +with me, but was never allowed to wear it on the walks we took. I either +went bareheaded or borrowed a cap from some other prisoner.</p> + +<p>At certain hours each day the prisoners were allowed to mingle in the +courtyard, and on the first occasion of this kind I found that there +were eleven officers imprisoned there besides myself.</p> + +<p>They had here interpreters who could speak all languages. One of them +was a mere boy who had been born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and had +spent all his life in America until the beginning of 1914. Then he moved +with his folks to Germany, and when he became of military age the Huns +forced him into the army. I think if the truth were known he would much +rather have been fighting for America than against her.</p> + +<p>I found that most of the prisoners remained at Courtrai only two or +three days.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> From there they were invariably taken to prisons in the +interior of Germany.</p> + +<p>Whether it was because I was an American or because I was a flier, I +don't know, but this rule was not followed in my case. I remained there +two weeks.</p> + +<p>During that period, Courtrai was constantly bombed by our airmen. +Not a single day or night passed without one or more air raids. In +the two weeks I was there I counted twenty-one of them. The town +suffered a great deal of damage. Evidently our people were aware +that the Germans had a lot of troops concentrated in this town, and, +besides, the headquarters staff was stationed there. The Kaiser himself +visited Courtrai while I was in the prison, I was told by one of the +interpreters, but he didn't call on me and, for obvious reasons, I +couldn't call on him.</p> + +<p>The courtyard was not a very popular place during air raids. Several +times when our airmen raided that section in the daytime I went out +and watched the machines and the shrapnel bursting all around; but the +Germans did not crowd out there, for their own anti-aircraft guns<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> were +hammering away to keep our planes as high in the sky as possible, and +shells were likely to fall in the prison yard any moment. Of course, I +watched these battles at my own risk.</p> + +<p>Many nights from my prison window I watched with peculiar interest the +air raids carried on, and it was a wonderful sight with the German +searchlights playing on the sky, the "flaming onions" fired high and the +burst of the anti-aircraft guns, but rather an uncomfortable sensation +when I realized that perhaps the very next minute a bomb might be +dropped on the building in which I was a prisoner. But perhaps all of +this was better than no excitement at all, for prison life soon became +very monotonous.</p> + +<p>One of the hardest things I had to endure throughout the two weeks I +spent there was the sight of the Hun machines flying over Courtrai, +knowing that perhaps I never would have another chance to fly, and I +used to sit by the hour watching the German machines maneuvering over +the prison, as they had an aerodrome not far away, and every afternoon +the students—I took them for students because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> their flying was very +poor—appeared over the town.</p> + +<p>One certain Hun seemed to find particular satisfaction in flying right +down over the prison nightly, for my special discomfort and benefit it +seemed, as if he knew an airman imprisoned there was vainly longing to +try his wings again over their lines. But I used to console myself by +saying, "Never mind, old boy; there was never a bird whose wings could +not be clipped if they got him just right, and your turn will come some +day."</p> + +<p>One night there was an exceptionally heavy air raid going on. A number +of German officers came into my room, and they all seemed very much +frightened. I jokingly remarked that it would be fine if our airmen hit +the old prison—the percentage would be very satisfactory—one English +officer and about ten German ones. They didn't seem to appreciate the +joke, however, and, indeed, they were apparently too much alarmed at +what was going on overhead to laugh even at their own jokes. Although +these night raids seemed to take all the starch out of the Germans while +they were going on, the officers were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> usually as brave as lions the +next day and spoke contemptuously of the raid of the night before.</p> + +<p>I saw thousands of soldiers in Courtrai, and although they did not +impress me as having very good or abundant food, they were fairly well +clothed. I do not mean to imply that conditions pointed to an early end +of the war. On the contrary, from what I was able to observe on that +point, unless the Huns have an absolute crop failure, they can, in my +opinion, go on for years! The idea of our being able to win the war by +starving them out strikes me as ridiculous. This is a war that must be +won by <i>fighting</i>, and the sooner we realize that fact the sooner it +will be over.</p> + +<p>Rising-hour in the prison was seven o'clock. Breakfast came at eight. +This consisted of a cup of coffee and nothing else. If the prisoner had +the foresight to save some bread from the previous day, he had bread for +breakfast also, but that never happened in my case. Sometimes we had +two cups of coffee—that is, near-coffee. It was really chicory or some +cereal preparation. We had no milk or sugar.</p> + +<p>For lunch they gave us boiled sugar-beets<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> or some other vegetable, +and once in a while some kind of pickled meat, but that happened very +seldom. We also received a third of a loaf of bread—war-bread. This +war-bread was as heavy as a brick, black, and sour. It was supposed to +last us from noon one day to noon the next. Except for some soup, this +was the whole lunch menu.</p> + +<p>Dinner came at 5.30 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, when we sometimes had a little jam +made out of sugar-beets, and a preparation called tea which you had to +shake vigorously or it settled in the bottom of the cup and then about +all you had was hot water. This "tea" was a sad blow to the Englishmen. +If it hadn't been called tea, they wouldn't have felt so badly about it, +perhaps, but it was adding insult to injury to call that stuff "tea" +which, with them, is almost a national institution.</p> + +<p>Sometimes with this meal they gave us butter instead of jam, and once in +a while we had some kind of canned meat.</p> + +<p>This comprised the usual run of eatables for the day—I can eat more +than that for breakfast! In the days that were to come, however, I was +to fare considerably worse.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_5" id="illo_5"> +<img src="images/i_085a.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"><p>MAILING-CARD SENT BY GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO PAT O'BRIEN'S +SISTER, MRS. CLARA CLEGG OF MOMENCE, ILLINOIS</p></div> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_6" id="illo_6"> +<img src="images/i_085b.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"><p>OBVERSE SIDE OF CARD SHOWN ABOVE</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>We were allowed to send out and buy a few things, but as most of the +prisoners were without funds, this was but an empty privilege. Once I +took advantage of the privilege to send my shoes to a Belgian shoemaker +to be half-soled. They charged me twenty marks—five dollars!</p> + +<p>Once in a while a Belgian Ladies' Relief Society visited the prison +and brought us handkerchiefs, American soap—which sells at about one +dollar and fifty cents a bar in Belgium—tooth-brushes, and other +little articles, all of which were American-made, but whether they were +supplied by the American Relief Committee or not I don't know. At any +rate, these gifts were mighty useful and were very much appreciated.</p> + +<p>One day I offered a button off my uniform to one of these Belgian ladies +as a souvenir, but a German guard saw me and I was never allowed to go +near the visitors afterward.</p> + +<p>The sanitary conditions in this prison-camp were excellent as a general +proposition. One night, however, I discovered that I had been captured +by "cooties."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>This was a novel experience to me and one that I would have been very +willing to have missed, because in the Flying Corps our aerodromes are +a number of miles back of the lines and we have good billets, and our +acquaintance with such things as "cooties" and other unwelcome visitors +is very limited.</p> + +<p>When I discovered my condition I made a holler and roused the guard, and +right then I got another example of German efficiency.</p> + +<p>This guard seemed to be even more perturbed about my complaint than I +was myself, evidently fearing that he would be blamed for my condition.</p> + +<p>The commandant was summoned, and I could see that he was very angry. +Some one undoubtedly got a severe reprimand for it.</p> + +<p>I was taken out of my cell by a guard with a rifle and conducted about a +quarter of a mile from the prison to an old factory building which had +been converted into an elaborate fumigating plant. There I was given a +pickle bath in some kind of solution, and while I was absorbing it my +clothes, bedclothes, and whatever else had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> been in my cell were being +put through another fumigating process.</p> + +<p>While I was waiting for my things to dry—it took, perhaps, half an +hour—I had a chance to observe about one hundred other victims of +"cooties"—German soldiers who had become infested in the trenches. We +were all nude, of course, but apparently it was not difficult for them +to recognize me as a foreigner even without my uniform on, for none of +them made any attempt to talk to me, although they all were very busy +talking <i>about</i> me. I could not understand what they were saying, but I +know I was the butt of most of their jokes, and they made no effort to +conceal the fact that I was the subject of their conversation.</p> + +<p>When I got back to my cell I found that it had been thoroughly +fumigated, and from that time on I had no further trouble with "cooties" +or other visitors of the same kind.</p> + +<p>As we were not allowed to write anything but prison cards, writing +was out of the question; and as we had no reading-matter to speak +of, reading was nil. We had nothing to do to pass away the time,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> so +consequently cards became our only diversion, for we did, fortunately, +have some of those.</p> + +<p>There wasn't very much money, as a rule, in circulation, and I think for +once in my life I held most of that, not due to any particular ability +on my part in the game, but I happened to have several hundred francs in +my pockets when shot down. But we held a lottery there once a day, and I +don't believe there was ever another lottery held that was watched with +quite such intense interest as that. The drawing was always held the day +before the prize was to be awarded, so we always knew the day before who +was the lucky man. There was as much speculation as to who would win +the prize as if it had been the finest treasure in the world. The great +prize was one-third of a loaf of bread.</p> + +<p>Through some arrangement which I never quite figured out, it happened +that among the eight or ten officers who were there with me there was +always one-third of a loaf of bread over. There was just one way of +getting that bread, and that was to draw lots. Consequently that was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +what started the lottery. I believe if a man had ever been inclined to +cheat he would have been sorely tempted in this instance, but the game +was played absolutely square, and if a man had been caught cheating, the +chances are that he would have been shunned by the rest of the officers +as long as he was in prison. I was fortunate enough to win the prize +twice.</p> + +<p>One man—I think he was the smallest eater in the camp—won it on three +successive days, but it was well for him that his luck deserted him on +the fourth day, for he probably would have been handled rather roughly +by the rest of the crowd, who were growing suspicious. But we handled +the drawing ourselves and knew there was nothing crooked about it, so he +was spared.</p> + +<p>We were allowed to buy pears, and, being small and very hard, they were +used as the stakes in many a game. But the interest in these little +games was as keen as if the stakes had been piles of money instead of +two or three half-starved pears. No man was ever so reckless, however, +in all the betting, as to wager his own rations.</p> + +<p>By the most scheming and sacrificing I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> ever did in my life I managed to +hoard two pieces of bread (grudgingly spared at the time from my daily +rations), but I was preparing for the day when I should escape—if I +ever should. It was not a sacrifice easily made, either, but instead of +eating bread I ate pears until I finally got one piece of bread ahead; +and when I could force myself to stick to the pear diet again I saved +the other piece from that day's allowance, and in days to come I had +cause to credit myself fully for the foresight.</p> + +<p>Whenever a new prisoner came in and his German hosts had satisfied +themselves as to his life history and taken down all the details—that +is, all he would give them—he was immediately surrounded by his +fellow-prisoners, who were eager for any bit of news or information he +could possibly give them, and as a rule he was glad to tell us because, +if he had been in the hands of the Huns for any length of time, he had +seen very few English officers.</p> + +<p>The conditions of this prison were bad enough when a man was in normally +good health, but it was barbarous to subject a wounded soldier to the +hardships and discomforts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> of the place. However, this was the fate of +a poor private we discovered there one day in terrific pain, suffering +from shrapnel in his stomach and back. All of us officers asked to have +him sent to a hospital, but the doctors curtly refused, saying it was +against orders. So the poor creature went on suffering from day to day +and was still there when I left, another victim of German cruelty.</p> + +<p>At one time in this prison-camp there were a French marine, a French +flying officer, and two Belgian soldiers, and of the United Kingdom +one from Canada, two from England, three from Ireland, a couple from +Scotland, one from Wales, a man from South Africa, one from Algeria, +and a New-Zealander, the last being from my own squadron, a man whom +I thought had been killed, and he was equally surprised, when brought +into the prison, to find me there. In addition there were a Chinaman and +myself from the U. S. A.</p> + +<p>It was quite a cosmopolitan group, and as one typical Irishman said, +"Sure, and we have every nation that's worth mentioning, including the +darn Germans, with us whites." Of course, this was not translated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> to +the Germans, nor was it even spoken in their hearing, or we probably +would not have had quite so cosmopolitan a bunch. Each man in the prison +was ready to uphold his native country in any argument that could +possibly be started, and it goes without saying that I never took a back +seat in any of them with my praise for America, with the Canadian and +Chinaman chiming in on my side. But they were friendly arguments; we +were all in the same boat and that was no place for quarreling.</p> + +<p>Every other morning, the weather allowing, we were taken to a large +swimming-pool and were allowed to have a bath. There were two pools, one +for the German officers and one for the men. Although we were officers, +we had to use the pool occupied by the men. While we were in swimming a +German guard with a rifle across his knees sat at each comer of the pool +and watched us closely as we dressed and undressed. English interpreters +accompanied us on all of these trips, so at no time could we talk +without their knowing what was going on.</p> + +<p>Whenever we were taken out of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> prison for any purpose they always +paraded us through the most crowded streets—evidently to give the +populace an idea that they were getting lots of prisoners. The German +soldiers we passed on these occasions made no effort to hide their +smiles and sneers.</p> + +<p>The Belgian people were apparently very curious to see us, and they used +to turn out in large numbers whenever the word was passed that we were +out. At times the German guards would strike the women and children +who crowded too close to us. One day I smiled and spoke to a pretty +Belgian girl, and when she replied a German made a run for her. Luckily +she stepped into the house before he reached her or I am afraid my +salutation would have resulted seriously for her and I would have been +powerless to have assisted her.</p> + +<p>Whenever we passed a Belgian home or other building which had been +wrecked by bombs dropped by our airmen our guards made us stop a moment +or two while they passed sneering remarks among themselves.</p> + +<p>One of the most interesting souvenirs I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> have of my imprisonment at +Courtrai is a photograph of a group of us taken in the prison courtyard. +The picture was made by one of the guards, who sold copies of it to +those of us who were able to pay his price—one mark apiece.</p> + +<p>As we faced the camera, I suppose we all tried to look our happiest, +but the majority of us, I am afraid, were too sick at heart to raise +a smile even for this occasion. One of our Hun guards is shown in the +picture seated at the table. I am standing directly behind him, attired +in my flying tunic, which they allowed me to wear all the time I was +in prison, as is the usual custom with prisoners of war. Three of the +British officers shown in the picture, in the foreground, are clad in +"shorts."</p> + +<p>Through all my subsequent adventures I was able to retain a print of +this interesting picture, and although when I gaze at it now it only +serves to increase my gratification at my ultimate escape, it fills me +with regret to think that my fellow-prisoners were not so fortunate. All +of them, by this time, are undoubtedly eating their hearts up in the +prison-camps of interior Germany. Poor fellows!</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_7" id="illo_7"> +<img src="images/i_097.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"><p>A GROUP OF PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE PRISON-CAMP AT +COURTRAI, BELGIUM</p> + +<p>(Lieutenant O'Brien, in his R. F. C. flying-tunic, is standing in the +center behind the German guard seated at the table. This picture was +taken by one of the German guards and sold to Lieutenant O'Brien for one +mark.)</p></div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> + +<p>Despite the scanty fare and the restrictions we were under in this +prison, we did manage on one occasion to arrange a regular banquet. The +planning which was necessary helped to pass the time.</p> + +<p>At this time there were eight of us. We decided that the principal thing +we needed to make the affair a success was potatoes, and I conceived a +plan to get them. Every other afternoon they took us for a walk in the +country, and it occurred to me that it would be a comparatively simple +matter for us to pretend to be tired and sit down when we came to the +first potato-patch.</p> + +<p>It worked out nicely. When we came to the first potato-patch that +afternoon we told our guards that we wanted to rest a bit and we were +allowed to sit down. In the course of the next five minutes each of us +managed to get a potato or two. Being Irish, I got six.</p> + +<p>When we got back to the prison I managed to steal a handkerchief full +of sugar which, with some apples that we were allowed to purchase, we +easily converted into a sort of jam.</p> + +<p>We now had potatoes and jam, but no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> bread. It happened that the Hun +who had charge of the potatoes was a great musician. It was not very +difficult to prevail upon him to play us some music, and while he went +out to get his zither I went into the bread pantry and stole a loaf of +bread.</p> + +<p>Most of us had saved some butter from the day before and we used it to +fry our potatoes. By bribing one of the guards he bought some eggs for +us. They cost twenty-five cents apiece, but we were determined to make +this banquet a success, no matter what it cost.</p> + +<p>The cooking was done by the prison cook, whom, of course, we had to +bribe.</p> + +<p>When the meal was ready to serve it consisted of scrambled eggs, fried +potatoes, bread and jam, and a pitcher of beer which we were allowed to +buy.</p> + +<p>That was the 29th of August. Had I known that it was to be the last real +meal that I was to eat for many weeks I might have enjoyed it even more +than I did, but it was certainly very good.</p> + +<p>We had cooked enough for eight, but while we were still eating another +joined us. He was an English officer who had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> just been brought in on +a stretcher. For seven days, he told us, he had lain in a shell-hole, +wounded, and he was almost famished, and we were mighty glad to share +our banquet with him.</p> + +<p>We called on each man for a speech, and one might have thought that we +were at a first-class club meeting. A few days after that our party was +broken up and some of the men I suppose I shall never see again.</p> + +<p>One of the souvenirs of my adventure is a check given me during this +"banquet" by Lieut. James Henry Dickson, of the Tenth Royal Irish +Fusileers, a fellow-prisoner. It was for twenty francs and was made +payable to the order of "Mr. Pat O'Brien, 2nd Lieut." Poor Jim forgot to +scratch out the "London" and substitute "Courtrai" on the date line, but +its value as a souvenir is just as great. When he gave it to me he had +no idea that I would have an opportunity so soon afterward to cash it in +person, although I am quite sure that whatever financial reverses I may +be destined to meet my want will never be great enough to induce me to +realize on that check.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was one subject that was talked about in this prison whenever +conversation lagged, and I suppose it is the same in the other prisons, +too. What were the chances of escape?</p> + +<p>Every man seemed to have a different idea and one way I suppose was +about as impracticable as another. None of us ever expected to get +a chance to put our ideas into execution, but it was interesting +speculation, and, anyway, one could never tell what opportunities might +present themselves.</p> + +<p>One suggestion was that we disguise ourselves as women. "O'Brien would +stand a better chance disguised as a horse!" declared another, referring +to the fact that my height (I am six feet two inches) would make me more +conspicuous as a woman than as a man.</p> + +<p>Another suggested that we steal a German Gotha—a type of aeroplane +used for long-distance bombing. It is these machines which are used for +bombing London. They are manned by three men, one sitting in front with +a machine-gun, the pilot sitting behind him, and an observer sitting +in the rear with another machine-gun.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> We figured that at a pinch +perhaps seven or eight of us could make our escape in a single machine. +They have two motors of very high horse-power, fly very high and make +wonderful speed. But we had no chance to put this idea to the test.</p> + +<p>I worked out another plan by which I thought I might have a chance if I +could ever get into one of the German aerodromes. I would conceal myself +in one of the hangars, wait until one of the German machines started +out, and as he taxied along the ground I would rush out, shout at the +top of my voice, and point excitedly at his wheels. This, I figured, +would cause the pilot to stop and get out to see what was wrong. By that +time I would be up to him and as he stooped over to inspect the machine +I could knock him senseless, jump into the machine, and be over the +lines before the Huns could make up their minds just what had happened.</p> + +<p>It was a fine dream, but my chance was not to come that way.</p> + +<p>There were dozens of other ways which we considered. One man would +be for endeavoring to make his way right through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> the lines. Another +thought the safest plan would be to swim some river that crossed the +lines.</p> + +<p>The idea of making one's way to Holland, a neutral country, occurred +to every one, but the one great obstacle in that direction, we all +realized, was the great barrier of barbed and electrically charged wire +which guards every foot of the frontier between Belgium and Holland and +which is closely watched by the German sentries.</p> + +<p>This barrier was a threefold affair. It consisted first of a barbed-wire +wall six feet high. Six feet beyond that was a nine-foot wall of wire +powerfully charged with electricity. To touch it meant electrocution. +Beyond that, at a distance of six feet was another wall of barbed wire +six feet high.</p> + +<p>Beyond the barrier lay Holland and liberty, but how to get there was a +problem which none of us could solve and few of us ever expected to have +a chance to try.</p> + +<p>Mine came sooner than I expected.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI">VI<br /> +A LEAP FOR LIBERTY</a></h2> + + +<p>I had been in prison at Courtrai nearly three weeks when, on the morning +of September 9th, I and six other officers were told that we were to be +transferred to a prison-camp in Germany.</p> + +<p>One of the guards told me during the day that we were destined for a +reprisal camp in Strassburg. They were sending us there to keep our +airmen from bombing the place.</p> + +<p>He explained that the English carried German officers on hospital-ships +for a similar purpose, and he excused the German practice of torpedoing +these vessels on the score that they also carried munitions! When I +pointed out to him that France would hardly be sending munitions to +England, he lost interest in the argument.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>Some days before I had made up my mind that it would be a very good +thing to get hold of a map of Germany which I knew was in the possession +of one of the German interpreters, because I realized that if ever the +opportunity came to make my escape such a map might be of the greatest +assistance to me.</p> + +<p>With the idea of stealing this map, accordingly, a lieutenant and I got +in front of this interpreter's window one day and engaged in a very hot +argument as to whether Heidelberg was on the Rhine or not, and we argued +back and forth so vigorously that the German came out of his room, map +in hand, to settle it. After the matter was entirely settled to our +satisfaction he went back into his room and I watched where he put the +map.</p> + +<p>When, therefore, I learned that I was on my way to Germany I realized +that it was more important than ever for me to get that map, and, with +the help of my friend, we got the interpreter out of his room on some +pretext or another, and while he was gone I confiscated the map from +the book in which he kept it and concealed it in my sock underneath my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +legging. As I had anticipated, it later proved of the utmost value to me.</p> + +<p>I got it none too soon, for half an hour later we were on our way to +Ghent. Our party consisted of five British officers and one French +officer. At Ghent, where we had to wait for several hours for another +train to take us direct to the prison in Germany, two other prisoners +were added to our party.</p> + +<p>In the interval we were locked in a room at a hotel, a guard sitting at +the door with a rifle on his knee. It would have done my heart good for +the rest of my life if I could have got away then and fooled that Hun, +he was so cocksure.</p> + +<p>Later we were marched to the train that was to convey us to Germany. It +consisted of some twelve coaches, eleven of them containing troops going +home on leave, and the twelfth reserved for us. We were placed in a +fourth-class compartment, with old, hard, wooden seats, a filthy floor, +and no lights save a candle placed there by a guard. There were eight of +us prisoners and four guards.</p> + +<p>As we sat in the coach we were an object<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> of curiosity to the crowd who +gathered at the station.</p> + +<p>"Hope you have a nice trip!" one of them shouted, sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"Drop me a line when you get to Berlin, will you?" shouted another in +broken English.</p> + +<p>"When shall we see you again?" asked a third.</p> + +<p>"Remember me to your friends, will you? You'll find plenty where you're +going!" shouted another.</p> + +<p>The German officers made no effort to repress the crowd; in fact, they +joined in the general laughter which followed every sally.</p> + +<p>I called to a German officer who was passing our window.</p> + +<p>"You're an officer, aren't you?" I asked, respectfully enough.</p> + +<p>"Yes. What of it?" he rejoined.</p> + +<p>"Well, in England," I said, "we let your officers who are prisoners ride +first-class. Can't you fix it so that we can be similarly treated, or be +transferred at least to a second-class compartment?"</p> + +<p>"If I had my way," he replied, "you'd ride with the hogs!"</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then he turned to the crowd and told them of my request and how he had +answered me, and they all laughed hilariously.</p> + +<p>This got me pretty hot.</p> + +<p>"That would be a damned sight better than riding with the Germans!" I +yelled after him, but if he considered that a good joke, too, he didn't +pass it on to the crowd.</p> + +<p>Some months later when I had the honor of telling my story to King +George he thought this incident was one of the best jokes he had ever +heard. I don't believe he ever laughed harder in his life.</p> + +<p>Before our train pulled out our guards had to present their arms for +inspection, and their rifles were loaded in our presence to let us know +that they meant business.</p> + +<p>From the moment the train started on its way to Germany the thought kept +coming to my head that unless I could make my escape before we reached +that reprisal camp I might as well make up my mind that, as far as I was +concerned, the war was over.</p> + +<p>It occurred to me that if the eight of us in that car could jump up at a +given signal and seize those four Hun guards by surprise,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> we'd have a +splendid chance of besting them and jumping off the train when it first +slowed down, but when I passed the idea on to my comrades they turned it +down. Even if the plan had worked out as gloriously as I had pictured, +they pointed out, the fact that so many of us had escaped would almost +inevitably result in our recapture. The Huns would have scoured Belgium +till they had got us and then we would all be shot. Perhaps they were +right.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, I was determined that, no matter what the others decided +to do, I was going to make one bid for freedom, come what might.</p> + +<p>As we passed through village after village in Belgium and I realized +that we were getting nearer and nearer to that dreaded reprisal camp, I +concluded that my one and only chance of getting free before we reached +it was through the window! I would have to go through that window while +the train was going full speed, because if I waited until it had slowed +up or stopped entirely, it would be a simple matter for the guards to +overtake or shoot me.</p> + +<p>I opened the window. The guard who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> sat opposite me—so close that his +feet touched mine and the stock of his gun which he held between his +knees occasionally struck my foot—made no objection, imagining, no +doubt, that I found the car too warm or that the smoke, with which the +compartment was filled, annoyed me.</p> + +<p>As I opened the window the noise the train was making as it thundered +along grew louder. It seemed to say: "You're a fool if you do; you're a +fool if you don't! You're a fool if you do; you're a fool if you don't!" +And I said to myself, "The 'no's' have it," and closed down the window +again.</p> + +<p>As soon as the window was closed the noise of the train naturally +subsided and its speed seemed to diminish, and my plan appealed to me +stronger than ever.</p> + +<p>I knew the guard in front of me didn't understand a word of English, and +so, in a quiet tone of voice, I confided to the English officer who sat +next me what I planned to do.</p> + +<p>"For God's sake, Pat, chuck it!" he urged. "Don't be a lunatic! This +railroad is double-tracked and rock-ballasted and the other track is on +your side. You<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> stand every chance in the world of knocking your brains +out against the rails, or hitting a bridge or a whistling post, and, if +you escape those, you will probably be hit by another train on the other +track. You haven't one chance in a thousand to make it!"</p> + +<p>There was a good deal of logic in what he said, but I figured that, +once I was in that reprisal camp, I might never have even one chance +in a thousand to escape, and the idea of remaining a prisoner of war +indefinitely went against my grain. I resolved to take my chance now +even at the ride of breaking my neck.</p> + +<p>The car was full of smoke. I looked across at the guard. He was rather +an old man, going home on leave, and he seemed to be dreaming of what +was in store for him rather than paying any particular attention to me. +Once in a while I had smiled at him and I figured that he hadn't the +slightest idea of what was going through my mind all the time we had +been traveling.</p> + +<p>I began to cough as though my throat were badly irritated by the smoke, +and then I opened the window again. This<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> time the guard looked up and +showed his disapproval, but did not say anything.</p> + +<p>It was then four o'clock in the morning and would soon be light. I knew +I had to do it right then or never, as there would be no chance to +escape in the daytime.</p> + +<p>I had on a trench coat that I had used as a flying-coat and wore a +knapsack which I had constructed out of a gas-bag brought into Courtrai +by a British prisoner. In this I had two pieces of bread, a piece of +sausage, and a pair of flying-mittens. All of them had to go with me +through the window.</p> + +<p>The train was now going at a rate of between thirty and thirty-five +miles an hour, and again it seemed to admonish me, as it rattled along +over the ties: "You're a fool if you do; you're a fool if you don't! +You're a fool if you don't; you're a fool if you do! You're a fool if +you don't—"</p> + +<p>I waited no longer. Standing up on the bench as if to put the bag on the +rack, and taking hold of the rack with my left hand and a strap that +hung from the top of the car with my right, I pulled myself up, shoved +my feet and legs out of the window, and let go!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was a prayer on my lips as I went out and I expected a bullet +between my shoulders, but it was all over in an instant.</p> + +<p>I landed on my left side and face, burying my face in the rock ballast, +cutting it open and closing my left eye, skinning my hands and shins and +straining my ankle. For a few moments I was completely knocked out, and +if they shot at me through the window, in the first moments after my +escape, I had no way of knowing.</p> + +<p>Of course, if they could have stopped the train right then, they could +easily have recaptured me, but at the speed it was going and in the +confusion which must have followed my escape, they probably didn't stop +within half a mile from the spot where I lay.</p> + +<p>I came to within a few minutes, and when I examined myself and found +no bones broken I didn't stop to worry about my cuts and bruises, but +jumped up with the idea of putting as great a distance between me and +that track as possible before daylight came. Still being dazed, I forgot +all about the barbed-wire fence along the right-of-way and ran full tilt +into it. Right there I lost one of my two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> precious pieces of bread, +which fell out of my knapsack, but I could not stop to look for it then.</p> + +<p>The one thing that was uppermost in my mind was that for the moment I +was free and it was up to me now to make the most of my liberty.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII">VII<br /> +CRAWLING THROUGH GERMANY</a></h2> + + +<p>The exact spot at which I made my desperate leap I don't know. Perhaps, +after the war is over, some one on that train will be good enough to +tell me, and then I may go back and look for the dent I must have made +in the rock ballast.</p> + +<p>As I have said, I didn't stop very long that morning after I once +regained my senses.</p> + +<p>I was bleeding profusely from the wounds caused by the fall, but I +checked it somewhat with handkerchiefs I held to my face and I also held +the tail of my coat so as to catch the blood as it fell and not leave +telltale traces on the ground.</p> + +<p>Before I stopped I had gone about a mile. Then I took my course from the +stars and found that I had been going just opposite to the direction I +should be making,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> but I could not go back across the track there.</p> + +<p>Heading west, therefore, I kept this course for about two and a half +hours, but as I was very weak from loss of blood I didn't cover very +much ground in that time. Just before daylight I came to a canal which I +knew I had to cross, and I swam it with everything I had on.</p> + +<p>This swim, which proved to be the first of a series that I was destined +to make, taught me several things.</p> + +<p>In the first place, I had forgotten to remove my wrist-watch. This watch +had been broken in my fall from the air, but I had had it repaired at +Courtrai. In the leap from the train the crystal had been broken again, +but it was still going and would probably have been of great service to +me in my subsequent adventures, but the swim across the canal ruined it.</p> + +<p>Then, too, I had not thought to take my map out of my sock, and the +water damaged that, too.</p> + +<p>Thereafter, whenever I had any swimming to do, I was careful to take +such matters into consideration, and my usual practice was to make a +bundle of all the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> things that would be damaged by water and tie it to +my head. In this way I was able to keep them dry.</p> + +<p>It was now daylight and I knew that it would be suicidal for me to +attempt to travel in the daytime. My British uniform would have been +fatal to me. I decided to hide in the daytime and travel only at night.</p> + +<p>Not far from the canal I could see a heavily wooded piece of ground, +and I made my way there. By this time I had discovered that my left +ankle had been strained in my leap from the train, and when I got to the +woods I was glad to lie down and rest. The wound in my mouth had been +opened, too, when I jumped, and it would have been difficult for me to +have swallowed had not the piece of bread, which was to serve for my +breakfast, got wet when I swam the canal. I found a safe hiding-place +in which to spend the day and I tried to dry some of my clothes, but a +slight drizzling rainfall made that out of the question. I knew that I +ought to sleep, as I planned to travel at night, but, sore as I was, +caked with mud and blood, my clothing soaked through, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> my hunger not +nearly appeased, sleep was out of the question. This seemed to me about +the longest day I had ever spent, but I was still to learn how long a +day can really be and how much longer a night!</p> + +<p>When night came I dragged myself together and headed northeast.</p> + +<p>My clothing consisted of my Flying Corps uniform, two shirts, no +underwear, leather leggings, heavy shoes, a good pair of wool socks, and +a German cap. I had a wallet containing several hundred francs in paper +money and various other papers. I also had a jack-knife which I had +stolen one day from the property-room at Courtrai where all the personal +effects taken from prisoners were kept. For a day or two I carried the +knapsack, but as I had nothing to carry in it I discarded it.</p> + +<p>I traveled rapidly, considering my difficulties, and swam a couple of +canals that night, covering in all perhaps ten miles before daylight. +Then I located in some low bushes, lying there all day in my wet clothes +and finishing my sausage for food. That was the last of my rations.</p> + +<p>That night I made perhaps the same distance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> but became very hungry and +thirsty before the night was over.</p> + +<p>For the next six days I still figured that I was in Germany, and I was +living on nothing but cabbage, sugar-beets, and an occasional carrot, +always in the raw state, just as I got them out of the fields. The water +I drank was often very rank, as I had to get it from canals and pools. +One night I lay in a cabbage-patch for an hour lapping the dew from the +leaves with my tongue!</p> + +<p>During this period I realized that I must avoid meeting any one at all +hazards. I was in the enemy's country and my uniform would have been a +dead give-away. Any one who captured me or who gave information from +which my capture resulted might have been sure of a handsome reward. I +knew that it was necessary for me to make progress as fast as possible, +but the main consideration was to keep out of sight, even if it took +me a year to get to Holland, which was my objective. From my map, I +estimated that I was about thirty-five miles from Strassburg when I made +my leap from the train, and if I could travel in a straight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> line I had +perhaps one hundred and fifty miles to travel. As it was, however, I was +compelled to make many detours, and I figured that two hundred and fifty +miles was nearer the extent of the journey ahead of me.</p> + +<p>In several parts of this country I had to travel through forests of +young pine-trees about twelve feet high. They were very close together +and looked almost as if they had been set out. They proved to be a +serious obstacle to me, because I could not see the stars through them, +and I was relying upon the heavens to guide me to freedom. I am not much +of an astronomer, but I know the Pole Star when I see it. But for it I +wouldn't be here to-day!</p> + +<p>I believe it rained every night and day while I was making my way +through Germany to Luxembourg.</p> + +<p>My invariable program at this stage of my journey was to travel steadily +all night until about six in the morning, when I would commence looking +around for a place wherein to hide during the day. Low bushes or woods +back from the road, as far as possible from the traveled pathway,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +usually served me for this purpose. Having found such a spot, I would +drop down and try to sleep. My overcoat was my only covering, and that +was usually soaked through either from the rain or from swimming.</p> + +<p>The only sleep I got during those days was from exhaustion, and it +usually came to me toward dusk when it was time for me to start again.</p> + +<p>It was a mighty fortunate thing for me that I was not a smoker. Somehow +I have never used tobacco in any form and I was now fully repaid for +whatever pleasure I had foregone in the past as a result of my habits +in that particular, because my sufferings would certainly have been +intensified now if in addition to lack of food and rest I had had to +endure a craving for tobacco.</p> + +<p>About the sixth night I was so drowsy and exhausted when the time came +for me to be on the move that I was very much tempted to sleep through +the night. I knew, however, that that would be a bad precedent to +establish and I wouldn't give in.</p> + +<p>I plugged wearily along and about<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> eleven o'clock, after I had covered +perhaps four miles, I sat down to rest for a moment on a shock of brush +which was sheltered from the drizzle somewhat by other shocks which were +stacked there. It was daylight when I awoke, and I found myself right in +a German's backyard. You can imagine that I lost no time getting out of +that neighborhood, and I made up my mind right then that I would never +give way to that "tired feeling" again.</p> + +<p>In the daytime, in my hiding-place, wherever it happened to be, I had +plenty of opportunity to study my map, and before very long I knew it +almost by heart. Unfortunately, however, it did not show all the rivers +and canals which I encountered, and sometimes it fooled me completely.</p> + +<p>It must have been about the ninth night that I crossed into Luxembourg, +but while this principality is officially neutral, it offered me no +safer a haven than Belgium would. The Huns have violated the neutrality +of both and discovery would have been followed by the same consequences +as capture in Germany proper.</p> + +<p>In the nine days I had covered perhaps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> seventy-five miles and I was +that much nearer liberty, but the lack of proper food, the constant +wearing of wet clothes, and the loss of sleep and rest had reduced me to +a very much weakened condition. I doubted very much whether I would be +able to continue, but I plugged along.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII">VIII<br /> +NINE DAYS IN LUXEMBOURG</a></h2> + + +<p>I was now heading northwest and I thought that by keeping that course I +would get out of Luxembourg and into Belgium, where I expected to be a +little better off, because the people in Luxembourg were practically the +same as Germans.</p> + +<p>One of the experiences I had in Luxembourg which I shall never forget +occurred the first day that I spent there. I had traveled all night +and I was feeling very weak. I came to a small wood with plenty of low +underbrush, and I picked out a thick clump of bushes which was not in +line with any paths, crawled in, and lay down to spend the day.</p> + +<p>The sun could just reach me through an opening in the trees above, +and I took off all my clothes except my shirt and hung<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> them on the +bushes to dry in the sun. As the sun moved I moved the clothes around +correspondingly, because, tired as I was, I could take only cat-naps.</p> + +<p>That afternoon I awoke from one of these naps with a start. There were +voices not a dozen feet from me! My first impulse was to jump to my +feet and sell my life as dearly as I could, but on second thoughts I +decided to look before I leaped. Peeping through the underbrush, I could +just discern two men calmly chopping down a tree and conversing as they +worked. I thanked my lucky stars that I had not jumped up on my first +impulse, for I was apparently quite safe as long as I lay where I was.</p> + +<p>It then occurred to me that if the tree upon which they were working +should happen to fall in my direction it would crush me to death! It +was tall enough to reach me and big enough to kill me if it landed in +my direction, and as I could see only the heads of the men who were +chopping it down, I was unable to tell which way they planned to have it +fall.</p> + +<p>There was this much in my favor: the chances of the tree falling in just +my direction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> were not very great and there was more than an even chance +that the men would be wise enough to fell it so that it would not, +because if it landed in the bushes the task of trimming the branches off +the trunk would be so much harder.</p> + +<p>But, even without this feeling of security, there was really nothing +else I could do but wait and see what fate had in store for me. I lay +there watching the top of the tree for more than an hour. Time and again +I saw it sway and fancied it was coming in my direction, and it was all +I could do to keep my place, but a moment later I would hear the crash +of the men's axes and I knew that my imagination had played me a trick.</p> + +<p>I was musing on the sorry plight I was in—weak, nearly starving to +death, a refugee in a hostile country and waiting patiently to see which +way a tree was going to fall—when there came a loud crack and I saw the +top of the tree sway and fall almost opposite to the place where I lay! +I had guessed right.</p> + +<p>Later I heard some children's voices, and again peering through the +underbrush, I saw that they had brought the men their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> lunch. You can't +realize how I felt to see them eating their lunch so near at hand and +to know that, hungry as I was, I could have none of it. I was greatly +tempted to go boldly up to them and take a chance of getting a share, +but I did not know whether they were Germans or not, and I had gone +through too much to risk my liberty even for food. I swallowed my hunger +instead.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterward it began to rain, and about four o'clock the men +left. I crawled out as fast as I could, and scurried around looking for +crumbs, but found none, and when darkness came I went on my way once +more.</p> + +<p>That night I came to a river, and as it was the first time my clothes +had been dry for a long time, I thought I would try to keep them that +way as long as possible. I accordingly took off all my things and made +them into two bundles, planning to carry one load across and then swim +back for the other.</p> + +<p>The river was quite wide, but I am a fairly good swimmer, and I figured +I could rest awhile after the first trip before going back for the +second bundle.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>The first swim was uneventful. When I landed on the other side I drank +till my thirst was quenched, and then swam back. After resting awhile +I started across a third time, with my shoes and several other things +firmly tied to my head. Just about ten feet from the opposite bank one +of the shoes worked its way loose and sank in about eight feet of water. +There was nothing to do but finish the trip and then go back and dive +for the missing shoe, as I could not go on with a single shoe.</p> + +<p>Diving in my weakened condition was considerable strain, but I had to +have that shoe, and I kept at it for nearly an hour before I eventually +found it, and I was pretty nearly all in by that time.</p> + +<p>That was the last time I ever took my shoes off, for my feet were +becoming so swollen that I figured if I took my shoes off I might be +unable to get them on again.</p> + +<p>This stunt of crossing the river and diving for the lost shoe had +consumed about three hours, and after resting some fifteen minutes I +went on my way again. I had hardly gone a mile when I came to another +river, about the same size as the one I had just crossed. I walked +along the bank<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> awhile, thinking that I might be lucky enough to find a +boat or a bridge, but after walking about half an hour I received one +of those disappointments which "come once in a lifetime." I found that +this river was the one I had just swum! I had swum it on the bend and +was still on the wrong side! Had I made only a short detour in the first +place, I would have avoided all the annoyance of the past three hours +and saved my strength and time. I was never so mad in my life at myself +as I was to think that I had not paid more attention to the course of +the stream before I undertook to cross it, but, as a matter of fact, +there was really no way of telling. The river was not shown on my map at +all.</p> + +<p>Now I <i>had</i> to cross it, whereas before I could have turned it. I walked +boldly into the water, not bothering to take my clothes off this time, +nor did I ever bother to take them off afterward when swimming canals +or rivers. I found it was impossible to keep them dry, anyway, and so I +might just as well swim in them and save time.</p> + +<p>All the next day I spent in a forest, to which my night's travel had +brought me about five o'clock in the morning. I kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> on my way through +the woods until daylight came, and then, thinking the place would afford +fairly good concealment, I concluded to rest until night.</p> + +<p>The prospects of even a good sleep were dismal, however, for about the +time the sun's face should have appeared a drizzling rain began and I +gave up my search for a dry spot which would serve as a bed. Some of the +leaves were beginning to fall, but of course there were not enough of +them to have formed a covering for the ground, and the dampness seemed +to have penetrated everywhere.</p> + +<p>I wandered around through the woods for two or three hours, looking for +shelter, but without any success, for, though the trees were large, the +forest was not dense and there was practically no brush or shrubbery. +Consequently, one could get a fairly clear view for some distance, and I +knew it would be unwise to drop off to sleep just any place, or some one +would surely happen onto me.</p> + +<p>Once I came very near the edge of the woods and heard voices of men +driving by in a wagon, but I couldn't make out just what they were, and +instinct told me I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> better not come out of the woods, so I turned +back. Here and there small artificial ditches had been dug, which at +a dry season might have cradled a weary fugitive, but now they, too, +were filled with water. Once I singled out a good big tree with large +branches and thought I might climb into it and go to sleep, but the +longer I looked at it the more I realized that it would require more +energy than I had in my present weak and exhausted condition, so I +didn't attempt that.</p> + +<p>Finally I chose a spot that looked a bit drier than the rest, concluded +to take a chance on being discovered, and threw myself down for a nap. +I was extremely nervous, though, throughout that whole day and would +scarcely get settled into a comfortable position and doze off for a few +minutes when, startled by some sound in the woods, I would suddenly +waken.</p> + +<p>After what seemed like a year or more, night finally came, and with it a +"dud" sky, low-hanging clouds, and still more rain. There was not a star +in the sky, of course, and that made it very bad, because without the +aid of the stars I had absolutely no way of knowing in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> direction +I was going. It was just a case of taking a chance. I probably would +have been better off if I had simply picked out a place and stayed there +until the weather improved, but naturally I was impatient to be on my +way when each day without food only lessened my strength and my ultimate +chances of reaching the frontier.</p> + +<p>So I left the woods and struck off in the direction which I thought was +north. I hadn't been at all sure of my bearings the day before, and as +it had rained the sun failed entirely to help me out; but I was almost +sure I had the right direction, and trusted to luck. That night I found +more rivers, canals, and swamps than I ever found in my life before, but +I had the good fortune to stumble on to some celery, and after my diet +of beets it surely was a treat. Perhaps it's unnecessary to add that +I took on a good supply of celery, and for days I went along chewing +celery like a cow would a cud.</p> + +<p>Along toward morning, when I supposed I had got in a fairly good lap of +my journey—perhaps seven or eight miles—I began to recognize certain +objects as familiar<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> landmarks. At least, I thought I had seen them +before, and as I traveled along I knew positively I had seen certain +objects very recently. Off at my right—not over a quarter of a mile—I +noticed some fairly good-sized woods, and thought I would go over there +to hide that day, because it looked as though the sun was going to +shine, and I hoped to get my clothes dry and perhaps get a decent sleep. +I had this celery and a large beet, so I knew I would be able to live +the day through.</p> + +<p>Finally, I made my way over to the woods. It was still too dark in among +the trees to do much in the way of selecting my quarters for the day, +and I could not go a step farther. So I waited on the edge of the forest +until dawn and then set out to explore the place with a view to finding +some nook where I might sleep. Imagine my disgust and discouragement, +too, when, an hour or so later, I came upon the exact place where I had +spent the day before, and I realized that all night long I had been +circling the very woods I was trying to get away from. I think perhaps +I had gone all of a quarter of a mile in the right direction, but then +had lost my bearings entirely and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> daylight found me with nothing +accomplished.</p> + +<p>The sun, however, did come out that day, and I welcomed its warm rays +as they perhaps have never been welcomed before. I was very tired—just +about all in—but I spent a better day in the woods than the previous +one.</p> + +<p>That night the stars came out; I located my friend, the North Star, +and tried to make up for lost time. But when one is making only seven +or eight miles a day, or rather a night, one night lost means a whole +lot, especially when each day keeps him from freedom. Such ill fortune +and discouragements as this were harder to endure, I believe, than the +actual hunger, and the accompanying worry naturally reduced my weight. +At times I was furiously angry with myself for the mistakes I made and +the foolish things I did, but I always tried to see something funny +about the situation, whatever it might be, that relieved the strain a +bit and helped to pass the time. I think if a man is overburdened with +a sense of humor and wants to get rid of it, this trip I took would be +an excellent remedy for it. Right at this time I would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> have welcomed +anything for a companion; I believe even a snake would have been a +godsend to me.</p> + +<p>With a name as Irish as mine, it is only natural that I looked for +goats along the way, thinking that I might be able to milk them. There +are very few cows in this country, and the opportunities for milking +them fewer than the cows themselves, because they are housed in barns +adjoining the homes and always alertly watched by their fortunate +owners. I did hope that I might find a goat staked out some place in the +fields, but in all my travels I never saw a goat or a pig, and only a +few cows. Several times I searched nests for eggs, but somebody always +had beaten me to it, as I never even found so much as a nest egg.</p> + +<p>There was no chance of getting away with any "bullying" stuff in +Luxembourg, I knew, because the young men have not been forced into +the army and are still at home, and as they are decidedly pro-German, +it would have been pretty hard for me to demand anything in that part +of the country. It was not like taking things away from old men and +women or robbing people that could not stop me if they chose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> to do so. +I thought at this time that I was suffering about the worst hardships +any human being could ever be called upon to endure, but I was later to +find out that the best of my journey was made along about this time. +There were plenty of vegetables, even though they were raw, and these +were much better than the things I was afterward compelled to eat or go +without.</p> + +<p>We frequently hear of men who have lived for a certain number of days +on their own resources in the woods just on a bet or to prove that the +"back to nature" theory still has its merits and will still work. My +advice to some of those nature-seekers is to, if in the future they wish +to make a real good record, try the little countries of Luxembourg and +Belgium, with a slice of Germany thrown in.</p> + +<p>I suppose that during this experience of mine I made many mistakes +and traveled many unnecessary miles which one with a knowledge of +woodsmanship might have avoided, and I failed to take advantage of many +things which would have been quite apparent to one who knew. It must +not be forgotten, however, that I did not undertake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> this adventure +voluntarily. It was "wished on me." I simply had to make the most of the +knowledge I had.</p> + +<p>At about this time blisters began to appear on my legs and my knees +swelled. In addition I was pretty well convinced that I had lost the +sight of my left eye. I hadn't seen a thing out of it since my leap from +the train.</p> + +<p>When I imagine the villainous appearance I must have presented at this +time—my unhealed wounds, eighteen days' growth of beard, and general +haggard and unkempt visage—I think the fear I felt about meeting +strangers was perhaps unwarranted. The chances are they would have been +infinitely more scared than I!</p> + +<p>As it was, I was nearly out of Luxembourg before I really came face +to face with any one. It was about six o'clock in the morning and I +was traveling along a regular path. Just as I approached a cross-path +I heard footsteps coming down it. I stopped short, stooped over, and +pretended to be adjusting my shoe-lace, figuring that if the stranger +turned into my path he would probably pass right by me. As<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> luck would +have it, he continued on his way and never noticed me at all.</p> + +<p>After that I frequently noticed groups of Luxembourg peasants in the +distance, but I usually saw them first and managed to avoid them.</p> + +<p>About the eighteenth day after my leap from the train I crossed into +Belgium. It had taken me just nine days to get through Luxembourg—a +distance which a man could ordinarily cover in two, but, considering +the handicaps under which I labored, I was very well satisfied with my +progress.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX">IX<br /> +I ENTER BELGIUM</a></h2> + + +<p>I have said it was about the eighteenth day after my escape that I +entered Belgium, but that is more or less guesswork. I was possibly well +into that country before I realized that I had crossed the line.</p> + +<p>About the third day after I figured I was in Belgium I started to swim +a canal just before daylight. I was then heading due north in the +direction of the German lines. I was just about to wade into the canal +when I heard a German yelling violently, and for the first time I knew I +was being followed!</p> + +<p>I ran up the bank of the canal quite a distance and then swam to the +opposite side, as I reasoned they would not be looking for me there. +I found a sheltered clump of bushes in a swamp near the canal,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> and +in the driest part that I could find I crawled in and made myself as +comfortable as possible. The sun came up soon and kept me warm, and I +planned to camp right there, food or no food, until the Huns got tired +of searching for me. I think I heard them once or twice that day, and +my heart nearly stopped on each occasion, but evidently they decided to +look in some other direction and I was not further molested.</p> + +<p>At the same time I figured that it was absolutely necessary for me to +change my course even at the expense of going somewhat out of my way. +Certainly if I went north they would get me. I decided to go due west, +and I kept in that direction for four days.</p> + +<p>As I was in a very weak condition, I did not cover more than five miles +a night. I kept away from the roads and did all my journeying through +fields, beet-patches, woods, swamps—anywhere, provided I was not likely +to be seen and captured. Food was an important consideration to me, but +it was secondary to concealment.</p> + +<p>At last I brought up at the Meuse River at a place between Namur and +Huy, and it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> was here that I came nearest of all to giving up the +struggle.</p> + +<p>The Meuse at this point is about half a mile wide—as wide as the +Hudson River at West Point. Had I been in normal condition I wouldn't +have hesitated a moment to swim across. San Diego Bay, California, is +a mile and a half wide, and I had often swum across and back, and the +San Joaquin, which is also a mile and a half wide, had never proved an +obstacle to me.</p> + +<p>In the wretched shape in which I then was, however, the Meuse looked +like the Atlantic Ocean to me. I looked for a boat, but could find none. +I tried to get a piece of wood upon which I hoped to ferry across, but I +was equally unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>Get across I must, and I decided there was nothing to do but swim it.</p> + +<p>It was then about three o'clock in the morning. I waded in and was soon +in beyond my depth and had to swim. After about an hour of it I was very +much exhausted and I doubted whether I could make the opposite bank, +although it was not more than thirty or forty feet away. I choked and +gasped and my arms and legs were completely fagged out. I sank a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> little +and tried to touch bottom with my feet, but the water was still beyond +my depth.</p> + +<p>There are times when every one will pray, and I was no exception. I +prayed for strength to make those few wicked yards, and then, with all +the will power I could summon, struck out for dear life. It seemed a +lifetime before I finally felt the welcome mud of bottom and was able to +drag myself up to the bank, but I got there. The bank was rather high, +and I was shaking so violently that when I took hold of the grass to +pull myself up, the grass shook out of my hands. I could not retain my +grip. I was afraid I would faint then and there, but I kept pulling and +crawling frantically up that infernal bank, and finally made it.</p> + +<p>Then, for the first time in my life, I fainted—fainted from utter +exhaustion.</p> + +<p>It was now about four o'clock in the morning and I was entirely +unprotected from observation. If any one had come along I would have +been found lying there dead to the world.</p> + +<p>Possibly two hours passed before I regained consciousness, and then, no +doubt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> only because the rain was beating in my face.</p> + +<p>I knew that I had to get away, as it was broad daylight. Moreover, there +was a towpath right there and any minute a boat might come along and +find me. But it was equally dangerous for me to attempt to travel very +far. Fortunately, I found some shrubbery near by, and I hid there all +day, without food or drink.</p> + +<p>That night I made a little headway, but when day broke I had a dreadful +fever and was delirious. I talked to myself and thereby increased my +chances of capture. In my lucid intervals, when I realized that I had +been talking, the thought sent a chill through me, because in the silent +night even the slightest sound carries far across the Belgian country. I +began to fear that another day of this would about finish me.</p> + +<p>I have a distinct recollection of a ridiculous conversation I carried on +with an imaginary Pat O'Brien—a sort of duplicate of myself. I argued +with him as I marched drearily along, and he answered me back in kind, +and when we disagreed I called upon my one constant friend, the North +Star, to stand by me.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There you are, you old North Star!" I cried, aloud. "You want me to get +to Holland, don't you? But this Pat O'Brien—this Pat O'Brien who calls +himself a soldier—he's got a yellow streak—North Star—and he says it +can't be done! He wants me to quit—to lie down here for the Huns to +find me and take me back to Courtrai—after all you've done, North Star, +to lead me to liberty. Won't you make this coward leave me, North Star? +I don't want to follow him—I just want to follow you—because you—you +are taking me away from the Huns and this Pat O'Brien—this fellow who +keeps after me all the time and leans on my neck and wants me to lie +down—this yellow Pat O'Brien wants me to go back to the Huns!"</p> + +<p>After a spell of foolish chatter like that my senses would come back to +me for a while and I would trudge along without a word until the fever +came on me again.</p> + +<p>I knew that I had to have food because I was about on my last legs. I +was very much tempted to lie down then and there and call it a heat. +Things seemed to be getting worse for me the farther I went, and all +the time I had before me the specter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> of that electric barrier between +Belgium and Holland, even if I ever reached there alive. What was the +use of further suffering when I would probably be captured in the end, +anyway?</p> + +<p>Before giving up, however, I decided upon one bold move. I would +approach one of the houses in the vicinity and get food there or die in +the effort!</p> + +<p>I picked out a small house, because I figured there would be less +likelihood of soldiers being billeted there.</p> + +<p>Then I wrapped a stone in my khaki handkerchief as a sort of camouflaged +weapon, determined to kill the occupant of the house, German or Belgian, +if that step were necessary in order to get food. I tried the well in +the yard, but it would not work, and then I went up to the door and +knocked.</p> + +<p>It was one o'clock in the morning. An old lady came to the window and +looked out. She could not imagine what I was, probably, because I was +still attired in that old overcoat. She gave a cry, and her husband and +a boy came to the door.</p> + +<p>They could not speak English and I could not speak Flemish, but I +pointed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> my flying-coat and then to the sky and said "<i>fleger</i>" +("flier"), which I thought would tell them what I was.</p> + +<p>Whether they understood or were intimidated by my hard-looking +appearance, I don't know, but certainly it would have to be a brave old +man and boy who would start an argument with such a villainous-looking +character as stood before them that night! I had not shaved for a month, +my clothes were wet, torn, and dirty, my leggings were gone—they +had got so heavy I had discarded them—my hair was matted, and my +cheeks were flushed with fever. In my hand I carried the rock in my +handkerchief, and I made no effort to conceal its presence or its +mission.</p> + +<p>Anyway, they motioned me indoors and gave me my first hot meal in more +than a month. True, it consisted only of warm potatoes. They had been +previously cooked, but the old woman warmed them up in milk in one of +the dirtiest kettles I had ever seen. I asked for bread, but she shook +her head, although I think it must have been for lack of it rather +than because she begrudged it to me. For if ever a man showed he was +famished, I did that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> night. I swallowed those warm potatoes ravenously +and I drank four glasses of water one after another. It was the best +meal I had had since the "banquet" in the prison at Courtrai.</p> + +<p>The woman of the house was probably seventy-five years old and had +evidently worn wooden shoes all her life, for she had a callous spot on +the side of her foot the size of half a dollar, and it looked so hard +that I doubt whether you could have driven a nail into it with a hammer.</p> + +<p>As I sat there drying myself—for I was in no hurry to leave the first +human habitation I had entered in four weeks—I reflected on my unhappy +lot and the unknown troubles and dangers that lay ahead of me. Here, for +more than a month, I had been leading the life of a hunted animal—yes, +worse than a hunted animal, for Nature clothes her less favored +creatures more appropriately for the life they lead than I was clothed +for mine—and there was not the slightest reason to hope that conditions +would grow better.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the first warm food I had eaten for over a month had released +unused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> springs of philosophy in me, as food sometimes does for a man.</p> + +<p>I pointed to my torn and water-soaked clothes and conveyed to them as +best I could that I would be grateful for an old suit, but apparently +they were too poor to have more than they actually needed themselves, +and I rose to go. I had roused them out of bed, and I knew I ought not +to keep them up longer than was absolutely necessary.</p> + +<p>As I approached the door I got a glance at myself in a mirror. I was +the awfulest sight I had ever laid eyes on! The glimpse I got of myself +startled me almost as much as if I had seen a dreaded German helmet! My +left eye was fairly well healed by this time, and I was beginning to +regain the sight of it, but my face was so haggard and my beard so long +and unkempt that I looked like Santa Claus on a "bat."</p> + +<p>As they let me out of the door I pointed to the opposite direction +to the one I intended taking and started off in the direction I had +indicated. Later I changed my course completely to throw off any +possible pursuit.</p> + +<p>The next day I was so worn out from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> exposure and exhaustion that I +threw away my coat, thinking that the less weight I had to carry the +better it would be for me, but when night came I regretted my mistake, +because the nights were now getting colder. I thought at first it would +be best for me to retrace my steps and look for the coat I had so +thoughtlessly discarded, but I decided to go on without it.</p> + +<p>I then began to discard everything that I had in my pocket, finally +throwing my wrist-watch into a canal. A wrist-watch does not add much +weight, but when you plod along and have not eaten for a month it +finally becomes rather heavy. The next thing I discarded was a pair of +flying-mittens.</p> + +<p>These mittens I had got at Camp Borden, in Canada, and had become quite +famous, as my friends termed them "snow-shoes." In fact, they were a +ridiculous pair of mittens, but the best pair I ever had, and I really +felt worse when I lost those mittens than anything else. I could not +think of anybody else ever using them, so I dug a hole in the mud and +buried them, and could not help but laugh at the thought of what my +friends would say had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> they seen me burying my mittens, because they +were a standing joke in Canada, England, and France.</p> + +<p>I had on two shirts, and as they were always both wet and didn't keep me +warm, it was useless to wear both. One of these was a shirt that I had +bought in France, the other an American army shirt. They were both khaki +and one as apt to give me away as the other, so I discarded the French +shirt. The American army shirt I brought back with me to England, and it +is still in my possession.</p> + +<p>When I escaped from the train I still had that Bavarian cap of bright +red in my pocket and wore it for many nights, but I took great care that +no one saw it. It also had proved very useful when swimming rivers, for +I carried my map and a few other belongings in it, and I had fully made +up my mind to bring it home as a souvenir. But the farther I went the +heavier my extra clothing became, so I was compelled to discard even +the cap. I knew that it would be a telltale mark if I simply threw it +away, so one night after swimming a river I dug a hole in the soft mud +on the bank and buried it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> too, with considerably less ceremony than +my flying-mittens had received, perhaps; and that was the end of my +Bavarian hat.</p> + +<p>My experience at the Belgian's house whetted my appetite for warm food, +and I figured that what had been done once could be done again. Sooner +or later I realized I would probably approach a Belgian and find a +German instead, but in such a contingency I was determined to measure my +strength against the Hun's if necessary to effect my escape.</p> + +<p>As it was, however, most of the Belgians to whom I applied for food gave +it to me readily enough, and if some of them refused me it was only +because they feared I might be a spy or that the Germans would shoot +them if their action were subsequently found out.</p> + +<p>About the fifth day after I had entered Belgium I was spending the day +as usual in a clump of bushes when I discerned in the distance what +appeared to be something hanging on a line. All day long I strained my +eyes trying to decide what it could be and arguing with myself that it +might be something that I could add to my inadequate wardrobe, but the +distance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> was so great that I could not identify it. I had a great fear +that before night came it would probably be removed.</p> + +<p>As soon as darkness fell, however, I crawled out of my hiding-place and +worked up to the line and got a pair of overalls for my industry. It was +a mighty joyful night for me. That pair of overalls was the first bit +of civilian clothes I had thus far picked up, with the exception of a +civilian cap which I had found at the prison and concealed on my person +and which I still had. The overalls were rather small and very short, +but when I put them on I found that they hung down far enough to cover +my breeches.</p> + +<p>It was perhaps three days later that I planned to search another house +for further clothes. Entering Belgian houses at night is anything but a +safe proposition, because their families are large and sometimes as many +as seven or eight sleep in a single room. The barn is usually connected +with the house proper, and there was always the danger of disturbing +some dumb animal, even if the inmates of the house were not aroused.</p> + +<p>Frequently I took a chance of searching<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> a backyard at night in the hope +of finding food scraps, but my success in that direction was so slight +that I soon decided it wasn't worth the risk, and I continued to live on +the raw vegetables that I could pick with safety in the fields and the +occasional meal that I was able to get from the Belgian peasants in the +daytime.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, I was determined to get more in the way of clothing, and +when night came I picked out a house that looked as though it might +furnish me with what I wanted. It was a moonlight night, and if I could +get in the barn I would have a fair chance of finding my way around by +the moonlight which would enter the windows.</p> + +<p>The barn adjoined the main part of the house, but I groped around very +carefully and soon I touched something hanging on a peg. I didn't know +what it was, but I confiscated it and carried it out into the fields. +There in the moonlight I examined my booty and found it was an old coat. +It was too short as an overcoat and too long for an ordinary coat, but +nevertheless I made use of it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> It had probably been an overcoat for the +Belgian who had worn it.</p> + +<p>Some days later I got a scarf from a Belgian peasant, and with this +equipment I was able to conceal my uniform entirely.</p> + +<p>Later on, however, I decided that it was too dangerous to keep the +uniform on anyway, and when night came I dug a hole and buried it.</p> + +<p>I never realized until I had to part with it just how much I thought of +that uniform. It had been with me through many hard trials, and I felt +as if I were abandoning a friend when I parted with it. I was tempted +to keep the wings off the tunic, but thought that that would be a +dangerous concession to sentiment in the event that I was ever captured. +It was the only distinction I had left, as I had given the Royal Flying +Corps badges and the stars of my rank to the German Flying Officers as +souvenirs, but I felt that it was safer to discard it. As it finally +turned out, through all my subsequent experiences my escape would never +have been jeopardized had I kept my uniform, but, of course, I had no +idea what was in store for me.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was one thing which surprised me very much as I journeyed through +Belgium, and that was the scarcity of dogs. Apparently most of them have +been taken by the Germans, and what are left are beasts of burden who +are too tired at night to bark or bother intruders. This was a mighty +good thing for me, for I would certainly have stirred them up in passing +through backyards, as I sometimes did when I was making a short cut.</p> + +<p>One night as I came out of a yard it was so pitch dark I could not see +ten feet ahead of me, and I was right in the back of a little village, +although I did not know it. I crawled along, fearing I might come to a +crossroads at which there would in all probability be a German sentry.</p> + +<p>My precaution served me in good stead, for I had come out in the main +street of a village and within twenty feet of me, sitting on some bricks +where they were building a little store, I could see the dim outline of +a German spiked helmet!</p> + +<p>I could not cross the street and the only thing to do was to back-track. +It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> meant making a long detour and losing two hours of precious time +and effort, but there was no help for it, and I plodded wearily back, +cursing the Huns at every step.</p> + +<p>The next night while crossing some fields I came to a road. It was one +of the main roads of Belgium and was paved with cobblestones. On these +roads you can hear a wagon or horse about a mile or two away. I listened +intently before I moved ahead, and, hearing nothing, concluded that the +way was clear.</p> + +<p>As I emerged from the field and got my first glimpse of the road I got +the shock of my life! In either direction, as far as I could see, the +road was lined with German soldiers!</p> + +<p>What they were doing in that part of Belgium I did not know, but you can +be mighty sure I didn't spend any time trying to find out.</p> + +<p>Again it was necessary to change my course and lose a certain amount of +ground, but by this time I had become fairly well reconciled to these +reverses and they did not depress me as much as they had at first.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p> + +<p>At this period of my adventure if a day or a night passed without its +thrill I began to feel almost disappointed, but such disappointments +were rather rare.</p> + +<p>One evening as I was about to swim a canal about two hundred feet wide I +suddenly noticed, about one hundred yards away, a canal-boat moored to +the side.</p> + +<p>It was a sort of out-of-the-way place, and I wondered what the +canal-boat had stopped for. I crawled up to see. As I neared the boat +five men were leaving it, and I noticed them cross over into the fields. +At a safe distance I followed them, and they had not gone very far +before I saw what they were after. They were committing the common but +heinous crime of stealing potatoes!</p> + +<p>Without the means to cook them, potatoes didn't interest me a bit, and +I thought that the boat itself would probably yield me more than the +potato-patch. Knowing that the canal hands would probably take their +time in the fields, I climbed up the stern of the boat leisurely and +without any particular pains to conceal myself. Just as my head appeared +above the stern of the boat I saw,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> silhouetted against the sky, the +dreaded outline of a German soldier—spiked helmet and all! A chill ran +down my spine as I dropped to the bank of the canal and slunk away. +Evidently the sentry had not seen me or, if he had, he had probably +figured that I was one of the foraging party, but I realized that it +wouldn't pay in future to take anything for granted.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="X" id="X">X<br /> +EXPERIENCES IN BELGIUM</a></h2> + + +<p>I think that one of the worst things I had to contend with in my journey +through Belgium was the number of small ditches. They intercepted me at +every half-mile or so, sometimes more frequently. The canals and the big +rivers I could swim. Of course, I got soaked to the skin every time I +did it, but I was becoming hardened to that.</p> + +<p>These little ditches, however, were too narrow to swim and too wide to +jump. They had perhaps two feet of water in them and three feet of mud, +and it was almost invariably a case of wading through. Some of them, no +doubt, I could have jumped if I had been in decent shape, but with a bad +ankle and in the weakened condition in which I was, it was almost out of +the question.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>One night I came to a ditch about eight or nine feet wide. I thought I +was strong enough to jump it, and it was worth trying, as the discomfort +I suffered after wading these ditches was considerable. Taking a long +run, I jumped as hard as I could, but I missed it by four or five inches +and landed in about two feet of water and three feet more of mud. +Getting out of that mess was quite a job. The water was too dirty and +too scanty to enable me to wash off the mud with which I was covered +and it was too wet to scrape off. I just had to wait until it dried and +scrape it off then.</p> + +<p>In many sections of Belgium through which I had to pass I encountered +large areas of swamp and marshy ground, and, rather than waste the time +involved in looking for better underfooting—which I might not have +found, anyway—I used to plod right through the mud. Apart from the +discomfort of this method of traveling and the slow time I made, there +was an added danger to me in the fact that the "squash-squash" noise +which I made might easily be overheard by Belgians and Germans and give +my position away. Nobody<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> would cross a swamp or marsh in that part +of the country unless he was trying to get away from somebody, and I +realized my danger, but could not get around it.</p> + +<p>It was a common sight in Belgium to see a small donkey and a common, +ordinary milch cow hitched together, pulling a wagon. When I first +observed the unusual combination I thought it was a donkey and ox or +bull, but closer inspection revealed to me that cows were being used for +the purpose.</p> + +<p>From what I was able to observe, there must be very few horses left in +Belgium except those owned by the Germans. Cows and donkeys are now +doing the work formerly done by horses and mules. Altogether I spent +nearly eight weeks wandering through Belgium and in all that time I +don't believe I saw more than half a dozen horses in the possession of +the native population.</p> + +<p>One of the scarcest things in Germany, apparently, is rubber, for I +noticed that their motor trucks, or lorries, unlike our own, had no +rubber tires. Instead, heavy iron bands were employed. I could hear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +them come rumbling along the stone roads for miles before they reached +the spot where I happened to be in hiding. When I saw these military +roads in Belgium for the first time, with their heavy cobblestones that +looked as if they would last for centuries, I realized at once why it +was that the Germans had been able to make such a rapid advance into +Belgium at the start of the war.</p> + +<p>I noticed that the Belgians used dogs to a considerable extent to pull +their carts, and I thought many times that if I could have stolen one +of those dogs it would have made a very good companion for me, and +might, if the occasion arose, help me out in a fight. But I had no way +of feeding it and the animal would probably have starved to death. I +could live on vegetables which I could always depend upon finding in the +fields, but a dog couldn't, and so I gave up the idea.</p> + +<p>The knack of making fire with two pieces of dry wood I had often read +about, but I had never put it to a test, and for various reasons I +concluded that it would be unsafe for me to build a fire even if I had +matches. In the first place, there was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> no absolute need for it. I +didn't have anything to cook, nor utensils to cook it in even if I had. +While the air was getting to be rather cool at night, I was usually on +the go at the time and didn't notice it. In the daytime, when I was +resting or sleeping, the sun was usually out.</p> + +<p>To have borrowed matches from a Belgian peasant would have been +feasible, but when I was willing to take the chance of approaching any +one it was just as easy to ask for food as matches.</p> + +<p>In the second place, it would have been extremely dangerous to have +built a fire even if I had needed it. You can't build a fire in Belgium, +which is the most thickly populated country in Europe, without every one +knowing it, and I was far from anxious to advertise my whereabouts.</p> + +<p>The villages in the part of Belgium through which I was making my course +were so close together that there was hardly ever an hour passed without +my hearing some clock strike. Every village has its clock. Many times I +could hear the clocks striking in two villages at the same time.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<p>But the hour had very little interest to me. My program was to travel as +fast as I could from sunset to sunrise and pay no attention to the hours +in between, and in the daytime I had only two things to worry about: +keep concealed and get as much sleep as possible.</p> + +<p>The cabbage that I got in Belgium consisted of the small heads that +the peasants had not cut. All the strength had concentrated in these +little heads and they would be as bitter as gall. I would have to be +pretty hungry to-day before I could ever eat cabbage again, and the same +observation applies to carrots, turnips, and sugar-beets—especially +sugar-beets.</p> + +<p>It is rather a remarkable thing that to-day even the smell of turnips, +raw or cooked, makes me sick, and yet a few short months ago my life +depended upon them.</p> + +<p>Night after night, as I searched for food, I was always in hopes that +I might come upon some tomatoes or celery—vegetables which I really +liked, but with the exception of once, when I found some celery, I was +never so fortunate. I ate so much of the celery the night I came upon it +that I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> was sick for two days thereafter, but I carried several bunches +away with me and used to chew on it as I walked along.</p> + +<p>Of course, I kept my eyes open all the time for fruit trees, but +apparently it was too late in the year for fruit, as all that I ever was +able to find were two pears which I got out of a tree. That was one of +my red-letter days, but I was never able to repeat it.</p> + +<p>In the brooks and ponds that I passed I often noticed fish of different +kinds. That was either in the early morning, just before I turned in for +the day, or on moonlight nights when the water seemed as clear in spots +as in the daytime. It occurred to me that it would be a simple matter to +rig a hook and line and catch some of the fish, but I had no means of +cooking them and it was useless to fish for the sake of it.</p> + +<p>One night in Belgium my course took me through a desolate stretch +of country which seemed to be absolutely uncultivated. I must have +covered twelve miles during the night without passing a single farm or +cultivated field. My stock of turnips which I had plucked the night +before was gone and I planned, of course, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> get enough to carry me +through the following day.</p> + +<p>The North Star was shining brightly that night and there was absolutely +nothing to prevent my steering an absolutely direct course for Holland +and liberty, but my path seemed to lie through arid pastures. Far to the +east or to the west I could hear faintly the striking of village bells, +and I knew that if I changed my course I would undoubtedly strike farms +and vegetables, but the North Star seemed to plead with me to follow it, +and I would not turn aside.</p> + +<p>When daylight came the consequence was I was empty-handed, and I had to +find a hiding-place for the day. I thought I would approach the first +peasant I came to and ask for food, but that day I had misgivings—a +hunch—that I would get into trouble if I did, and I decided to go +without food altogether for that day.</p> + +<p>It was a foolish thing to do, I found, because I not only suffered +greatly from hunger all that day, but it interfered with my sleep. I +would drop off to sleep for half an hour, perhaps, and during that time +I would dream that I was free, back<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> home, living a life of comparative +ease, and then I would wake up with a start and catch a glimpse of the +bushes surrounding me, feel the hard ground beneath me and the hunger +pangs gnawing at my insides, and then I would realize how far from home +I really was, and I would lie there and wonder whether I would ever +really see my home again. Then I would fall asleep again and dream this +time, perhaps, of the days I spent in Courtrai, of my leap from the +train window, of the Bavarian pilot whom I sent to eternity in my last +air-fight, of my tracer-bullets getting closer and closer to his head, +and then I would wake up again with a start and thank the Lord that I +was only dreaming it all again instead of living through it!</p> + +<p>That night I got an early start because I knew I had to have food, and I +decided that, rather than look for vegetables, I would take a chance and +apply to the first Belgian peasant I came to.</p> + +<p>It was about eight o'clock when I came to a small house. I had picked up +a heavy stone and had bound it in my handkerchief, and I was resolved to +use it as a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> weapon if it became necessary. After all I had gone through +I was resolved to win my liberty eventually at whatever cost.</p> + +<p>As it happened, I found that night the first real friend I had +encountered in all my traveling. When I knocked timidly on the door it +was opened by a Belgian peasant, about fifty years of age. He asked me +in Flemish what I wanted, but I shook my head and, pointing to my ears +and mouth, intimated that I was deaf and dumb, and then I opened and +closed my teeth several times to show him that I wanted food.</p> + +<p>He showed me inside and sat me at the table. He apparently lived alone, +for his ill-furnished room had but one chair, and the plate and knife +and fork he put before me seemed to be all he had. He brought me some +cold potatoes and several slices of stale bread, and he warmed me some +milk on a small oil-stove.</p> + +<p>I ate ravenously, and all the time I was engaged I knew that he was +eying me closely.</p> + +<p>Before I was half through he came over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> to me, touched me on the +shoulder, and, stooping over so that his lips almost touched my ear, he +said, in broken English, "You are an Englishman—I know it—and you can +hear and talk if you wish. Am I not right?"</p> + +<p>There was a smile on his face and a friendly attitude about him that +told me instinctively that he could be trusted, and I replied, "You have +guessed right—only I am an American, not an Englishman."</p> + +<p>He looked at me pityingly and filled my cup again with warm milk.</p> + +<p>His kindness and apparent willingness to help me almost overcame me, +and I felt like warning him of the consequences he would suffer if the +Huns discovered he had befriended me. I had heard that twenty Belgians +had been shot for helping Belgians to escape into Holland, and I hated +to think what might happen to this Good Samaritan if the Huns ever knew +that he had helped an escaped American prisoner.</p> + +<p>After my meal was finished I told him in as simple language as I could +command of some of the experiences I had gone through, and I outlined my +future plans.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You will never be able to get to Holland," he declared, "without a +passport. The nearer you get to the frontier the more German soldiers +you will encounter, and without a passport you will be a marked man."</p> + +<p>I asked him to suggest a way by which I could overcome this difficulty.</p> + +<p>He thought for several moments and studied me closely all the +time—perhaps endeavoring to make absolutely sure that I was not a +German spy—and then, apparently deciding in my favor, told me what he +thought it was best for me to do.</p> + +<p>"If you will call on this man," mentioning the name of a Belgian in +----, a city through which I had to pass, he advised, "you will be able +to make arrangements with him to secure a passport, and he will do +everything he can to get you out of Belgium."</p> + +<p>He told me where the man in question could be found and gave me some +useful directions to continue my journey, and then he led me to the +door. I thanked him a thousand times and wanted to pay him for his +kindness and help, but he would accept nothing. He did give me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> his +name, and you may be sure I shall never forget it, but to mention it +here might, of course, result in serious consequences for him. When the +war is over, however, or the Germans are thrown out of Belgium, I shall +make it my duty to find that kind Belgian, if to do it I have to go +through again all that I have suffered already.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI">XI<br /> +I ENCOUNTER GERMAN SOLDIERS</a></h2> + + +<p>What the Belgian had told me about the need of a passport gave me fresh +cause for worry. Suppose I should run into a German sentry before I +succeeded in getting one?</p> + +<p>I decided that until I reached the big city which the Belgian had +mentioned—and which I cannot name for fear of identifying some of +the people there who befriended me—I would proceed with the utmost +precaution. Since I had discarded my uniform and had obtained civilian +clothes I had not been quite as careful as I was at first. While I had +done my traveling at night, I had not gone into hiding so early in the +morning as before, and I had sometimes started again before it was quite +dark, relying upon the fact that I would probably be mistaken for a +Belgian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> on his way to or from work, as the case might be. From now on, +I resolved, however, I would take no more chances.</p> + +<p>That evening I came to a river perhaps seventy-five yards wide, and I +was getting ready to swim it when I thought I would walk a little way +to find, if possible, a better place to get to the river from the bank. +I had not walked more than a few hundred feet when I saw a boat. It was +the first time I had seen a boat in all my experiences.</p> + +<p>It was firmly chained, but as the stakes were sunk in the soft bank it +was not much of a job to pull them out. I got in, drank to my heart's +content, shoved over to the other side, got out, drove a stake into the +ground, and moored the boat. It would have been a simple matter to have +drifted down the river, but the river was not shown on my map and I had +no idea where it might lead me. Very reluctantly, therefore, I had to +abandon the boat and proceed on foot.</p> + +<p>I made several miles that night and before daylight found a safe +place in which to hide for the day. From my hiding-place I could see +through the bushes a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> heavy thick wood only a short distance away. +I decided that I would start earlier than usual, hurry over to the +wood, and perhaps in that way I could cover two or three miles in the +daytime and gain just so much time. Traveling through the wood would be +comparatively safe. There was a railroad going through the wood, but I +did not figure that that would make it any the less safe.</p> + +<p>About three o'clock that afternoon, therefore, I emerged from my +hiding-place and hurried into the wood. After proceeding for half a mile +or so I came to the railroad. I took a sharp look in both directions +and, seeing no signs of trains or soldiers, I walked boldly over the +tracks and continued on my way.</p> + +<p>I soon came upon a clearing and knew that some one must be living in the +vicinity. As I turned a group of trees I saw a small house and in the +distance an old man working in a garden. I decided to enter the house +and ask for food, figuring the woman would probably be old and would be +no match for me even if she proved hostile. The old woman who came to +the door in response to my knock was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> older even than I had expected. If +she wasn't close to a hundred years, I miss my guess very much.</p> + +<p>She could not speak English and I could not speak Flemish, of course, +but, nevertheless, I made her understand that I wanted something to eat. +She came out of the door and hollered for her husband in a shrill voice +that would have done credit to a girl of eighteen. The old man came in +from his garden and between the two of them they managed to get the +idea that I was hungry, and they gave me a piece of bread—a very small +piece—which was quite a treat.</p> + +<p>The house they lived in consisted of just two rooms—the kitchen and a +bedroom. The kitchen was perhaps fourteen feet square, eight feet of +one side of it being taken up by an enormous fireplace. What was in the +bedroom I had no way of telling, as I did not dare to be too inquisitive.</p> + +<p>I made the old couple understand that I would like to stay in their +house all night, but the old man shook his head. I bade them good-by and +disappeared into the woods, leaving them to speculate as to the strange +foreigner they had entertained.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p>From the greater density of the population in the section through which +I was now passing I realized that I must be in the outskirts of the +big city which the Belgian had mentioned and where I was to procure a +passport.</p> + +<p>Village after village intercepted me, and, although I tried to skirt +them wherever possible, I realized that I would never make much progress +if I continued that course. To gain a mile I would sometimes have to +make a detour of two or three. I decided that I would try my luck in +going straight through the next village I came to.</p> + +<p>As I approached it I passed numbers of peasants who were ambling along +the road. I was afraid to mingle with them because it was impossible for +me to talk to them and it was dangerous to arouse suspicion even among +the Belgians. For all I knew, one of them might be treacherous enough to +deliver me to the Germans in return for the reward he might be sure of +receiving.</p> + +<p>About nine o'clock that evening I came to a point where ahead of me +on the right was a Belgian police station—I knew it from its red +lights—and on the other side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> of the street were two German soldiers in +uniform leaning against a bicycle.</p> + +<p>Here was a problem which called for instant decision. If I turned back, +the suspicion of the soldiers would be instantly aroused, and if I +crossed the road so as not to pass so closely to them, they might be +equally suspicious. I decided to march bravely by the Huns, bluff my +way through, and trust to Providence. If anybody imagines, however, +that I was at all comfortable as I approached those soldiers, he must +think that I am a much braver man than I claim to be. My heart beat so +loud I was afraid they would hear it. Every step I took brought me so +much nearer to what might prove to be the end of all my hopes. It was a +nerve-racking ordeal.</p> + +<p>I was now within a few feet of them. Another step and—</p> + +<p>They didn't turn a hair! I passed right by them—heard what they were +saying, although, of course, I didn't understand it, and went right +on. I can't say I didn't walk a little faster as I left them behind, +but I tried to maintain an even gait so as not to give them any idea +of the inward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> exultation I was experiencing. No words can explain, +however, how relieved I really felt—to know that I had successfully +passed through the first of a series of similar tests which I realized +were in store for me—although I did not know then how soon I was to be +confronted with the second.</p> + +<p>As it was, however, the incident gave me a world of confidence. It +demonstrated to me that there was nothing in my appearance, at any rate, +to attract the attention of the German soldiers. Apparently I looked +like a Belgian peasant, and if I could only work things so that I would +never have to answer questions and thus give away my nationality, I +figured I would be tolerably safe.</p> + +<p>As I marched along I felt so happy I couldn't help humming the air of +one of the new patriotic songs that we used to sing at the aerodrome +back of Ypres.</p> + +<p>In this happy fame of mind I covered the next three miles in about an +hour, and then I came to another little village. My usual course would +have been to go around it—through fields, backyards, woods, or whatever +else lay in my way—but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> I had gained so much time by going through the +last village instead of detouring around it, and my appearance seemed to +be so unsuspicious, that I decided to try the same stunt again.</p> + +<p>I stopped humming and kept very much on the alert, but, apart from that, +I walked boldly through the main street without any feeling of alarm.</p> + +<p>I had proceeded perhaps a mile along the main street when I noticed +ahead of me three German soldiers standing at the curb.</p> + +<p>Again my heart started to beat fast, I must confess, but I was not +nearly so scared as I had been an hour or so before. I walked ahead, +determined to follow my previous procedure in every particular.</p> + +<p>I had got to about fifteen feet away from the soldiers when one of them +stepped onto the sidewalk and shouted:</p> + +<p>"Halt!"</p> + +<p>My heart stopped beating fast—for a moment, I believe, it stopped +beating altogether! I can't attempt to describe my feelings. The thought +that the jig was up, that all I had gone through and all I had escaped +would now avail me nothing, mingled with a feeling of disgust<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> with +myself because of the foolish risk I had taken in going through the +village, combined to take all the starch out of me, and I could feel +myself wilting as the soldier advanced to the spot where I stood rooted +in my tracks.</p> + +<p>I had a bottle of water in one pocket and a piece of bread in the other, +and as the Hun advanced to search me I held the bottle up in one hand +and the piece of bread in the other so that he could see that was all I +had.</p> + +<p>It occurred to me that he would "frisk" me—that is, feel me over for +arms or other weapons, then place me under arrest and march me off to +the guard-house. I had not the slightest idea but that I was captured, +and there didn't seem to be much use in resisting, unarmed as I was and +with two other German soldiers within a few feet of us.</p> + +<p>Like a flash it suddenly dawned on me, however, that for all this +soldier could have known I was only a Belgian peasant and that his +object in searching me, which he proceeded to do, was to ascertain +whether I had committed the common "crime" of smuggling potatoes!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Belgians are allowed only a certain amount of potatoes, and it is +against the laws laid down by the Huns to deal in vegetables of any kind +except under the rigid supervision of the authorities. Nevertheless, it +was one of the principal vocations of the average poor Belgian to buy +potatoes out in the country from the peasants and then smuggle them into +the large cities and sell them clandestinely at a high price.</p> + +<p>To stop this traffic in potatoes the German soldiers were in the habit +of subjecting the Belgians to frequent search, and I was being held up +by this soldier for no other reason than that he thought I might be a +potato-smuggler!</p> + +<p>He felt of my outside clothes and pockets, and, finding no potatoes, +seemed to be quite satisfied. Had he but known who I was he could have +earned an iron cross! Or perhaps, in view of the fact that I had a heavy +water-bottle in my uplifted hand, it might have turned out to be a +<i>wooden</i> cross!</p> + +<p>He said something in German, which, of course, I did not understand, +and then some Belgian peasants came along and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> seemed to distract his +attention. Perhaps he had said, "It's all right, you may go on," or +he may have been talking to the others in Flemish, but, at any rate, +observing that he was more interested in the others than he was in me at +the moment, I put the bottle in my pocket and walked on.</p> + +<p>After I walked a few steps I took a furtive glance backward and noticed +the soldier who had searched me rejoin his comrades at the curb and then +stop another fellow who had come along, and then I disappeared in the +darkness.</p> + +<p>I cannot say that the outcome of this adventure left me in the same +confident frame of mind that followed the earlier one. It was true I had +come out of it all right, but I could not help thinking what a terribly +close shave I had.</p> + +<p>Suppose the soldier had questioned me? The ruse I had been following +in my dealings with the Belgian peasants—pretending I was deaf and +dumb—might possibly have worked here, too, but a soldier—a German +soldier—might not so easily have been fooled. It was more than an even +chance that it would at least have aroused<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> his suspicions and resulted +in further investigation. A search of my clothing would have revealed +a dozen things which would have established my identity, and all my +shamming of deafness would have availed me nothing.</p> + +<p>As I wandered along I knew that I was now approaching the big city which +my Belgian friend had spoken of and which I would have to enter if I was +to get the passport, and I realized now how essential it was to have +something to enable me to get through the frequent examinations to which +I expected to be subjected.</p> + +<p>While I was still debating in my mind whether it was going to be +possible for me to enter the city that night, I saw in the distance what +appeared to be an arc-light, and as I neared it that was what it turned +out to be. Beneath the light I could make out the forms of three guards, +and the thought of having to go through the same kind of ordeal that I +had just experienced filled me with misgivings. Was it possible that I +could be fortunate enough to get by again?</p> + +<p>As I slowed up a little, trying to make up my mind what was best to do, +I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> overtaken by a group of Belgian women who were shuffling along +the road, and I decided to mingle with them and see if I couldn't convey +the impression that I was one of their party.</p> + +<p>As we approached the arc-light the figures of those three soldiers with +their spiked helmets loomed up before me like a regiment. I felt as if +I were walking right into the jaws of death. Rather than go through +what was in store for me I felt that I would infinitely prefer to be +fighting again in the air with those four desperate Huns who had been +the cause of my present plight; then, at least, I would have a chance to +fight back, but now I had to risk my life and take what was coming to me +without a chance to strike a blow in my own defense.</p> + +<p>I shall never forget my feelings as we came within the shaft of light +projected by that great arc-light, nor the faces of those three guards +as we passed by them. I didn't look directly at them, but out of the +corner of my eye I didn't miss a detail. I held a handkerchief up to my +face as we passed them, and endeavored to imitate the slouching gait of +the Belgians<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> as well as I could; and apparently it worked. We walked +right by those guards and they paid absolutely no attention to us.</p> + +<p>If ever a fellow felt like going down on his knees and praying, I did at +that moment, but it wouldn't have done to show my elation or gratitude +in that conspicuous way.</p> + +<p>It was then well after eleven o'clock, and I knew it would be unsafe for +me to attempt to find a lodging-place in the city, and the only thing +for me to do was to locate the man whose name the Belgian had given me. +He had given me a good description of the street and had directed me how +to get there, and I followed his instructions closely.</p> + +<p>After walking the streets for about half an hour I came upon one of the +landmarks my friend had described to me, and ten minutes afterward I was +knocking at the door of the man who was to make it possible for me to +reach Holland—and liberty. At least that was what I hoped.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII">XII<br /> +THE FORGED PASSPORT</a></h2> + + +<p>For obvious reasons I cannot describe the man to whom I applied for +the passport, nor the house in which he lived. While, in view of what +subsequently happened, I would not be very much concerned if he got into +trouble for having dealt with me, I realize that the hardships he had +endured in common with all the other inhabitants of that conquered city +may possibly have distorted his ideas of right and justice, and I shall +not deliberately bring further disaster on him by revealing his identity.</p> + +<p>This man—we will call him Huyliger, because that is as unlike his +name as it is mine—was very kind to me on that memorable night when I +aroused him from his sleep and in a few words of explanation told him of +my plight.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span></p> + +<p>He invited me inside, prepared some food for me, and, putting on a +dressing-gown, came and sat by me while I ate, listening with the +greatest interest to the short account I gave him of my adventures.</p> + +<p>He could speak English fluently, and he interrupted me several times to +express his sympathy for the sufferings I had endured.</p> + +<p>"O'Brien," he said, after I had concluded my story, "I am going to +help you. It may take several days—perhaps as long as two weeks, but +eventually we will provide the means to enable you to get into Holland!"</p> + +<p>I thanked him a thousand times and told him that I didn't know how I +could possibly repay him.</p> + +<p>"Don't think of that," he replied; "the satisfaction of knowing that I +have aided in placing one more victim of the Huns beyond their power to +harm him will more than repay me for all the risk I shall run in helping +you. You'd better turn in now, O'Brien, and in the morning I'll tell you +what I plan to do."</p> + +<p>He showed me to a small room on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> second floor, shook hands with me, +and left me to prepare for the first real night's rest I had been able +to take in nearly two months.</p> + +<p>As I removed my clothes and noticed that my knees were still swollen to +twice their normal size, that my left ankle was black and blue from the +wrench I had given it when I jumped from the train, and that my ribs +showed through my skin, I realized what a lot I had been through. As a +matter of fact, I could not have weighed more than one hundred and fifty +pounds at that time, whereas I had tipped the scales at one hundred and +ninety when I was with my squadron in France.</p> + +<p>I lost no time in getting into bed and still less in getting to sleep. +I don't know what I dreamed of that night, but I had plenty of time to +go through the experiences of my whole life, for when I was aroused by a +knock on the door, and Huyliger came in, in response to my invitation to +enter, he told me that it was nearly noon. I had slept for nearly twelve +hours.</p> + +<p>I cannot say that the thought did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> run through my head that perhaps, +after all, I was living in a fool's paradise, and that when Huyliger +reappeared it would be with a couple of German soldiers behind him, +but I dismissed such misgivings summarily, realizing that I was doing +Huyliger an injustice to let such things enter my head even for an +instant. I had no right to doubt his sincerity, and it would do me no +good to entertain such suspicions. If he was going to prove treacherous +to me, I was powerless, anyway, to cope with him.</p> + +<p>In a few moments my host appeared with a tray containing my breakfast. +I don't suppose I shall ever forget that meal. It consisted of a cup of +coffee—real coffee, not the kind I had had at Courtrai—several slices +of bread, some hot potatoes, and a dish of scrambled eggs.</p> + +<p>Every mouthful of that meal tasted like angel-food to me, and Huyliger +sat on the edge of the bed and watched me enjoying the meal, at the same +time outlining the plans he had made for my escape.</p> + +<p>In brief, the scheme was to conceal me in a convent until conditions +were ripe for me to make my way to the border. In the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> mean while I was +to be dressed in the garb of a priest, and when the time came for me to +leave the city I was to pretend that I was a Spanish sailor, because +I could speak a little Spanish, which I had picked up on the coast. +To attempt to play the part of a Belgian would become increasingly +difficult, he pointed out, and would bring inevitable disaster in the +event that I was called upon to speak.</p> + +<p>Huyliger said I would be given sufficient money to bribe the German +guards at the Dutch frontier, and he assured me that everything would +work out according to schedule.</p> + +<p>"Yours is not the first case, O'Brien, we have handled successfully," he +declared. "Only three weeks ago I heard from an English merchant who had +escaped from a German detention camp and come to me for assistance, and +whom I had been able to get through the lines. His message telling me of +his safe arrival in Rotterdam came to me in an indirect way, of course, +but the fact that the plans we had made carried through without mishap +makes me feel that we ought to be able to do as much for you."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>I told Huyliger I was ready to follow his instructions and would do +anything he suggested.</p> + +<p>"I want to rejoin my squadron as soon as I possibly can, of course," I +told him, "but I realize that it will take a certain length of time for +you to make the necessary arrangements, and I will be as patient as I +can."</p> + +<p>The first thing to do, Huyliger told me, was to prepare a passport. He +had a blank one and it was a comparatively simple matter to fill in the +spaces, using a genuine passport which Huyliger possessed as a sample +of the handwriting of the passport clerk. My occupation was entered as +that of a sailor. My birthplace we gave as Spain, and we put my age at +thirty. As a matter of fact, at that time I could easily have passed for +thirty-five, but we figured that with proper food and a decent place +to sleep in at night I would soon regain my normal appearance and the +passport would have to serve me, perhaps, for several weeks to come.</p> + +<p>Filling in the blank spaces on the passport was, as I have said, a +comparatively easy matter, but that did not begin to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> fill the bill. +Every genuine passport bore an official rubber stamp, something like an +elaborate postmark, and I was at a loss to know how to get over that +difficulty.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_8" id="illo_8"> +<img src="images/i_193.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"> +<p>THE FORGED PASSPORT PREPARED IN A BELGIAN CITY TO AID +LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN'S ESCAPE INTO HOLLAND, BUT WHICH WAS NEVER USED</p> +</div> +<div class="larger-version"> +[<a href="images/i_193L.jpg">See larger version</a>] +</div> +</div> + +<p>Fortunately, however, Huyliger had half of a rubber stamp which had +evidently been thrown away by the Germans, and he planned to construct +the other half out of the cork from a wine bottle. He was very skilful +with a penknife, and although he spoiled a score or more of corks before +he succeeded in getting anything like the result he was after, the +finished article was far better than our most sanguine expectations. +Indeed, after we had pared it over here and there and removed whatever +imperfections our repeated tests disclosed, we had a stamp which made +an impression so closely resembling the original that, without a +magnifying-glass, we were sure it would have been impossible to tell +that it was a counterfeit.</p> + +<p>Huyliger procured a camera and took a photograph of me to paste on the +passport in the place provided for that purpose, and we then had a +passport which was entirely satisfactory to both of us and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> would, we +hoped, prove equally so to our friends the Huns.</p> + +<p>It had taken two days to fix up the passport. In the mean while, +Huyliger informed me that he had changed his plans about the convent, +and that instead he would take me to an empty house where I could remain +in safety until he told me it was advisable for me to proceed to the +frontier.</p> + +<p>This was quite agreeable to me, as I had had some misgivings as to the +kind of a priest I would make, and it seemed to me to be safer to remain +aloof from every one in a deserted house than to have to mingle with +people or come in contact with them even with the best of disguises.</p> + +<p>That night I accompanied Huyliger to a fashionable section of the city +where the house in which I was to be concealed was located.</p> + +<p>This house turned out to be a four-story structure of brick. Huyliger +told me that it had been occupied by a wealthy Belgian before the +war, but since 1914 it had been uninhabited save for the occasional +habitation of some refugee whom Huyliger was befriending.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p> + +<p>Huyliger had a key and let me in, but he did not enter the house with +me, stating that he would visit me in the morning.</p> + +<p>I explored the place from top to bottom as well as I could without +lights. The house was elaborately furnished, but, of course, the dust +lay a quarter of an inch thick almost everywhere. It was a large house, +containing some twenty rooms. There were two rooms in the basement, +four on the first floor, four on the second, five on the third, and +five on the top. In the days that were to come I was to have plenty of +opportunity to familiarize myself with the contents of that house, but +at the time I did not know it, and I was curious enough to want to know +just what the house contained.</p> + +<p>Down in the basement there was a huge pantry, but it was absolutely +bare, except of dust and dirt. A door which evidently led to a +sub-basement attracted my attention, and I thought it might be a good +idea to know just where it led in case it became necessary for me to +elude searchers.</p> + +<p>In that cellar I found case after case of choice wine—Huyliger +subsequently told me that there were eighteen hundred bottles<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> of it. I +was so happy at the turn my affairs had taken and in the rosy prospects +which I now entertained that I was half inclined to indulge in a little +celebration then and there. On second thoughts, however, I remembered +the old warning of the folly of shouting before you are well out of +the woods, and I decided that it would be just as well to postpone the +festivities for a while and go to bed instead.</p> + +<p>In such an elaborately furnished house I had naturally conjured up ideas +of a wonderfully large bed, with thick hair mattresses, downy quilts, +and big soft pillows. Indeed, I debated for a while which particular +bedroom I should honor with my presence that night. Judge of my +disappointment, therefore, when, after visiting bedroom after bedroom, +I discovered that there wasn't a bed in any one of them that was in a +condition to sleep in. All the mattresses had been removed and the rooms +were absolutely bare of everything in the way of wool, silk, or cotton +fabrics. The Germans had apparently swept the house clean.</p> + +<p>There was nothing to do, therefore, but to make myself as comfortable +as I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> on the floor, but as I had grown accustomed by this time +to sleeping under far less comfortable conditions I swallowed my +disappointment as cheerfully as I could and lay down for the night.</p> + +<p>In the morning Huyliger appeared and brought me some breakfast, and +after I had eaten it he asked me what connections I had in France or +England from whom I could obtain money.</p> + +<p>I told him that I banked at Cox & Co., London, and that if he needed any +money I would do anything I could to get it for him, although I did not +know just how such things could be arranged.</p> + +<p>"Don't worry about that, O'Brien," he replied. "We'll find a way of +getting at it, all right. What I want to know is how far you are +prepared to go to compensate me for the risks I am taking and for the +service I am rendering you."</p> + +<p>The change in the man's attitude stunned me. I could hardly believe my +ears.</p> + +<p>"Of course, I shall pay you as well as I can for what you have done, +Huyliger," I replied, trying to conceal as far as possible the +disappointment his demand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> had occasioned me. "But don't you think that +this is hardly the proper time or occasion to talk of compensation? All +I have on me, as you know, is a few hundred francs, and that, of course, +you are welcome to, and when I get back, if I ever do, I shall not +easily forget the kindness you have shown me. I am sure you need have no +concern about my showing my gratitude in a substantial way."</p> + +<p>"That's all right, O'Brien," he insisted, looking at me in a knowing +sort of way. "You may take care of me afterward, and then again you may +not. I'm not satisfied to wait. I want to be taken care of <i>now</i>!"</p> + +<p>"Well, what do you want me to do? How much do you expect in the way of +compensation? How can I arrange to get it to you? I am willing to do +anything that is reasonable."</p> + +<p>"I want —— pounds!" he replied, and he named a figure that staggered +me. If I had been Lord Kitchener instead of just an ordinary lieutenant +in the R. F. C., he would hardly have asked a larger sum. Perhaps he +thought I was.</p> + +<p>"Why, my dear man," I said, smilingly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> thinking that perhaps he was +joking, "you don't really mean that, do you?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly do, O'Brien, and what is more," he threatened, "I intend to +get every cent I have asked, and you are going to help me get it!"</p> + +<p>He pulled out an order calling for the payment to him of the amount he +had mentioned, and demanded that I sign it.</p> + +<p>I waved it aside.</p> + +<p>"Huyliger," I said, "you have helped me out so far, and perhaps you have +the power to help me further. I appreciate what you have done for me, +although now, I think, I see what your motive was, but I certainly don't +intend to be blackmailed, and I tell you right now that I won't stand +for it!"</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said. "It is just as you say. But before you make up +your mind so obstinately I would advise you to think it over. I'll be +back this evening."</p> + +<p>My first impulse, after the man had left, was to get out of that house +just as soon as I could. I had the passport he had prepared for me, and +I figured that even without further help from him I could now get to the +border without very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> much difficulty, and when I got there I would have +to use my own ingenuity to get through.</p> + +<p>It was evident, however, that Huyliger still had an idea that I might +change my mind with regard to the payment he had demanded, and I decided +that it would be foolish to do anything until he paid me a second visit.</p> + +<p>At the beginning of my dealings with Huyliger I had turned over to him +some pictures, papers, and other things that I had on me when I entered +his house, including my identification disk, and I was rather afraid +that he might refuse to return them to me.</p> + +<p>All day long I remained in the house without a particle of food other +than the breakfast Huyliger had brought to me. From the windows I +could see plenty to interest me and help pass the time away, but of +my experiences while in that house I shall tell in detail later on, +confining my attention now to a narration of my dealings with Huyliger.</p> + +<p>That night he appeared, as he had promised.</p> + +<p>"Well, O'Brien," he asked, as he entered<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> the room where I was awaiting +him, "what do you say? Will you sign the order or not?"</p> + +<p>It had occurred to me during the day that the amount demanded was so +fabulous that I might have signed the order without any danger of +its ever being paid, but the idea of this man, who had claimed to be +befriending me, endeavoring to make capital out of my plight galled me +so that I was determined not to give in to him, whether I could do so in +safety or not.</p> + +<p>"No, Huyliger," I replied. "I have decided to get along as best I can +without any further assistance from you. I shall see that you are +reasonably paid for what you have done, but I will not accept any +further assistance from you at any price, and, what is more, I want +you to return to me at once all the photographs and other papers and +belongings of mine which I turned over to you a day or two ago!"</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry about that, O'Brien," he retorted, with a show of apparent +sincerity, "but that is something I cannot do."</p> + +<p>"If you don't give me back those papers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> at once," I replied, hotly, "I +will take steps to get them and damned quick, too!"</p> + +<p>"I don't know just what you could do, O'Brien," he declared, coolly, +"but as a matter of fact the papers and pictures you refer to are out of +the country. I could not give them back to you if I wanted to."</p> + +<p>Something told me the man was lying.</p> + +<p>"See here, Huyliger!" I threatened, advancing toward him, putting my +hand on his shoulder and looking him straight in the eye, "I want those +papers and I want them here before midnight to-night. If I don't get +them, I shall sleep in this place just once more, and then, at eight +o'clock to-morrow morning, I shall go to the German authorities, give +myself up, show them the passport that you fixed up for me, tell them +how I got it, and explain everything!"</p> + +<p>Huyliger paled. We had no lights in the house, but we were standing +near a landing at the time and the moonlight was streaming through a +stained-glass window.</p> + +<p>The Belgian turned on his heel and started to go down the stairs.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mind you," I called after him, "I shall wait for you till the city +clock strikes twelve, and if you don't show up with those papers by that +time, the next time you will see me is when you confront me before the +German authorities! I am a desperate man, Huyliger, and I mean every +word I say!"</p> + +<p>He let himself out of the door and I sat on the top stair and wondered +just what he would do. Would he try to steal a march on me and get in +a first word to the authorities, so that my story would be discredited +when I put it to them?</p> + +<p>Of course my threat to give myself up to the Huns was a pure bluff. +While I had no desire to lose the papers which Huyliger had, and which +included the map of the last resting-place of my poor chum Raney, I +certainly had no intention of cutting off my nose to spite my chin by +surrendering to the Germans. I would have been shot, as sure as fate, +for, after all I had been able to observe behind the German lines, I +would be regarded as a spy and treated as such.</p> + +<p>At the same time I thought I had detected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> a yellow streak in Huyliger, +and I figured that he would not want to take the risk of my carrying out +my threat, even though he believed there was but a small chance of my +doing so. If I did, he would undoubtedly share my fate, and the pictures +and papers he had of mine were really of no use to him, and I have never +been able to ascertain why it was he wished to retain them unless they +contained something—some information about me—which accounted for his +complete change of attitude toward me in the first place, and he wanted +the papers as evidence to account to his superiors or associates for his +conduct toward me.</p> + +<p>When he first told me that the plan of placing me in a convent disguised +as a priest had been abandoned he explained it by saying that the +Cardinal had issued orders to the priests to help no more fugitives, +and I have since wondered whether there was anything in my papers which +had turned him against me and led him to forsake me after all he had +promised to do for me.</p> + +<p>For perhaps two hours I sat on that staircase musing about the peculiar +turn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> in my affairs, when the front door opened and Huyliger ascended +the stairs.</p> + +<p>"I have brought you such of your belongings as I still had, O'Brien," he +said, softly. "The rest, as I told you, I cannot give you. They are no +longer in my possession."</p> + +<p>I looked through the little bunch he handed me. It included my +identification disk, most of the papers I valued, and perhaps half of +the photographs.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what your object is in retaining the rest of my pictures, +Huyliger," I replied, "but, as a matter of fact, the ones that are +missing were only of sentimental value to me, and you are welcome to +them if you want them. We'll call it a heat."</p> + +<p>I don't know whether he understood the idiom, but he sat down on the +stairs just below me and cogitated for a few moments.</p> + +<p>"O'Brien," he started, finally, "I'm sorry things have gone the way +they have. I feel sorry for you and I would really like to help you. I +don't suppose you will believe me, but the matter of the order which I +asked you to sign was not of my doing. However, we won't go into that. +The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> proposition was made to you and you turned it down, and that's an +end of it. At the same time, I hate to leave you to your own resources +and I'm going to make one more suggestion to you for your own good. I +have another plan to get you into Holland, and if you will go with me +to another house I will introduce you to a man who I think will be in a +position to help you."</p> + +<p>"How many millions of pounds will he want for his trouble?" I asked, +sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"You can arrange that when you see him. Will you go?"</p> + +<p>I suspected there was something fishy about the proposition, but I felt +that I could take care of myself and decided to see the thing through. +I knew Huyliger would not dare to deliver me to the authorities because +of the fact that I had the telltale passport, which would be his +death-knell as well as my own.</p> + +<p>Accordingly I said I would be quite willing to go with him whenever he +was ready, and he suggested that we go the next evening.</p> + +<p>I pointed out to him that I was entirely<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> without food and asked him +whether he could not arrange to bring or send me something to eat while +I remained in the house.</p> + +<p>"I'm sorry, O'Brien," he replied, "but I'm afraid you'll have to get +along as best you can. When I brought you your breakfast this morning I +took a desperate chance. If I had been discovered by one of the German +soldiers entering this house with food in my possession, I would not +only have paid the penalty myself, but you would have been discovered, +too. It is too dangerous a proposition. Why don't you go out by yourself +and buy your food at the stores? That would give you confidence, and +you'll need plenty of it when you continue your journey to the border."</p> + +<p>There was a good deal of truth in what he said, and I really could not +blame him for not wanting to take any chances to help me, in view of the +relations between us.</p> + +<p>"Very well," I said; "I've gone without food for many hours at a time +before and I suppose I shall be able to do so again. I shall look for +you to-morrow evening."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next evening he came and I accompanied him to another house not +very far from the one in which I had been staying and not unlike it in +appearance. It, too, was a substantial dwelling-house which had been +untenanted since the beginning, save perhaps for such occasional visits +as Huyliger and his associates made to it.</p> + +<p>Huyliger let himself in and conducted me to a room on the second floor, +where he introduced me to two men. One, I could readily see by the +resemblance, was his own brother. The other was a stranger.</p> + +<p>Very briefly they explained to me that they had procured another +passport for me—a genuine one—which would prove far more effective +in helping to get me to the frontier than the counterfeit one they had +manufactured for me.</p> + +<p>I think I saw through their game right at the start, but I listened +patiently to what they had to say.</p> + +<p>"Of course, you will have to return to us the passport we gave you +before we can give you the real one," said Huyliger's brother.</p> + +<p>"I haven't the slightest objection," I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> replied, "if the new passport is +all you claim for it. Will you let me see it?"</p> + +<p>There was considerable hesitation on the part of Huyliger's brother and +the other chap at this.</p> + +<p>"Why, I don't think that's necessary at all, Mr. O'Brien," said the +former. "You give us the old passport and we will be very glad to give +you the new one for it. Isn't that fair enough?"</p> + +<p>"It may be fair enough, my friends," I retorted, seeing that it was +useless to conceal further the fact that I was fully aware of their +whole plan and why I had been brought to this house. "It may be fair +enough, my friends," I said, "but you will get the passport that I have +here," patting my side and indicating my inside breast pocket, "only off +my dead body!"</p> + +<p>I suppose the three of them could have made short work of me then and +there if they had wanted to go the limit, and no one would ever have +been the wiser, but I had gone through so much and I was feeling so mean +toward the whole world just at that moment that I was determined to sell +my life as dearly as possible.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have that passport here," I repeated, "and I'm going to keep it. If +you gentlemen think you can take it from me, you are welcome to try!"</p> + +<p>To tell the truth, I was spoiling for a fight and I half wished they +would start something. The man who had lived in the house had evidently +been a collector of ancient pottery, for the walls were lined with great +pieces of earthenware which had every earmark of possessing great value. +They certainly possessed great weight. I figured that if the worst came +to the worst that pottery would come in mighty handy. A single blow +with one of those big vases would put a man out as neatly as possible, +and as there was lots of pottery and only three men I believed I had an +excellent chance of holding my own in the combat which I had invited.</p> + +<p>I had already picked out in my mind what I was going to use, and I got +up, stood with my back to the wall, and told them that if they ever +figured on getting the passport, then would be their best chance.</p> + +<p>Apparently they realized that I meant<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> business and they immediately +began to expostulate at the attitude I was taking.</p> + +<p>One of the men spoke excellent English. In fact, he told me that he +could speak five languages, and if he could lie in the others as well I +know he did in my own tongue, he was not only an accomplished linguist, +but a most versatile liar into the bargain.</p> + +<p>They argued and expostulated with me for some time.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow," said the linguist, "it is not that we want to deprive +you of the passport. Good Heavens! if it will aid you in getting out +of the country, I wish you could have six just like it. But for our +own protection you owe it to us to proceed on your journey as best you +can without it, because as long as you have it in your possession you +jeopardize our lives, too. Don't you think it is fairer that you should +risk your own safety rather than place the lives of three innocent men +in danger?"</p> + +<p>"That may be as it is, my friends," I retorted, as I made my way to the +door, "and I am glad you realize your danger. Keep it in mind, for in +case any of you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> should happen to feel inclined to notify the German +authorities that I am in this part of the country, think it over before +you do so. Remember always that if the Germans get me, they get the +passport, too, and if they get the passport, your lives won't be worth a +damn! When I tell the history of that clever little piece of pasteboard +I will implicate all three of you, and whomever else is working with +you, and as I am an officer I rather think my word will be taken before +yours. Good night!"</p> + +<p>The bluff evidently worked, because I was able to get out of the city +without molestation from the Germans.</p> + +<p>I have never seen these men since. I hope I never shall, because I am +afraid I might be tempted to do something for which I might afterward be +sorry.</p> + +<p>I do not mean to imply that all Belgians are like this. I had evidently +fallen into the hands of a gang who were endeavoring to make capital +out of the misfortunes of those who were referred to them for help. In +all countries there are bad as well as good, and in a country which +has suffered so much as poor Belgium it is no wonder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> if some of the +survivors have lost their sense of moral perspective.</p> + +<p>I know the average poor peasant in Belgium would divide his scanty +rations with a needy fugitive sooner than a wealthy Belgian would dole +out a morsel from his comparatively well-stocked larder. Perhaps the +poor have less to lose than the rich if their generosity or charity is +discovered by the Huns.</p> + +<p>There have been many Belgians shot for helping escaped prisoners and +other fugitives, and it is not to be wondered at that they are willing +to take as few chances as possible. A man with a family, especially, +does not feel justified in helping a stranger when he knows that he and +his whole family may be shot or sent to prison for their pains.</p> + +<p>Although I suffered much from the attitude of Huyliger and his +associates, I suppose I ought to hold no grudge against them in view of +the unenviable predicament which they are in themselves.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XIII" id="XIII">XIII<br /> +FIVE DAYS IN AN EMPTY HOUSE</a></h2> + + +<p>The five days I spent in that house seemed to me like five years. During +all that time I had very little to eat—less, in fact, than I had been +getting in the fields. I did not feel it so much, perhaps, because of +the fact that I was no longer exposed to the other privations which +had helped to make my condition so wretched. I now had a good place to +sleep, at any rate, and I did not awake every half-hour or so as I had +been accustomed to do in the fields and woods, and, of course, my hunger +was not aggravated by the physical exertions which had been necessary +before.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, perhaps because I had more time now to think of the hunger +pains which were gnawing at me all the time, I don't believe I was ever +so miserable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> as I was at that period of my adventure. I felt so mean +toward the world I would have committed murder, I think, with very +little provocation.</p> + +<p>German soldiers were passing the house at all hours of the day. I +watched them hour after hour from the keyhole of the door—to have shown +myself at the window was out of the question because the house in which +I was concealed was supposed to be untenanted.</p> + +<p>Because of the fact that I was unable to speak either Flemish or German +I could not go out and buy food, although I still had the money with +which to do it. That was one of the things that galled me—the thought +that I had the wherewithal in my jeans to buy all the food I needed, and +yet no way of getting it without endangering my liberty and life.</p> + +<p>At night, however, after it was dark, I would steal quietly out of the +house to see what I could pick up in the way of food. By that time, of +course, the stores were closed, but I scoured the streets, the alleys, +and the byways for scraps of food, and occasionally got up courage +enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> to appeal to Belgian peasants whom I met on the streets, and in +that way I managed to keep body and soul together.</p> + +<p>It was quite apparent to me, however, that I was worse off in the city +than I had been in the fields, and I decided to get out of that house +just as soon as I knew definitely that Huyliger had made up his mind to +do nothing further for me.</p> + +<p>When I was not at the keyhole of the door I spent most of my day on the +top floor in a room which looked out on the street. By keeping well away +from the window I could see much of what was going on without being +seen myself. In my restlessness I used to walk back and forth in that +room, and I kept it up so constantly that I believe I must have worn a +path on the floor. It was nine steps from one wall to the other, and as +I had little else to amuse me I figured out one day, after I had been +pacing up and down for several hours, just how much distance I would +have covered on my way to Holland if my footsteps had been taking me in +that direction instead of just up and down that old room. I was very +much surprised that in three hours I crossed the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> room no less than +five thousand times and the distance covered was between nine and ten +miles. It was not very gratifying to realize that after walking all that +distance I wasn't a step nearer my goal than when I started, but I had +to do something while waiting for Huyliger to help me, and pacing up and +down was a natural outlet for my restlessness.</p> + +<p>While looking out of that top-floor window one day I noticed a cat on a +window-ledge of the house across the street. I had a piece of a broken +mirror which I had picked up in the house and I used to amuse myself for +an hour at a time shining it in the cat's eyes across the street. At +first the animal was annoyed by the reflection and would move away, only +to come back a few moments later. By and by, however, it seemed to get +used to the glare and wouldn't budge, no matter how strong the sunlight +was. Playing with the cat in this way was the means of my getting food a +day or two later—at a time when I was so famished that I was ready to +do almost anything to appease my hunger.</p> + +<p>It was about seven o'clock in the evening. I was expecting Huyliger at +eight,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> but I hadn't the slightest hope that he would bring me food, +as he had told me that he wouldn't take the risk of having food in his +possession when calling on me. I was standing at the window in such +a way that I could see what was going on in the street without being +observed by those who passed by, when I noticed my friend the cat coming +down the steps of the opposite house with something in his mouth. +Without considering the risks I ran, I opened the front door, ran down +the steps and across the street, and pounced on the cat before it could +get away with its supper, for that, as I had imagined, was what I had +seen in its mouth. It turned out to be a piece of stewed rabbit, which I +confiscated eagerly and took back with me to the house.</p> + +<p>Perhaps I felt a little sorry for the cat, but I certainly had no other +qualms about eating the animal's dinner. I was much too hungry to dwell +upon niceties, and a piece of stewed rabbit was certainly too good for +a cat to eat when a man was starving. I ate it and enjoyed it, and the +incident suggested to me a way in which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> I might possibly obtain food +again when all other avenues failed.</p> + +<p>From my place of concealment I frequently saw huge carts being pushed +through the streets gathering potato peelings, refuse of cabbage, and +similar food remnants which, in America, are considered garbage and +destroyed. In Belgium they were using this "garbage" to make their bread +out of, and while the idea may sound revolting to us, the fact is that +the Germans have brought these things down to such a science that the +bread they make in this way is really very good to eat. I know it would +have been like cake to me when I was in need of food; indeed, I would +have eaten the "garbage" direct, let alone the bread.</p> + +<p>Although, as I have said, I suffered greatly from hunger while occupying +this house, there were one or two things I observed through the keyhole +or from the windows which made me laugh, and some of the incidents that +occurred during my voluntary imprisonment were really rather funny.</p> + +<p>From the keyhole I could see, for instance, a shop window on the other +side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> of the street, several houses down the block. All day long German +soldiers would be passing in front of the house, and I noticed that +practically every one of them would stop in front of this store window +and look in. Occasionally a soldier on duty bent would hurry past, but +I think nine out of ten of them were sufficiently interested to spend +at least a minute, and some of them three or four minutes, gazing at +whatever was being exhibited in that window, although I noticed that it +failed to attract the Belgians.</p> + +<p>I have a considerable streak of curiosity in me and I couldn't help +wondering what it could be in that window which almost without exception +seemed to interest German soldiers, but failed to hold the Belgians, +and after conjuring my brains for a while on the problem I came to the +conclusion that the shop must have been a book-shop and the window +contained German magazines, which, naturally enough, would be of the +greatest interest to the Germans, but of none to the Belgians.</p> + +<p>At any rate, I resolved that as soon as night came I would go out and +investigate the window. When I got the answer I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> laughed so loud that +I was afraid for the moment I must have attracted the attention of the +neighbors, but I couldn't help it. The window was filled with huge +quantities of sausage. The store was a butcher-shop, and one of the +principal things they sold, apparently, was sausage. The display they +made, although it consisted merely of quantities of sausage piled in +the windows, certainly had plenty of "pulling" power. It "pulled" nine +Germans out of ten out of their course and indirectly it "pulled" me +right across the street. The idea of those Germans being so interested +in that window display as to stand in front of the window for two, +three, or four minutes at a time, however, certainly seemed funny to me, +and when I got back to the house I sat at the keyhole again and found +just as much interest as before in watching the Germans stop in their +tracks when they reached the window, even though I was now aware what +the attraction was.</p> + +<p>One of my chief occupations during those days was catching flies. I +would catch a fly, put him in a spider's web—there were plenty of +them in the old house—and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> sit down to wait for the spider to come +and get him. But always I pictured myself in the same predicament and +rescued the fly just as the spider was about to grab him. Several times +when things were dull I was tempted to see the tragedy through, but +perhaps the same Providence that guided me safely through all perils was +guarding, too, the destiny of those flies, for I always weakened and the +flies never did suffer from my lust for amusement.</p> + +<p>The house was well supplied with books—in fact, one of the choicest +libraries I think I ever saw—but they were all written either in +Flemish or in French. I could read no Flemish and very little French. +I might have made a little headway with the latter, but the books all +seemed too deep for me and I gave it up. There was one thing, though, +that I did read and re-read from beginning to end—that was a New York +<i>Herald</i> which must have arrived just about the time war was declared. +Several things in there interested me, and particularly the baseball +scores, which I studied with as much care as a real fan possibly would +an up-to-date<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> score. I couldn't refrain from laughing when I came to an +account of Zimmerman (of the Cubs) being benched for some spat with the +umpire, and it afforded me just as much interest three years after it +had happened—perhaps more—than some current item of worldwide interest +had at the time.</p> + +<p>I rummaged the house many times from cellar to garret in my search for +something to eat, but the harvest of three years of war had made any +success along that line impossible. I was like the man out on the ocean +in a boat and thirsty, with water everywhere, but not a drop to drink.</p> + +<p>I was tempted while in this city to go to church one Sunday, but my +better judgment told me it would be a useless risk. Of course some one +would surely say something to me, and I didn't know how many Germans +would be there, or what might happen, so I gave up that idea.</p> + +<p>During all the time I was concealed in this house I saw but one +automobile, and that was a German staff officer's. That same afternoon I +had one of the frights of my young life.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>I had been gazing out of the keyhole as usual when I heard coming down +the street the measured tread of German soldiers. It didn't sound like +very many, but there was no doubt in my mind that German soldiers were +marching down the street. I went up-stairs and peeked through the +window, and sure enough a squad of German infantry was coming down the +street, accompanying a military truck. I hadn't the slightest idea that +they were coming after me, but still the possibilities of the situation +gave me more or less alarm, and I considered how I could make my escape +if by any chance I was the man they were after. The idea of hiding in +the wine-cellar appealed to me as the most practical; there must have +been plenty of places among the wine kegs and cases where a man could +conceal himself, but, as a matter of fact, I did not believe that any +such contingency would arise.</p> + +<p>The marching soldiers came nearer. I could hear them at the next house. +In a moment I would see them pass the keyhole through which I was +looking.</p> + +<p>"Halt!"</p> + +<p>At the word of command shouted by a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> junior officer the squad came to +attention right in front of the house.</p> + +<p>I waited no longer. Running down the stairs, I flew down into the +wine-cellar, and although it was almost pitch dark—the only light +coming from a grating which led to the backyard—I soon found a +satisfactory hiding-place in the extreme rear of the cellar. I had the +presence of mind to leave the door of the wine-cellar ajar, figuring +that if the soldiers found a closed door they would be more apt to +search for a fugitive behind it than if the door were open.</p> + +<p>My decision to get away from the front door had been made and carried +out none too soon, for I had only just located myself between two big +wine-cases when I heard the tramp of soldiers' feet marching up the +front steps, a crash at the front door, a few hasty words of command +which I did not understand, and then the noise of scurrying feet from +room to room and such a banging and hammering and smashing and crashing +that I could not make out what was going on.</p> + +<p>If Huyliger had revealed my hiding-place to the Huns, as I was now +confident<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> he had, I felt that there was little prospect of their +overlooking me. They would search the house from top to bottom and, if +necessary, raze it to the ground before they would give up the search. +To escape from the house through the backyard through the iron grating, +which I had no doubt I could force, seemed to be a logical thing to do, +but the chances were that the Huns had thrown a cordon around the entire +block before the squad was sent to the house. The Germans do these +things in an efficient manner always. They take nothing for granted.</p> + +<p>My one chance seemed to be to stand pat in the hope that the officer in +charge might possibly come to the conclusion that he had arrived at the +house too late—that the bird had flown.</p> + +<p>My position in that wine-cellar was anything but a comfortable one. Rats +and mice were scurrying across the floor, and the smashing and crashing +going on overhead was anything but promising. Evidently those soldiers +imagined that I might be hiding in the walls, for it sounded as though +they were tearing off the wainscoting, the picture-molding, and, in +fact,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> everything that they could tear or pull apart.</p> + +<p>Before very long they would finish their search up-stairs and would come +down to the basement. What they would do when they discovered the wine +I had no idea. Perhaps they would let themselves loose on it and give +me my chance. With a bottle of wine in each hand I figured I could put +up a good fight in the dark, especially as I was becoming more and more +accustomed to it and could begin to distinguish things here and there, +whereas they would be as blind as bats in the sun when they entered the +pitchy darkness of the cellar.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it was twenty minutes before I heard what sounded like my +death-knell to me; the soldiers were coming down the cellar steps. I +clutched a wine bottle in each hand and waited with bated breath.</p> + +<p>Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! In a moment they would be in the cellar proper. I +could almost hear my heart beating. The mice scurried across the floor +by the scores, frightened, no doubt, by the vibration and noise made +by the descending soldiers. Some of the creatures ran across<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> me where +I stood between the two wine-cases, but I was too much interested in +bigger game to pay attention to mice.</p> + +<p>Tramp! Tramp! "Halt!" Again an order was given in German, and although I +did not understand it, I am willing to bless every word of it, because +it resulted in the soldiers turning right about face, marching up the +stairs again, through the hall, and out of the front door and away!</p> + +<p>I could hardly believe my ears. It seemed almost too good to be true +that they could have given up the search just as they were about to come +on their quarry, but unless my ears deceived me that was what they had +done.</p> + +<p>The possibility that the whole thing might be a German ruse did not +escape me, and I remained in the cellar for nearly an hour after they +had apparently departed before I ventured to move, listening intently in +the mean while for the slightest sound which would reveal the presence +of a sentry up-stairs.</p> + +<p>Not hearing a sound, I began to feel that they had indeed given up +the hunt, for I did not believe that a German officer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> would be so +considerate of his men as to try to trap me rather than carry the cellar +by force if they had the slightest idea that I was there.</p> + +<p>I took off my shoes and crept softly and slowly to the cellar steps, and +then step by step, placing my weight down gradually so as to prevent +the steps from creaking, I climbed to the top. The sight that met my +eyes as I glanced into the kitchen told me the whole story. The water +faucets had been ripped from the sinks, the water pipes having been torn +from the walls. Everything of brass or copper had been torn off, and gas +fixtures, cooking utensils, and everything else which contain even only +a small proportion of the metals the Germans so badly needed had been +taken from the kitchen. I walked up-stairs now with more confidence, +feeling tolerably assured that the soldiers hadn't been after me at +all, but had been merely collecting metals and other materials which +they expected an elaborate dwelling-house like the one in which I was +concealed to yield.</p> + +<p>Later I heard that the Germans have taken practically every ounce of +brass, copper, and wool they could lay their hands<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> on in Belgium. +Even the brass out of pianos has been ruthlessly removed, the serious +damage done to valuable property by the removal of only an insignificant +proportion of metal never being taken into consideration. I learned, +too, that all dogs over fourteen inches high had been seized by the +Germans. This furnished lots of speculation among the Belgians as to +what use the Germans were putting the animals to, the general impression +apparently being that they were being used for food.</p> + +<p>This, however, seemed much less likely to me than that they were being +employed as despatch dogs in the trenches, the same as we use them on +our side of the line. They might possibly kill the dogs and use their +skins for leather and their carcasses for tallow, but I feel quite sure +that the Huns are by no means so short of food that they have to eat +dogs yet awhile.</p> + +<p>Indeed, I want to repeat here what I have mentioned before: if any +one has the idea that this war can be won by <i>starving</i> the Huns, he +hasn't the slightest idea how well provided the Germans are in that +respect. They have considered their food needs in connection with their +resources<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> for several years to come, and they have gone at it in such +a methodical, systematic way, taking into consideration every possible +contingency, that, provided there is not an absolute crop failure, there +isn't the slightest doubt in my mind that they can last for years, and +the worst of it is they are quite cocksure about it.</p> + +<p>It is true that the German soldiers want peace. As I watched them +through the keyhole in the door I thought how unfavorably they compared +with our men. They marched along the street without laughter, without +joking, without singing. It was quite apparent that the war is telling +on them. I don't believe I saw a single German soldier who didn't look +as if he had lost his best friend—and he probably had.</p> + +<p>At the same time, there is a big difference—certainly a difference of +several years—between wishing the war was over and giving up, and I +don't believe the German rank and file any more than their leaders have +the slightest idea at this time of giving up at all.</p> + +<p>But to return to my experiences while concealed in the house. After the +visit of the soldiers, which left the house in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> wretched condition, +I decided that I would continue my journey toward the frontier, +particularly as I had got all I could out of Huyliger, or rather he had +got all he was going to get out of me.</p> + +<p>During my concealment in the house I made various sorties into the city +at night, and I was beginning to feel more comfortable, even when German +soldiers were about. Through the keyhole I had studied very closely +the gait of the Belgians, the slovenly droop that characterized most +of them, and their general appearance, and I felt that in my own dirty +and unshaven condition I must have looked as much like the average +poor Belgian as a man could. The only thing that was against me was my +height. I was several inches taller than even the tallest Belgians. +I had often thought that red hair would have gone well with my name, +but now, of course, I was mighty glad that I was not so endowed, for +red-haired Belgians are about as rare as German charity.</p> + +<p>There are many, no doubt, who will wonder why I did not get more help +than I did at this time. It is easily answered. When a man is in hourly +fear of his life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> and the country is full of spies, as Belgium certainly +was, he is not going to help just any one that comes along seeking aid.</p> + +<p>One of the Germans' most successful ways of trapping the Belgians has +been to pose as an English or French prisoner who has escaped; appeal +to them for aid; implicate as many as possible, and then turn the whole +German police force loose on them.</p> + +<p>As I look back now on those days I think it remarkable that I received +as much help as I did, but when people are starving under the conditions +now forced upon those unfortunate people it is a great temptation to +surrender these escaped prisoners to German authorities and receive the +handsome rewards offered for them—or for alien spies, as I was classed +at that time.</p> + +<p>The passport which I had described me as a Spanish sailor, but I was +very dubious about its value. If I could have spoken Spanish fluently +it might have been worth something to me, but the few words I knew of +the language would not have carried me very far if I had been confronted +with a Spanish interpreter. I decided to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> use the passport only as a +last resort, preferring to act the part of a deaf and dumb Belgian +peasant as far as it would carry me.</p> + +<p>Before I finally left the house I had a remarkable experience which I +shall remember as long as I live.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XIV" id="XIV">XIV<br /> +A NIGHT OF DISSIPATION</a></h2> + + +<p>During the first two days I spent with Huyliger after I had first +arrived in the big city he had told me, among other things, of a +moving-picture show in town which he said I might have a chance to see +while there.</p> + +<p>"It is free every night in the week except Saturdays and Sundays," he +said, "and once you are inside you would not be apt to be bothered by +any one except when they come to take your order for something to drink. +While there is no admission, patrons are expected to eat or drink while +enjoying the pictures."</p> + +<p>A day or two later, while walking the streets at night in search of +food, I had passed this place, and was very much tempted to go in +and spend a few hours, particularly as it would perhaps give me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> an +opportunity to buy something to eat, although I was at a loss to know +how I was going to ask for what I wanted.</p> + +<p>While trying to make up my mind whether it was safe for me to go in, I +walked half a block past the place, and when I turned back again and +reached the entrance with my mind made up that I would take the chance I +ran full tilt into a German officer who was just coming out!</p> + +<p>That settled all my hankerings for moving pictures that night. "Where +you came from, my friend," I figured, "there must be more like you! I +guess it is a good night for walking."</p> + +<p>The next day, however, in recalling the incident of the evening before, +it seemed to me that I had been rather foolish. What I needed more than +anything at that time was confidence. Before I could get to the frontier +I would have to confront German soldiers many times, because there +were more of them between this city and Holland than in any section +of the country through which I had so far traveled. Safety in these +contingencies would depend largely upon the calmness I displayed. It +wouldn't do to get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> all excited at the mere sight of a spiked helmet. +The Belgians, I had noticed, while careful to obey the orders of the +Huns, showed no particular fear of them, and it seemed to me the sooner +I cultivated the same feeling of indifference the better I would be able +to carry off the part I was playing.</p> + +<p>For this reason, I made up my mind then and there that, officers or no +officers, I would go to that show that night and sit it through, no +matter what happened. While people may think that I had decided unwisely +because of the unnecessary risk involved in the adventure, it occurred +to me that perhaps, after all, that theater was about one of the safest +places I could attend, because that was about the last place Germans +would expect to find a fugitive English officer in, even if they were +searching for one.</p> + +<p>As soon as evening came, therefore, I decided to go to the theater. I +fixed myself up as well as possible. I had on a fairly decent pair of +trousers which Huyliger had given me and I used a clean handkerchief as +a collar.</p> + +<p>With my hair brushed up and my beard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> trimmed as neatly as possible +with a pair of rusty scissors which I had found in the house, while +my appearance was not exactly that of a Beau Brummel, I don't think I +looked much worse than the average Belgian. In these days, the average +Belgian is very poorly dressed at best.</p> + +<p>I can't say I had no misgivings as I made my way to the theater; +certainly I was going there more for discipline than pleasure, but I had +made up my mind and I was going to see it through.</p> + +<p>The entrance to the theater or beer-garden—for it was as much one as +the other—was on the side of the building, and was reached by way of +an alley which ran along the side. Near the door was a ticket-seller's +booth, but as this was one of the free nights there was no one in the +booth.</p> + +<p>I marched slowly down the alley, imitating as best I could the +indifferent gait of the Belgians, and when I entered the theater I +endeavored to act as though I had been there many times before. A hasty +survey of the layout of the place was sufficient to enable me to select +my seat. It was early and there were not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> more than half a dozen people +in the place at that time, so that I had my choice.</p> + +<p>There was a raised platform, perhaps two feet high, all round the walls +of the place, except at the end where the stage was located. On this +platform tables were arranged, and there were tables on the floor proper +as well.</p> + +<p>I decided promptly that the safest place for me was as far back as +possible where I would not be in the line of vision of others in back +of me. Accordingly, I slouched over to a table on the platform directly +opposite the stage and I took the seat against the wall. The whole place +was now in front of me. I could see everything that was going on and +every one who came in, but no one, except those who sat at my own table, +would notice me unless they deliberately turned around to look.</p> + +<p>The place began to fill up rapidly. Every second person who came in the +door seemed to me to be a German soldier, but when they were seated at +the tables and I got a chance later on to make a rough count, I found +that in all there were not more than a hundred soldiers in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> place +and there must have been several hundred civilians.</p> + +<p>The first people to sit at my table were a Belgian and his wife. The +Belgian sat next to me and his wife next to him. I was hoping that other +civilians would occupy the remaining two seats at my table because I +did not relish the idea of having to sit through the show with German +soldiers within a few feet of me. That would certainly have spoiled my +pleasure for the evening.</p> + +<p>Every uniform that came in the door gave me cause to worry until I +was sure it was not coming in my direction. I don't suppose there was +a single soldier who came in the door whom I didn't follow to his +seat—with my eyes.</p> + +<p>Just before they lowered the lights two German officers came in the +door. They stood there for a moment looking the place over. Then they +made a bee-line in my direction, and I must confess my heart started to +beat a little faster. I hoped that they would find another seat before +they came to my vicinity, but they were getting nearer and nearer, and I +realized with a sickening sensation that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> they were headed directly for +the two seats at my table, and that was indeed the case.</p> + +<p>These two seats were in front of the table, facing the stage, and except +when they would be eating or drinking their backs were toward me, and +there was considerable consolation in that. From my seat I could have +reached right over and touched one of them on his bald head. It would +have been more than a touch, I am afraid, if I could have got away with +it safely.</p> + +<p>As the officers seated themselves a waiter came to us with a printed +bill of fare and a program. Fortunately, he waited on the others first, +and I listened intently to their orders. The officers ordered some +light wine, but my Belgian neighbor ordered "Bock" for himself and his +wife, which was what I had decided to order, anyway, as that was the +only thing I could say. Heaven knows I would far rather have ordered +something to eat, but the bill of fare meant nothing to me, and I was +afraid to take a chance at the pronunciation of the dishes it set forth.</p> + +<p>There were a number of drinks listed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> which I suppose I might safely +enough have ordered. For instance, I noticed "Lemon Squash, 1.50," +"Ginger Beer, 1-," "Sparkling Dry Ginger Ale, 1-," "Apollinaris, 1-," +and "Schweppes Soda, 0.80," but it occurred to me that the mere fact +that I selected something that was listed in English might attract +attention to me and something in my pronunciation might give further +cause for suspicion.</p> + +<p>It seemed better to parrot the Belgian and order "Bock," and that was +what I decided to do.</p> + +<p>One item on the bill of fare tantalized me considerably. Although it was +listed among the "Prizzen der dranken," which I took to mean "Prices of +drinks," it sounded very much to me like something to eat, and Heaven +knows I would rather have had one honest mouthful of food than all the +drinks in the world. The item I refer to was "Dubbel Gersten de Flesch +(Michaux)." A <i>double</i> portion of anything would have been mighty +welcome to me, but I would have been quite contented with a <i>single</i> +"Gersten"—whatever that might happen to be—if I had only had the +courage to ask for it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> + +<p>To keep myself as composed as possible, I devoted a lot of attention +to that bill of fare, and I think by the time the waiter came around +I almost knew it by heart. One drink that almost made me laugh out +loud was listed as "Lemonades Gazeuses," but I might just as well have +introduced myself to the German officers by my right name and rank as to +have attempted to pronounce it.</p> + +<p>When the waiter came to me, therefore, I said "Bock" as casually as I +could, and felt somewhat relieved that I got through this part of the +ordeal so easily.</p> + +<p>While the waiter was away I had a chance to examine the bill of fare, +and I observed that a glass of beer cost eighty centimes. The smallest +change I had was a two-mark paper bill.</p> + +<p>Apparently the German officers were similarly fixed, and when they +offered their bill to the waiter he handed it back to them with a remark +which I took to mean that he couldn't make change.</p> + +<p>Right there I was in a quandary. To offer him my bill after he had just +told the officers he didn't have change would have seemed strange, and +yet I couldn't explain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> to him that I was in the same boat and he would +have to come to me again later. The only thing to do, therefore, was to +offer him the bill as though I hadn't heard or noticed what had happened +with the Germans, and I did so. He said the same thing to me as he had +said to the officers, perhaps a little more sharply, and gave me back +the bill. Later on he returned to the table with a handful of change and +we closed the transaction. I gave him twenty-five centimes as a tip—I +had never yet been in a place where it was necessary to talk to do that.</p> + +<p>During my first half-hour in that theater, to say I was on pins and +needles is to express my feelings mildly. The truth of the matter is +I was never so uneasy in my life. Every minute seemed like an hour, +and I was on the point of getting up and leaving a dozen times. There +were altogether too many soldiers in the place to suit me, and when the +German officers seated themselves right at my table I thought that was +about all I could stand. As it was, however, the lights went out shortly +afterward and in the dark I felt considerably easier.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<p>After the first picture, when the lights went up again, I had regained +my composure considerably and I took advantage of the opportunity to +study the various types of people in the place.</p> + +<p>From my seat I had a splendid chance to see them all. At one table there +was a German medical corps officer with three Red Cross nurses. That +was the only time I had ever seen a German nurse, for when I was in the +hospital I had seen only men orderlies. Nurses don't work so near the +first-line trenches.</p> + +<p>The German soldiers at the different tables were very quiet and orderly. +They drank Bock beer and conversed among themselves, but there was no +hilarity or rough-housing of any kind.</p> + +<p>As I sat there, within an arm's reach of those German officers and +realized what they would have given to know what a chance they had to +capture an escaped British officer, I could hardly help smiling to +myself, but when I thought of the big risk I was taking, more or less +unnecessarily, I began to wonder whether I had not acted foolishly in +undertaking it.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the evening passed off uneventfully,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> and when the show +was over I mixed with the crowd and disappeared, feeling very proud of +myself and with a good deal more confidence than I had enjoyed at the +start.</p> + +<p>I had passed a night which will live in my life as long as I live. The +bill of fare, program, and a "throw-away" bill advertising the name of +the attraction which was to be presented the following week, which was +handed to me as I came out, I still have and they are among the most +valued souvenirs of my adventure.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XV" id="XV">XV<br /> +OBSERVATIONS IN A BELGIAN CITY</a></h2> + + +<p>One night, shortly before I left this city, our airmen raided the place. +I didn't venture out of the house at the time, but the next night I +thought I would go out and see what damage had been done.</p> + +<p>When it became dark I left the house, accordingly, and, mixing with the +crowd, which consisted largely of Germans, I went from one place to +another to see what our "strafing" had accomplished. Naturally I avoided +speaking to any one. If a man or woman appeared about to speak to me, I +just turned my head and looked or walked away in some other direction. +I must have been taken for an unsociable sort of individual a good many +times, and if I had encountered the same person twice I suppose my +conduct might have aroused suspicion.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>I had a first-class observation of the damage that was really done by +our bombs. One bomb had landed very near the main railroad station, and +if it had been only thirty yards nearer would have completely demolished +it. As the station was undoubtedly our airman's objective, I was very +much impressed with the accuracy of his aim. It is by no means an easy +thing to hit a building from the air when you are going at anywhere from +fifty to one hundred miles an hour and are being shot at from beneath +from a dozen different angles—unless, of course, you are taking one of +those desperate chances and flying so low that you cannot very well miss +your mark, and the Huns can't very well miss you, either!</p> + +<p>I walked by the station and mingled with the crowds which stood in the +entrances. They paid no more attention to me than they did to real +Belgians, and the fact that the lights were all out in this city at +night made it impossible, anyway, for any one to get as good a look at +me as if it had been light.</p> + +<p>During the time that I was in this city I suppose I wandered from one +end of it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> to the other. In one place, where the German staff had its +headquarters, a huge German flag hung from the window, and I think I +would have given ten years of my life to have stolen it. Even if I could +have pulled it down, however, it would have been impossible for me to +have concealed it, and to have carried it away with me as a souvenir +would have been out of the question.</p> + +<p>As I went along the street one night a lady standing on the comer +stopped me and spoke to me. My first impulse, of course, was to answer +her, explaining that I could not understand, but I stopped myself in +time, pointed to my ears and mouth, and shook my head, indicating that +I was deaf and dumb, and she nodded understandingly and walked on. +Incidents of this kind were not unusual, and I was always in fear that +the time would come when some inquisitive and suspicious German would +encounter me and not be so easily satisfied.</p> + +<p>There are many things that I saw in this city which, for various +reasons, it is impossible for me to relate until after the war is over. +Some of them, I think,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> will create more surprise than the incidents I +am free to reveal now.</p> + +<p>It used to amuse me, as I went along the streets of this town, looking +in the shop windows, with German soldiers at my side looking at the same +things, to think how close I was to them and they had no way of knowing. +I was quite convinced that if I were discovered my fate would have been +death, because I not only had the forged passport on me, but I had been +so many days behind the German lines after I had escaped that they +couldn't safely let me live with the information I possessed.</p> + +<p>One night I walked boldly across a park. I heard footsteps behind me +and, turning around, saw two German soldiers. I slowed up a trifle to +let them get ahead of me. It was rather dark and I got a chance to see +what a wonderful uniform the German military authorities have picked +out. The soldiers had not gone more than a few feet ahead of me when +they disappeared in the darkness like one of those melting pictures on +the moving-picture screen.</p> + +<p>As I wandered through the streets I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> frequently glanced in the café +windows as I passed. German officers were usually dining there, but +they didn't conduct themselves with anything like the light-heartedness +which characterizes the Allied officers in London and Paris. I was +rather surprised at this, because in this part of Belgium they were much +freer than they would have been in Berlin, where, I understand, food is +comparatively scarce and the restrictions are very rigid.</p> + +<p>As I have said, my own condition in this city was in some respects worse +than it had been when I was making my way through the open country. +While I had a place to sleep and my clothes were no longer constantly +soaking, my opportunities for getting food were considerably less than +they had been. Nearly all the time I was half famished, and I decided +that I would get out of there at once, since I was entirely through with +Huyliger.</p> + +<p>My physical condition was greatly improved. While the lack of food +showed itself on me, I had regained some of my strength, my wounds +were healed, my ankle was stronger, and, although my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> knees were still +considerably enlarged, I felt that I was in better shape than I had been +at any time since my leap from the train, and I was ready to go through +whatever was in store for me.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XVI" id="XVI">XVI<br /> +I APPROACH THE FRONTIER</a></h2> + + +<p>To get out of the city it would be necessary to pass two guards. This +I had learned in the course of my walks at night, having frequently +traveled to the city limits with the idea of finding out just what +conditions I would have to meet when the time came for me to leave.</p> + +<p>A German soldier's uniform, however, no longer worried me as it had at +first. I had mingled with the Huns so much in the city that I began to +feel that I was really a Belgian, and I assumed the indifference that +the latter seemed to feel.</p> + +<p>I decided, therefore, to walk out of the city in the daytime when the +sentries would be less apt to be on the watch. It worked splendidly. I +was not held up a moment, the sentries evidently taking me for a Belgian +peasant on his way to work.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>Traveling faster than I had ever done before since my escape, I was soon +out in the open country, and the first Belgian I came to I approached +for food. He gave me half his lunch and we sat down on the side of the +road to eat it. Of course, he tried to talk to me, but I used the old +ruse of pretending I was deaf and dumb and he was quite convinced that +it was so. He made various efforts to talk to me in pantomime, but I +could not make out what he was getting at, and I think he must have +concluded that I was not only half-starved, deaf, and dumb, but "luny" +into the bargain.</p> + +<p>When night came I looked around for a place to rest. I had decided to +travel in the daytime as well as night, because I understood that I was +only a few miles from the frontier, and I was naturally anxious to get +there at the earliest possible moment, although I realized that there I +would encounter the most hazardous part of my whole adventure. To get +through that heavily guarded barbed and electrically charged barrier was +a problem that I hated to think of, even, although the hours I spent +endeavoring to devise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> some way of outwitting the Huns were many.</p> + +<p>It had occurred to me, for instance, that it would not be such a +difficult matter to vault over the electric fence, which was only +nine feet high. In college, I know, a ten-foot vault is considered a +high-school boy's accomplishment, but there were two great difficulties +in the way of this solution. In the first place, it would be no easy +matter to get a pole of the right length, weight, and strength to serve +the purpose. More particularly, however, the pole-vault idea seemed to +be out of the question because of the fact that on either side of the +electric fence, six feet from it, was a six-foot barbed-wire barrier. To +vault safely over a nine-foot electrically charged fence was one thing, +but to combine with it a twelve-foot broad vault was a feat which even a +college athlete in the pink of condition would be apt to flunk. Indeed, +I don't believe it is possible.</p> + +<p>Another plan that seemed half-way reasonable was to build a pair of +stilts about twelve or fourteen feet high and walk over the barriers +one by one. As a youngster<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> I had acquired considerable skill in +stilt-walking, and I have no doubt that with the proper equipment it +would have been quite feasible to have walked out of Belgium as easily +as possible in that way, but whether or not I was going to have a chance +to construct the necessary stilts remained to be seen.</p> + +<p>There were a good many bicycles in use by the German soldiers in +Belgium, and it had often occurred to me that if I could have stolen +one, the tires would have made excellent gloves and insulated coverings +for my feet in case it was necessary for me to attempt to climb over the +electric fence bodily. But as I had never been able to steal a bicycle, +this avenue of escape was closed to me.</p> + +<p>I decided to wait until I arrived at the barrier and then make up my +mind how to proceed.</p> + +<p>To find a decent place to sleep that night I crawled under a barbed-wire +fence, thinking it led into some field. As I passed under, one of the +barbs caught in my coat, and in trying to pull myself free I shook the +fence for several yards.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + +<p>Instantly there came out of the night the nerve-racking command, "Halt!"</p> + +<p>Again I feared I was done for. I crouched close down on the ground in +the darkness, not knowing whether to take to my legs and trust to the +Hun's missing me in the darkness if he fired, or stay right where I was. +It was foggy as well as dark, and although I knew the sentry was only a +few feet away from me I decided to stand, or rather lie still. I think +my heart made almost as much noise as the rattling of the wire in the +first place, but it was a tense few moments for me.</p> + +<p>I heard the German say a few words to himself, but didn't understand +them, of course, and then he made a sound as if to call a dog, and I +realized that his theory of the noise he had heard was that a dog had +made its way through the fence.</p> + +<p>For perhaps five minutes I didn't stir, and then, figuring that the +German had probably continued on his beat, I crept quietly under +the wire again, this time being mighty careful to hug the ground so +close that I wouldn't touch the wire,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> and made off in a different +direction. Evidently the barbed-wire fence had been thrown around an +ammunition-depot or something of the kind and it was not a field at all +that I had tried to get into.</p> + +<p>I figured that other sentries were probably in the neighborhood and I +proceeded very gingerly.</p> + +<p>After I had got about a mile away from this spot I came to a humble +Belgian house, and I knocked at the door and applied for food in my +usual way, pointing to my mouth to indicate I was hungry and to my ears +and mouth to imply that I was deaf and dumb. The Belgian woman who lived +in the house brought me a piece of bread and two cold potatoes, and as I +sat there eating them she eyed me very keenly.</p> + +<p>I haven't the slightest doubt that she realized I was a fugitive. +She lived so near the border that it was more than likely that other +fugitives had come to her before, and for that reason I appreciated more +fully the extent of the risk she ran, for no doubt the Germans were +constantly watching the conduct of these Belgians who lived near the +line.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + +<p>My theory that she realized that I was not a Belgian at all, but +probably some English fugitive, was confirmed a moment later when, as +I made ready to go, she touched me on the arm and indicated that I was +to wait a moment. She went to a bureau and brought out two pieces of +fancy Belgian lace, which she insisted upon my taking away, although at +that particular moment I had as much use for Belgian lace as an elephant +has for a safety-razor, but I was touched with her thoughtfulness and +pressed her hand to show my gratitude. She would not accept the money I +offered her.</p> + +<p>I carried that lace through my subsequent experiences, feeling that it +would be a fine souvenir for my mother, although, as a matter of fact, +if she had known that it was going to delay my final escape for even a +single moment, as it did, I am quite sure she would rather I had never +seen it.</p> + +<p>On one piece of lace was the Flemish word "<i>Charité</i>" and on the +other the word "<i>Espérance</i>." At the time, I took these words to mean +"Charity" and "Experience," and all I hoped was that I would get as +much of the one as I was getting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> of the other before I finally got +through. I learned subsequently that what the words really stood for was +"Charity" and "Hope," and then I was sure that my kind Belgian friend +had indeed realized my plight and that her thoughtful souvenir was +intended to encourage me in the trials she must have known were before +me.</p> + +<p>I didn't let the old Belgian lady know, because I did not want to alarm +her unnecessarily, but that night I slept in her backyard, leaving early +in the morning before it became light.</p> + +<p>Later in the day I applied at another house for food. It was occupied +by a father and mother and ten children. I hesitated to ask them for +food without offering to pay for it, as I realized what a task it must +have been for them to support themselves without having to feed a hungry +man. Accordingly, I gave the man a mark and then indicated that I wanted +something to eat. They were just about to eat, themselves, apparently, +and they let me partake of their meal, which consisted of a huge bowl of +some kind of soup which I was unable to identify<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> and which they served +in ordinary wash-basins! I don't know that they ever used the basins to +wash in as well, but whether they did or not did not worry me very much. +The soup was good and I enjoyed it very much.</p> + +<p>All the time I was there I could see the father and the eldest son, a +boy about seventeen, were extremely nervous. I had indicated to them +that I was deaf and dumb, but if they believed me it didn't seem to make +them any more comfortable.</p> + +<p>I lingered at the house for about an hour after the meal, and during +that time a young man came to call on the eldest daughter, a young woman +of perhaps eighteen. The caller eyed me very suspiciously, although +I must have resembled anything but a British officer. They spoke in +Flemish and I did not understand a word they said, but I think they were +discussing my probable identity. During their conversation, I had a +chance to look around the rooms. There were three altogether, two fairly +large and one somewhat smaller, about fourteen feet long and six deep. +In this smaller room there were two double-decked beds, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> were +apparently intended to house the whole family, although how the whole +twelve of them could sleep in that one room will ever remain a mystery +to me.</p> + +<p>From the kitchen you could walk directly into the cow-barn, where two +cows were kept, and this, as I have pointed out before, is the usual +construction of the poorer Belgian houses.</p> + +<p>I could not make out why the caller seemed to be so antagonistic to me, +and yet I am sure he was arguing with the family against me. Perhaps +the fact that I wasn't wearing wooden shoes—I doubt whether I could +have obtained a pair big enough for me—had convinced him that I was not +really a Belgian, because there was nothing about me otherwise which +could have given him that idea.</p> + +<p>At that time—and I suppose it is true to-day—about ninety per cent. of +the people in Belgium were wearing wooden shoes. Among the peasants I +don't believe I ever saw any other kind of footwear, and they are more +common there than they are in Holland. The Dutch wear them more as a +matter of custom. In Belgium they are a dire necessity because<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> of the +lack of leather. I was told that during the coming year practically all +the peasants and poorer people in Germany, too, will adopt wooden shoes +for farm-work, as that is one direction in which wood can be substituted +for leather without much loss.</p> + +<p>When the young man left I left shortly afterward, as I was not at all +comfortable about what his intentions were regarding me. For all I knew, +he might have gone to notify the German authorities that there was a +strange man in the vicinity—more, perhaps, to protect his friends from +suspicion of having aided me than to injure me.</p> + +<p>At any rate, I was not going to take any chances and I got out of that +neighborhood as rapidly as I could.</p> + +<p>That night found me right on the frontier of Holland.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XVII" id="XVII">XVII<br /> +GETTING THROUGH THE LINES</a></h2> + + +<p>Waiting until it was quite dark, I made my way carefully through a field +and eventually came to the much-dreaded barrier.</p> + +<p>It was all that I had heard about it. Every foot of the border-line +between Belgium and Holland is protected in precisely the same manner. +It is there to serve three purposes: first, to keep the Belgians from +escaping into Holland; second, to keep enemies, like myself, from +making their way to freedom; and, third, to prevent desertions on the +part of Germans themselves. One look at it was enough to convince any +one that it probably accomplished all three objects about as well as +any contrivance could, and one look was all I got of it that night, +for while I lay on my stomach gazing at the forbidding structure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> I +heard the measured stride of a German sentry advancing toward me, and I +crawled away as fast as I possibly could, determined to spend the night +somewhere in the fields and make another and more careful survey the +following night.</p> + +<p>The view I had obtained, however, was sufficient to convince me that +the pole-vault idea was out of the question even if I had a pole +and were a proficient pole-vaulter. The three fences covered a span +of at least twelve feet, and to clear the last barbed-wire fence it +would be necessary to vault not only at least ten feet high, but at +least fourteen feet wide, with certain knowledge that to touch the +electrically charged fence meant instant death. There would be no second +chance if you came a cropper the first time.</p> + +<p>The stilt idea was also impracticable because of the lack of suitable +timber and tools with which to construct the stilts.</p> + +<p>It seemed to me that the best thing to do was to travel up and down +the line a bit in the hope that some spot might be discovered where +conditions were more favorable, although I don't know just what I +expected along those lines.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was mighty disheartening to realize that only a few feet away lay +certain liberty and that the only thing that prevented me from reaching +it were three confounded fences. I thought of my machine and wished that +some kind fairy would set it in front of me for just one minute.</p> + +<p>I spent the night in a clump of bushes and kept in hiding most of the +next day, only going abroad for an hour or two in the middle of the +day to intercept some Belgian peasant and beg for food. The Belgians +in this section were naturally very much afraid of the Germans, and I +fared badly. In nearly every house German soldiers were quartered, and +it was out of the question for me to apply for food in that direction. +The proximity of the border made every one eye one another with more or +less suspicion, and I soon came to the conclusion that the safest thing +I could do was to live on raw vegetables, which I could steal from the +fields at night as I had previously done.</p> + +<p>That night I made another survey of the barrier in that vicinity, but it +looked just as hopeless as it had the night before, and I concluded that +I only wasted time there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span></p> + +<p>I spent the night wandering west, guided by the North Star, which had +served me so faithfully in all my traveling. Every mile or two I would +make my way carefully to the barrier to see if conditions were any +better, but it seemed to be the same all along. I felt like a wild +animal in a cage, with about as much chance of getting out.</p> + +<p>The section of the country in which I was now wandering was very heavily +wooded and there was really no very great difficulty in keeping myself +concealed, which I did all day long, striving all the time to think of +some way in which I could circumvent that cursed barrier.</p> + +<p>The idea of a huge step-ladder occurred to me, but I searched hour after +hour in vain for lumber or fallen trees out of which I could construct +one. If I could only obtain something which would enable me to reach a +point about nine feet in the air, it would be a comparatively simple +matter to jump from that point over the electric fence.</p> + +<p>Then I thought that perhaps I could construct a simple ladder and lean +it against one of the posts upon which the electric wires were strung, +climb to the top<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> and leap over, getting over the barbed-wire fences in +the same way.</p> + +<p>This seemed to be the most likely plan, and all night long I sat +constructing a ladder for this purpose.</p> + +<p>I was fortunate enough to find a number of fallen pine-trees from ten +to twenty feet long. I selected two of them which seemed sufficiently +strong and broke off all the branches, which I used as rungs, tying them +to the poles with grass and strips from my handkerchief and shirt as +best I could.</p> + +<p>It was not a very workmanlike-looking ladder when I finally got +through with it. I leaned it against a tree to test it and it wabbled +considerably. It was more like a rope ladder than a wooden one, but I +strengthened it here and there and decided that it would probably serve +the purpose.</p> + +<p>I kept the ladder in the woods all day and could hardly wait until dark +to make the supreme test. If it proved successful, my troubles were +over; within a few hours I would be in a neutral country out of all +danger. If it failed—I dismissed the idea summarily. There was no use +worrying about failure; the thing to do was to succeed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>The few hours that were to pass before night came on seemed endless, but +I utilized them to reinforce my ladder, tying the rungs more securely +with long grass which I plucked in the woods.</p> + +<p>At last night came, and with my ladder in hand I made for the barrier. +In front of it there was a cleared space of about one hundred yards, +which had been prepared to make the work of the guards easier in +watching it.</p> + +<p>I waited in the neighborhood until I heard the sentry pass the spot +where I was in hiding, and then I hurried across the clearing, shoved my +ladder under the barbed wire, and endeavored to follow it. My clothing +caught in the wire, but I wrenched myself clear and crawled to the +electric barrier.</p> + +<p>My plan was to place the ladder against one of the posts, climb up to +the top, and then jump. There would be a fall of nine or ten feet, and I +might possibly sprain my ankle or break my leg, but if that was all that +stood between me and freedom I wasn't going to stop to consider it.</p> + +<p>I put my ear to the ground to listen for the coming of the sentry. There +was not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> a sound. Eagerly but carefully I placed the ladder against the +post and started up. Only a few feet separated me from liberty, and my +heart beat fast.</p> + +<p>I had climbed perhaps three rungs of my ladder when I became aware of an +unlooked-for difficulty.</p> + +<p>The ladder was slipping!</p> + +<p>Just as I took the next rung the ladder slipped, came in contact with +the live wire, and the current passed through the wet sticks and into my +body. There was a blue flash, my hold on the ladder relaxed, and I fell +heavily to the ground unconscious!</p> + +<p>Of course, I had not received the full force of the current or I would +not now be here. I must have remained unconscious for a few moments, but +I came to just in time to hear the German guard coming, and the thought +came to me that if I didn't get that ladder concealed at once, he would +see it even though, fortunately for me, it was an unusually dark night.</p> + +<p>I pulled the ladder out of his path and lay down flat on the ground, +not seven feet away from his beat. He passed so close that I could have +pushed the ladder out and tripped him up.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<p>It occurred to me that I could have climbed back under the barbed-wire +fence and waited for the sentry to return and then felled him with a +blow on the head, as he had no idea, of course, that there was any one +in the vicinity. I wouldn't have hesitated to take life, because my only +thought now was to get into Holland, but I thought that as long as he +didn't bother me perhaps the safest thing to do was not to bother him, +but to continue my efforts during his periodic absences.</p> + +<p>His beat at this point was apparently fairly long and allowed me more +time to work than I had hoped for.</p> + +<p>My mishap with the ladder had convinced me that escape in that way was +not feasible. The shock that I had received had unnerved me and I was +afraid to risk it again, particularly as I realized that I had fared +more fortunately than I could hope to again if I met with a similar +mishap. There was no way of making that ladder hold, and I gave up the +idea of using it.</p> + +<p>I was now right in front of this electric barrier, and as I studied it I +saw another way of getting by. If I couldn't get over<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> it, what was the +matter with getting under it?</p> + +<p>The bottom wire was only two inches from the ground, and, of course, I +couldn't touch it, but my plan was to dig underneath it and then crawl +through the hole in the ground.</p> + +<p>I had only my hands to dig with, but I went at it with a will, and +fortunately the ground was not very hard.</p> + +<p>When I had dug about six inches, making a distance in all of eight +inches from the lowest electric wire, I came to an underground wire. I +knew enough about electricity to realize that this wire could not be +charged, as it was in contact with the ground, but still there was not +room between the live wire and this underground wire for me to crawl +through, and I either had to go on digging deep enough under this wire +to crawl under it or else pull it up.</p> + +<p>This underground wire was about as big around as a lead-pencil and there +was no chance of breaking it. The jack-knife I had had at the start of +my travels I had long since lost, and even if I had had something to +hammer with, the noise would have made that method impracticable.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>I went on digging. When the total distance between the live wire and the +bottom of the hole I had dug was thirty inches I took hold of the ground +wire and pulled on it with all my strength.</p> + +<p>It wouldn't budge. It was stretched taut across the narrow ditch I had +dug—about fourteen inches wide—and all my tugging didn't serve to +loosen it.</p> + +<p>I was just about to give it up in despair when a staple gave way in the +nearest post. This enabled me to pull the wire through the ground a +little, and I renewed my efforts. After a moment or two of pulling as I +had never pulled in my life before a staple on the next post gave way, +and my work became easier. I had more leeway now and pulled and pulled +again until in all eight staples had given way.</p> + +<p>Every time a staple gave way it sounded in my ears like the report +of a gun, although I suppose it didn't really make very much noise. +Nevertheless, each time I would put my ear to the ground to listen for +the guard, and, not hearing him, went on with my work.</p> + +<p>By pulling on the wire I was now able to drag it through the ground +enough to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> place it back from the fence and go on digging.</p> + +<p>The deeper I went the harder became the work, because by this time my +finger-nails were broken and I was nervous—afraid every moment that I +would touch the charged wire.</p> + +<p>I kept at it, however, with my mind constantly on the hole I was digging +and the liberty which was almost within my reach.</p> + +<p>Finally I figured that I had enough space to crawl through and still +leave a couple of inches between my back and the live wire.</p> + +<p>Before I went under that wire I noticed that the lace which the Belgian +woman had given me as a souvenir made my pocket bulge, and lest it might +be the innocent means of electrocuting me by touching the live wire, I +took it out, rolled it up, and threw it over the barrier.</p> + +<p>Then I lay down on my stomach and crawled or rather writhed under the +wire like a snake, with my feet first, and there wasn't any question of +my hugging Mother Earth as closely as possible, because I realized that +even to touch the wire above me with my back meant instant death.</p> + +<p>Anxious as I was to get on the other side,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> I didn't hurry this +operation. I feared that there might be some little detail that I had +overlooked, and I exercised the greatest possible care in going under, +taking nothing for granted.</p> + +<p>When I finally got through and straightened up there were still several +feet of Belgium between me and liberty, represented by the six feet +which separated the electric barrier from the last barbed-wire fence, +but before I went another step I went down on my knees and thanked God +for my long series of escapes and especially for this last achievement, +which seemed to me to be about all that was necessary to bring me +freedom.</p> + +<p>Then I crawled under the barbed-wire fence and breathed the free air +of Holland! I had no clear idea just where I was, and I didn't much +care. I was out of the power of the Germans, and that was enough. I had +walked perhaps a hundred yards when I remembered the lace I had thrown +over the barrier, and, dangerous as I realized the undertaking to be, I +determined to walk back and get it. This necessitated my going back on +to Belgian soil again, but it seemed a shame to leave<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> the lace there, +and by exercising a little care I figured I could get it easily enough.</p> + +<p>When I came to the spot at which I had made my way under the barbed wire +I put my ear to the ground and listened for the sentry. I heard him +coming and lay prone on the ground till he had passed. The fact that he +might observe the hole in the ground or the ladder occurred to me as I +lay there, and it seemed like an age before he finally marched out of +earshot. Then I went under the barbed wire again, retrieved the lace, +and once again made my way to Dutch territory.</p> + +<p>It does not take long to describe the events just referred to, but the +incidents themselves consumed several hours in all. To dig the hole +must have taken me more than two hours, and I had to stop frequently +to hide while the sentry passed. Many times, indeed, I thought I heard +him coming and stopped my work, and then discovered that it was only +my imagination. I certainly suffered enough that night to last me a +lifetime. With a German guard on one side, death from electrocution +on the other, and starvation staring me in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> face, my plight was +anything but a comfortable one.</p> + +<p>It was the 19th of November, 1917, when I got through the wires. I had +made my leap from the train on September 9th. Altogether, therefore, +just seventy-two days had elapsed since I escaped from the Huns. If I +live to be as old as Methuselah, I never expect to live through another +seventy-two days so crammed full of incident and hazard and lucky +escapes.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XVIII" id="XVIII">XVIII<br /> +EXPERIENCES IN HOLLAND</a></h2> + + +<p>But I was not yet quite out of the woods.</p> + +<p>I now knew that I was in Holland, but just where I had no idea. I walked +for about thirty minutes and came to a path leading to the right, and I +had proceeded along it but a few hundred yards when I saw in front of me +a fence exactly like the one I had crossed.</p> + +<p>"This is funny," I said to myself. "I didn't know the Dutch had a fence, +too." I advanced to the fence and examined it closely, and judge of my +astonishment when I saw beyond it a nine-foot fence apparently holding +live wires exactly like the one which had nearly been the death of me!</p> + +<p>I had very little time to conjecture what it all meant, for just then I +heard a guard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> coming. He was walking so fast that I was sure it was a +Dutch sentry, as the Huns walk much more slowly.</p> + +<p>I was so bewildered, however, that I decided to take no chances, and +as the road was fairly good I wandered down it and away from that +mysterious fence. About half a mile down I could see the light of a +sentry station, and I thought I would go there and tell my story to the +sentries, realizing that as I was unarmed it was perfectly safe for me +to announce myself to the Dutch authorities. I could be interned only if +I entered Holland under arms.</p> + +<p>As I approached the sentry box I noticed three men in gray uniforms, +the regulation Dutch color. I was on the verge of shouting to them when +the thought struck me that there was just a chance I might be mistaken, +as the German uniforms were the same color, and I had suffered too many +privations and too many narrow escapes to lose all at this time.</p> + +<p>I had just turned off the road to go back into some bushes when out of +the darkness I heard that dread German command:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Halt! Halt!"</p> + +<p>He didn't need to holler twice. I heard and heeded the first time. Then +I heard another man come running up, and there was considerable talking, +but whether they were Germans or Hollanders I was still uncertain. +Evidently, however, he thought the noise must be a dog or the wind.</p> + +<p>Finally I heard one of them laugh and heard him walk back to the sentry +station where the guard was billeted, and I crawled a little nearer to +try to make out just what it all meant. I had begun to think it was all +a nightmare.</p> + +<p>Between myself and the light in the sentry station I then noticed the +stooping figure of a man bending over as if to conceal himself, and on +his head was the spiked helmet of a German soldier!</p> + +<p>I knew then what another narrow escape I had had, for I am quite sure +he would have shot me without ceremony if I had foolishly made myself +known. I would have been buried at once and no one would have been any +the wiser, even though, technically speaking, I was on neutral territory +and immune from capture or attack.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> + +<p>This new shock only served to bewilder me the more. I was completely +lost. There seemed to be frontier behind me and frontier in front of +me. Evidently, however, what had happened was that I had lost my sense +of direction and had wandered in the arc of a circle, returning to the +same fence that I had been so long in getting through. This solution of +the mystery came to me suddenly, and I at once searched the landscape +for something in the way of a landmark to guide me. For once my faithful +friend, the North Star, had failed me. The sky was pitch black and there +wasn't a star in the heavens.</p> + +<p>In the distance, at what appeared to be about three miles away, but +which turned out to be six, I could discern the lights of a village, and +I knew that it must be a Dutch village, as lights are not allowed in +Belgium in that indiscriminate way.</p> + +<p>My course was now clear. I would make a bee-line for that village. +Before I had gone very far I found myself in a marsh or swamp, and I +turned back a little, hoping to find a better path. Finding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> none, I +retraced my steps and kept straight ahead, determined to reach that +village at all costs and to swerve neither to the right nor to the left +until I got there.</p> + +<p>One moment I would be in water up to my knees and the next I would +sink in clear up to my waist. I paid no attention to my condition. It +was merely a repetition of what I had gone through many times before, +but this time I had a definite goal, and, once I reached it, I knew my +troubles would be over.</p> + +<p>It took me perhaps three hours to reach firm ground. The path I struck +led to within half a mile of the village. I shall never forget that +path; it was almost as welcome to my feet as the opposite bank of the +Meuse had seemed.</p> + +<p>The first habitation I came to was a little workshop with a bright light +shining outside. It must have been after midnight, but the people inside +were apparently just quitting work. There were three men and two boys +engaged in making wooden shoes.</p> + +<p>It wasn't necessary for me to explain to them that I was a refugee, even +if I had been able to speak their language. I was caked with mud up to +my shoulders, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> I suppose my face must have recorded some of the +experiences I had gone through that memorable night.</p> + +<p>"I want the British consul," I told them.</p> + +<p>Apparently they didn't understand, but one of them volunteered to +conduct me to the village. They seemed to be only too anxious to do all +they could for me; evidently they realized I was a British soldier.</p> + +<p>It was very late when my companion finally escorted me into the village, +but he aroused some people he knew from their beds and they dressed and +came down to feed me.</p> + +<p>The family consisted of an old lady and her husband and a son who was a +soldier in the Dutch army. The cold shivers ran down my back while he +sat beside me, because every now and again I caught a glimpse of his +gray uniform and it resembled very much that of the German soldiers.</p> + +<p>Some of the neighbors, aroused by the commotion, got up to see what it +was all about, and came in and watched while I ate the meal those good +Dutch people prepared for me. Ordinarily, I suppose, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> would have been +embarrassed with so many people staring at me while I ate, as though I +were some strange animal that had just been captured, but just then I +was too famished to notice or care very much what other people did.</p> + +<p>There will always be a warm place in my heart for the Dutch people. +I had heard lots of persons say that they were not inclined to help +refugees, but my experience did not bear these reports out. They +certainly did much more for me than I ever expected.</p> + +<p>I had a little German money left, but as the value of German money is +only about half in Holland, I didn't have enough to pay the fare to +Rotterdam, which was my next objective. It was due to the generosity of +these people that I was able to reach the British consul as quickly as +I did. Some day I hope to return to Holland and repay every single soul +who played the part of Good Samaritan to me.</p> + +<p>With the money that these people gave me I was able to get a third-class +ticket to Rotterdam, and I am glad that I didn't have enough to travel +first-class, for I would have looked as much out of place in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> a +first-class carriage as a Hun would appear in heaven.</p> + +<p>That night I slept in the house of my Dutch friends, where they fixed +me up most comfortably. In the morning they gave me breakfast and then +escorted me to the station.</p> + +<p>While I was waiting in the station a crowd gathered round me, and soon +it seemed as if the whole town had turned out to get a look at me. It +was very embarrassing, particularly as I could give them no information +regarding the cause of my condition, although, of course, they all knew +that I was a refugee from Belgium.</p> + +<p>As the train pulled out of the station the crowd gave a loud cheer, and +the tears almost came to my eyes as I contrasted in my mind the conduct +of this crowd and the one that had gathered at the station in Ghent when +I had departed a prisoner en route for the reprisal camp. I breathed a +sigh of relief as I thought of that reprisal camp and how fortunate I +had really been, despite all my suffering, to have escaped it. Now, at +any rate, I was a free man and I would soon be sending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> home the joyful +news that I had made good my escape.</p> + +<p>At Einhoffen two Dutch officers got into the compartment with me. They +looked at me with very much disfavor, not knowing, of course, that I was +a British officer. My clothes were still pretty much in the condition +they were when I crossed the border, although I had been able to scrape +off some of the mud I had collected the night before. I had not shaved +nor trimmed my beard for many days, and I must have presented a sorry +appearance. I could hardly blame them for edging away from me.</p> + +<p>The trip from Einhoffen to Rotterdam passed without special incident. +At various stations passengers would get into the compartment and, +observing my unusual appearance, would endeavor to start a conversation +with me. None of them spoke English, however, and they had to use their +own imagination as to my identity.</p> + +<p>When I arrived at Rotterdam I asked a policeman who stood in front of +the station where I could find the British consul, but I could not make +him understand. I next applied to a taxicab driver.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> + +<p>"English consul—British consul—American consul—French consul," I +said, hoping that if he didn't understand one he might recognize another.</p> + +<p>He eyed me with suspicion and motioned me to get in and drove off. I had +no idea where he was taking me, but after a quarter of an hour's ride he +brought up in front of the British consulate. Never before was I so glad +to see the Union Jack!</p> + +<p>I beckoned to the chauffeur to go with me up to the office, as I had no +money with which to pay him, and when we got to the consulate I told +them that if they would pay the taxi fare I would tell them who I was +and how I happened to be there.</p> + +<p>They knew at once that I was an escaped prisoner and they readily paid +the chauffeur and invited me to give some account of myself.</p> + +<p>They treated me most cordially and were intensely interested in the +brief account I gave them of my adventures. Word was sent to the +consul-general, and he immediately sent for me. When I went in he shook +hands with me, greeting me very heartily and offering me a chair.</p> + +<p>He then sat down, screwed a monocle on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> his eye, and viewed me from top +to toe. I could see that only good breeding kept him from laughing at +the spectacle I presented. I could see he wanted to laugh in the worst +way.</p> + +<p>"Go ahead and laugh!" I said. "You can't offend me the way I feel this +blessed day!" And he needed no second invitation. Incidentally, it gave +me a chance to laugh at him, for I was about as much amused as he was.</p> + +<p>After he had laughed himself about sick he got up and slapped me on the +back and invited me to tell him my story.</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant," he said, when I had concluded, "you can have anything you +want. I think your experiences entitle you to it."</p> + +<p>"Well, Consul," I replied, "I would like a bath, a shave, a hair-cut, +and some civilized clothes about as badly as a man ever needed them, I +suppose, but before that I would like to get a cable off to America to +my mother, telling her that I am safe and on my way to England."</p> + +<p>The consul gave the necessary instructions, and I had the satisfaction +of knowing before I left the office that the cable,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> with its good +tidings, was on its way to America.</p> + +<p>Then he sent for one of the naval men who had been interned there since +the beginning of the war and who was able to speak Dutch, and told him +to take good care of me.</p> + +<p>After I had been bathed and shaved and had a hair-cut, I bought some new +clothes and had something to eat, and I felt like a new man.</p> + +<p>As I walked through the streets of Rotterdam, breathing the air of +freedom again and realizing that there was no longer any danger of being +captured and taken back to prison, it was a wonderful sensation.</p> + +<p>I don't believe there will ever be a country that will appear in my +eyes quite as good as Holland did then. I had to be somewhat careful, +however, because Holland was full of German spies, and I knew they +would be keen to learn all they possibly could about my escape and my +adventures, so that the authorities in Belgium could mete out punishment +to every one who was in any respect to blame for it. As I was in +Rotterdam only a day,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> they didn't have very much opportunity to learn +anything from me.</p> + +<p>The naval officer who accompanied me and acted as interpreter for me +introduced me to many other soldiers and sailors who had escaped from +Belgium when the Germans took Antwerp, and as they had arrived in +Holland in uniform and under arms the laws of neutrality compelled their +internment, and they had been there ever since.</p> + +<p>The life of a man who is interned in a neutral country, I learned, is +anything but satisfactory. He gets one month a year to visit his home. +If he lives in England, that is not so bad, but if he happens to live +farther away, the time he has to spend with his folks is very short, as +the month's leave does not take into consideration the time consumed in +traveling to and from Holland.</p> + +<p>The possibility of escape from internment is always there, but the +British authorities have an agreement with the Dutch government to send +refugees back immediately. In this respect, therefore, the position of +a man who is interned is worse than that of a prisoner who, if he does<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +succeed in making his escape, is naturally received with open arms in +his native land. Apart from this restraint, however, internment, with +all its drawbacks, is a thousand times—yes, a million times better than +being a prisoner of war in Germany.</p> + +<p>It seems to me that when the war is over and the men who have been +imprisoned in Germany return home they should be given a bigger and +greater reception than the most victorious army that ever marched into a +city, for they will have suffered and gone through more than the world +will ever be able to understand.</p> + +<p>No doubt you will find in the German prison-camps one or two +faint-hearted individuals with a pronounced yellow streak who +voluntarily gave up the struggle and gave up their liberty rather than +risk their lives or limbs. These sad cases, however, are, I am sure, +extremely few. Nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand of the men +fighting in the Allied lines would rather be in the front-line trenches, +fighting every day, with all the horrors and all the risks, than be a +prisoner<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> of war in Germany, for the men in France have a very keen +realization of what that means.</p> + +<p>But to return to my day in Rotterdam.</p> + +<p>After I was fixed up I returned to the consulate and arrangements were +made for my transportation to England at once. Fortunately there was a +boat leaving that very night, and I was allowed to take passage on it.</p> + +<p>Just as we were leaving Rotterdam the boat I was on rammed our own +convoy, one of the destroyers, and injured it so badly that it had to +put back to port. It would have been a strange climax to my adventure +if the disaster had resulted in the sinking of my boat and I had lost +my life while on my way to England after having successfully outwitted +the Huns. But my luck was with me to the last, and while the accident +resulted in some delay, our boat was not seriously damaged and made +the trip over in schedule time and without further incident, another +destroyer having been assigned to escort us through the danger zone in +place of the one which we had put out of commission.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> + +<p>When I arrived in London the reaction from the strain I had been under +for nearly three months immediately became apparent. My nerves were +in such a state that it was absolutely impossible for me to cross the +street without being in deadly fear of being run over or trampled on. +I stood at the curb, like an old woman from the country on her first +visit to the city, and I would not venture across until some knowing +policeman, recognizing my condition, came to my assistance and convoyed +me across.</p> + +<p>Indeed, there are a great number of English officers at home at all +times "getting back their nerve" after a long spell of active service +at the front, so that my condition was anything but novel to the London +bobbies.</p> + +<p>It was not many days, however, before I regained control of myself and +felt in first-class shape.</p> + +<p>Although the British authorities in Holland had wired my mother from +Holland that I was safe and on my way to England, the first thing I did +when we landed was to send her a cable myself.</p> + +<p>The cable read as follows:</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>Mrs. M. J. O'Brien, Momence, Ill., U. S. A.</i>:</p> +<p>Just escaped from Germany. Letter follows.</p> +<p class="author">Pat.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>As I delivered it to the cable-despatcher I could just imagine the +exultation with which my mother would receive it and the pride she would +feel as she exhibited it among her neighbors and friends.</p> + +<p>I could hear the volley of "I told you so's" that greeted her good +tidings.</p> + +<p>"It would take more than the Kaiser to keep Pat in Germany!" I could +hear one of them saying.</p> + +<p>"Knew he'd be back for Christmas, anyway," I could hear another remark.</p> + +<p>"I had an idea that Pat and his comrades might spend Christmas in +Berlin," I could hear another admitting, "but I didn't think any other +part of Germany would appeal to him very much."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. O'Brien, did Pat write you how many German prisoners he brought +back with him?" I could hear still another credulous friend inquiring.</p> + +<p>It was all very amusing and gratifying to me, and I must confess I felt +quite cocky as I walked into the War Department to report.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> + +<p>For the next five days I was kept very busy answering questions put +to me by the military authorities regarding what I had observed as to +conditions in Germany and behind the lines.</p> + +<p>What I reported was taken down by a stenographer and made part of the +official records, but I did not give them my story in narrative form. +The information I was able to give was naturally of interest to various +branches of the service, and experts in every line of government work +took it in turns to question me. One morning would be devoted, for +instance, to answering questions of a military nature—German methods +behind the front-line trenches, tactics, morale of troops, and similar +matters. Then the aviation experts would take a whack at me and discuss +with me all I had observed of German flying-corps methods and equipment. +Then, again, the food experts would interrogate me as to what I had +learned of food conditions in Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium, and as +I had lived pretty close to the ground for the best part of seventy-two +days I was able to give them some fairly accurate reports<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> as to actual +agricultural conditions, many of the things I told them probably having +more significance to them than they had to me.</p> + +<p>There were many things I had observed which I have not referred to +in these pages because their value to us might be diminished if the +Germans knew we were aware of them, but they were all reported to the +authorities, and it was very gratifying to me to hear that the experts +considered some of them of the greatest value.</p> + +<p>One of the most amusing incidents of my return occurred when I called at +my banker's in London to get my personal effects.</p> + +<p>The practice in the Royal Flying Corps when a pilot is reported missing +is to have two of his comrades assigned to go through his belongings, +check them over, destroy anything that it might not be to his interest +to preserve, and send the whole business to his banker or his home, +as the case may be. Every letter is read through, but its contents is +never afterward discussed nor revealed in any way. If the pilot is +finally reported dead, his effects are forwarded to his next of kin, +but while he is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> officially only "missing" or is known to be a prisoner +of war they are kept either at the squadron headquarters or sent to his +banker's.</p> + +<p>In my case, as soon as it was learned that I had fallen from the sky it +was assumed that I had been killed, and my chum, Paid Raney, and another +officer were detailed to check over my effects. The list they made and +to which they affixed their signatures, as I have previously mentioned, +is now in my possession and is one of the most treasured souvenirs of my +adventure.</p> + +<p>My trunk was sent to Cox & Co. in due course, and now that I was in +London I thought I would go and claim it.</p> + +<p>When I arrived in the bank I applied at the proper window for my mail +and trunk.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" I was asked, rather sharply.</p> + +<p>"Well, I guess no one has any greater right to Pat O'Brien's effects +than I have," I replied, "and I would be obliged to you if you would +look them up for me."</p> + +<p>"That may be all right, my friend," replied the clerk, "but according +to our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> records Lieutenant O'Brien is a prisoner of war in Germany, +and we can't very well turn over his effects to any one else unless +either you present proof that he is dead and that you are his lawful +representative, or else deliver to us a properly authenticated order +from him to give them to you."</p> + +<p>He was very positive about it all, but quite polite, and I thought I +would kid him no more.</p> + +<p>"Well," I said, "I can't very well present proofs to you that Pat +O'Brien is dead, but I will do the best I can to prove to you that he is +alive, and if you haven't quite forgotten his signature I guess I can +write you out an order that will answer all your requirements and enable +you to give me Pat O'Brien's belongings without running any risks." And +I scribbled my signature on a scrap of paper and handed it to him.</p> + +<p>He looked at me carefully through the latticed window, then jumped down +from his chair and came outside to clasp me by the hand.</p> + +<p>"Good Heavens, Lieutenant!" he exclaimed as he pumped my hand up and +down. "How did you ever get away?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> And I had to sit right down +and tell him and half a dozen other people in the bank all about my +experiences.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_9" id="illo_9"> +<img src="images/i_301a.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"><p>COPY OF TELEGRAM INVITING LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN TO MEET KING +GEORGE</p></div> +</div> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="illo_10" id="illo_10"> +<img src="images/i_301b.jpg" alt="" /></a> +<div class="caption"><p>COPY OF TELEGRAM SENT BY LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN IN ANSWER TO +AN INVITATION TO MEET KING GEORGE</p></div> +</div> + +<p>I had been in England about ten days when I received a telegram which, +at first, occasioned me almost as much concern as the unexpected sight +of a German spiked helmet had caused me in Belgium. It read as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="hang"><i>Lieut. P. A. O'Brien, Royal Flying Corps, Regent's Palace +Hotel, London</i>:</p> + +<p>The King is very glad to hear of your escape from Germany. If +you are to be in London on Friday next, December 7th, His Majesty +will receive you at Buckingham Palace at 10:30 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> Please +acknowledge.</p> + +<p class="author">Cromer.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Of course, there was only one thing to do and that was to obey orders. I +was an officer in the army and the King was my commander-in-chief. I had +to go, and so I sat down and sent off the following answer:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p><i>Earl Cromer, Buckingham Palace, London</i>:</p> +<p>I will attend Buckingham Palace as directed, Friday, December +7th, at 10:30.</p> +<p class="author">Lieutenant Pat O'Brien.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the interval that elapsed I must confess, the ordeal of calling on +the King of England loomed up more dreadfully every day, and I really +believe I would rather have spent another day in that empty house in the +big city in Belgium, or, say, two days at Courtrai, than go through what +I believed to be in store for me.</p> + +<p>Orders were orders, however, and there was no way of getting out of it. +As it turned out it wasn't half so bad as I had feared; on the contrary, +it was one of the most agreeable experiences of my life.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + + + + +<h2><a name="XIX" id="XIX">XIX<br /> +I AM PRESENTED TO THE KING</a></h2> + + +<p>When the dreaded 7th of December arrived I hailed a taxicab and in as +matter-of-fact tone of voice as I could command directed the chauffeur +to drive me to Buckingham Palace, as though I were paying my regular +morning call on the King.</p> + +<p>My friends' version of this incident, I have since heard, is that +I seated myself in the taxi and, leaning through the window, said, +"Buckingham Palace!" whereupon the taxi driver got down, opened the +door, and exclaimed, threateningly:</p> + +<p>"If you don't get out quietly and chuck your drunken talk, I'll jolly +quick call a bobby, bli' me if I won't!"</p> + +<p>But I can only give my word that nothing of the kind occurred.</p> + +<p>When I arrived at the palace gate the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> sentry on guard asked me who I +was, and then let me pass at once up to the front entrance of the palace.</p> + +<p>There I was met by an elaborately uniformed and equally elaborately +decorated personage, who, judging by the long row of medals he wore, +must have seen long and distinguished service for the King.</p> + +<p>I was relieved of my overcoat, hat, and stick and conducted up a long +stairway, where I was turned over to another functionary, who led me to +the reception-room of Earl Cromer, the King's secretary.</p> + +<p>There I was introduced to another earl and a duke whose names I do not +remember. I was becoming so bewildered, in fact, that it is a wonder +that I remember as much as I do of this eventful day.</p> + +<p>I had heard many times that before being presented to the King a man is +coached carefully as to just how he is to act and what he is to say and +do, and all this time I was wondering when this drilling would commence. +I certainly had no idea that I was to be ushered into the august +presence of the King without some preliminary instruction.</p> + +<p>Earl Cromer and the other noblemen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> talked to me for a while and got me +to relate in brief the story of my experiences, and they appeared to be +very much interested. Perhaps they did it only to give me confidence and +as a sort of rehearsal for the main performance, which was scheduled to +take place much sooner than I expected.</p> + +<p>I had barely completed my story when the door opened and an attendant +entered and announced:</p> + +<p>"The King will receive Leftenant O'Brien!"</p> + +<p>If he had announced that the Kaiser was outside with a squad of German +guards to take me back to Courtrai my heart could not have sunk deeper.</p> + +<p>Earl Cromer beckoned me to follow him, and we went into a large room, +where I supposed I was at last to receive my coaching, but I observed +the earl bow to a man standing there and realized that I was standing in +the presence of the King of England.</p> + +<p>"Your Majesty, Leftenant O'Brien!" the earl announced, and then +immediately backed from the room. I believed I would have followed +right behind him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> but by that time the King had me by the hand and was +congratulating me, and he spoke so very cordially and democratically +that he put me at my ease at once.</p> + +<p>He then asked me how I felt and whether I was in a condition to +converse, and when I told him I was he said he would be very much +pleased to hear my story in detail.</p> + +<p>"Were you treated any worse by the Germans, Leftenant," he asked, "on +account of being an American? I've heard that the Germans had threatened +to shoot Americans serving in the British army if they captured them, +classing them as murderers because America was a neutral country and +Americans had no right to mix in the war. Did you find that to be the +case?"</p> + +<p>I told him that I had heard similar reports, but that I did not notice +any appreciable difference in my treatment from that accorded Britishers.</p> + +<p>The King declared that he believed my escape was due to my pluck and +will power, and that it was one of the most remarkable escapes he had +ever heard of, which I thought was quite a compliment, coming as it did +from the King of England.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I hope that all the Americans will give as good an account of +themselves as you have, Leftenant," he said, "and I feel quite sure they +will. I fully appreciate all the service rendered us by Americans before +the States entered the war."</p> + +<p>At this point I asked him if I was taking too much time.</p> + +<p>"Not at all, Leftenant, not at all!" he replied, most cordially. "I +was extremely interested in the brief report that came to me of your +wonderful escape, and I sent for you because I wanted to hear the whole +story first-hand, and I am very glad you were able to come."</p> + +<p>I had not expected to remain more than a few minutes, as I understood +that four minutes is considered a long audience with the King. Fifty-two +minutes elapsed before I finally left there!</p> + +<p>During all this time I had done most of the talking, in response to the +King's request to tell my story. Occasionally he interrupted to ask a +question about a point he wanted me to make clear, but for the most part +he was content to play the part of listener.</p> + +<p>He seemed to be very keen on everything,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> and when I described some of +the tight holes I got into during my escape he evinced his sympathy. +Occasionally I introduced some of the few humorous incidents of my +adventure, and in every instance he laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>Altogether the impression I got of him was that he is a very genial, +gracious, and alert sovereign. I know I have felt more ill at ease when +talking to a major than when speaking to the King—but perhaps I had +more cause to.</p> + +<p>During the whole interview we were left entirely alone, which impressed +me as significant of the democratic manner of the present King of +England, and I certainly came away with the utmost respect for him.</p> + +<p>In all of my conversation, I recalled afterward, I never addressed the +King as "Your Majesty," but used the military "sir." As I was a British +officer and he was the head of the army, he probably appreciated this +manner of address more than if I had used the usual "Your Majesty." +Perhaps he attributed it to the fact that I was an American. At any +rate, he didn't evince any displeasure at my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> departure from what I +understand is the usual form of address.</p> + +<p>Before I left he asked me what my plans for the future were.</p> + +<p>"Why, sir, I hope to rejoin my squadron at the earliest possible +moment!" I replied.</p> + +<p>"No, Leftenant," he rejoined, "that is out of the question. We can't +risk losing you for good by sending you back to a part of the front +opposed by Germany, because if you were unfortunate enough to be +captured again they would undoubtedly shoot you."</p> + +<p>"Well, if I can't serve in France, sir," I suggested, "wouldn't it be +feasible for me to fly in Italy or Salonica?"</p> + +<p>"No," he replied; "that would be almost as bad. The only thing that +I can suggest for you to do is either to take up instruction—a very +valuable form of service—or perhaps it might be safe enough for you to +serve in Egypt; but, just at present, Leftenant, I think you have done +enough, anyway."</p> + +<p>Then he rose and shook hands with me and wished me the best of luck, and +we both said, "Good-by."</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the adjoining room I met Earl Cromer again, and as he accompanied me +to the door he seemed to be surprised at the length of my visit.</p> + +<p>"His Majesty must have been very much interested in your story," he said.</p> + +<p>As I left the palace a policeman and a sentry outside came smartly to +attention. Perhaps they figured I had been made a general.</p> + +<p>As I was riding back to the hotel in a taxi I reflected on the +remarkable course of events which in the short space of nine months had +taken me through so much and ended up, like the finish of a book, with +my being received by his Majesty the King! When I first joined the Royal +Flying Corps I never expected to see the inside of Buckingham Palace, +much less to be received by the King.</p> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> + + +<h2><a name="XX" id="XX">XX<br /> +HOME AGAIN!</a></h2> + + +<p>That same day, in the evening, I was tendered a banquet at the Hotel +Savoy by a fellow-officer who had bet three other friends of mine that +I would be home by Christmas. This wager had been made at the time he +heard that I was a prisoner of war, and the dinner was the stake.</p> + +<p>The first intimation he had of my safe return from Germany and the fact +that he had won his bet was a telegram I sent him reading as follows:</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p><i>Lieutenant Louis Grant</i>:</p> + +<p>War-bread bad, so I came home.</p> + +<p class="author2">Pat.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>He said he would not part with that message for a thousand dollars.</p> + +<p>Other banquets followed in fast succession. After I had survived nine +of them I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> figured that I was now in as much danger of succumbing to a +surfeit of rich food as I had previously been of dying from starvation, +and for my own protection I decided to leave London. Moreover, my +thoughts and my heart were turning back to the land of my birth, where I +knew there was a loving old mother who was longing for more substantial +evidence of my safe escape than the cables and letters she had received.</p> + +<p>Strangely enough, on the boat which carried me across the Atlantic I saw +an R. F. C. man—Lieutenant Lascelles.</p> + +<p>I walked over to him, held out my hand, and said, "Hello!"</p> + +<p>He looked at me steadily for at least a minute.</p> + +<p>"My friend, you certainly look like Pat O'Brien," he declared, "but I +can't believe my eyes. Who are you?"</p> + +<p>I quickly convinced him that his eyes were still to be relied upon, +and then he stared at me for another minute or two, shaking his head +dubiously.</p> + +<p>His mystification was quite explicable. The last time he had seen me I +was going down to earth with a bullet in my face and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> my machine doing +a spinning nose dive. He was one of my comrades in the flying corps and +was in the fight which resulted in my capture. He said he had read the +report that I was a prisoner of war, but he had never believed it, as he +did not think it possible for me to survive that fall.</p> + +<p>He was one of the few men living out of eighteen who were originally +in my squadron—I do not mean the eighteen with whom I sailed from +Canada last May, but the squadron I joined in France. He rehearsed +for me the fate of all my old friends in the squadron, and it was a +mighty sad story. All of them had been killed except one or two who +were in dry-dock for repairs. He himself was on his way to Australia to +recuperate and get his nerves back into shape again. He had been in many +desperate combats.</p> + +<p>As we sat on the deck exchanging experiences I would frequently notice +him gazing intently in my face as if he were not quite sure that the +whole proposition was not a hoax and that I was not an impostor.</p> + +<p>Outside of this unexpected meeting, my trip across was uneventful.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span></p> + +<p>I arrived in St. John, New Brunswick, and eventually the little town of +Momence, Illinois, on the Kankakee River.</p> + +<p>I have said that I was never so happy to arrive in a country as I was +when I first set foot on Dutch soil. Now I'm afraid I shall have to take +that statement back. Not until I finally landed in Momence and realized +that I was again in the town of my childhood days did I enjoy that +feeling of absolute security which one never really appreciates until +after a visit to foreign parts.</p> + +<p>Now that I am back, the whole adventure constantly recurs to me as a +dream, and I'm never quite sure that I won't wake up and find it so.</p> + + +<p class="heading space-above">THE END</p> + + +<hr /> + +<div class="trans-note"> +<a name="END" id="END"></a> +<p class="heading">Transcriber's Notes</p> + +<p>The transcriber made these changes to the text to correct obvious errors:</p> + +<ul id="tn"> +<li>p. 172, woulb --> would</li> +<li>p. 265, geting --> getting</li> +</ul> + +</div> + +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Outwitting the Hun, by Pat O'Brien + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUTWITTING THE HUN *** + +***** This file should be named 42490-h.htm or 42490-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/4/9/42490/ + +Produced by sp1nd, Richard J. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Outwitting the Hun + My Escape from a German Prison Camp + +Author: Pat O'Brien + +Release Date: April 8, 2013 [EBook #42490] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUTWITTING THE HUN *** + + + + +Produced by sp1nd, Richard J. Shiffer and the Distributed +Proofreading volunteers at http://www.pgdp.net for Project +Gutenberg. (This file was produced from images generously +made available by The Internet Archive.) + + + + + +[Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text +as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and +other inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an obvious +error is noted at the end of this ebook.] + + + + +OUTWITTING THE HUN + + +[Illustration: LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN, R. F. C.] + + + + + OUTWITTING + THE HUN + + _My Escape from a + German Prison Camp_ + + BY + + LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN + + _Royal Flying Corps_ + + ILLUSTRATED + + [Illustration] + + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS + NEW YORK AND LONDON + + + OUTWITTING THE HUN + + + Copyright, 1918, by Lieutenant Pat O'Brien + Printed in the United States of America + Published March, 1918 + + + + + TO + + THE NORTH STAR + + WHOSE GUIDING LIGHT MARKED THE + PATHWAY TO FREEDOM FOR A WEARY + FUGITIVE, THIS BOOK IS INSCRIBED + IN HUMBLE GRATITUDE + AND ABIDING FAITH + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAP. PAGE + + PREFACE xi + + I. THE FOLLY OF DESPAIR 1 + + II. I BECOME A FIGHTING-SCOUT 7 + + III. CAPTURED BY THE HUNS 21 + + IV. CLIPPED WINGS 34 + + V. THE PRISON-CAMP AT COURTRAI 53 + + VI. A LEAP FOR LIBERTY 77 + + VII. CRAWLING THROUGH GERMANY 88 + + VIII. NINE DAYS IN LUXEMBOURG 97 + + IX. I ENTER BELGIUM 112 + + X. EXPERIENCES IN BELGIUM 132 + + XI. I ENCOUNTER GERMAN SOLDIERS 145 + + XII. THE FORGED PASSPORT 159 + + XIII. FIVE DAYS IN AN EMPTY HOUSE 186 + + XIV. A NIGHT OF DISSIPATION 207 + + XV. OBSERVATIONS IN A BELGIAN CITY 219 + + XVI. I APPROACH THE FRONTIER 225 + + XVII. GETTING THROUGH THE LINES 236 + + XVIII. EXPERIENCES IN HOLLAND 250 + + XIX. I AM PRESENTED TO THE KING 273 + + XX. HOME AGAIN! 281 + + +[Transcriber's Note: Illustrations were interleaved between pages in the +original text. In this version, they have been moved to be between +paragraphs. Page numbers below reflect the position of the illustration +in the original text.] + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN, R. F. C. _Frontispiece_ + + THE AEROPLANE WHICH LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN + USED IN HIS LAST BATTLE WITH THE HUNS + WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT DOWN AND + MADE PRISONER _Facing p._ 30 + + THE IDENTIFICATION DISK WORN BY LIEUTENANT + O'BRIEN WHEN HE WAS CAPTURED + BY THE HUNS. IT REVEALED TO + THEM THAT HE WAS AN AMERICAN " 36 + + LIEUT. PAUL H. RANEY OF TORONTO AND LIEUT. + PAT O'BRIEN " 50 + + MAILING-CARD SENT BY GERMAN GOVERNMENT + TO PAT O'BRIEN'S SISTER, MRS. CLARA + CLEGG OF MOMENCE, ILLINOIS " 60 + + OBVERSE SIDE OF CARD SHOWN ABOVE " 60 + + A GROUP OF PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE PRISON-CAMP + AT COURTRAI, BELGIUM " 70 + + THE FORGED PASSPORT PREPARED IN A BELGIAN + CITY TO AID LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN'S + ESCAPE INTO HOLLAND, BUT WHICH WAS + NEVER USED " 164 + + COPY OF TELEGRAM INVITING LIEUTENANT + O'BRIEN TO MEET KING GEORGE " 270 + + COPY OF TELEGRAM SENT BY LIEUTENANT + O'BRIEN IN ANSWER TO AN INVITATION + TO MEET KING GEORGE " 270 + + + + +PREFACE + + +There is a common idea that the age of miracles is past. Perhaps it +is, but if so, the change must have come about within the past few +weeks--after I escaped into Holland. For if anything is certain in this +life it is this: this book never would have been written but for the +succession of miracles set forth in these pages. + +Miracles, luck, coincidence, Providence--it doesn't matter much what you +call it--certainly played an important part in the series of hairbreadth +escapes in which I figured during my short but eventful appearance in +the great drama now being enacted across the seas. Without it, all my +efforts and sufferings would have been quite unavailing. + +No one realizes this better than I do and I want to repeat it right here +because elsewhere in these pages I may appear occasionally to overlook +or minimize it: without the help of Providence I would not be here +to-day. + +But this same Providence which brought me home safely, despite all the +dangers which beset me, may work similar miracles for others, and it is +in the hope of encouraging other poor devils who may find themselves in +situations as hopeless apparently as mine oftentimes were that this book +is written. + +When this cruel war is over--which I trust may be sooner than I expect +it to be--I hope I shall have an opportunity to revisit the scenes of my +adventures and to thank in person in an adequate manner every one who +extended a helping hand to me when I was a wretched fugitive. All of +them took great risks in befriending an escaped prisoner, and they did +it without the slightest hope of reward. At the same time I hope I shall +have a chance to pay my compliments to those who endeavored to take +advantage of my distress. + +In the meanwhile, however, I can only express my thanks in this +ineffective manner, trusting that in some mysterious way a copy of this +book may fall into the hands of every one who befriended me. I hope +particularly that every good Hollander who played the part of the Good +Samaritan to me so bountifully after my escape from Belgium will see +these pages and feel that I am absolutely sincere when I say that words +cannot begin to express my sense of gratitude to the Dutch people. + +It is needless for me to add how deeply I feel for my fellow-prisoners +in Germany who were less fortunate than I. Poor, poor fellows!--they are +the real victims of the war. I hope that every one of them may soon be +restored to that freedom whose value I never fully realized until after +I had had to fight so hard to regain it. + + PAT O'BRIEN. + + MOMENCE, ILLINOIS, _January 14, 1918_. + + + + +OUTWITTING THE HUN + + + + +I + +THE FOLLY OF DESPAIR + + +Less than nine months ago eighteen officers of the Royal Flying Corps, +which had been training in Canada, left for England on the _Megantic_. + +If any of them was over twenty-five years of age, he had successfully +concealed the fact, because they don't accept older men for the R. F. C. + +Nine of the eighteen were British subjects; the other nine were +Americans, who, tired of waiting for their own country to take her place +with the Allies, had joined the British colors in Canada. I was one of +the latter. + +We were going to England to earn our "wings"--a qualification which must +be won before a member of the R. F. C. is allowed to hunt the Huns on +the western front. + +That was in May, 1917. + +By August 1st most of us were full-fledged pilots, actively engaged at +various parts of the line in daily conflict with the enemy. + +By December 15th every man Jack of us who had met the enemy in France, +with one exception, had appeared on the casualty list. The exception +was H. K. Boysen, an American, who at last report was fighting on the +Italian front, still unscathed. Whether his good fortune has stood by +him up to this time I don't know, but if it has I would be very much +surprised. + +Of the others five were killed in action--three Americans, one Canadian, +and one Englishman. Three more were in all probability killed in action, +although officially they are listed merely as "missing." One of these +was an American, one a Canadian, and the third a Scotchman. Three more, +two of them Americans, were seriously wounded. Another, a Canadian, is +a prisoner in Germany. I know nothing of the others. + +What happened to me is narrated in these pages. I wish, instead, I could +tell the story of each of my brave comrades, for not one of them was +downed, I am sure, without upholding the best traditions of the R. F. +C. Unfortunately, however, of the eighteen who sailed on the _Megantic_ +last May, I happened to be the first to fall into the hands of the Huns, +and what befell my comrades after that, with one exception, I know only +second hand. + +The exception was the case of poor, brave Paul Raney--my closest +chum--whose last battle I witnessed from my German prison--but that is a +story I shall tell in its proper place. + +In one way, however, I think the story of my own "big adventure" and my +miraculous escape may, perhaps, serve a purpose as useful as that of +the heroic fate of my less fortunate comrades. Their story, it is true, +might inspire others to deeds of heroism, but mine, I hope, will convey +the equally valuable lesson of the folly of despair. + +Many were the times in the course of my struggles when it seemed +absolutely useless to continue. In a hostile country, where discovery +meant death, wounded, sick, famished, friendless, hundreds of miles +from the nearest neutral territory the frontier of which was so closely +guarded that even if I got there it seemed too much to hope that I could +ever get through, what was the use of enduring further agony? + +And yet here I am, in the Land of Liberty--although in a somewhat +obscure corner, the little town of Momence, Illinois, where I was +born--not very much the worse for wear after all I've been through, and, +as I write these words, not eight months have passed since my seventeen +comrades and I sailed from Canada on the _Megantic_! + +Can it be possible that I was spared to convey a message of hope to +others who are destined for similar trials? I am afraid there will be +many of them. + +Years ago I heard of the epitaph which is said to have been found on a +child's grave: + + If I was so soon to be done for, + O Lord, what was I ever begun for? + +The way it has come to me since I returned from Europe is: + + If, O Lord, I was _not_ to be done for, + What were my sufferings e'er begun for? + +Perhaps the answer lies in the suggestion I have made. + +At any rate, if this record of my adventures should prove instrumental +in sustaining others who need encouragement, I shall not feel that my +sufferings were in vain. + +It is hardly likely that any one will quite duplicate my experiences, +but I haven't the slightest doubt that many will have to go through +trials equally nerve-racking and suffer disappointments just as +disheartening. + +It would be very far from the mark to imagine that the optimism which I +am preaching now so glibly sustained me through all my troubles. On the +contrary, I am free to confess that I frequently gave way to despair +and often, for hours at a time, felt so dejected and discouraged that +I really didn't care what happened to me. Indeed, I rather hoped that +something _would_ happen to put an end to my misery. + +But, despite all my despondency and hopelessness, the worst never +happened, and I can't help thinking that my salvation must have been +designed to show the way to others. + + + + +II + +I BECOME A FIGHTING-SCOUT + + +I started flying, in Chicago, in 1912. I was then eighteen years old, +but I had had a hankering for the air ever since I can remember. + +As a youngster I followed the exploits of the Wrights with the greatest +interest, although I must confess I sometimes hoped that they wouldn't +really conquer the air until I had had a whack at it myself. I got more +whacks than I was looking for later on. + +Needless to say, my parents were very much opposed to my risking my +life at what was undoubtedly at that time one of the most hazardous +"pastimes" a young fellow could select, and every time I had a smash-up +or some other mishap I was ordered never to go near an aviation field +again. + +So I went out to California. There another fellow and I built our own +machine, which we flew in various parts of the state. + +In the early part of 1916, when trouble was brewing in Mexico, I joined +the American Flying Corps. I was sent to San Diego, where the army +flying school is located, and spent about eight months there, but as I +was anxious to get into active service and there didn't seem much chance +of America ever getting into the war, I resigned and, crossing over to +Canada, joined the Royal Flying Corps at Victoria, B. C. + +I was sent to Camp Borden, Toronto, first to receive instruction and +later to instruct. While a cadet I made the first loop ever made +by a cadet in Canada, and after I had performed the stunt I half +expected to be kicked out of the service for it. Apparently, however, +they considered the source and let it go at that. Later on I had the +satisfaction of introducing the loop as part of the regular course of +instruction for cadets in the R. F. C., and I want to say right here +that Camp Borden has turned out some of the best fliers that have ever +gone to France. + +In May, 1917, I and seventeen other Canadian fliers left for England on +the _Megantic_, where we were to qualify for service in France. + +Our squadron consisted of nine Americans, C. C. Robinson, H. A. Miller, +F. S. McClurg, A. A. Allen, E. B. Garnett, H. K. Boysen, H. A. Smeeton, +A. Taylor, and myself; and nine Britishers, Paul H. Raney, J. R. Park, +C. Nelmes, C. R. Moore, T. L. Atkinson, F. C. Conry, A. Muir, E. A. L. +F. Smith, and A. C. Jones. + +Within a few weeks after our arrival in England all of us had won our +"wings"--the insignia worn on the left breast by every pilot on the +western front. + +We were all sent to a place in France known as the Pool Pilots' Mess. +Here men gather from all the training squadrons in Canada and England +and await assignments to the particular squadron of which they are to +become members. + +The Pool Pilots' Mess is situated a few miles back of the lines. +Whenever a pilot is shot down or killed the Pool Pilots' Mess is +notified to send another to take his place. + +There are so many casualties every day in the R. F. C. at one point of +the front or another that the demand for new pilots is quite active, +but when a fellow is itching to get into the fight as badly as I and my +friends were I must confess that we got a little impatient, although we +realized that every time a new man was called it meant that some one +else had, in all probability, been killed, wounded, or captured. + +One morning an order came in for a scout pilot, and one of my friends +was assigned. I can tell you the rest of us were as envious of him as +if it were the last chance any of us were ever going to have to get to +the front. As it was, however, hardly more than three hours had elapsed +before another wire was received at the Mess and I was ordered to +follow my friend. I afterward learned that as soon as he arrived at the +squadron he had prevailed upon the commanding officer of the squadron to +wire for me. + +At the Pool Pilots' Mess it was the custom of the officers to wear +"shorts"--breeches that are about eight inches long, like the Boy Scouts +wear, leaving a space of about eight inches of open country between the +top of the puttees and the end of the "shorts." The Australians wore +them in Salonica and at the Dardanelles. + +When the order came in for me, I had these "shorts" on, and I didn't +have time to change into other clothes. Indeed, I was in such a sweat to +get to the front that if I had been in my pajamas I think I would have +gone that way. As it was, it was raining and I threw an overcoat over +me, jumped into the machine, and we made record time to the aerodrome to +which I had been ordered to report. + +As I alighted from the automobile my overcoat blew open and displayed +my manly form attired in "shorts" instead of in the regulation flying +breeches, and the sight aroused considerable commotion in camp. + +"Must be a Yankee!" I overheard one officer say to another as I +approached. "No one but a Yank would have the cheek to show up that way, +you know!" + +But they laughed good-naturedly as I came up to them and welcomed me to +the squadron, and I was soon very much at home. + +My squadron was one of four stationed at an aerodrome about eighteen +miles back of the Ypres line. There were eighteen pilots in our +squadron, which was a scout-squadron, scout-machines carrying but one +man. + +A scout, sometimes called a fighting-scout, has no bomb-dropping or +reconnoitering to do. His duty is just to fight, or, as the order was +given to me, "You are expected to pick fights and not wait until they +come to you!" + +When bomb-droppers go out over the lines in the daytime, a +scout-squadron usually convoys them. The bomb-droppers fly at about +twelve thousand feet, the scouts a thousand feet or so above them to +protect them. + +If at any time they should be attacked, it is the duty of the scouts to +dive down and carry on the fight, the orders of the bomb-droppers being +to go on dropping bombs and not to fight unless they have to. There is +seldom a time that machines go out over the lines on this work in the +daytime that they are not attacked at some time or other, and so the +scouts usually have plenty of work to do. In addition to these attacks, +however, the squadron is invariably under constant bombardment from the +ground, but that doesn't worry us very much, as we know pretty well how +to avoid being hit from that quarter. + +On my first flight, after joining the squadron, I was taken out over +the lines to get a look at things, map out my location in case I was +ever lost, locate the forests, lakes, and other landmarks, and get the +general lay of the land. + +One thing that was impressed upon me very emphatically was the location +of the hospitals, so that in case I was ever wounded and had the +strength to pick my landing I could land as near as possible to a +hospital. All these things a new pilot goes through during the first two +or three days after joining a squadron. + +Our regular routine was two flights a day, each of two hours' duration. +After doing our regular patrol, it was our privilege to go off on our +own hook, if we wished, before going back to the squadron. + +I soon found out that my squadron was some hot squadron, our fliers +being almost always assigned to special-duty work, such as shooting up +trenches at a height of fifty feet from the ground! + +I received my baptism into this kind of work the third time I went out +over the lines, and I would recommend it to any one who is hankering for +excitement. You are not only apt to be attacked by hostile aircraft from +above, but you are swept by machine-gun fire from below. I have seen +some of our machines come back from this work sometimes so riddled with +bullets that I wondered how they ever held together. Before we started +out on one of these jobs we were mighty careful to see that our motors +were in perfect condition, because they told us the "war-bread was bad +in Germany." + +One morning, shortly after I joined the squadron, three of us started +over the line on our own accord. We soon observed four enemy machines, +two-seaters, coming toward us. This type of machine is used by the Huns +for artillery work and bomb-dropping, and we knew they were on mischief +bent. Each machine had a machine-gun in front, worked by the pilot, and +the observer also had a gun with which he could spray all around. + +When we first noticed the Huns our machines were about six miles back of +the German lines and we were lying high up in the sky, keeping the sun +behind us, so that the enemy could not see us. + +We picked out three of the machines and dove down on them. I went right +by the man I picked for myself and his observer in the rear seat kept +pumping at me to beat the band. Not one of my shots took effect as I +went right under him, but I turned and gave him another burst of bullets +and down he went in a spinning nose dive, one of his wings going one way +and one another. As I saw him crash to the ground I knew that I had got +my first hostile aircraft. One of my comrades was equally successful, +but the other two German machines got away. We chased them back until +things got too hot for us by reason of the appearance of other German +machines, and then we called it a day. + +This experience whetted my appetite for more of the same kind, and I did +not have long to wait. + +It may be well to explain here just what a spinning nose dive is. A +few years ago the spinning nose dive was considered one of the most +dangerous things a pilot could attempt, and many men were killed +getting into this spin and not knowing how to come out of it. In fact, +lots of pilots thought that when once you got into a spinning nose dive +there was no way of coming out of it. It is now used, however, in actual +flying. + +The machines that are used in France are controlled in two ways, both +by hands and by feet, the feet working the yoke or rudder bar which +controls the rudder that steers the machine. The lateral controls and +fore and aft, which cause the machine to rise or lower, are controlled +by a contrivance called a "joy-stick." If, when flying in the air, a +pilot should release his hold on this stick, it will gradually come back +toward the pilot. + +In that position the machine will begin to climb. So if a pilot is shot +and loses control of this "joy-stick" his machine begins to ascend, and +climbs until the angle formed becomes too great for it to continue or +the motor to pull the plane; for a fraction of a second it stops, and +the motor then being the heaviest, it causes the nose of the machine to +fall forward, pitching down at a terrific rate of speed and spinning at +the same time. If the motor is still running, it naturally increases the +speed much more than it would if the motor were shut off, and there is +great danger that the wings will double up, causing the machine to break +apart. Although spins are made with the motor on, you are dropping like +a ball being dropped out of the sky and the velocity increases with the +power of the motor. + +This spinning nose dive has been frequently used in "stunt" flying in +recent years, but is now put to practical use by pilots in getting +away from hostile machines, for when a man is spinning, it is almost +impossible to hit him, and the man making the attack invariably thinks +his enemy is going down to certain death in the spin. + +This is all right when a man is over his own territory, because he can +right his machine and come out of it; but if it happens over German +territory, the Huns would only follow him down, and when he came out of +the spin they would be above him, having all the advantage, and would +shoot him down with ease. + +It is a good way of getting down into a cloud, and is used very often +by both sides, but it requires skill and courage by the pilot making it +if he ever expects to come out alive. + +A spin being made by a pilot intentionally looks exactly like a spin +that is made by a machine actually being shot down, so one never knows +whether it is forced or intentional until the pilot either rights his +machine and comes out of it or crashes to the ground. + +Another dive similar to this one is known as just the plain "dive." +Assume, for instance, that a pilot flying at a height of several +thousand feet is shot, loses control of his machine, and the nose of the +plane starts down with the motor full on. He is going at a tremendous +speed and in many instances is going so straight and swiftly that the +speed is too great for the machine, because it was never constructed +to withstand the enormous pressure forced against the wings, and they +consequently crumple up. + +If, too, in an effort to straighten the machine, the elevators should +become affected, as often happens in trying to bring a machine out of +a dive, the strain is again too great on the wings, and there is the +same disastrous result. Oftentimes, when the petrol-tank is punctured by +a tracer-bullet from another machine in the air, the plane that is hit +catches on fire and either gets into a spin or a straight dive and heads +for the earth, hundreds of miles an hour, a mass of flame, looking like +a brilliant comet in the sky. + +The spinning nose dive is used to greater advantage by the Germans than +by our own pilots, for the reason that when a fight gets too hot for the +German he will put his machine in a spin, and as the chances are nine +out of ten that we are fighting over German territory, he simply spins +down out of our range, straightens out before he reaches the ground, and +goes on home to his aerodrome. It is useless to follow him down inside +the German lines, for you would in all probability be shot down before +you could attain sufficient altitude to cross the line again. + +It often happens that a pilot will be chasing another machine when +suddenly he sees it start to spin. Perhaps they are fifteen or eighteen +thousand feet in the air, and the hostile machine spins down for +thousands of feet. He thinks he has hit the other machine and goes home +happy that he has brought down another Hun. He reports the occurrence to +the squadron, telling how he shot down his enemy; but when the rest of +the squadron come in with their report, or some artillery observation +balloon sends in a report, it develops that when a few hundred feet from +the ground the supposed dead man in the spin has come out of the spin +and gone merrily on his way for his own aerodrome. + + + + +III + +CAPTURED BY THE HUNS + + +I shall not easily forget the 17th of August, 1917. I killed two Huns in +a double-seated machine in the morning, another in the evening, and then +I was captured myself. I may have spent more eventful days in my life, +but I can't recall any just now. + +That morning, in crossing the line on early morning patrol, I noticed +two German balloons. I decided that as soon as my patrol was over I +would go off on my own hook and see what a German balloon looked like at +close quarters. + +These observation balloons are used by both sides in conjunction with +the artillery. A man sits up in the balloon with a wireless apparatus +and directs the firing of the guns. From his point of vantage he can +follow the work of his own artillery with a remarkable degree of +accuracy and at the same time he can observe the enemy's movements and +report them. + +The Germans are very good at this work and they use a great number of +these balloons. It was considered a very important part of our work to +keep them out of the sky. + +There are two ways of going after a balloon in a machine. One of them is +to cross the lines at a low altitude, flying so near the ground that the +man with the anti-aircraft gun can't bother you. You fly along until you +get to the level of the balloon, and if, in the mean time, they have not +drawn the balloon down, you open fire on it and the bullets you use will +set it on fire if they land. + +The other way is to fly over where you know the balloons to be, put your +machine in a spin so that they can't hit you, get above them, spin over +the balloon, and then open fire. In going back over the line you cross +at a few hundred feet. + +This is one of the hardest jobs in the service. There is less danger in +attacking an enemy's aircraft. + +Nevertheless, I had made up my mind either to get those balloons or +make them descend, and I only hoped that they would stay on the job +until I had a chance at them. + +When our two hours' duty was up, therefore, I dropped out of the +formation as we crossed the lines and turned back again. + +I was at a height of fifteen thousand feet, considerably higher than +the balloons. Shutting my motor off, I dropped down through the clouds, +thinking to find the balloons at about five or six miles behind the +German lines. + +Just as I came out of the cloud-banks I saw below me, about a thousand +feet, a two-seater hostile machine doing artillery observation and +directing the German guns. This was at a point about four miles behind +the German lines. + +Evidently the German artillery saw me and put out ground signals to +attract the Hun machine's attention, for I saw the observer quit his +work and grab his gun, while the pilot stuck the nose of his machine +straight down. + +But they were too late to escape me. I was diving toward them at a speed +of probably two hundred miles an hour, shooting all the time as fast as +possible. Their only chance lay in the possibility that the force of my +dive might break my wings. I knew my danger in that direction, but as +soon as I came out of my dive the Huns would have their chance to get +me, and I knew I had to get them first and take a chance on my wings +holding out. + +Fortunately, some of my first bullets found their mark and I was able to +come out of my dive at about four thousand feet. They never came out of +theirs! + +But right then came the hottest situation in the air I had experienced +up to that time. The depth of my dive had brought me within reach of the +machine-guns from the ground and they also put a "barrage" around me of +shrapnel from anti-aircraft guns, and I had an opportunity to "ride the +barrage," as they call it in the R. F. C. To make the situation more +interesting, they began shooting "flaming onions" at me. + +"Flaming onions" are rockets shot from a rocket-gun. They are used to +hit a machine when it is flying low and they are effective up to about +five thousand feet. Sometimes they are shot up one after another in +strings of about eight, and they are one of the hardest things to go +through. If they hit the machine it is bound to catch fire and then the +jig is up. + +All the time, too, I was being attacked by "Archie"--the anti-aircraft +fire. I escaped the machine-guns and the "flaming onions," but "Archie" +got me four or five times. Every time a bullet plugged me, or rather my +machine, it made a loud bang, on account of the tension on the material +covering the wings. + +None of their shots hurt me until I was about a mile from our lines, +and then they hit my motor. Fortunately I still had altitude enough +to drift on to our own side of the lines, for my motor was completely +out of commission. They just raised the dickens with me all the time I +was descending, and I began to think I would strike the ground before +crossing the line, but there was a slight wind in my favor and it +carried me two miles behind our lines. There the balloons I had gone out +to get had the satisfaction of "pin-pointing" me. Through the directions +which they were able to give to their artillery, they commenced shelling +my machine where it lay. + +Their particular work is to direct the fire of their artillery, and they +are used just as the artillery observation airplanes are. Usually two +men are stationed in each balloon. They ascend to a height of several +thousand feet about five miles behind their own lines and are equipped +with wireless and signaling apparatus. They watch the burst of their own +artillery, check up the position, get the range, and direct the next +shot. + +When conditions are favorable they are able to direct the shots so +accurately that it is a simple matter to destroy the object of their +attack. It was such a balloon as this that got my position, marked +me out, called for an artillery shot, and they commenced shelling my +machine where it lay. If I had got the two balloons instead of the +airplane, I probably would not have lost my machine, for he would in all +probability have gone on home and not bothered about getting my range +and causing the destruction of my machine. + +I landed in a part of the country that was literally covered with +shell-holes. Fortunately my machine was not badly damaged by the forced +landing. I leisurely got out, walked around it to see what the damage +was, and concluded that it could be easily repaired. In fact, I thought, +if I could find a space long enough between shell-holes to get a start +before leaving the ground, that I would be able to fly on from there. + +I was still examining my plane and considering the matter of a few +slight repairs, without any particular thought for my own safety in that +unprotected spot, when a shell came whizzing through the air, knocked me +to the ground, and landed a few feet away. It had no sooner struck than +I made a run for cover and crawled into a shell-hole. I would have liked +to have got farther away, but I didn't know where the next shell would +burst, and I thought I was fairly safe there, so I squatted down and let +them blaze away. + +The only damage I suffered was from the mud which splattered up in my +face and over my clothes. That was my introduction to a shell-hole, and +I resolved right there that the infantry could have all the shell-hole +fighting they wanted, but it did not appeal to me, though they live in +them through many a long night and I had only sought shelter there for +a few minutes. + +After the Germans had completely demolished my machine and ceased firing +I waited there a short time, fearing perhaps they might send over a +lucky shot, hoping to get me, after all. But evidently they concluded +enough shells had been wasted on one man. I crawled out cautiously, +shook the mud off, and looked over in the direction where my machine +had once been. There wasn't enough left for a decent souvenir, but +nevertheless I got a few, such as they were, and, readily observing that +nothing could be done with what was left, I made my way back to infantry +headquarters, where I was able to telephone in a report. + +A little later one of our automobiles came out after me and took me back +to our aerodrome. Most of my squadron thought I was lost beyond a doubt +and never expected to see me again; but my friend, Paul Raney, had held +out that I was all right, and, as I was afterward told, "Don't send for +another pilot; that Irishman will be back if he has to walk." And he +knew that the only thing that kept me from walking was the fact that +our own automobile had been sent out to bring me home. + +I had lots to think about that day, and I had learned many things; one +was not to have too much confidence in my own ability. One of the men in +the squadron told me that I had better not take those chances; that it +was going to be a long war and I would have plenty of opportunities to +be killed without deliberately "wishing them on" myself. Later I was to +learn the truth of his statement. + +That night my "flight"--each squadron is divided into three flights +consisting of six men each--got ready to go out again. As I started to +put on my tunic I noticed that I was not marked up for duty as usual. + +I asked the commanding officer, a major, what the reason for that was, +and he replied that he thought I had done enough for one day. However, +I knew that if I did not go, some one else from another "flight" would +have to take my place, and I insisted upon going up with my patrol as +usual, and the major reluctantly consented. Had he known what was in +store for me I am sure he wouldn't have changed his mind so readily. + +As it was, we had only five machines for this patrol, anyway, because +as we crossed the lines one of them had to drop out on account of motor +trouble. Our patrol was up at 8 P.M., and up to within ten minutes of +that hour it had been entirely uneventful. + +At 7.50 P.M., however, while we were flying at a height of sixteen +thousand feet, we observed three other English machines which were about +three thousand feet below us pick a fight with nine Hun machines. + +I knew right then that we were in for it, because I could see over +toward the ocean a whole flock of Hun machines which evidently had +escaped the attention of our scrappy comrades below us. + +So we dove down on those nine Huns. + +At first the fight was fairly even. There were eight of us to nine of +them. But soon the other machines which I had seen in the distance, and +which were flying even higher than we were, arrived on the scene, and +when they, in turn, dove down on us, there was just twenty of them to +our eight! + +[Illustration: THE AEROPLANE WHICH LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN USED IN HIS LAST +BATTLE WITH THE HUNS WHEN HE WAS BROUGHT DOWN AND MADE PRISONER] + +Four of them singled me out. I was diving and they dove right down +after me, shooting as they came. Their tracer-bullets were coming closer +to me every moment. These tracer-bullets are balls of fire which enable +the shooter to follow the course his bullets are taking and to correct +his aim accordingly. They do no more harm to a pilot if he is hit than +an ordinary bullet, but if they hit the petrol-tank, good night! When +a machine catches fire in flight there is no way of putting it out. It +takes less than a minute for the fabric to burn off the wings, and then +the machine drops like an arrow, leaving a trail of smoke like a comet. + +As their tracer-bullets came closer and closer to me I realized that my +chances of escape were nil. Their very next shot, I felt, must hit me. + +Once, some days before, when I was flying over the line I had watched a +fight above me. A German machine was set on fire and dove down through +our formation in flame on its way to the ground. The Hun was diving at +such a sharp angle that both his wings came off, and as he passed within +a few hundred feet of me I saw the look of horror upon his face. + +Now, when I expected any moment to suffer a similar fate, I could not +help thinking of that poor Hun's last look of agony. + +I realized that my only chance lay in making an Immermann turn. This +maneuver was invented by a German--one of the greatest who ever flew +and who was killed in action some time ago. This turn, which I made +successfully, brought one of their machines right in front of me, and as +he sailed along barely ten yards away I had "the drop" on him, and he +knew it. + +His white face and startled eyes I can still see. He knew beyond +question that his last moment had come, because his position prevented +his taking aim at me, while my gun pointed straight at him. My first +tracer-bullet passed within a yard of his head, the second looked as if +it hit his shoulder, the third struck him in the neck, and then I let +him have the whole works and he went down in a spinning nose dive. + +All this time the three other Hun machines were shooting away at me. I +could hear the bullets striking my machine one after another. I hadn't +the slightest idea that I could ever beat off those three Huns, but +there was nothing for me to do but fight, and my hands were full. + +In fighting, your machine is dropping, dropping all the time. I glanced +at my instruments and my altitude was between eight and nine thousand +feet. While I was still looking at the instruments the whole blamed +works disappeared. A burst of bullets went into the instrument board and +blew it to smithereens, another bullet went through my upper lip, came +out of the roof of my mouth and lodged in my throat, and the next thing +I knew was when I came to in a German hospital the following morning at +five o'clock, German time. + +I was a prisoner of war! + + + + +IV + +CLIPPED WINGS + + +The hospital in which I found myself on the morning after my capture +was a private house made of brick, very low and dirty, and not at all +adapted for use as a hospital. It had evidently been used but a few +days, on account of the big push that was taking place at that time of +the year, and in all probability would be abandoned as soon as they had +found a better place. + +In all, the house contained four rooms and a stable, which was by far +the largest of all. Although I never looked into this "wing" of the +hospital, I was told that it, too, was filled with patients, lying on +beds of straw around on the ground. I do not know whether they, too, +were officers or privates. + +The room in which I found myself contained eight beds, three of which +were occupied by wounded German officers. The other rooms, I imagined, +had about the same number of beds as mine. There were no Red Cross +nurses in attendance, just orderlies, for this was only an emergency +hospital and too near the firing-line for nurses. The orderlies were not +old men nor very young boys, as I expected to find, but young men in the +prime of life, who evidently had been medical students. One or two of +them, I discovered, were able to speak English, but for some reason they +would not talk. Perhaps they were forbidden by the officer in charge to +do so. + +In addition to the bullet wound in my mouth, I had a swelling from my +forehead to the back of my head almost as big as my shoe--and that is +saying considerable. I couldn't move an inch without suffering intense +pain, and when the doctor told me that I had no bones broken I wondered +how a fellow would feel who had. + +German officers visited me that morning and told me that my machine +went down in a spinning nose dive from a height of between eight and +nine thousand feet, and they had the surprise of their lives when they +discovered that I had not been dashed to pieces. They had to cut me out +of my machine, which was riddled with shots and shattered to bits. + +A German doctor removed the bullet from my throat, and the first thing +he said to me when I came to was, "You are an American!" + +There was no use denying it, because the metal identification disk on my +wrist bore the inscription, "Pat O'Brien, U. S. A. Royal Flying Corps." + +Although I was suffering intense agony, the doctor, who spoke perfect +English, insisted upon conversing with me. + +"You may be all right as a sportsman," he declared, "but you are a +damned murderer just the same for being here. You Americans who got into +this thing before America came into the war are no better than common +murderers and you ought to be treated the same way!" + +The wound in my mouth made it impossible for me to answer him, and I was +suffering too much pain to be hurt very much by anything he could say. + +[Illustration: THE IDENTIFICATION DISK WORN BY LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN +WHEN HE WAS CAPTURED BY THE HUNS. IT REVEALED TO THEM THAT HE WAS +AN AMERICAN] + +He asked me if I would like an apple! I could just as easily have eaten +a brick. + +When he got no answers out of me he walked away disgustedly. + +"You don't have to worry any more," he declared, as a parting shot; "for +you the war is over!" + +I was given a little broth later in the day, and as I began to collect +my thoughts I wondered what had happened to my comrades in the battle +which had resulted so disastrously to me. As I began to realize my +plight I worried less about my physical condition than the fact that, +as the doctor had pointed out, for me the war was practically over. I +had been in it but a short time, and now I would be a prisoner for the +duration of the war! + +The next day some German flying officers visited me, and I must say +they treated me with great consideration. They told me of the man I had +brought down. They said he was a Bavarian and a fairly good pilot. They +gave me his hat as a souvenir and complimented me on the fight I had put +up. + +My helmet, which was of soft leather, was split from front to back by +a bullet from a machine-gun and they examined it with great interest. +When they brought me my uniform I found that the star of my rank which +had been on my right shoulder-strap had been shot off clean. The one on +my left shoulder-strap they asked me for as a souvenir, as also my R. +F. C. badges, which I gave them. They allowed me to keep my "wings," +which I wore on my left breast, because they were aware that that is the +proudest possession of a British flying officer. + +I think I am right in saying that the only chivalry in this war on the +German side of the trenches has been displayed by the officers of the +German Flying Corps, which comprises the pick of Germany. They pointed +out to me that I and my comrades were fighting purely for the love of +it, whereas they were fighting in defense of their country, but still, +they said, they admired us for our sportsmanship. I had a notion to ask +them if dropping bombs on London and killing so many innocent people was +in defense of their country, but I was in no position or condition to +pick a quarrel at that time. + +That same day a German officer was brought into the hospital and put in +the bunk next to mine. Of course, I casually looked at him, but did not +pay any particular attention to him at that time. He lay there for three +or four hours before I did take a real good look at him. I was positive +that he could not speak English, and naturally I did not say anything to +him. + +Once when I looked over in his direction his eyes were on me and to my +surprise he said, very sarcastically, "What the hell are you looking +at?" and then smiled. At this time I was just beginning to say a few +words, my wound having made talking difficult, but I said enough to +let him know what I was doing there and how I happened to be there. +Evidently he had heard my story from some of the others, though, because +he said it was too bad I had not broken my neck; that he did not have +much sympathy with the Flying Corps, anyway. He asked me what part of +America I came from, and I told him "California." + +After a few more questions he learned that I hailed from San Francisco, +and then added to my distress by saying, "How would you like to have a +good juicy steak right out of the Hofbraeu?" Naturally, I told him it +would "hit the spot," but I hardly thought my mouth was in shape just +then to eat it. I immediately asked, of course, what he knew about the +Hofbraeu, and he replied, "I was connected with the place a good many +years, and I ought to know all about it." + +After that this German officer and I became rather chummy--that is, as +far as I could be chummy with an enemy, and we whiled away a good many +long hours talking about the days we had spent in San Francisco, and +frequently in the conversation one of us would mention some prominent +Californian, or some little incident occurring there, with which we were +both familiar. + +He told me when war was declared he was, of course, intensely patriotic +and thought the only thing for him to do was to go back and aid in the +defense of his country. He found that he could not go directly from San +Francisco because the water was too well guarded by the English, so he +boarded a boat for South America. There he obtained a forged passport +and in the guise of a Montevidean took passage for New York and from +there to England. + +He passed through England without any difficulty on his forged passport, +but concluded not to risk going to Holland, for fear of exciting too +much suspicion, so went down through the Strait of Gibraltar to Italy, +which was neutral at that time, up to Austria, and thence to Germany. +He said when they put in at Gibraltar, after leaving England, there +were two suspects taken off the ship, men that he was sure were neutral +subjects, but much to his relief his own passport and credentials were +examined and passed O. K. + +The Hun spoke of his voyage from America to England as being +exceptionally pleasant, and said he had had a fine time because he +associated with the English passengers on board, his fluent English +readily admitting him to several spirited arguments on the subject of +the war which he keenly enjoyed. + +One little incident he related revealed the remarkable tact which our +enemy displayed in his associations at sea, which no doubt resulted +advantageously for him. As he expressed it, he "made a hit" one evening +when the crowd had assembled for a little music by suggesting that they +sing "God Save the King." Thereafter his popularity was assured and the +desired effect accomplished, for very soon a French officer came up to +him and said, "It's too bad that England and ourselves haven't men in +our army like you." It was too bad, he agreed, in telling me about it, +because he was confident he could have done a whole lot more for Germany +if he had been in the English army. + +In spite of his apparent loyalty, however, the man didn't seem very +enthusiastic over the war and frankly admitted one day that the old +political battles waged in California were much more to his liking than +the battles he had gone through over here. On second thought he laughed +as though it were a good joke, but he evidently intended me to infer +that he had taken a keen interest in politics in San Francisco. + +When my "chummy enemy" first started his conversation with me the German +doctor in charge reprimanded him for talking to me, but he paid no +attention to the doctor, showing that some real Americanism had soaked +into his system while he had been in the U. S. A. + +I asked him one day what he thought the German people would do after +the war; if he thought they would make Germany a republic, and, much to +my surprise, he said, very bitterly, "If I had my way about it, I would +make her a republic to-day and hang the damned Kaiser in the bargain." +And yet he was considered an excellent soldier. I concluded, however, +that he must have been a German Socialist, though he never told me so. + +On one occasion I asked him for his name, but he said that I would +probably never see him again and it didn't matter what his name was. I +did not know whether he meant that the Germans would starve me out or +just what was on his mind, for at that time I am sure he did not figure +on dying. The first two or three days I was in the hospital I thought +surely he would be up and gone long before I was, but blood poisoning +set in about that time and just a few hours before I left for Courtrai +he died. + +One of those days, while my wound was still very troublesome, I was +given an apple; whether it was just to torment me, knowing that I could +not eat it, or whether for some other reason, I do not know. But, +anyway, a German flying officer there had several in his pockets and +gave me a nice one. Of course, there was no chance of my eating it, so +when the officer had gone and I discovered this San Francisco fellow +looking at it rather longingly I picked it up, intending to toss it over +to him. But he shook his head and said, "If this was San Francisco, I +would take it, but I cannot take it from you here." I was never able to +understand just why he refused the apple, for he was usually sociable +and a good fellow to talk to, but apparently he could not forget that +I was his enemy. However, that did not stop one of the orderlies from +eating the apple. + +One practice about the hospital which impressed me particularly was that +if a German soldier did not stand much chance of recovering sufficiently +to take his place again in the war, the doctors did not exert themselves +to see that he got well. But if a man had a fairly good chance of +recovering and they thought he might be of some further use, everything +that medical skill could possibly do was done for him. I don't know +whether this was done under orders or whether the doctors just followed +their own inclinations in such cases. + +My teeth had been badly jarred up from the shot, and I hoped that I +might have a chance to have them fixed when I reached Courtrai, the +prison where I was to be taken. So I asked the doctor if it would be +possible for me to have this work done there, but he very curtly told +me that though there were several dentists at Courtrai, they were +busy enough fixing the teeth of their own men without bothering about +mine. He also added that I would not have to worry about my teeth; +that I wouldn't be getting so much food that they would be put out of +commission by working overtime. I wanted to tell him that from the way +things looked he would not be wearing his out very soon, either. + +My condition improved during the next two days and on the fourth day of +my captivity I was well enough to write a brief message to my squadron +reporting that I was a prisoner of war and "feeling fine," although, +as a matter of fact, I was never so depressed in my life. I realized, +however, that if the message reached my comrades, it would be relayed +to my mother in Momence, Illinois, and I did not want to worry her more +than was absolutely necessary. It was enough for her to know that I was +a prisoner. She did not have to know that I was wounded. + +I had hopes that my message would be carried over the lines and dropped +by one of the German flying officers. That is a courtesy which is +usually practised on both sides. I recalled how patiently we had waited +in our aerodrome for news of our men who had failed to return, and I +could picture my squadron speculating on my fate. + +That is one of the saddest things connected with service in the R. F. +C. You don't care much what happens to you, but the constant casualties +among your friends is very depressing. + +You go out with your "flight" and get into a muss. You get scattered and +when your formation is broken up you finally wing your way home alone. + +Perhaps you are the first to land. Soon another machine shows in the +sky, then another, and you patiently wait for the rest to appear. +Within an hour, perhaps, all have shown up save one, and you begin to +speculate and wonder what has happened to him. + +Has he lost his way? Has he landed at some other aerodrome? Did the Huns +get him? + +When darkness comes you realize that, at any rate, he won't be back +that night, and you hope for a telephone-call from him telling of his +whereabouts. + +If the night passes without sign or word from him he is reported as +missing, and then you watch for his casualty to appear in the war-office +lists. + +One day, perhaps a month later, a message is dropped over the line by +the German Flying Corps with a list of pilots captured or killed by the +Huns, and then, for the first time, you know definitely why it was your +comrade failed to return the day he last went over the line with his +squadron. + +I was still musing over this melancholy phase of the scout's life when +an orderly told me there was a beautiful battle going on in the air, and +he volunteered to help me outside the hospital that I might witness it, +and I readily accepted his assistance. + +That afternoon I saw one of the gamest fights I ever expect to witness. + +There were six of our machines against perhaps sixteen Huns. From the +type of the British machines I knew that they might possibly be from my +own aerodrome. Two of our machines had been apparently picked out by six +of the Huns and were bearing the brunt of the fight. The contest seemed +to me to be so unequal that victory for our men was hardly to be thought +of, and yet at one time they so completely outmaneuvered the Huns that +I thought their superior skill might save the day for them, despite the +fact that they were so hopelessly outnumbered. One thing I was sure of: +they would never give in. + +Of course it would have been a comparatively simple matter for our men, +when they saw how things were going against them, to have turned their +noses down, landed behind the German lines, and given themselves up as +prisoners, but that is not the way of the R. F. C. + +A battle of this kind seldom lasts many minutes, although every second +seems like an hour to those who participate in it and even onlookers +suffer more thrills in the course of the struggle than they would +ordinarily experience in a lifetime. It is apparent even to a novice +that the loser's fate is death. + +Of course the Germans around the hospital were all watching and rooting +for their comrades, but the English, too, had one sympathizer in that +group who made no effort to stifle his admiration for the bravery his +comrades were displaying. + +The end came suddenly. Four machines crashed to earth almost +simultaneously. It was an even break--two of theirs and two of ours. The +others apparently returned to their respective lines. + +The wound in my mouth was bothering me considerably, but by means of a +pencil and paper I requested one of the German officers to find out for +me who the English officers were who had been shot down. + +A little later he returned and handed me a photograph taken from the +body of one of the victims. It was a picture of Paul Raney, of Toronto, +and myself, taken together! Poor Raney! He was the best friend I had and +one of the best and gamest men who ever fought in France! + +It was he, I learned long after, who, when I was reported missing, had +checked over all my belongings and sent them back to England with a +signed memorandum--which is now in my possession. Poor fellow, he little +realized then that but a day or two later he would be engaged in his +last heroic battle, with me a helpless onlooker! + +The same German officer who brought me the photograph also drew a map +for me of the exact spot where Raney was buried in Flanders. I guarded +it carefully all through my subsequent adventures and finally turned it +over to his father and mother when I visited them in Toronto to perform +the hardest and saddest duty I have ever been called upon to execute--to +confirm to them in person the tidings of poor Paul's death. + +The other British pilot who fell was also from my squadron and a man I +knew well--Lieutenant Keith, of Australia. I had given him a picture of +myself only a few hours before I started on my own disastrous flight. +He was one of the star pilots of our squadron and had been in many a +desperate battle before, but this time the odds were too great for +him. He put up a wonderful fight and he gave as much as he took. + +[Illustration: LIEUT. PAUL H. RANEY OF TORONTO AND LIEUT. PAT O'BRIEN + +(Raney was killed in action before the eyes of O'Brien, who was a +prisoner of war. This picture, found on the body of Raney when he fell +behind the German lines, was handed to O'Brien to identify the victim.)] + +The next two days passed without incident and I was then taken to the +Intelligence Department of the German Flying Corps, which was located +about an hour from the hospital. There I was kept two days, during which +time they put a thousand and one questions to me. While I was there I +turned over to them the message I had written in the hospital and asked +them to have one of their fliers drop it on our side of the line. + +They asked me where I would like it dropped, thinking perhaps I would +give my aerodrome away, but when I smiled and shook my head they did not +insist upon an answer. + +"I'll drop it over ----," declared one of them, naming my aerodrome, +which revealed to me that their flying corps is as efficient as other +branches of the service in the matter of obtaining valuable information. + +And right here I want to say that the more I came to know of the enemy +the more keenly I realized what a difficult task we're going to have +to lick him. In all my subsequent experience the fact that there is a +heap of fight left in the Huns still was thoroughly brought home to me. +We shall win the war eventually, if we don't slow up too soon in the +mistaken idea that the Huns are ready to lie down. + +The flying officers who questioned me were extremely anxious to find out +all they could about the part America is going to play in the war, but +they evidently came to the conclusion that America hadn't taken me very +deeply into her confidence, judging from the information they got, or +failed to get, from me. + +At any rate, they gave me up as a bad job and I was ordered to the +officers' prison at Courtrai, Belgium. + + + + +V + +THE PRISON-CAMP AT COURTRAI + + +From the Intelligence Department I was conveyed to the officers' +prison-camp at Courtrai in an automobile. It was about an hour's ride. +My escort was one of the most famous flyers in the world, barring none. +He was later killed in action, but I was told by an English airman who +witnessed his last combat that he fought a game battle and died a hero's +death. + +The prison, which had evidently been a civil prison of some kind before +the war, was located right in the heart of Courtrai. The first building +we approached was large, and in front of the archway, which formed the +main entrance, was a sentry box. Here we were challenged by the sentry, +who knocked on the door; the guard turned the key in the lock and I was +admitted. We passed through the archway and directly into a courtyard, +on which faced all of the prison buildings, the windows, of course, +being heavily barred. + +After I had given my pedigree--my name, age, address, etc.--I was shown +to a cell with bars on the windows overlooking this courtyard. I was +promptly told that at night we were to occupy these rooms, but I had +already surveyed the surroundings, taken account of the number of guards +and the locked door outside, and concluded that my chances of getting +away from some other place could be no worse than in that particular +cell. + +As I had no hat, my helmet being the only thing I wore over the lines, +I was compelled either to go bareheaded or wear the red cap of the +Bavarian whom I had shot down on that memorable day. It can be imagined +how I looked attired in a British uniform and a bright red cap. Wherever +I was taken, my outfit aroused considerable curiosity among the Belgians +and German soldiers. + +When I arrived at prison that day I still wore this cap, and as I was +taken into the courtyard, my overcoat covering my uniform, all that the +British officers who happened to be sunning themselves in the courtyard +could see was the red cap. They afterward told me they wondered who the +"big Hun" was with the bandage on his mouth. This cap I managed to keep +with me, but was never allowed to wear it on the walks we took. I either +went bareheaded or borrowed a cap from some other prisoner. + +At certain hours each day the prisoners were allowed to mingle in the +courtyard, and on the first occasion of this kind I found that there +were eleven officers imprisoned there besides myself. + +They had here interpreters who could speak all languages. One of them +was a mere boy who had been born in Jersey City, New Jersey, and had +spent all his life in America until the beginning of 1914. Then he moved +with his folks to Germany, and when he became of military age the Huns +forced him into the army. I think if the truth were known he would much +rather have been fighting for America than against her. + +I found that most of the prisoners remained at Courtrai only two or +three days. From there they were invariably taken to prisons in the +interior of Germany. + +Whether it was because I was an American or because I was a flier, I +don't know, but this rule was not followed in my case. I remained there +two weeks. + +During that period, Courtrai was constantly bombed by our airmen. +Not a single day or night passed without one or more air raids. In +the two weeks I was there I counted twenty-one of them. The town +suffered a great deal of damage. Evidently our people were aware +that the Germans had a lot of troops concentrated in this town, and, +besides, the headquarters staff was stationed there. The Kaiser himself +visited Courtrai while I was in the prison, I was told by one of the +interpreters, but he didn't call on me and, for obvious reasons, I +couldn't call on him. + +The courtyard was not a very popular place during air raids. Several +times when our airmen raided that section in the daytime I went out +and watched the machines and the shrapnel bursting all around; but the +Germans did not crowd out there, for their own anti-aircraft guns were +hammering away to keep our planes as high in the sky as possible, and +shells were likely to fall in the prison yard any moment. Of course, I +watched these battles at my own risk. + +Many nights from my prison window I watched with peculiar interest the +air raids carried on, and it was a wonderful sight with the German +searchlights playing on the sky, the "flaming onions" fired high and the +burst of the anti-aircraft guns, but rather an uncomfortable sensation +when I realized that perhaps the very next minute a bomb might be +dropped on the building in which I was a prisoner. But perhaps all of +this was better than no excitement at all, for prison life soon became +very monotonous. + +One of the hardest things I had to endure throughout the two weeks I +spent there was the sight of the Hun machines flying over Courtrai, +knowing that perhaps I never would have another chance to fly, and I +used to sit by the hour watching the German machines maneuvering over +the prison, as they had an aerodrome not far away, and every afternoon +the students--I took them for students because their flying was very +poor--appeared over the town. + +One certain Hun seemed to find particular satisfaction in flying right +down over the prison nightly, for my special discomfort and benefit it +seemed, as if he knew an airman imprisoned there was vainly longing to +try his wings again over their lines. But I used to console myself by +saying, "Never mind, old boy; there was never a bird whose wings could +not be clipped if they got him just right, and your turn will come some +day." + +One night there was an exceptionally heavy air raid going on. A number +of German officers came into my room, and they all seemed very much +frightened. I jokingly remarked that it would be fine if our airmen hit +the old prison--the percentage would be very satisfactory--one English +officer and about ten German ones. They didn't seem to appreciate the +joke, however, and, indeed, they were apparently too much alarmed at +what was going on overhead to laugh even at their own jokes. Although +these night raids seemed to take all the starch out of the Germans while +they were going on, the officers were usually as brave as lions the +next day and spoke contemptuously of the raid of the night before. + +I saw thousands of soldiers in Courtrai, and although they did not +impress me as having very good or abundant food, they were fairly well +clothed. I do not mean to imply that conditions pointed to an early end +of the war. On the contrary, from what I was able to observe on that +point, unless the Huns have an absolute crop failure, they can, in my +opinion, go on for years! The idea of our being able to win the war by +starving them out strikes me as ridiculous. This is a war that must be +won by _fighting_, and the sooner we realize that fact the sooner it +will be over. + +Rising-hour in the prison was seven o'clock. Breakfast came at eight. +This consisted of a cup of coffee and nothing else. If the prisoner had +the foresight to save some bread from the previous day, he had bread for +breakfast also, but that never happened in my case. Sometimes we had +two cups of coffee--that is, near-coffee. It was really chicory or some +cereal preparation. We had no milk or sugar. + +For lunch they gave us boiled sugar-beets or some other vegetable, +and once in a while some kind of pickled meat, but that happened very +seldom. We also received a third of a loaf of bread--war-bread. This +war-bread was as heavy as a brick, black, and sour. It was supposed to +last us from noon one day to noon the next. Except for some soup, this +was the whole lunch menu. + +Dinner came at 5.30 P.M., when we sometimes had a little jam made out +of sugar-beets, and a preparation called tea which you had to shake +vigorously or it settled in the bottom of the cup and then about all +you had was hot water. This "tea" was a sad blow to the Englishmen. If +it hadn't been called tea, they wouldn't have felt so badly about it, +perhaps, but it was adding insult to injury to call that stuff "tea" +which, with them, is almost a national institution. + +Sometimes with this meal they gave us butter instead of jam, and once in +a while we had some kind of canned meat. + +This comprised the usual run of eatables for the day--I can eat more +than that for breakfast! In the days that were to come, however, I was +to fare considerably worse. + +[Illustration: MAILING-CARD SENT BY GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO PAT O'BRIEN'S +SISTER, MRS. CLARA CLEGG OF MOMENCE, ILLINOIS] + +[Illustration: OBVERSE SIDE OF CARD SHOWN ABOVE] + +We were allowed to send out and buy a few things, but as most of the +prisoners were without funds, this was but an empty privilege. Once I +took advantage of the privilege to send my shoes to a Belgian shoemaker +to be half-soled. They charged me twenty marks--five dollars! + +Once in a while a Belgian Ladies' Relief Society visited the prison +and brought us handkerchiefs, American soap--which sells at about one +dollar and fifty cents a bar in Belgium--tooth-brushes, and other +little articles, all of which were American-made, but whether they were +supplied by the American Relief Committee or not I don't know. At any +rate, these gifts were mighty useful and were very much appreciated. + +One day I offered a button off my uniform to one of these Belgian ladies +as a souvenir, but a German guard saw me and I was never allowed to go +near the visitors afterward. + +The sanitary conditions in this prison-camp were excellent as a general +proposition. One night, however, I discovered that I had been captured +by "cooties." + +This was a novel experience to me and one that I would have been very +willing to have missed, because in the Flying Corps our aerodromes are +a number of miles back of the lines and we have good billets, and our +acquaintance with such things as "cooties" and other unwelcome visitors +is very limited. + +When I discovered my condition I made a holler and roused the guard, and +right then I got another example of German efficiency. + +This guard seemed to be even more perturbed about my complaint than I +was myself, evidently fearing that he would be blamed for my condition. + +The commandant was summoned, and I could see that he was very angry. +Some one undoubtedly got a severe reprimand for it. + +I was taken out of my cell by a guard with a rifle and conducted about a +quarter of a mile from the prison to an old factory building which had +been converted into an elaborate fumigating plant. There I was given a +pickle bath in some kind of solution, and while I was absorbing it my +clothes, bedclothes, and whatever else had been in my cell were being +put through another fumigating process. + +While I was waiting for my things to dry--it took, perhaps, half an +hour--I had a chance to observe about one hundred other victims of +"cooties"--German soldiers who had become infested in the trenches. We +were all nude, of course, but apparently it was not difficult for them +to recognize me as a foreigner even without my uniform on, for none of +them made any attempt to talk to me, although they all were very busy +talking _about_ me. I could not understand what they were saying, but I +know I was the butt of most of their jokes, and they made no effort to +conceal the fact that I was the subject of their conversation. + +When I got back to my cell I found that it had been thoroughly +fumigated, and from that time on I had no further trouble with "cooties" +or other visitors of the same kind. + +As we were not allowed to write anything but prison cards, writing +was out of the question; and as we had no reading-matter to speak +of, reading was nil. We had nothing to do to pass away the time, so +consequently cards became our only diversion, for we did, fortunately, +have some of those. + +There wasn't very much money, as a rule, in circulation, and I think for +once in my life I held most of that, not due to any particular ability +on my part in the game, but I happened to have several hundred francs in +my pockets when shot down. But we held a lottery there once a day, and I +don't believe there was ever another lottery held that was watched with +quite such intense interest as that. The drawing was always held the day +before the prize was to be awarded, so we always knew the day before who +was the lucky man. There was as much speculation as to who would win +the prize as if it had been the finest treasure in the world. The great +prize was one-third of a loaf of bread. + +Through some arrangement which I never quite figured out, it happened +that among the eight or ten officers who were there with me there was +always one-third of a loaf of bread over. There was just one way of +getting that bread, and that was to draw lots. Consequently that was +what started the lottery. I believe if a man had ever been inclined to +cheat he would have been sorely tempted in this instance, but the game +was played absolutely square, and if a man had been caught cheating, the +chances are that he would have been shunned by the rest of the officers +as long as he was in prison. I was fortunate enough to win the prize +twice. + +One man--I think he was the smallest eater in the camp--won it on three +successive days, but it was well for him that his luck deserted him on +the fourth day, for he probably would have been handled rather roughly +by the rest of the crowd, who were growing suspicious. But we handled +the drawing ourselves and knew there was nothing crooked about it, so he +was spared. + +We were allowed to buy pears, and, being small and very hard, they were +used as the stakes in many a game. But the interest in these little +games was as keen as if the stakes had been piles of money instead of +two or three half-starved pears. No man was ever so reckless, however, +in all the betting, as to wager his own rations. + +By the most scheming and sacrificing I ever did in my life I managed to +hoard two pieces of bread (grudgingly spared at the time from my daily +rations), but I was preparing for the day when I should escape--if I +ever should. It was not a sacrifice easily made, either, but instead of +eating bread I ate pears until I finally got one piece of bread ahead; +and when I could force myself to stick to the pear diet again I saved +the other piece from that day's allowance, and in days to come I had +cause to credit myself fully for the foresight. + +Whenever a new prisoner came in and his German hosts had satisfied +themselves as to his life history and taken down all the details--that +is, all he would give them--he was immediately surrounded by his +fellow-prisoners, who were eager for any bit of news or information he +could possibly give them, and as a rule he was glad to tell us because, +if he had been in the hands of the Huns for any length of time, he had +seen very few English officers. + +The conditions of this prison were bad enough when a man was in normally +good health, but it was barbarous to subject a wounded soldier to the +hardships and discomforts of the place. However, this was the fate of +a poor private we discovered there one day in terrific pain, suffering +from shrapnel in his stomach and back. All of us officers asked to have +him sent to a hospital, but the doctors curtly refused, saying it was +against orders. So the poor creature went on suffering from day to day +and was still there when I left, another victim of German cruelty. + +At one time in this prison-camp there were a French marine, a French +flying officer, and two Belgian soldiers, and of the United Kingdom +one from Canada, two from England, three from Ireland, a couple from +Scotland, one from Wales, a man from South Africa, one from Algeria, +and a New-Zealander, the last being from my own squadron, a man whom +I thought had been killed, and he was equally surprised, when brought +into the prison, to find me there. In addition there were a Chinaman and +myself from the U. S. A. + +It was quite a cosmopolitan group, and as one typical Irishman said, +"Sure, and we have every nation that's worth mentioning, including the +darn Germans, with us whites." Of course, this was not translated to +the Germans, nor was it even spoken in their hearing, or we probably +would not have had quite so cosmopolitan a bunch. Each man in the prison +was ready to uphold his native country in any argument that could +possibly be started, and it goes without saying that I never took a back +seat in any of them with my praise for America, with the Canadian and +Chinaman chiming in on my side. But they were friendly arguments; we +were all in the same boat and that was no place for quarreling. + +Every other morning, the weather allowing, we were taken to a large +swimming-pool and were allowed to have a bath. There were two pools, one +for the German officers and one for the men. Although we were officers, +we had to use the pool occupied by the men. While we were in swimming a +German guard with a rifle across his knees sat at each comer of the pool +and watched us closely as we dressed and undressed. English interpreters +accompanied us on all of these trips, so at no time could we talk +without their knowing what was going on. + +Whenever we were taken out of the prison for any purpose they always +paraded us through the most crowded streets--evidently to give the +populace an idea that they were getting lots of prisoners. The German +soldiers we passed on these occasions made no effort to hide their +smiles and sneers. + +The Belgian people were apparently very curious to see us, and they used +to turn out in large numbers whenever the word was passed that we were +out. At times the German guards would strike the women and children +who crowded too close to us. One day I smiled and spoke to a pretty +Belgian girl, and when she replied a German made a run for her. Luckily +she stepped into the house before he reached her or I am afraid my +salutation would have resulted seriously for her and I would have been +powerless to have assisted her. + +Whenever we passed a Belgian home or other building which had been +wrecked by bombs dropped by our airmen our guards made us stop a moment +or two while they passed sneering remarks among themselves. + +One of the most interesting souvenirs I have of my imprisonment at +Courtrai is a photograph of a group of us taken in the prison courtyard. +The picture was made by one of the guards, who sold copies of it to +those of us who were able to pay his price--one mark apiece. + +As we faced the camera, I suppose we all tried to look our happiest, +but the majority of us, I am afraid, were too sick at heart to raise +a smile even for this occasion. One of our Hun guards is shown in the +picture seated at the table. I am standing directly behind him, attired +in my flying tunic, which they allowed me to wear all the time I was +in prison, as is the usual custom with prisoners of war. Three of the +British officers shown in the picture, in the foreground, are clad in +"shorts." + +Through all my subsequent adventures I was able to retain a print of +this interesting picture, and although when I gaze at it now it only +serves to increase my gratification at my ultimate escape, it fills me +with regret to think that my fellow-prisoners were not so fortunate. All +of them, by this time, are undoubtedly eating their hearts up in the +prison-camps of interior Germany. Poor fellows! + +[Illustration: A GROUP OF PRISONERS OF WAR IN THE PRISON-CAMP AT +COURTRAI, BELGIUM + +(Lieutenant O'Brien, in his R. F. C. flying-tunic, is standing in the +center behind the German guard seated at the table. This picture was +taken by one of the German guards and sold to Lieutenant O'Brien for one +mark.)] + +Despite the scanty fare and the restrictions we were under in this +prison, we did manage on one occasion to arrange a regular banquet. The +planning which was necessary helped to pass the time. + +At this time there were eight of us. We decided that the principal thing +we needed to make the affair a success was potatoes, and I conceived a +plan to get them. Every other afternoon they took us for a walk in the +country, and it occurred to me that it would be a comparatively simple +matter for us to pretend to be tired and sit down when we came to the +first potato-patch. + +It worked out nicely. When we came to the first potato-patch that +afternoon we told our guards that we wanted to rest a bit and we were +allowed to sit down. In the course of the next five minutes each of us +managed to get a potato or two. Being Irish, I got six. + +When we got back to the prison I managed to steal a handkerchief full +of sugar which, with some apples that we were allowed to purchase, we +easily converted into a sort of jam. + +We now had potatoes and jam, but no bread. It happened that the Hun +who had charge of the potatoes was a great musician. It was not very +difficult to prevail upon him to play us some music, and while he went +out to get his zither I went into the bread pantry and stole a loaf of +bread. + +Most of us had saved some butter from the day before and we used it to +fry our potatoes. By bribing one of the guards he bought some eggs for +us. They cost twenty-five cents apiece, but we were determined to make +this banquet a success, no matter what it cost. + +The cooking was done by the prison cook, whom, of course, we had to +bribe. + +When the meal was ready to serve it consisted of scrambled eggs, fried +potatoes, bread and jam, and a pitcher of beer which we were allowed to +buy. + +That was the 29th of August. Had I known that it was to be the last real +meal that I was to eat for many weeks I might have enjoyed it even more +than I did, but it was certainly very good. + +We had cooked enough for eight, but while we were still eating another +joined us. He was an English officer who had just been brought in on +a stretcher. For seven days, he told us, he had lain in a shell-hole, +wounded, and he was almost famished, and we were mighty glad to share +our banquet with him. + +We called on each man for a speech, and one might have thought that we +were at a first-class club meeting. A few days after that our party was +broken up and some of the men I suppose I shall never see again. + +One of the souvenirs of my adventure is a check given me during this +"banquet" by Lieut. James Henry Dickson, of the Tenth Royal Irish +Fusileers, a fellow-prisoner. It was for twenty francs and was made +payable to the order of "Mr. Pat O'Brien, 2nd Lieut." Poor Jim forgot to +scratch out the "London" and substitute "Courtrai" on the date line, but +its value as a souvenir is just as great. When he gave it to me he had +no idea that I would have an opportunity so soon afterward to cash it in +person, although I am quite sure that whatever financial reverses I may +be destined to meet my want will never be great enough to induce me to +realize on that check. + +There was one subject that was talked about in this prison whenever +conversation lagged, and I suppose it is the same in the other prisons, +too. What were the chances of escape? + +Every man seemed to have a different idea and one way I suppose was +about as impracticable as another. None of us ever expected to get +a chance to put our ideas into execution, but it was interesting +speculation, and, anyway, one could never tell what opportunities might +present themselves. + +One suggestion was that we disguise ourselves as women. "O'Brien would +stand a better chance disguised as a horse!" declared another, referring +to the fact that my height (I am six feet two inches) would make me more +conspicuous as a woman than as a man. + +Another suggested that we steal a German Gotha--a type of aeroplane +used for long-distance bombing. It is these machines which are used for +bombing London. They are manned by three men, one sitting in front with +a machine-gun, the pilot sitting behind him, and an observer sitting +in the rear with another machine-gun. We figured that at a pinch +perhaps seven or eight of us could make our escape in a single machine. +They have two motors of very high horse-power, fly very high and make +wonderful speed. But we had no chance to put this idea to the test. + +I worked out another plan by which I thought I might have a chance if I +could ever get into one of the German aerodromes. I would conceal myself +in one of the hangars, wait until one of the German machines started +out, and as he taxied along the ground I would rush out, shout at the +top of my voice, and point excitedly at his wheels. This, I figured, +would cause the pilot to stop and get out to see what was wrong. By that +time I would be up to him and as he stooped over to inspect the machine +I could knock him senseless, jump into the machine, and be over the +lines before the Huns could make up their minds just what had happened. + +It was a fine dream, but my chance was not to come that way. + +There were dozens of other ways which we considered. One man would +be for endeavoring to make his way right through the lines. Another +thought the safest plan would be to swim some river that crossed the +lines. + +The idea of making one's way to Holland, a neutral country, occurred +to every one, but the one great obstacle in that direction, we all +realized, was the great barrier of barbed and electrically charged wire +which guards every foot of the frontier between Belgium and Holland and +which is closely watched by the German sentries. + +This barrier was a threefold affair. It consisted first of a barbed-wire +wall six feet high. Six feet beyond that was a nine-foot wall of wire +powerfully charged with electricity. To touch it meant electrocution. +Beyond that, at a distance of six feet was another wall of barbed wire +six feet high. + +Beyond the barrier lay Holland and liberty, but how to get there was a +problem which none of us could solve and few of us ever expected to have +a chance to try. + +Mine came sooner than I expected. + + + + +VI + +A LEAP FOR LIBERTY + + +I had been in prison at Courtrai nearly three weeks when, on the morning +of September 9th, I and six other officers were told that we were to be +transferred to a prison-camp in Germany. + +One of the guards told me during the day that we were destined for a +reprisal camp in Strassburg. They were sending us there to keep our +airmen from bombing the place. + +He explained that the English carried German officers on hospital-ships +for a similar purpose, and he excused the German practice of torpedoing +these vessels on the score that they also carried munitions! When I +pointed out to him that France would hardly be sending munitions to +England, he lost interest in the argument. + +Some days before I had made up my mind that it would be a very good +thing to get hold of a map of Germany which I knew was in the possession +of one of the German interpreters, because I realized that if ever the +opportunity came to make my escape such a map might be of the greatest +assistance to me. + +With the idea of stealing this map, accordingly, a lieutenant and I got +in front of this interpreter's window one day and engaged in a very hot +argument as to whether Heidelberg was on the Rhine or not, and we argued +back and forth so vigorously that the German came out of his room, map +in hand, to settle it. After the matter was entirely settled to our +satisfaction he went back into his room and I watched where he put the +map. + +When, therefore, I learned that I was on my way to Germany I realized +that it was more important than ever for me to get that map, and, with +the help of my friend, we got the interpreter out of his room on some +pretext or another, and while he was gone I confiscated the map from +the book in which he kept it and concealed it in my sock underneath +my legging. As I had anticipated, it later proved of the utmost value +to me. + +I got it none too soon, for half an hour later we were on our way to +Ghent. Our party consisted of five British officers and one French +officer. At Ghent, where we had to wait for several hours for another +train to take us direct to the prison in Germany, two other prisoners +were added to our party. + +In the interval we were locked in a room at a hotel, a guard sitting at +the door with a rifle on his knee. It would have done my heart good for +the rest of my life if I could have got away then and fooled that Hun, +he was so cocksure. + +Later we were marched to the train that was to convey us to Germany. It +consisted of some twelve coaches, eleven of them containing troops going +home on leave, and the twelfth reserved for us. We were placed in a +fourth-class compartment, with old, hard, wooden seats, a filthy floor, +and no lights save a candle placed there by a guard. There were eight of +us prisoners and four guards. + +As we sat in the coach we were an object of curiosity to the crowd who +gathered at the station. + +"Hope you have a nice trip!" one of them shouted, sarcastically. + +"Drop me a line when you get to Berlin, will you?" shouted another in +broken English. + +"When shall we see you again?" asked a third. + +"Remember me to your friends, will you? You'll find plenty where you're +going!" shouted another. + +The German officers made no effort to repress the crowd; in fact, they +joined in the general laughter which followed every sally. + +I called to a German officer who was passing our window. + +"You're an officer, aren't you?" I asked, respectfully enough. + +"Yes. What of it?" he rejoined. + +"Well, in England," I said, "we let your officers who are prisoners ride +first-class. Can't you fix it so that we can be similarly treated, or be +transferred at least to a second-class compartment?" + +"If I had my way," he replied, "you'd ride with the hogs!" + +Then he turned to the crowd and told them of my request and how he had +answered me, and they all laughed hilariously. + +This got me pretty hot. + +"That would be a damned sight better than riding with the Germans!" I +yelled after him, but if he considered that a good joke, too, he didn't +pass it on to the crowd. + +Some months later when I had the honor of telling my story to King +George he thought this incident was one of the best jokes he had ever +heard. I don't believe he ever laughed harder in his life. + +Before our train pulled out our guards had to present their arms for +inspection, and their rifles were loaded in our presence to let us know +that they meant business. + +From the moment the train started on its way to Germany the thought kept +coming to my head that unless I could make my escape before we reached +that reprisal camp I might as well make up my mind that, as far as I was +concerned, the war was over. + +It occurred to me that if the eight of us in that car could jump up at a +given signal and seize those four Hun guards by surprise, we'd have a +splendid chance of besting them and jumping off the train when it first +slowed down, but when I passed the idea on to my comrades they turned it +down. Even if the plan had worked out as gloriously as I had pictured, +they pointed out, the fact that so many of us had escaped would almost +inevitably result in our recapture. The Huns would have scoured Belgium +till they had got us and then we would all be shot. Perhaps they were +right. + +Nevertheless, I was determined that, no matter what the others decided +to do, I was going to make one bid for freedom, come what might. + +As we passed through village after village in Belgium and I realized +that we were getting nearer and nearer to that dreaded reprisal camp, I +concluded that my one and only chance of getting free before we reached +it was through the window! I would have to go through that window while +the train was going full speed, because if I waited until it had slowed +up or stopped entirely, it would be a simple matter for the guards to +overtake or shoot me. + +I opened the window. The guard who sat opposite me--so close that his +feet touched mine and the stock of his gun which he held between his +knees occasionally struck my foot--made no objection, imagining, no +doubt, that I found the car too warm or that the smoke, with which the +compartment was filled, annoyed me. + +As I opened the window the noise the train was making as it thundered +along grew louder. It seemed to say: "You're a fool if you do; you're a +fool if you don't! You're a fool if you do; you're a fool if you don't!" +And I said to myself, "The 'no's' have it," and closed down the window +again. + +As soon as the window was closed the noise of the train naturally +subsided and its speed seemed to diminish, and my plan appealed to me +stronger than ever. + +I knew the guard in front of me didn't understand a word of English, and +so, in a quiet tone of voice, I confided to the English officer who sat +next me what I planned to do. + +"For God's sake, Pat, chuck it!" he urged. "Don't be a lunatic! This +railroad is double-tracked and rock-ballasted and the other track is on +your side. You stand every chance in the world of knocking your brains +out against the rails, or hitting a bridge or a whistling post, and, if +you escape those, you will probably be hit by another train on the other +track. You haven't one chance in a thousand to make it!" + +There was a good deal of logic in what he said, but I figured that, +once I was in that reprisal camp, I might never have even one chance +in a thousand to escape, and the idea of remaining a prisoner of war +indefinitely went against my grain. I resolved to take my chance now +even at the ride of breaking my neck. + +The car was full of smoke. I looked across at the guard. He was rather +an old man, going home on leave, and he seemed to be dreaming of what +was in store for him rather than paying any particular attention to me. +Once in a while I had smiled at him and I figured that he hadn't the +slightest idea of what was going through my mind all the time we had +been traveling. + +I began to cough as though my throat were badly irritated by the smoke, +and then I opened the window again. This time the guard looked up and +showed his disapproval, but did not say anything. + +It was then four o'clock in the morning and would soon be light. I knew +I had to do it right then or never, as there would be no chance to +escape in the daytime. + +I had on a trench coat that I had used as a flying-coat and wore a +knapsack which I had constructed out of a gas-bag brought into Courtrai +by a British prisoner. In this I had two pieces of bread, a piece of +sausage, and a pair of flying-mittens. All of them had to go with me +through the window. + +The train was now going at a rate of between thirty and thirty-five +miles an hour, and again it seemed to admonish me, as it rattled along +over the ties: "You're a fool if you do; you're a fool if you don't! +You're a fool if you don't; you're a fool if you do! You're a fool if +you don't--" + +I waited no longer. Standing up on the bench as if to put the bag on the +rack, and taking hold of the rack with my left hand and a strap that +hung from the top of the car with my right, I pulled myself up, shoved +my feet and legs out of the window, and let go! + +There was a prayer on my lips as I went out and I expected a bullet +between my shoulders, but it was all over in an instant. + +I landed on my left side and face, burying my face in the rock ballast, +cutting it open and closing my left eye, skinning my hands and shins and +straining my ankle. For a few moments I was completely knocked out, and +if they shot at me through the window, in the first moments after my +escape, I had no way of knowing. + +Of course, if they could have stopped the train right then, they could +easily have recaptured me, but at the speed it was going and in the +confusion which must have followed my escape, they probably didn't stop +within half a mile from the spot where I lay. + +I came to within a few minutes, and when I examined myself and found +no bones broken I didn't stop to worry about my cuts and bruises, but +jumped up with the idea of putting as great a distance between me and +that track as possible before daylight came. Still being dazed, I forgot +all about the barbed-wire fence along the right-of-way and ran full tilt +into it. Right there I lost one of my two precious pieces of bread, +which fell out of my knapsack, but I could not stop to look for it then. + +The one thing that was uppermost in my mind was that for the moment I +was free and it was up to me now to make the most of my liberty. + + + + +VII + +CRAWLING THROUGH GERMANY + + +The exact spot at which I made my desperate leap I don't know. Perhaps, +after the war is over, some one on that train will be good enough to +tell me, and then I may go back and look for the dent I must have made +in the rock ballast. + +As I have said, I didn't stop very long that morning after I once +regained my senses. + +I was bleeding profusely from the wounds caused by the fall, but I +checked it somewhat with handkerchiefs I held to my face and I also held +the tail of my coat so as to catch the blood as it fell and not leave +telltale traces on the ground. + +Before I stopped I had gone about a mile. Then I took my course from the +stars and found that I had been going just opposite to the direction I +should be making, but I could not go back across the track there. + +Heading west, therefore, I kept this course for about two and a half +hours, but as I was very weak from loss of blood I didn't cover very +much ground in that time. Just before daylight I came to a canal which I +knew I had to cross, and I swam it with everything I had on. + +This swim, which proved to be the first of a series that I was destined +to make, taught me several things. + +In the first place, I had forgotten to remove my wrist-watch. This watch +had been broken in my fall from the air, but I had had it repaired at +Courtrai. In the leap from the train the crystal had been broken again, +but it was still going and would probably have been of great service to +me in my subsequent adventures, but the swim across the canal ruined it. + +Then, too, I had not thought to take my map out of my sock, and the +water damaged that, too. + +Thereafter, whenever I had any swimming to do, I was careful to take +such matters into consideration, and my usual practice was to make a +bundle of all the things that would be damaged by water and tie it to +my head. In this way I was able to keep them dry. + +It was now daylight and I knew that it would be suicidal for me to +attempt to travel in the daytime. My British uniform would have been +fatal to me. I decided to hide in the daytime and travel only at night. + +Not far from the canal I could see a heavily wooded piece of ground, +and I made my way there. By this time I had discovered that my left +ankle had been strained in my leap from the train, and when I got to the +woods I was glad to lie down and rest. The wound in my mouth had been +opened, too, when I jumped, and it would have been difficult for me to +have swallowed had not the piece of bread, which was to serve for my +breakfast, got wet when I swam the canal. I found a safe hiding-place +in which to spend the day and I tried to dry some of my clothes, but a +slight drizzling rainfall made that out of the question. I knew that I +ought to sleep, as I planned to travel at night, but, sore as I was, +caked with mud and blood, my clothing soaked through, and my hunger not +nearly appeased, sleep was out of the question. This seemed to me about +the longest day I had ever spent, but I was still to learn how long a +day can really be and how much longer a night! + +When night came I dragged myself together and headed northeast. + +My clothing consisted of my Flying Corps uniform, two shirts, no +underwear, leather leggings, heavy shoes, a good pair of wool socks, and +a German cap. I had a wallet containing several hundred francs in paper +money and various other papers. I also had a jack-knife which I had +stolen one day from the property-room at Courtrai where all the personal +effects taken from prisoners were kept. For a day or two I carried the +knapsack, but as I had nothing to carry in it I discarded it. + +I traveled rapidly, considering my difficulties, and swam a couple of +canals that night, covering in all perhaps ten miles before daylight. +Then I located in some low bushes, lying there all day in my wet clothes +and finishing my sausage for food. That was the last of my rations. + +That night I made perhaps the same distance, but became very hungry and +thirsty before the night was over. + +For the next six days I still figured that I was in Germany, and I was +living on nothing but cabbage, sugar-beets, and an occasional carrot, +always in the raw state, just as I got them out of the fields. The water +I drank was often very rank, as I had to get it from canals and pools. +One night I lay in a cabbage-patch for an hour lapping the dew from the +leaves with my tongue! + +During this period I realized that I must avoid meeting any one at all +hazards. I was in the enemy's country and my uniform would have been a +dead give-away. Any one who captured me or who gave information from +which my capture resulted might have been sure of a handsome reward. I +knew that it was necessary for me to make progress as fast as possible, +but the main consideration was to keep out of sight, even if it took +me a year to get to Holland, which was my objective. From my map, I +estimated that I was about thirty-five miles from Strassburg when I made +my leap from the train, and if I could travel in a straight line I had +perhaps one hundred and fifty miles to travel. As it was, however, I was +compelled to make many detours, and I figured that two hundred and fifty +miles was nearer the extent of the journey ahead of me. + +In several parts of this country I had to travel through forests of +young pine-trees about twelve feet high. They were very close together +and looked almost as if they had been set out. They proved to be a +serious obstacle to me, because I could not see the stars through them, +and I was relying upon the heavens to guide me to freedom. I am not much +of an astronomer, but I know the Pole Star when I see it. But for it I +wouldn't be here to-day! + +I believe it rained every night and day while I was making my way +through Germany to Luxembourg. + +My invariable program at this stage of my journey was to travel steadily +all night until about six in the morning, when I would commence looking +around for a place wherein to hide during the day. Low bushes or woods +back from the road, as far as possible from the traveled pathway, +usually served me for this purpose. Having found such a spot, I would +drop down and try to sleep. My overcoat was my only covering, and that +was usually soaked through either from the rain or from swimming. + +The only sleep I got during those days was from exhaustion, and it +usually came to me toward dusk when it was time for me to start again. + +It was a mighty fortunate thing for me that I was not a smoker. Somehow +I have never used tobacco in any form and I was now fully repaid for +whatever pleasure I had foregone in the past as a result of my habits +in that particular, because my sufferings would certainly have been +intensified now if in addition to lack of food and rest I had had to +endure a craving for tobacco. + +About the sixth night I was so drowsy and exhausted when the time came +for me to be on the move that I was very much tempted to sleep through +the night. I knew, however, that that would be a bad precedent to +establish and I wouldn't give in. + +I plugged wearily along and about eleven o'clock, after I had covered +perhaps four miles, I sat down to rest for a moment on a shock of brush +which was sheltered from the drizzle somewhat by other shocks which were +stacked there. It was daylight when I awoke, and I found myself right in +a German's backyard. You can imagine that I lost no time getting out of +that neighborhood, and I made up my mind right then that I would never +give way to that "tired feeling" again. + +In the daytime, in my hiding-place, wherever it happened to be, I had +plenty of opportunity to study my map, and before very long I knew it +almost by heart. Unfortunately, however, it did not show all the rivers +and canals which I encountered, and sometimes it fooled me completely. + +It must have been about the ninth night that I crossed into Luxembourg, +but while this principality is officially neutral, it offered me no +safer a haven than Belgium would. The Huns have violated the neutrality +of both and discovery would have been followed by the same consequences +as capture in Germany proper. + +In the nine days I had covered perhaps seventy-five miles and I was +that much nearer liberty, but the lack of proper food, the constant +wearing of wet clothes, and the loss of sleep and rest had reduced me to +a very much weakened condition. I doubted very much whether I would be +able to continue, but I plugged along. + + + + +VIII + +NINE DAYS IN LUXEMBOURG + + +I was now heading northwest and I thought that by keeping that course I +would get out of Luxembourg and into Belgium, where I expected to be a +little better off, because the people in Luxembourg were practically the +same as Germans. + +One of the experiences I had in Luxembourg which I shall never forget +occurred the first day that I spent there. I had traveled all night +and I was feeling very weak. I came to a small wood with plenty of low +underbrush, and I picked out a thick clump of bushes which was not in +line with any paths, crawled in, and lay down to spend the day. + +The sun could just reach me through an opening in the trees above, +and I took off all my clothes except my shirt and hung them on the +bushes to dry in the sun. As the sun moved I moved the clothes around +correspondingly, because, tired as I was, I could take only cat-naps. + +That afternoon I awoke from one of these naps with a start. There were +voices not a dozen feet from me! My first impulse was to jump to my +feet and sell my life as dearly as I could, but on second thoughts I +decided to look before I leaped. Peeping through the underbrush, I could +just discern two men calmly chopping down a tree and conversing as they +worked. I thanked my lucky stars that I had not jumped up on my first +impulse, for I was apparently quite safe as long as I lay where I was. + +It then occurred to me that if the tree upon which they were working +should happen to fall in my direction it would crush me to death! It +was tall enough to reach me and big enough to kill me if it landed in +my direction, and as I could see only the heads of the men who were +chopping it down, I was unable to tell which way they planned to have it +fall. + +There was this much in my favor: the chances of the tree falling in just +my direction were not very great and there was more than an even chance +that the men would be wise enough to fell it so that it would not, +because if it landed in the bushes the task of trimming the branches off +the trunk would be so much harder. + +But, even without this feeling of security, there was really nothing +else I could do but wait and see what fate had in store for me. I lay +there watching the top of the tree for more than an hour. Time and again +I saw it sway and fancied it was coming in my direction, and it was all +I could do to keep my place, but a moment later I would hear the crash +of the men's axes and I knew that my imagination had played me a trick. + +I was musing on the sorry plight I was in--weak, nearly starving to +death, a refugee in a hostile country and waiting patiently to see which +way a tree was going to fall--when there came a loud crack and I saw the +top of the tree sway and fall almost opposite to the place where I lay! +I had guessed right. + +Later I heard some children's voices, and again peering through the +underbrush, I saw that they had brought the men their lunch. You can't +realize how I felt to see them eating their lunch so near at hand and +to know that, hungry as I was, I could have none of it. I was greatly +tempted to go boldly up to them and take a chance of getting a share, +but I did not know whether they were Germans or not, and I had gone +through too much to risk my liberty even for food. I swallowed my hunger +instead. + +Shortly afterward it began to rain, and about four o'clock the men +left. I crawled out as fast as I could, and scurried around looking for +crumbs, but found none, and when darkness came I went on my way once +more. + +That night I came to a river, and as it was the first time my clothes +had been dry for a long time, I thought I would try to keep them that +way as long as possible. I accordingly took off all my things and made +them into two bundles, planning to carry one load across and then swim +back for the other. + +The river was quite wide, but I am a fairly good swimmer, and I figured +I could rest awhile after the first trip before going back for the +second bundle. + +The first swim was uneventful. When I landed on the other side I drank +till my thirst was quenched, and then swam back. After resting awhile +I started across a third time, with my shoes and several other things +firmly tied to my head. Just about ten feet from the opposite bank one +of the shoes worked its way loose and sank in about eight feet of water. +There was nothing to do but finish the trip and then go back and dive +for the missing shoe, as I could not go on with a single shoe. + +Diving in my weakened condition was considerable strain, but I had to +have that shoe, and I kept at it for nearly an hour before I eventually +found it, and I was pretty nearly all in by that time. + +That was the last time I ever took my shoes off, for my feet were +becoming so swollen that I figured if I took my shoes off I might be +unable to get them on again. + +This stunt of crossing the river and diving for the lost shoe had +consumed about three hours, and after resting some fifteen minutes I +went on my way again. I had hardly gone a mile when I came to another +river, about the same size as the one I had just crossed. I walked +along the bank awhile, thinking that I might be lucky enough to find a +boat or a bridge, but after walking about half an hour I received one +of those disappointments which "come once in a lifetime." I found that +this river was the one I had just swum! I had swum it on the bend and +was still on the wrong side! Had I made only a short detour in the first +place, I would have avoided all the annoyance of the past three hours +and saved my strength and time. I was never so mad in my life at myself +as I was to think that I had not paid more attention to the course of +the stream before I undertook to cross it, but, as a matter of fact, +there was really no way of telling. The river was not shown on my map at +all. + +Now I _had_ to cross it, whereas before I could have turned it. I walked +boldly into the water, not bothering to take my clothes off this time, +nor did I ever bother to take them off afterward when swimming canals +or rivers. I found it was impossible to keep them dry, anyway, and so I +might just as well swim in them and save time. + +All the next day I spent in a forest, to which my night's travel had +brought me about five o'clock in the morning. I kept on my way through +the woods until daylight came, and then, thinking the place would afford +fairly good concealment, I concluded to rest until night. + +The prospects of even a good sleep were dismal, however, for about the +time the sun's face should have appeared a drizzling rain began and I +gave up my search for a dry spot which would serve as a bed. Some of the +leaves were beginning to fall, but of course there were not enough of +them to have formed a covering for the ground, and the dampness seemed +to have penetrated everywhere. + +I wandered around through the woods for two or three hours, looking for +shelter, but without any success, for, though the trees were large, the +forest was not dense and there was practically no brush or shrubbery. +Consequently, one could get a fairly clear view for some distance, and I +knew it would be unwise to drop off to sleep just any place, or some one +would surely happen onto me. + +Once I came very near the edge of the woods and heard voices of men +driving by in a wagon, but I couldn't make out just what they were, and +instinct told me I had better not come out of the woods, so I turned +back. Here and there small artificial ditches had been dug, which at +a dry season might have cradled a weary fugitive, but now they, too, +were filled with water. Once I singled out a good big tree with large +branches and thought I might climb into it and go to sleep, but the +longer I looked at it the more I realized that it would require more +energy than I had in my present weak and exhausted condition, so I +didn't attempt that. + +Finally I chose a spot that looked a bit drier than the rest, concluded +to take a chance on being discovered, and threw myself down for a nap. +I was extremely nervous, though, throughout that whole day and would +scarcely get settled into a comfortable position and doze off for a few +minutes when, startled by some sound in the woods, I would suddenly +waken. + +After what seemed like a year or more, night finally came, and with it a +"dud" sky, low-hanging clouds, and still more rain. There was not a star +in the sky, of course, and that made it very bad, because without the +aid of the stars I had absolutely no way of knowing in which direction +I was going. It was just a case of taking a chance. I probably would +have been better off if I had simply picked out a place and stayed there +until the weather improved, but naturally I was impatient to be on my +way when each day without food only lessened my strength and my ultimate +chances of reaching the frontier. + +So I left the woods and struck off in the direction which I thought was +north. I hadn't been at all sure of my bearings the day before, and as +it had rained the sun failed entirely to help me out; but I was almost +sure I had the right direction, and trusted to luck. That night I found +more rivers, canals, and swamps than I ever found in my life before, but +I had the good fortune to stumble on to some celery, and after my diet +of beets it surely was a treat. Perhaps it's unnecessary to add that +I took on a good supply of celery, and for days I went along chewing +celery like a cow would a cud. + +Along toward morning, when I supposed I had got in a fairly good lap of +my journey--perhaps seven or eight miles--I began to recognize certain +objects as familiar landmarks. At least, I thought I had seen them +before, and as I traveled along I knew positively I had seen certain +objects very recently. Off at my right--not over a quarter of a mile--I +noticed some fairly good-sized woods, and thought I would go over there +to hide that day, because it looked as though the sun was going to +shine, and I hoped to get my clothes dry and perhaps get a decent sleep. +I had this celery and a large beet, so I knew I would be able to live +the day through. + +Finally, I made my way over to the woods. It was still too dark in among +the trees to do much in the way of selecting my quarters for the day, +and I could not go a step farther. So I waited on the edge of the forest +until dawn and then set out to explore the place with a view to finding +some nook where I might sleep. Imagine my disgust and discouragement, +too, when, an hour or so later, I came upon the exact place where I had +spent the day before, and I realized that all night long I had been +circling the very woods I was trying to get away from. I think perhaps +I had gone all of a quarter of a mile in the right direction, but then +had lost my bearings entirely and daylight found me with nothing +accomplished. + +The sun, however, did come out that day, and I welcomed its warm rays +as they perhaps have never been welcomed before. I was very tired--just +about all in--but I spent a better day in the woods than the previous +one. + +That night the stars came out; I located my friend, the North Star, +and tried to make up for lost time. But when one is making only seven +or eight miles a day, or rather a night, one night lost means a whole +lot, especially when each day keeps him from freedom. Such ill fortune +and discouragements as this were harder to endure, I believe, than the +actual hunger, and the accompanying worry naturally reduced my weight. +At times I was furiously angry with myself for the mistakes I made and +the foolish things I did, but I always tried to see something funny +about the situation, whatever it might be, that relieved the strain a +bit and helped to pass the time. I think if a man is overburdened with +a sense of humor and wants to get rid of it, this trip I took would be +an excellent remedy for it. Right at this time I would have welcomed +anything for a companion; I believe even a snake would have been a +godsend to me. + +With a name as Irish as mine, it is only natural that I looked for +goats along the way, thinking that I might be able to milk them. There +are very few cows in this country, and the opportunities for milking +them fewer than the cows themselves, because they are housed in barns +adjoining the homes and always alertly watched by their fortunate +owners. I did hope that I might find a goat staked out some place in the +fields, but in all my travels I never saw a goat or a pig, and only a +few cows. Several times I searched nests for eggs, but somebody always +had beaten me to it, as I never even found so much as a nest egg. + +There was no chance of getting away with any "bullying" stuff in +Luxembourg, I knew, because the young men have not been forced into +the army and are still at home, and as they are decidedly pro-German, +it would have been pretty hard for me to demand anything in that part +of the country. It was not like taking things away from old men and +women or robbing people that could not stop me if they chose to do so. +I thought at this time that I was suffering about the worst hardships +any human being could ever be called upon to endure, but I was later to +find out that the best of my journey was made along about this time. +There were plenty of vegetables, even though they were raw, and these +were much better than the things I was afterward compelled to eat or go +without. + +We frequently hear of men who have lived for a certain number of days +on their own resources in the woods just on a bet or to prove that the +"back to nature" theory still has its merits and will still work. My +advice to some of those nature-seekers is to, if in the future they wish +to make a real good record, try the little countries of Luxembourg and +Belgium, with a slice of Germany thrown in. + +I suppose that during this experience of mine I made many mistakes +and traveled many unnecessary miles which one with a knowledge of +woodsmanship might have avoided, and I failed to take advantage of many +things which would have been quite apparent to one who knew. It must +not be forgotten, however, that I did not undertake this adventure +voluntarily. It was "wished on me." I simply had to make the most of the +knowledge I had. + +At about this time blisters began to appear on my legs and my knees +swelled. In addition I was pretty well convinced that I had lost the +sight of my left eye. I hadn't seen a thing out of it since my leap from +the train. + +When I imagine the villainous appearance I must have presented at this +time--my unhealed wounds, eighteen days' growth of beard, and general +haggard and unkempt visage--I think the fear I felt about meeting +strangers was perhaps unwarranted. The chances are they would have been +infinitely more scared than I! + +As it was, I was nearly out of Luxembourg before I really came face +to face with any one. It was about six o'clock in the morning and I +was traveling along a regular path. Just as I approached a cross-path +I heard footsteps coming down it. I stopped short, stooped over, and +pretended to be adjusting my shoe-lace, figuring that if the stranger +turned into my path he would probably pass right by me. As luck would +have it, he continued on his way and never noticed me at all. + +After that I frequently noticed groups of Luxembourg peasants in the +distance, but I usually saw them first and managed to avoid them. + +About the eighteenth day after my leap from the train I crossed into +Belgium. It had taken me just nine days to get through Luxembourg--a +distance which a man could ordinarily cover in two, but, considering +the handicaps under which I labored, I was very well satisfied with my +progress. + + + + +IX + +I ENTER BELGIUM + + +I have said it was about the eighteenth day after my escape that I +entered Belgium, but that is more or less guesswork. I was possibly well +into that country before I realized that I had crossed the line. + +About the third day after I figured I was in Belgium I started to swim +a canal just before daylight. I was then heading due north in the +direction of the German lines. I was just about to wade into the canal +when I heard a German yelling violently, and for the first time I knew I +was being followed! + +I ran up the bank of the canal quite a distance and then swam to the +opposite side, as I reasoned they would not be looking for me there. +I found a sheltered clump of bushes in a swamp near the canal, and +in the driest part that I could find I crawled in and made myself as +comfortable as possible. The sun came up soon and kept me warm, and I +planned to camp right there, food or no food, until the Huns got tired +of searching for me. I think I heard them once or twice that day, and +my heart nearly stopped on each occasion, but evidently they decided to +look in some other direction and I was not further molested. + +At the same time I figured that it was absolutely necessary for me to +change my course even at the expense of going somewhat out of my way. +Certainly if I went north they would get me. I decided to go due west, +and I kept in that direction for four days. + +As I was in a very weak condition, I did not cover more than five miles +a night. I kept away from the roads and did all my journeying through +fields, beet-patches, woods, swamps--anywhere, provided I was not likely +to be seen and captured. Food was an important consideration to me, but +it was secondary to concealment. + +At last I brought up at the Meuse River at a place between Namur and +Huy, and it was here that I came nearest of all to giving up the +struggle. + +The Meuse at this point is about half a mile wide--as wide as the +Hudson River at West Point. Had I been in normal condition I wouldn't +have hesitated a moment to swim across. San Diego Bay, California, is +a mile and a half wide, and I had often swum across and back, and the +San Joaquin, which is also a mile and a half wide, had never proved an +obstacle to me. + +In the wretched shape in which I then was, however, the Meuse looked +like the Atlantic Ocean to me. I looked for a boat, but could find none. +I tried to get a piece of wood upon which I hoped to ferry across, but I +was equally unsuccessful. + +Get across I must, and I decided there was nothing to do but swim it. + +It was then about three o'clock in the morning. I waded in and was soon +in beyond my depth and had to swim. After about an hour of it I was very +much exhausted and I doubted whether I could make the opposite bank, +although it was not more than thirty or forty feet away. I choked and +gasped and my arms and legs were completely fagged out. I sank a little +and tried to touch bottom with my feet, but the water was still beyond +my depth. + +There are times when every one will pray, and I was no exception. I +prayed for strength to make those few wicked yards, and then, with all +the will power I could summon, struck out for dear life. It seemed a +lifetime before I finally felt the welcome mud of bottom and was able to +drag myself up to the bank, but I got there. The bank was rather high, +and I was shaking so violently that when I took hold of the grass to +pull myself up, the grass shook out of my hands. I could not retain my +grip. I was afraid I would faint then and there, but I kept pulling and +crawling frantically up that infernal bank, and finally made it. + +Then, for the first time in my life, I fainted--fainted from utter +exhaustion. + +It was now about four o'clock in the morning and I was entirely +unprotected from observation. If any one had come along I would have +been found lying there dead to the world. + +Possibly two hours passed before I regained consciousness, and then, no +doubt, only because the rain was beating in my face. + +I knew that I had to get away, as it was broad daylight. Moreover, there +was a towpath right there and any minute a boat might come along and +find me. But it was equally dangerous for me to attempt to travel very +far. Fortunately, I found some shrubbery near by, and I hid there all +day, without food or drink. + +That night I made a little headway, but when day broke I had a dreadful +fever and was delirious. I talked to myself and thereby increased my +chances of capture. In my lucid intervals, when I realized that I had +been talking, the thought sent a chill through me, because in the silent +night even the slightest sound carries far across the Belgian country. I +began to fear that another day of this would about finish me. + +I have a distinct recollection of a ridiculous conversation I carried on +with an imaginary Pat O'Brien--a sort of duplicate of myself. I argued +with him as I marched drearily along, and he answered me back in kind, +and when we disagreed I called upon my one constant friend, the North +Star, to stand by me. + +"There you are, you old North Star!" I cried, aloud. "You want me to get +to Holland, don't you? But this Pat O'Brien--this Pat O'Brien who calls +himself a soldier--he's got a yellow streak--North Star--and he says it +can't be done! He wants me to quit--to lie down here for the Huns to +find me and take me back to Courtrai--after all you've done, North Star, +to lead me to liberty. Won't you make this coward leave me, North Star? +I don't want to follow him--I just want to follow you--because you--you +are taking me away from the Huns and this Pat O'Brien--this fellow who +keeps after me all the time and leans on my neck and wants me to lie +down--this yellow Pat O'Brien wants me to go back to the Huns!" + +After a spell of foolish chatter like that my senses would come back to +me for a while and I would trudge along without a word until the fever +came on me again. + +I knew that I had to have food because I was about on my last legs. I +was very much tempted to lie down then and there and call it a heat. +Things seemed to be getting worse for me the farther I went, and all +the time I had before me the specter of that electric barrier between +Belgium and Holland, even if I ever reached there alive. What was the +use of further suffering when I would probably be captured in the end, +anyway? + +Before giving up, however, I decided upon one bold move. I would +approach one of the houses in the vicinity and get food there or die in +the effort! + +I picked out a small house, because I figured there would be less +likelihood of soldiers being billeted there. + +Then I wrapped a stone in my khaki handkerchief as a sort of camouflaged +weapon, determined to kill the occupant of the house, German or Belgian, +if that step were necessary in order to get food. I tried the well in +the yard, but it would not work, and then I went up to the door and +knocked. + +It was one o'clock in the morning. An old lady came to the window and +looked out. She could not imagine what I was, probably, because I was +still attired in that old overcoat. She gave a cry, and her husband and +a boy came to the door. + +They could not speak English and I could not speak Flemish, but I +pointed to my flying-coat and then to the sky and said "_fleger_" +("flier"), which I thought would tell them what I was. + +Whether they understood or were intimidated by my hard-looking +appearance, I don't know, but certainly it would have to be a brave old +man and boy who would start an argument with such a villainous-looking +character as stood before them that night! I had not shaved for a month, +my clothes were wet, torn, and dirty, my leggings were gone--they +had got so heavy I had discarded them--my hair was matted, and my +cheeks were flushed with fever. In my hand I carried the rock in my +handkerchief, and I made no effort to conceal its presence or its +mission. + +Anyway, they motioned me indoors and gave me my first hot meal in more +than a month. True, it consisted only of warm potatoes. They had been +previously cooked, but the old woman warmed them up in milk in one of +the dirtiest kettles I had ever seen. I asked for bread, but she shook +her head, although I think it must have been for lack of it rather +than because she begrudged it to me. For if ever a man showed he was +famished, I did that night. I swallowed those warm potatoes ravenously +and I drank four glasses of water one after another. It was the best +meal I had had since the "banquet" in the prison at Courtrai. + +The woman of the house was probably seventy-five years old and had +evidently worn wooden shoes all her life, for she had a callous spot on +the side of her foot the size of half a dollar, and it looked so hard +that I doubt whether you could have driven a nail into it with a hammer. + +As I sat there drying myself--for I was in no hurry to leave the first +human habitation I had entered in four weeks--I reflected on my unhappy +lot and the unknown troubles and dangers that lay ahead of me. Here, for +more than a month, I had been leading the life of a hunted animal--yes, +worse than a hunted animal, for Nature clothes her less favored +creatures more appropriately for the life they lead than I was clothed +for mine--and there was not the slightest reason to hope that conditions +would grow better. + +Perhaps the first warm food I had eaten for over a month had released +unused springs of philosophy in me, as food sometimes does for a man. + +I pointed to my torn and water-soaked clothes and conveyed to them as +best I could that I would be grateful for an old suit, but apparently +they were too poor to have more than they actually needed themselves, +and I rose to go. I had roused them out of bed, and I knew I ought not +to keep them up longer than was absolutely necessary. + +As I approached the door I got a glance at myself in a mirror. I was +the awfulest sight I had ever laid eyes on! The glimpse I got of myself +startled me almost as much as if I had seen a dreaded German helmet! My +left eye was fairly well healed by this time, and I was beginning to +regain the sight of it, but my face was so haggard and my beard so long +and unkempt that I looked like Santa Claus on a "bat." + +As they let me out of the door I pointed to the opposite direction +to the one I intended taking and started off in the direction I had +indicated. Later I changed my course completely to throw off any +possible pursuit. + +The next day I was so worn out from exposure and exhaustion that I +threw away my coat, thinking that the less weight I had to carry the +better it would be for me, but when night came I regretted my mistake, +because the nights were now getting colder. I thought at first it would +be best for me to retrace my steps and look for the coat I had so +thoughtlessly discarded, but I decided to go on without it. + +I then began to discard everything that I had in my pocket, finally +throwing my wrist-watch into a canal. A wrist-watch does not add much +weight, but when you plod along and have not eaten for a month it +finally becomes rather heavy. The next thing I discarded was a pair of +flying-mittens. + +These mittens I had got at Camp Borden, in Canada, and had become quite +famous, as my friends termed them "snow-shoes." In fact, they were a +ridiculous pair of mittens, but the best pair I ever had, and I really +felt worse when I lost those mittens than anything else. I could not +think of anybody else ever using them, so I dug a hole in the mud and +buried them, and could not help but laugh at the thought of what my +friends would say had they seen me burying my mittens, because they +were a standing joke in Canada, England, and France. + +I had on two shirts, and as they were always both wet and didn't keep me +warm, it was useless to wear both. One of these was a shirt that I had +bought in France, the other an American army shirt. They were both khaki +and one as apt to give me away as the other, so I discarded the French +shirt. The American army shirt I brought back with me to England, and it +is still in my possession. + +When I escaped from the train I still had that Bavarian cap of bright +red in my pocket and wore it for many nights, but I took great care that +no one saw it. It also had proved very useful when swimming rivers, for +I carried my map and a few other belongings in it, and I had fully made +up my mind to bring it home as a souvenir. But the farther I went the +heavier my extra clothing became, so I was compelled to discard even +the cap. I knew that it would be a telltale mark if I simply threw it +away, so one night after swimming a river I dug a hole in the soft mud +on the bank and buried it, too, with considerably less ceremony than +my flying-mittens had received, perhaps; and that was the end of my +Bavarian hat. + +My experience at the Belgian's house whetted my appetite for warm food, +and I figured that what had been done once could be done again. Sooner +or later I realized I would probably approach a Belgian and find a +German instead, but in such a contingency I was determined to measure my +strength against the Hun's if necessary to effect my escape. + +As it was, however, most of the Belgians to whom I applied for food gave +it to me readily enough, and if some of them refused me it was only +because they feared I might be a spy or that the Germans would shoot +them if their action were subsequently found out. + +About the fifth day after I had entered Belgium I was spending the day +as usual in a clump of bushes when I discerned in the distance what +appeared to be something hanging on a line. All day long I strained my +eyes trying to decide what it could be and arguing with myself that it +might be something that I could add to my inadequate wardrobe, but the +distance was so great that I could not identify it. I had a great fear +that before night came it would probably be removed. + +As soon as darkness fell, however, I crawled out of my hiding-place and +worked up to the line and got a pair of overalls for my industry. It was +a mighty joyful night for me. That pair of overalls was the first bit +of civilian clothes I had thus far picked up, with the exception of a +civilian cap which I had found at the prison and concealed on my person +and which I still had. The overalls were rather small and very short, +but when I put them on I found that they hung down far enough to cover +my breeches. + +It was perhaps three days later that I planned to search another house +for further clothes. Entering Belgian houses at night is anything but a +safe proposition, because their families are large and sometimes as many +as seven or eight sleep in a single room. The barn is usually connected +with the house proper, and there was always the danger of disturbing +some dumb animal, even if the inmates of the house were not aroused. + +Frequently I took a chance of searching a backyard at night in the hope +of finding food scraps, but my success in that direction was so slight +that I soon decided it wasn't worth the risk, and I continued to live on +the raw vegetables that I could pick with safety in the fields and the +occasional meal that I was able to get from the Belgian peasants in the +daytime. + +Nevertheless, I was determined to get more in the way of clothing, and +when night came I picked out a house that looked as though it might +furnish me with what I wanted. It was a moonlight night, and if I could +get in the barn I would have a fair chance of finding my way around by +the moonlight which would enter the windows. + +The barn adjoined the main part of the house, but I groped around very +carefully and soon I touched something hanging on a peg. I didn't know +what it was, but I confiscated it and carried it out into the fields. +There in the moonlight I examined my booty and found it was an old coat. +It was too short as an overcoat and too long for an ordinary coat, but +nevertheless I made use of it. It had probably been an overcoat for the +Belgian who had worn it. + +Some days later I got a scarf from a Belgian peasant, and with this +equipment I was able to conceal my uniform entirely. + +Later on, however, I decided that it was too dangerous to keep the +uniform on anyway, and when night came I dug a hole and buried it. + +I never realized until I had to part with it just how much I thought of +that uniform. It had been with me through many hard trials, and I felt +as if I were abandoning a friend when I parted with it. I was tempted +to keep the wings off the tunic, but thought that that would be a +dangerous concession to sentiment in the event that I was ever captured. +It was the only distinction I had left, as I had given the Royal Flying +Corps badges and the stars of my rank to the German Flying Officers as +souvenirs, but I felt that it was safer to discard it. As it finally +turned out, through all my subsequent experiences my escape would never +have been jeopardized had I kept my uniform, but, of course, I had no +idea what was in store for me. + +There was one thing which surprised me very much as I journeyed through +Belgium, and that was the scarcity of dogs. Apparently most of them have +been taken by the Germans, and what are left are beasts of burden who +are too tired at night to bark or bother intruders. This was a mighty +good thing for me, for I would certainly have stirred them up in passing +through backyards, as I sometimes did when I was making a short cut. + +One night as I came out of a yard it was so pitch dark I could not see +ten feet ahead of me, and I was right in the back of a little village, +although I did not know it. I crawled along, fearing I might come to a +crossroads at which there would in all probability be a German sentry. + +My precaution served me in good stead, for I had come out in the main +street of a village and within twenty feet of me, sitting on some bricks +where they were building a little store, I could see the dim outline of +a German spiked helmet! + +I could not cross the street and the only thing to do was to back-track. +It meant making a long detour and losing two hours of precious time +and effort, but there was no help for it, and I plodded wearily back, +cursing the Huns at every step. + +The next night while crossing some fields I came to a road. It was one +of the main roads of Belgium and was paved with cobblestones. On these +roads you can hear a wagon or horse about a mile or two away. I listened +intently before I moved ahead, and, hearing nothing, concluded that the +way was clear. + +As I emerged from the field and got my first glimpse of the road I got +the shock of my life! In either direction, as far as I could see, the +road was lined with German soldiers! + +What they were doing in that part of Belgium I did not know, but you can +be mighty sure I didn't spend any time trying to find out. + +Again it was necessary to change my course and lose a certain amount of +ground, but by this time I had become fairly well reconciled to these +reverses and they did not depress me as much as they had at first. + +At this period of my adventure if a day or a night passed without its +thrill I began to feel almost disappointed, but such disappointments +were rather rare. + +One evening as I was about to swim a canal about two hundred feet wide I +suddenly noticed, about one hundred yards away, a canal-boat moored to +the side. + +It was a sort of out-of-the-way place, and I wondered what the +canal-boat had stopped for. I crawled up to see. As I neared the boat +five men were leaving it, and I noticed them cross over into the fields. +At a safe distance I followed them, and they had not gone very far +before I saw what they were after. They were committing the common but +heinous crime of stealing potatoes! + +Without the means to cook them, potatoes didn't interest me a bit, and +I thought that the boat itself would probably yield me more than the +potato-patch. Knowing that the canal hands would probably take their +time in the fields, I climbed up the stern of the boat leisurely and +without any particular pains to conceal myself. Just as my head appeared +above the stern of the boat I saw, silhouetted against the sky, the +dreaded outline of a German soldier--spiked helmet and all! A chill ran +down my spine as I dropped to the bank of the canal and slunk away. +Evidently the sentry had not seen me or, if he had, he had probably +figured that I was one of the foraging party, but I realized that it +wouldn't pay in future to take anything for granted. + + + + +X + +EXPERIENCES IN BELGIUM + + +I think that one of the worst things I had to contend with in my journey +through Belgium was the number of small ditches. They intercepted me at +every half-mile or so, sometimes more frequently. The canals and the big +rivers I could swim. Of course, I got soaked to the skin every time I +did it, but I was becoming hardened to that. + +These little ditches, however, were too narrow to swim and too wide to +jump. They had perhaps two feet of water in them and three feet of mud, +and it was almost invariably a case of wading through. Some of them, no +doubt, I could have jumped if I had been in decent shape, but with a bad +ankle and in the weakened condition in which I was, it was almost out of +the question. + +One night I came to a ditch about eight or nine feet wide. I thought I +was strong enough to jump it, and it was worth trying, as the discomfort +I suffered after wading these ditches was considerable. Taking a long +run, I jumped as hard as I could, but I missed it by four or five inches +and landed in about two feet of water and three feet more of mud. +Getting out of that mess was quite a job. The water was too dirty and +too scanty to enable me to wash off the mud with which I was covered +and it was too wet to scrape off. I just had to wait until it dried and +scrape it off then. + +In many sections of Belgium through which I had to pass I encountered +large areas of swamp and marshy ground, and, rather than waste the time +involved in looking for better underfooting--which I might not have +found, anyway--I used to plod right through the mud. Apart from the +discomfort of this method of traveling and the slow time I made, there +was an added danger to me in the fact that the "squash-squash" noise +which I made might easily be overheard by Belgians and Germans and give +my position away. Nobody would cross a swamp or marsh in that part +of the country unless he was trying to get away from somebody, and I +realized my danger, but could not get around it. + +It was a common sight in Belgium to see a small donkey and a common, +ordinary milch cow hitched together, pulling a wagon. When I first +observed the unusual combination I thought it was a donkey and ox or +bull, but closer inspection revealed to me that cows were being used for +the purpose. + +From what I was able to observe, there must be very few horses left in +Belgium except those owned by the Germans. Cows and donkeys are now +doing the work formerly done by horses and mules. Altogether I spent +nearly eight weeks wandering through Belgium and in all that time I +don't believe I saw more than half a dozen horses in the possession of +the native population. + +One of the scarcest things in Germany, apparently, is rubber, for I +noticed that their motor trucks, or lorries, unlike our own, had no +rubber tires. Instead, heavy iron bands were employed. I could hear +them come rumbling along the stone roads for miles before they reached +the spot where I happened to be in hiding. When I saw these military +roads in Belgium for the first time, with their heavy cobblestones that +looked as if they would last for centuries, I realized at once why it +was that the Germans had been able to make such a rapid advance into +Belgium at the start of the war. + +I noticed that the Belgians used dogs to a considerable extent to pull +their carts, and I thought many times that if I could have stolen one +of those dogs it would have made a very good companion for me, and +might, if the occasion arose, help me out in a fight. But I had no way +of feeding it and the animal would probably have starved to death. I +could live on vegetables which I could always depend upon finding in the +fields, but a dog couldn't, and so I gave up the idea. + +The knack of making fire with two pieces of dry wood I had often read +about, but I had never put it to a test, and for various reasons I +concluded that it would be unsafe for me to build a fire even if I had +matches. In the first place, there was no absolute need for it. I +didn't have anything to cook, nor utensils to cook it in even if I had. +While the air was getting to be rather cool at night, I was usually on +the go at the time and didn't notice it. In the daytime, when I was +resting or sleeping, the sun was usually out. + +To have borrowed matches from a Belgian peasant would have been +feasible, but when I was willing to take the chance of approaching any +one it was just as easy to ask for food as matches. + +In the second place, it would have been extremely dangerous to have +built a fire even if I had needed it. You can't build a fire in Belgium, +which is the most thickly populated country in Europe, without every one +knowing it, and I was far from anxious to advertise my whereabouts. + +The villages in the part of Belgium through which I was making my course +were so close together that there was hardly ever an hour passed without +my hearing some clock strike. Every village has its clock. Many times I +could hear the clocks striking in two villages at the same time. + +But the hour had very little interest to me. My program was to travel as +fast as I could from sunset to sunrise and pay no attention to the hours +in between, and in the daytime I had only two things to worry about: +keep concealed and get as much sleep as possible. + +The cabbage that I got in Belgium consisted of the small heads that +the peasants had not cut. All the strength had concentrated in these +little heads and they would be as bitter as gall. I would have to be +pretty hungry to-day before I could ever eat cabbage again, and the same +observation applies to carrots, turnips, and sugar-beets--especially +sugar-beets. + +It is rather a remarkable thing that to-day even the smell of turnips, +raw or cooked, makes me sick, and yet a few short months ago my life +depended upon them. + +Night after night, as I searched for food, I was always in hopes that +I might come upon some tomatoes or celery--vegetables which I really +liked, but with the exception of once, when I found some celery, I was +never so fortunate. I ate so much of the celery the night I came upon it +that I was sick for two days thereafter, but I carried several bunches +away with me and used to chew on it as I walked along. + +Of course, I kept my eyes open all the time for fruit trees, but +apparently it was too late in the year for fruit, as all that I ever was +able to find were two pears which I got out of a tree. That was one of +my red-letter days, but I was never able to repeat it. + +In the brooks and ponds that I passed I often noticed fish of different +kinds. That was either in the early morning, just before I turned in for +the day, or on moonlight nights when the water seemed as clear in spots +as in the daytime. It occurred to me that it would be a simple matter to +rig a hook and line and catch some of the fish, but I had no means of +cooking them and it was useless to fish for the sake of it. + +One night in Belgium my course took me through a desolate stretch +of country which seemed to be absolutely uncultivated. I must have +covered twelve miles during the night without passing a single farm or +cultivated field. My stock of turnips which I had plucked the night +before was gone and I planned, of course, to get enough to carry me +through the following day. + +The North Star was shining brightly that night and there was absolutely +nothing to prevent my steering an absolutely direct course for Holland +and liberty, but my path seemed to lie through arid pastures. Far to the +east or to the west I could hear faintly the striking of village bells, +and I knew that if I changed my course I would undoubtedly strike farms +and vegetables, but the North Star seemed to plead with me to follow it, +and I would not turn aside. + +When daylight came the consequence was I was empty-handed, and I had to +find a hiding-place for the day. I thought I would approach the first +peasant I came to and ask for food, but that day I had misgivings--a +hunch--that I would get into trouble if I did, and I decided to go +without food altogether for that day. + +It was a foolish thing to do, I found, because I not only suffered +greatly from hunger all that day, but it interfered with my sleep. I +would drop off to sleep for half an hour, perhaps, and during that time +I would dream that I was free, back home, living a life of comparative +ease, and then I would wake up with a start and catch a glimpse of the +bushes surrounding me, feel the hard ground beneath me and the hunger +pangs gnawing at my insides, and then I would realize how far from home +I really was, and I would lie there and wonder whether I would ever +really see my home again. Then I would fall asleep again and dream this +time, perhaps, of the days I spent in Courtrai, of my leap from the +train window, of the Bavarian pilot whom I sent to eternity in my last +air-fight, of my tracer-bullets getting closer and closer to his head, +and then I would wake up again with a start and thank the Lord that I +was only dreaming it all again instead of living through it! + +That night I got an early start because I knew I had to have food, and I +decided that, rather than look for vegetables, I would take a chance and +apply to the first Belgian peasant I came to. + +It was about eight o'clock when I came to a small house. I had picked up +a heavy stone and had bound it in my handkerchief, and I was resolved to +use it as a weapon if it became necessary. After all I had gone through +I was resolved to win my liberty eventually at whatever cost. + +As it happened, I found that night the first real friend I had +encountered in all my traveling. When I knocked timidly on the door it +was opened by a Belgian peasant, about fifty years of age. He asked me +in Flemish what I wanted, but I shook my head and, pointing to my ears +and mouth, intimated that I was deaf and dumb, and then I opened and +closed my teeth several times to show him that I wanted food. + +He showed me inside and sat me at the table. He apparently lived alone, +for his ill-furnished room had but one chair, and the plate and knife +and fork he put before me seemed to be all he had. He brought me some +cold potatoes and several slices of stale bread, and he warmed me some +milk on a small oil-stove. + +I ate ravenously, and all the time I was engaged I knew that he was +eying me closely. + +Before I was half through he came over to me, touched me on the +shoulder, and, stooping over so that his lips almost touched my ear, he +said, in broken English, "You are an Englishman--I know it--and you can +hear and talk if you wish. Am I not right?" + +There was a smile on his face and a friendly attitude about him that +told me instinctively that he could be trusted, and I replied, "You have +guessed right--only I am an American, not an Englishman." + +He looked at me pityingly and filled my cup again with warm milk. + +His kindness and apparent willingness to help me almost overcame me, +and I felt like warning him of the consequences he would suffer if the +Huns discovered he had befriended me. I had heard that twenty Belgians +had been shot for helping Belgians to escape into Holland, and I hated +to think what might happen to this Good Samaritan if the Huns ever knew +that he had helped an escaped American prisoner. + +After my meal was finished I told him in as simple language as I could +command of some of the experiences I had gone through, and I outlined my +future plans. + +"You will never be able to get to Holland," he declared, "without a +passport. The nearer you get to the frontier the more German soldiers +you will encounter, and without a passport you will be a marked man." + +I asked him to suggest a way by which I could overcome this difficulty. + +He thought for several moments and studied me closely all the +time--perhaps endeavoring to make absolutely sure that I was not a +German spy--and then, apparently deciding in my favor, told me what he +thought it was best for me to do. + +"If you will call on this man," mentioning the name of a Belgian in +----, a city through which I had to pass, he advised, "you will be able +to make arrangements with him to secure a passport, and he will do +everything he can to get you out of Belgium." + +He told me where the man in question could be found and gave me some +useful directions to continue my journey, and then he led me to the +door. I thanked him a thousand times and wanted to pay him for his +kindness and help, but he would accept nothing. He did give me his +name, and you may be sure I shall never forget it, but to mention it +here might, of course, result in serious consequences for him. When the +war is over, however, or the Germans are thrown out of Belgium, I shall +make it my duty to find that kind Belgian, if to do it I have to go +through again all that I have suffered already. + + + + +XI + +I ENCOUNTER GERMAN SOLDIERS + + +What the Belgian had told me about the need of a passport gave me fresh +cause for worry. Suppose I should run into a German sentry before I +succeeded in getting one? + +I decided that until I reached the big city which the Belgian had +mentioned--and which I cannot name for fear of identifying some of +the people there who befriended me--I would proceed with the utmost +precaution. Since I had discarded my uniform and had obtained civilian +clothes I had not been quite as careful as I was at first. While I had +done my traveling at night, I had not gone into hiding so early in the +morning as before, and I had sometimes started again before it was quite +dark, relying upon the fact that I would probably be mistaken for a +Belgian on his way to or from work, as the case might be. From now on, +I resolved, however, I would take no more chances. + +That evening I came to a river perhaps seventy-five yards wide, and I +was getting ready to swim it when I thought I would walk a little way +to find, if possible, a better place to get to the river from the bank. +I had not walked more than a few hundred feet when I saw a boat. It was +the first time I had seen a boat in all my experiences. + +It was firmly chained, but as the stakes were sunk in the soft bank it +was not much of a job to pull them out. I got in, drank to my heart's +content, shoved over to the other side, got out, drove a stake into the +ground, and moored the boat. It would have been a simple matter to have +drifted down the river, but the river was not shown on my map and I had +no idea where it might lead me. Very reluctantly, therefore, I had to +abandon the boat and proceed on foot. + +I made several miles that night and before daylight found a safe +place in which to hide for the day. From my hiding-place I could see +through the bushes a heavy thick wood only a short distance away. +I decided that I would start earlier than usual, hurry over to the +wood, and perhaps in that way I could cover two or three miles in the +daytime and gain just so much time. Traveling through the wood would be +comparatively safe. There was a railroad going through the wood, but I +did not figure that that would make it any the less safe. + +About three o'clock that afternoon, therefore, I emerged from my +hiding-place and hurried into the wood. After proceeding for half a mile +or so I came to the railroad. I took a sharp look in both directions +and, seeing no signs of trains or soldiers, I walked boldly over the +tracks and continued on my way. + +I soon came upon a clearing and knew that some one must be living in the +vicinity. As I turned a group of trees I saw a small house and in the +distance an old man working in a garden. I decided to enter the house +and ask for food, figuring the woman would probably be old and would be +no match for me even if she proved hostile. The old woman who came to +the door in response to my knock was older even than I had expected. If +she wasn't close to a hundred years, I miss my guess very much. + +She could not speak English and I could not speak Flemish, of course, +but, nevertheless, I made her understand that I wanted something to eat. +She came out of the door and hollered for her husband in a shrill voice +that would have done credit to a girl of eighteen. The old man came in +from his garden and between the two of them they managed to get the +idea that I was hungry, and they gave me a piece of bread--a very small +piece--which was quite a treat. + +The house they lived in consisted of just two rooms--the kitchen and a +bedroom. The kitchen was perhaps fourteen feet square, eight feet of +one side of it being taken up by an enormous fireplace. What was in +the bedroom I had no way of telling, as I did not dare to be too +inquisitive. + +I made the old couple understand that I would like to stay in their +house all night, but the old man shook his head. I bade them good-by and +disappeared into the woods, leaving them to speculate as to the strange +foreigner they had entertained. + +From the greater density of the population in the section through which +I was now passing I realized that I must be in the outskirts of the +big city which the Belgian had mentioned and where I was to procure a +passport. + +Village after village intercepted me, and, although I tried to skirt +them wherever possible, I realized that I would never make much progress +if I continued that course. To gain a mile I would sometimes have to +make a detour of two or three. I decided that I would try my luck in +going straight through the next village I came to. + +As I approached it I passed numbers of peasants who were ambling along +the road. I was afraid to mingle with them because it was impossible for +me to talk to them and it was dangerous to arouse suspicion even among +the Belgians. For all I knew, one of them might be treacherous enough to +deliver me to the Germans in return for the reward he might be sure of +receiving. + +About nine o'clock that evening I came to a point where ahead of me +on the right was a Belgian police station--I knew it from its red +lights--and on the other side of the street were two German soldiers in +uniform leaning against a bicycle. + +Here was a problem which called for instant decision. If I turned back, +the suspicion of the soldiers would be instantly aroused, and if I +crossed the road so as not to pass so closely to them, they might be +equally suspicious. I decided to march bravely by the Huns, bluff my +way through, and trust to Providence. If anybody imagines, however, +that I was at all comfortable as I approached those soldiers, he must +think that I am a much braver man than I claim to be. My heart beat so +loud I was afraid they would hear it. Every step I took brought me so +much nearer to what might prove to be the end of all my hopes. It was a +nerve-racking ordeal. + +I was now within a few feet of them. Another step and-- + +They didn't turn a hair! I passed right by them--heard what they were +saying, although, of course, I didn't understand it, and went right +on. I can't say I didn't walk a little faster as I left them behind, +but I tried to maintain an even gait so as not to give them any idea +of the inward exultation I was experiencing. No words can explain, +however, how relieved I really felt--to know that I had successfully +passed through the first of a series of similar tests which I realized +were in store for me--although I did not know then how soon I was to be +confronted with the second. + +As it was, however, the incident gave me a world of confidence. It +demonstrated to me that there was nothing in my appearance, at any rate, +to attract the attention of the German soldiers. Apparently I looked +like a Belgian peasant, and if I could only work things so that I would +never have to answer questions and thus give away my nationality, I +figured I would be tolerably safe. + +As I marched along I felt so happy I couldn't help humming the air of +one of the new patriotic songs that we used to sing at the aerodrome +back of Ypres. + +In this happy fame of mind I covered the next three miles in about an +hour, and then I came to another little village. My usual course would +have been to go around it--through fields, backyards, woods, or whatever +else lay in my way--but I had gained so much time by going through the +last village instead of detouring around it, and my appearance seemed to +be so unsuspicious, that I decided to try the same stunt again. + +I stopped humming and kept very much on the alert, but, apart from that, +I walked boldly through the main street without any feeling of alarm. + +I had proceeded perhaps a mile along the main street when I noticed +ahead of me three German soldiers standing at the curb. + +Again my heart started to beat fast, I must confess, but I was not +nearly so scared as I had been an hour or so before. I walked ahead, +determined to follow my previous procedure in every particular. + +I had got to about fifteen feet away from the soldiers when one of them +stepped onto the sidewalk and shouted: + +"Halt!" + +My heart stopped beating fast--for a moment, I believe, it stopped +beating altogether! I can't attempt to describe my feelings. The thought +that the jig was up, that all I had gone through and all I had escaped +would now avail me nothing, mingled with a feeling of disgust with +myself because of the foolish risk I had taken in going through the +village, combined to take all the starch out of me, and I could feel +myself wilting as the soldier advanced to the spot where I stood rooted +in my tracks. + +I had a bottle of water in one pocket and a piece of bread in the other, +and as the Hun advanced to search me I held the bottle up in one hand +and the piece of bread in the other so that he could see that was all I +had. + +It occurred to me that he would "frisk" me--that is, feel me over for +arms or other weapons, then place me under arrest and march me off to +the guard-house. I had not the slightest idea but that I was captured, +and there didn't seem to be much use in resisting, unarmed as I was and +with two other German soldiers within a few feet of us. + +Like a flash it suddenly dawned on me, however, that for all this +soldier could have known I was only a Belgian peasant and that his +object in searching me, which he proceeded to do, was to ascertain +whether I had committed the common "crime" of smuggling potatoes! + +The Belgians are allowed only a certain amount of potatoes, and it is +against the laws laid down by the Huns to deal in vegetables of any kind +except under the rigid supervision of the authorities. Nevertheless, it +was one of the principal vocations of the average poor Belgian to buy +potatoes out in the country from the peasants and then smuggle them into +the large cities and sell them clandestinely at a high price. + +To stop this traffic in potatoes the German soldiers were in the habit +of subjecting the Belgians to frequent search, and I was being held up +by this soldier for no other reason than that he thought I might be a +potato-smuggler! + +He felt of my outside clothes and pockets, and, finding no potatoes, +seemed to be quite satisfied. Had he but known who I was he could have +earned an iron cross! Or perhaps, in view of the fact that I had a heavy +water-bottle in my uplifted hand, it might have turned out to be a +_wooden_ cross! + +He said something in German, which, of course, I did not understand, +and then some Belgian peasants came along and seemed to distract his +attention. Perhaps he had said, "It's all right, you may go on," or +he may have been talking to the others in Flemish, but, at any rate, +observing that he was more interested in the others than he was in me at +the moment, I put the bottle in my pocket and walked on. + +After I walked a few steps I took a furtive glance backward and noticed +the soldier who had searched me rejoin his comrades at the curb and then +stop another fellow who had come along, and then I disappeared in the +darkness. + +I cannot say that the outcome of this adventure left me in the same +confident frame of mind that followed the earlier one. It was true I had +come out of it all right, but I could not help thinking what a terribly +close shave I had. + +Suppose the soldier had questioned me? The ruse I had been following +in my dealings with the Belgian peasants--pretending I was deaf and +dumb--might possibly have worked here, too, but a soldier--a German +soldier--might not so easily have been fooled. It was more than an even +chance that it would at least have aroused his suspicions and resulted +in further investigation. A search of my clothing would have revealed +a dozen things which would have established my identity, and all my +shamming of deafness would have availed me nothing. + +As I wandered along I knew that I was now approaching the big city which +my Belgian friend had spoken of and which I would have to enter if I was +to get the passport, and I realized now how essential it was to have +something to enable me to get through the frequent examinations to which +I expected to be subjected. + +While I was still debating in my mind whether it was going to be +possible for me to enter the city that night, I saw in the distance what +appeared to be an arc-light, and as I neared it that was what it turned +out to be. Beneath the light I could make out the forms of three guards, +and the thought of having to go through the same kind of ordeal that I +had just experienced filled me with misgivings. Was it possible that I +could be fortunate enough to get by again? + +As I slowed up a little, trying to make up my mind what was best to do, +I was overtaken by a group of Belgian women who were shuffling along +the road, and I decided to mingle with them and see if I couldn't convey +the impression that I was one of their party. + +As we approached the arc-light the figures of those three soldiers with +their spiked helmets loomed up before me like a regiment. I felt as if +I were walking right into the jaws of death. Rather than go through +what was in store for me I felt that I would infinitely prefer to be +fighting again in the air with those four desperate Huns who had been +the cause of my present plight; then, at least, I would have a chance to +fight back, but now I had to risk my life and take what was coming to me +without a chance to strike a blow in my own defense. + +I shall never forget my feelings as we came within the shaft of light +projected by that great arc-light, nor the faces of those three guards +as we passed by them. I didn't look directly at them, but out of the +corner of my eye I didn't miss a detail. I held a handkerchief up to my +face as we passed them, and endeavored to imitate the slouching gait of +the Belgians as well as I could; and apparently it worked. We walked +right by those guards and they paid absolutely no attention to us. + +If ever a fellow felt like going down on his knees and praying, I did at +that moment, but it wouldn't have done to show my elation or gratitude +in that conspicuous way. + +It was then well after eleven o'clock, and I knew it would be unsafe for +me to attempt to find a lodging-place in the city, and the only thing +for me to do was to locate the man whose name the Belgian had given me. +He had given me a good description of the street and had directed me how +to get there, and I followed his instructions closely. + +After walking the streets for about half an hour I came upon one of the +landmarks my friend had described to me, and ten minutes afterward I was +knocking at the door of the man who was to make it possible for me to +reach Holland--and liberty. At least that was what I hoped. + + + + +XII + +THE FORGED PASSPORT + + +For obvious reasons I cannot describe the man to whom I applied for +the passport, nor the house in which he lived. While, in view of what +subsequently happened, I would not be very much concerned if he got +into trouble for having dealt with me, I realize that the hardships he +had endured in common with all the other inhabitants of that conquered +city may possibly have distorted his ideas of right and justice, and I +shall not deliberately bring further disaster on him by revealing his +identity. + +This man--we will call him Huyliger, because that is as unlike his +name as it is mine--was very kind to me on that memorable night when I +aroused him from his sleep and in a few words of explanation told him of +my plight. + +He invited me inside, prepared some food for me, and, putting on a +dressing-gown, came and sat by me while I ate, listening with the +greatest interest to the short account I gave him of my adventures. + +He could speak English fluently, and he interrupted me several times to +express his sympathy for the sufferings I had endured. + +"O'Brien," he said, after I had concluded my story, "I am going to +help you. It may take several days--perhaps as long as two weeks, but +eventually we will provide the means to enable you to get into Holland!" + +I thanked him a thousand times and told him that I didn't know how I +could possibly repay him. + +"Don't think of that," he replied; "the satisfaction of knowing that I +have aided in placing one more victim of the Huns beyond their power to +harm him will more than repay me for all the risk I shall run in helping +you. You'd better turn in now, O'Brien, and in the morning I'll tell you +what I plan to do." + +He showed me to a small room on the second floor, shook hands with me, +and left me to prepare for the first real night's rest I had been able +to take in nearly two months. + +As I removed my clothes and noticed that my knees were still swollen to +twice their normal size, that my left ankle was black and blue from the +wrench I had given it when I jumped from the train, and that my ribs +showed through my skin, I realized what a lot I had been through. As a +matter of fact, I could not have weighed more than one hundred and fifty +pounds at that time, whereas I had tipped the scales at one hundred and +ninety when I was with my squadron in France. + +I lost no time in getting into bed and still less in getting to sleep. +I don't know what I dreamed of that night, but I had plenty of time to +go through the experiences of my whole life, for when I was aroused by a +knock on the door, and Huyliger came in, in response to my invitation to +enter, he told me that it was nearly noon. I had slept for nearly twelve +hours. + +I cannot say that the thought did not run through my head that perhaps, +after all, I was living in a fool's paradise, and that when Huyliger +reappeared it would be with a couple of German soldiers behind him, +but I dismissed such misgivings summarily, realizing that I was doing +Huyliger an injustice to let such things enter my head even for an +instant. I had no right to doubt his sincerity, and it would do me no +good to entertain such suspicions. If he was going to prove treacherous +to me, I was powerless, anyway, to cope with him. + +In a few moments my host appeared with a tray containing my breakfast. +I don't suppose I shall ever forget that meal. It consisted of a cup of +coffee--real coffee, not the kind I had had at Courtrai--several slices +of bread, some hot potatoes, and a dish of scrambled eggs. + +Every mouthful of that meal tasted like angel-food to me, and Huyliger +sat on the edge of the bed and watched me enjoying the meal, at the same +time outlining the plans he had made for my escape. + +In brief, the scheme was to conceal me in a convent until conditions +were ripe for me to make my way to the border. In the mean while I was +to be dressed in the garb of a priest, and when the time came for me to +leave the city I was to pretend that I was a Spanish sailor, because +I could speak a little Spanish, which I had picked up on the coast. +To attempt to play the part of a Belgian would become increasingly +difficult, he pointed out, and would bring inevitable disaster in the +event that I was called upon to speak. + +Huyliger said I would be given sufficient money to bribe the German +guards at the Dutch frontier, and he assured me that everything would +work out according to schedule. + +"Yours is not the first case, O'Brien, we have handled successfully," he +declared. "Only three weeks ago I heard from an English merchant who had +escaped from a German detention camp and come to me for assistance, and +whom I had been able to get through the lines. His message telling me of +his safe arrival in Rotterdam came to me in an indirect way, of course, +but the fact that the plans we had made carried through without mishap +makes me feel that we ought to be able to do as much for you." + +I told Huyliger I was ready to follow his instructions and would do +anything he suggested. + +"I want to rejoin my squadron as soon as I possibly can, of course," I +told him, "but I realize that it will take a certain length of time for +you to make the necessary arrangements, and I will be as patient as I +can." + +The first thing to do, Huyliger told me, was to prepare a passport. He +had a blank one and it was a comparatively simple matter to fill in the +spaces, using a genuine passport which Huyliger possessed as a sample +of the handwriting of the passport clerk. My occupation was entered as +that of a sailor. My birthplace we gave as Spain, and we put my age at +thirty. As a matter of fact, at that time I could easily have passed for +thirty-five, but we figured that with proper food and a decent place +to sleep in at night I would soon regain my normal appearance and the +passport would have to serve me, perhaps, for several weeks to come. + +Filling in the blank spaces on the passport was, as I have said, a +comparatively easy matter, but that did not begin to fill the bill. +Every genuine passport bore an official rubber stamp, something like an +elaborate postmark, and I was at a loss to know how to get over that +difficulty. + +[Illustration: THE FORGED PASSPORT PREPARED IN A BELGIAN CITY TO AID +LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN'S ESCAPE INTO HOLLAND, BUT WHICH WAS NEVER USED] + +Fortunately, however, Huyliger had half of a rubber stamp which had +evidently been thrown away by the Germans, and he planned to construct +the other half out of the cork from a wine bottle. He was very skilful +with a penknife, and although he spoiled a score or more of corks before +he succeeded in getting anything like the result he was after, the +finished article was far better than our most sanguine expectations. +Indeed, after we had pared it over here and there and removed whatever +imperfections our repeated tests disclosed, we had a stamp which made +an impression so closely resembling the original that, without a +magnifying-glass, we were sure it would have been impossible to tell +that it was a counterfeit. + +Huyliger procured a camera and took a photograph of me to paste on the +passport in the place provided for that purpose, and we then had a +passport which was entirely satisfactory to both of us and would, we +hoped, prove equally so to our friends the Huns. + +It had taken two days to fix up the passport. In the mean while, +Huyliger informed me that he had changed his plans about the convent, +and that instead he would take me to an empty house where I could remain +in safety until he told me it was advisable for me to proceed to the +frontier. + +This was quite agreeable to me, as I had had some misgivings as to the +kind of a priest I would make, and it seemed to me to be safer to remain +aloof from every one in a deserted house than to have to mingle with +people or come in contact with them even with the best of disguises. + +That night I accompanied Huyliger to a fashionable section of the city +where the house in which I was to be concealed was located. + +This house turned out to be a four-story structure of brick. Huyliger +told me that it had been occupied by a wealthy Belgian before the +war, but since 1914 it had been uninhabited save for the occasional +habitation of some refugee whom Huyliger was befriending. + +Huyliger had a key and let me in, but he did not enter the house with +me, stating that he would visit me in the morning. + +I explored the place from top to bottom as well as I could without +lights. The house was elaborately furnished, but, of course, the dust +lay a quarter of an inch thick almost everywhere. It was a large house, +containing some twenty rooms. There were two rooms in the basement, +four on the first floor, four on the second, five on the third, and +five on the top. In the days that were to come I was to have plenty of +opportunity to familiarize myself with the contents of that house, but +at the time I did not know it, and I was curious enough to want to know +just what the house contained. + +Down in the basement there was a huge pantry, but it was absolutely +bare, except of dust and dirt. A door which evidently led to a +sub-basement attracted my attention, and I thought it might be a good +idea to know just where it led in case it became necessary for me to +elude searchers. + +In that cellar I found case after case of choice wine--Huyliger +subsequently told me that there were eighteen hundred bottles of it. I +was so happy at the turn my affairs had taken and in the rosy prospects +which I now entertained that I was half inclined to indulge in a little +celebration then and there. On second thoughts, however, I remembered +the old warning of the folly of shouting before you are well out of +the woods, and I decided that it would be just as well to postpone the +festivities for a while and go to bed instead. + +In such an elaborately furnished house I had naturally conjured up ideas +of a wonderfully large bed, with thick hair mattresses, downy quilts, +and big soft pillows. Indeed, I debated for a while which particular +bedroom I should honor with my presence that night. Judge of my +disappointment, therefore, when, after visiting bedroom after bedroom, +I discovered that there wasn't a bed in any one of them that was in a +condition to sleep in. All the mattresses had been removed and the rooms +were absolutely bare of everything in the way of wool, silk, or cotton +fabrics. The Germans had apparently swept the house clean. + +There was nothing to do, therefore, but to make myself as comfortable +as I could on the floor, but as I had grown accustomed by this time +to sleeping under far less comfortable conditions I swallowed my +disappointment as cheerfully as I could and lay down for the night. + +In the morning Huyliger appeared and brought me some breakfast, and +after I had eaten it he asked me what connections I had in France or +England from whom I could obtain money. + +I told him that I banked at Cox & Co., London, and that if he needed any +money I would do anything I could to get it for him, although I did not +know just how such things could be arranged. + +"Don't worry about that, O'Brien," he replied. "We'll find a way of +getting at it, all right. What I want to know is how far you are +prepared to go to compensate me for the risks I am taking and for the +service I am rendering you." + +The change in the man's attitude stunned me. I could hardly believe my +ears. + +"Of course, I shall pay you as well as I can for what you have done, +Huyliger," I replied, trying to conceal as far as possible the +disappointment his demand had occasioned me. "But don't you think that +this is hardly the proper time or occasion to talk of compensation? All +I have on me, as you know, is a few hundred francs, and that, of course, +you are welcome to, and when I get back, if I ever do, I shall not +easily forget the kindness you have shown me. I am sure you need have no +concern about my showing my gratitude in a substantial way." + +"That's all right, O'Brien," he insisted, looking at me in a knowing +sort of way. "You may take care of me afterward, and then again you may +not. I'm not satisfied to wait. I want to be taken care of _now_!" + +"Well, what do you want me to do? How much do you expect in the way of +compensation? How can I arrange to get it to you? I am willing to do +anything that is reasonable." + +"I want ---- pounds!" he replied, and he named a figure that staggered +me. If I had been Lord Kitchener instead of just an ordinary lieutenant +in the R. F. C., he would hardly have asked a larger sum. Perhaps he +thought I was. + +"Why, my dear man," I said, smilingly, thinking that perhaps he was +joking, "you don't really mean that, do you?" + +"I certainly do, O'Brien, and what is more," he threatened, "I intend to +get every cent I have asked, and you are going to help me get it!" + +He pulled out an order calling for the payment to him of the amount he +had mentioned, and demanded that I sign it. + +I waved it aside. + +"Huyliger," I said, "you have helped me out so far, and perhaps you have +the power to help me further. I appreciate what you have done for me, +although now, I think, I see what your motive was, but I certainly don't +intend to be blackmailed, and I tell you right now that I won't stand +for it!" + +"Very well," he said. "It is just as you say. But before you make up +your mind so obstinately I would advise you to think it over. I'll be +back this evening." + +My first impulse, after the man had left, was to get out of that house +just as soon as I could. I had the passport he had prepared for me, and +I figured that even without further help from him I could now get to the +border without very much difficulty, and when I got there I would have +to use my own ingenuity to get through. + +It was evident, however, that Huyliger still had an idea that I might +change my mind with regard to the payment he had demanded, and I decided +that it would be foolish to do anything until he paid me a second visit. + +At the beginning of my dealings with Huyliger I had turned over to him +some pictures, papers, and other things that I had on me when I entered +his house, including my identification disk, and I was rather afraid +that he might refuse to return them to me. + +All day long I remained in the house without a particle of food other +than the breakfast Huyliger had brought to me. From the windows I +could see plenty to interest me and help pass the time away, but of +my experiences while in that house I shall tell in detail later on, +confining my attention now to a narration of my dealings with Huyliger. + +That night he appeared, as he had promised. + +"Well, O'Brien," he asked, as he entered the room where I was awaiting +him, "what do you say? Will you sign the order or not?" + +It had occurred to me during the day that the amount demanded was so +fabulous that I might have signed the order without any danger of +its ever being paid, but the idea of this man, who had claimed to be +befriending me, endeavoring to make capital out of my plight galled me +so that I was determined not to give in to him, whether I could do so in +safety or not. + +"No, Huyliger," I replied. "I have decided to get along as best I can +without any further assistance from you. I shall see that you are +reasonably paid for what you have done, but I will not accept any +further assistance from you at any price, and, what is more, I want +you to return to me at once all the photographs and other papers and +belongings of mine which I turned over to you a day or two ago!" + +"I'm sorry about that, O'Brien," he retorted, with a show of apparent +sincerity, "but that is something I cannot do." + +"If you don't give me back those papers at once," I replied, hotly, "I +will take steps to get them and damned quick, too!" + +"I don't know just what you could do, O'Brien," he declared, coolly, +"but as a matter of fact the papers and pictures you refer to are out of +the country. I could not give them back to you if I wanted to." + +Something told me the man was lying. + +"See here, Huyliger!" I threatened, advancing toward him, putting my +hand on his shoulder and looking him straight in the eye, "I want those +papers and I want them here before midnight to-night. If I don't get +them, I shall sleep in this place just once more, and then, at eight +o'clock to-morrow morning, I shall go to the German authorities, give +myself up, show them the passport that you fixed up for me, tell them +how I got it, and explain everything!" + +Huyliger paled. We had no lights in the house, but we were standing +near a landing at the time and the moonlight was streaming through a +stained-glass window. + +The Belgian turned on his heel and started to go down the stairs. + +"Mind you," I called after him, "I shall wait for you till the city +clock strikes twelve, and if you don't show up with those papers by that +time, the next time you will see me is when you confront me before the +German authorities! I am a desperate man, Huyliger, and I mean every +word I say!" + +He let himself out of the door and I sat on the top stair and wondered +just what he would do. Would he try to steal a march on me and get in +a first word to the authorities, so that my story would be discredited +when I put it to them? + +Of course my threat to give myself up to the Huns was a pure bluff. +While I had no desire to lose the papers which Huyliger had, and which +included the map of the last resting-place of my poor chum Raney, I +certainly had no intention of cutting off my nose to spite my chin by +surrendering to the Germans. I would have been shot, as sure as fate, +for, after all I had been able to observe behind the German lines, I +would be regarded as a spy and treated as such. + +At the same time I thought I had detected a yellow streak in Huyliger, +and I figured that he would not want to take the risk of my carrying out +my threat, even though he believed there was but a small chance of my +doing so. If I did, he would undoubtedly share my fate, and the pictures +and papers he had of mine were really of no use to him, and I have never +been able to ascertain why it was he wished to retain them unless they +contained something--some information about me--which accounted for his +complete change of attitude toward me in the first place, and he wanted +the papers as evidence to account to his superiors or associates for his +conduct toward me. + +When he first told me that the plan of placing me in a convent disguised +as a priest had been abandoned he explained it by saying that the +Cardinal had issued orders to the priests to help no more fugitives, +and I have since wondered whether there was anything in my papers which +had turned him against me and led him to forsake me after all he had +promised to do for me. + +For perhaps two hours I sat on that staircase musing about the peculiar +turn in my affairs, when the front door opened and Huyliger ascended +the stairs. + +"I have brought you such of your belongings as I still had, O'Brien," he +said, softly. "The rest, as I told you, I cannot give you. They are no +longer in my possession." + +I looked through the little bunch he handed me. It included my +identification disk, most of the papers I valued, and perhaps half of +the photographs. + +"I don't know what your object is in retaining the rest of my pictures, +Huyliger," I replied, "but, as a matter of fact, the ones that are +missing were only of sentimental value to me, and you are welcome to +them if you want them. We'll call it a heat." + +I don't know whether he understood the idiom, but he sat down on the +stairs just below me and cogitated for a few moments. + +"O'Brien," he started, finally, "I'm sorry things have gone the way +they have. I feel sorry for you and I would really like to help you. I +don't suppose you will believe me, but the matter of the order which I +asked you to sign was not of my doing. However, we won't go into that. +The proposition was made to you and you turned it down, and that's an +end of it. At the same time, I hate to leave you to your own resources +and I'm going to make one more suggestion to you for your own good. I +have another plan to get you into Holland, and if you will go with me +to another house I will introduce you to a man who I think will be in a +position to help you." + +"How many millions of pounds will he want for his trouble?" I asked, +sarcastically. + +"You can arrange that when you see him. Will you go?" + +I suspected there was something fishy about the proposition, but I felt +that I could take care of myself and decided to see the thing through. +I knew Huyliger would not dare to deliver me to the authorities because +of the fact that I had the telltale passport, which would be his +death-knell as well as my own. + +Accordingly I said I would be quite willing to go with him whenever he +was ready, and he suggested that we go the next evening. + +I pointed out to him that I was entirely without food and asked him +whether he could not arrange to bring or send me something to eat while +I remained in the house. + +"I'm sorry, O'Brien," he replied, "but I'm afraid you'll have to get +along as best you can. When I brought you your breakfast this morning I +took a desperate chance. If I had been discovered by one of the German +soldiers entering this house with food in my possession, I would not +only have paid the penalty myself, but you would have been discovered, +too. It is too dangerous a proposition. Why don't you go out by yourself +and buy your food at the stores? That would give you confidence, and +you'll need plenty of it when you continue your journey to the border." + +There was a good deal of truth in what he said, and I really could not +blame him for not wanting to take any chances to help me, in view of the +relations between us. + +"Very well," I said; "I've gone without food for many hours at a time +before and I suppose I shall be able to do so again. I shall look for +you to-morrow evening." + +The next evening he came and I accompanied him to another house not +very far from the one in which I had been staying and not unlike it in +appearance. It, too, was a substantial dwelling-house which had been +untenanted since the beginning, save perhaps for such occasional visits +as Huyliger and his associates made to it. + +Huyliger let himself in and conducted me to a room on the second floor, +where he introduced me to two men. One, I could readily see by the +resemblance, was his own brother. The other was a stranger. + +Very briefly they explained to me that they had procured another +passport for me--a genuine one--which would prove far more effective +in helping to get me to the frontier than the counterfeit one they had +manufactured for me. + +I think I saw through their game right at the start, but I listened +patiently to what they had to say. + +"Of course, you will have to return to us the passport we gave you +before we can give you the real one," said Huyliger's brother. + +"I haven't the slightest objection," I replied, "if the new passport is +all you claim for it. Will you let me see it?" + +There was considerable hesitation on the part of Huyliger's brother and +the other chap at this. + +"Why, I don't think that's necessary at all, Mr. O'Brien," said the +former. "You give us the old passport and we will be very glad to give +you the new one for it. Isn't that fair enough?" + +"It may be fair enough, my friends," I retorted, seeing that it was +useless to conceal further the fact that I was fully aware of their +whole plan and why I had been brought to this house. "It may be fair +enough, my friends," I said, "but you will get the passport that I have +here," patting my side and indicating my inside breast pocket, "only off +my dead body!" + +I suppose the three of them could have made short work of me then and +there if they had wanted to go the limit, and no one would ever have +been the wiser, but I had gone through so much and I was feeling so mean +toward the whole world just at that moment that I was determined to sell +my life as dearly as possible. + +"I have that passport here," I repeated, "and I'm going to keep it. If +you gentlemen think you can take it from me, you are welcome to try!" + +To tell the truth, I was spoiling for a fight and I half wished they +would start something. The man who had lived in the house had evidently +been a collector of ancient pottery, for the walls were lined with great +pieces of earthenware which had every earmark of possessing great value. +They certainly possessed great weight. I figured that if the worst came +to the worst that pottery would come in mighty handy. A single blow +with one of those big vases would put a man out as neatly as possible, +and as there was lots of pottery and only three men I believed I had an +excellent chance of holding my own in the combat which I had invited. + +I had already picked out in my mind what I was going to use, and I got +up, stood with my back to the wall, and told them that if they ever +figured on getting the passport, then would be their best chance. + +Apparently they realized that I meant business and they immediately +began to expostulate at the attitude I was taking. + +One of the men spoke excellent English. In fact, he told me that he +could speak five languages, and if he could lie in the others as well I +know he did in my own tongue, he was not only an accomplished linguist, +but a most versatile liar into the bargain. + +They argued and expostulated with me for some time. + +"My dear fellow," said the linguist, "it is not that we want to deprive +you of the passport. Good Heavens! if it will aid you in getting out +of the country, I wish you could have six just like it. But for our +own protection you owe it to us to proceed on your journey as best you +can without it, because as long as you have it in your possession you +jeopardize our lives, too. Don't you think it is fairer that you should +risk your own safety rather than place the lives of three innocent men +in danger?" + +"That may be as it is, my friends," I retorted, as I made my way to the +door, "and I am glad you realize your danger. Keep it in mind, for in +case any of you should happen to feel inclined to notify the German +authorities that I am in this part of the country, think it over before +you do so. Remember always that if the Germans get me, they get the +passport, too, and if they get the passport, your lives won't be worth a +damn! When I tell the history of that clever little piece of pasteboard +I will implicate all three of you, and whomever else is working with +you, and as I am an officer I rather think my word will be taken before +yours. Good night!" + +The bluff evidently worked, because I was able to get out of the city +without molestation from the Germans. + +I have never seen these men since. I hope I never shall, because I am +afraid I might be tempted to do something for which I might afterward be +sorry. + +I do not mean to imply that all Belgians are like this. I had evidently +fallen into the hands of a gang who were endeavoring to make capital +out of the misfortunes of those who were referred to them for help. In +all countries there are bad as well as good, and in a country which +has suffered so much as poor Belgium it is no wonder if some of the +survivors have lost their sense of moral perspective. + +I know the average poor peasant in Belgium would divide his scanty +rations with a needy fugitive sooner than a wealthy Belgian would dole +out a morsel from his comparatively well-stocked larder. Perhaps the +poor have less to lose than the rich if their generosity or charity is +discovered by the Huns. + +There have been many Belgians shot for helping escaped prisoners and +other fugitives, and it is not to be wondered at that they are willing +to take as few chances as possible. A man with a family, especially, +does not feel justified in helping a stranger when he knows that he and +his whole family may be shot or sent to prison for their pains. + +Although I suffered much from the attitude of Huyliger and his +associates, I suppose I ought to hold no grudge against them in view of +the unenviable predicament which they are in themselves. + + + + +XIII + +FIVE DAYS IN AN EMPTY HOUSE + + +The five days I spent in that house seemed to me like five years. During +all that time I had very little to eat--less, in fact, than I had been +getting in the fields. I did not feel it so much, perhaps, because of +the fact that I was no longer exposed to the other privations which +had helped to make my condition so wretched. I now had a good place to +sleep, at any rate, and I did not awake every half-hour or so as I had +been accustomed to do in the fields and woods, and, of course, my hunger +was not aggravated by the physical exertions which had been necessary +before. + +Nevertheless, perhaps because I had more time now to think of the hunger +pains which were gnawing at me all the time, I don't believe I was ever +so miserable as I was at that period of my adventure. I felt so mean +toward the world I would have committed murder, I think, with very +little provocation. + +German soldiers were passing the house at all hours of the day. I +watched them hour after hour from the keyhole of the door--to have shown +myself at the window was out of the question because the house in which +I was concealed was supposed to be untenanted. + +Because of the fact that I was unable to speak either Flemish or German +I could not go out and buy food, although I still had the money with +which to do it. That was one of the things that galled me--the thought +that I had the wherewithal in my jeans to buy all the food I needed, and +yet no way of getting it without endangering my liberty and life. + +At night, however, after it was dark, I would steal quietly out of the +house to see what I could pick up in the way of food. By that time, of +course, the stores were closed, but I scoured the streets, the alleys, +and the byways for scraps of food, and occasionally got up courage +enough to appeal to Belgian peasants whom I met on the streets, and in +that way I managed to keep body and soul together. + +It was quite apparent to me, however, that I was worse off in the city +than I had been in the fields, and I decided to get out of that house +just as soon as I knew definitely that Huyliger had made up his mind to +do nothing further for me. + +When I was not at the keyhole of the door I spent most of my day on the +top floor in a room which looked out on the street. By keeping well away +from the window I could see much of what was going on without being +seen myself. In my restlessness I used to walk back and forth in that +room, and I kept it up so constantly that I believe I must have worn a +path on the floor. It was nine steps from one wall to the other, and as +I had little else to amuse me I figured out one day, after I had been +pacing up and down for several hours, just how much distance I would +have covered on my way to Holland if my footsteps had been taking me in +that direction instead of just up and down that old room. I was very +much surprised that in three hours I crossed the room no less than +five thousand times and the distance covered was between nine and ten +miles. It was not very gratifying to realize that after walking all that +distance I wasn't a step nearer my goal than when I started, but I had +to do something while waiting for Huyliger to help me, and pacing up and +down was a natural outlet for my restlessness. + +While looking out of that top-floor window one day I noticed a cat on a +window-ledge of the house across the street. I had a piece of a broken +mirror which I had picked up in the house and I used to amuse myself for +an hour at a time shining it in the cat's eyes across the street. At +first the animal was annoyed by the reflection and would move away, only +to come back a few moments later. By and by, however, it seemed to get +used to the glare and wouldn't budge, no matter how strong the sunlight +was. Playing with the cat in this way was the means of my getting food a +day or two later--at a time when I was so famished that I was ready to +do almost anything to appease my hunger. + +It was about seven o'clock in the evening. I was expecting Huyliger at +eight, but I hadn't the slightest hope that he would bring me food, +as he had told me that he wouldn't take the risk of having food in his +possession when calling on me. I was standing at the window in such +a way that I could see what was going on in the street without being +observed by those who passed by, when I noticed my friend the cat coming +down the steps of the opposite house with something in his mouth. +Without considering the risks I ran, I opened the front door, ran down +the steps and across the street, and pounced on the cat before it could +get away with its supper, for that, as I had imagined, was what I had +seen in its mouth. It turned out to be a piece of stewed rabbit, which I +confiscated eagerly and took back with me to the house. + +Perhaps I felt a little sorry for the cat, but I certainly had no other +qualms about eating the animal's dinner. I was much too hungry to dwell +upon niceties, and a piece of stewed rabbit was certainly too good for +a cat to eat when a man was starving. I ate it and enjoyed it, and the +incident suggested to me a way in which I might possibly obtain food +again when all other avenues failed. + +From my place of concealment I frequently saw huge carts being pushed +through the streets gathering potato peelings, refuse of cabbage, and +similar food remnants which, in America, are considered garbage and +destroyed. In Belgium they were using this "garbage" to make their bread +out of, and while the idea may sound revolting to us, the fact is that +the Germans have brought these things down to such a science that the +bread they make in this way is really very good to eat. I know it would +have been like cake to me when I was in need of food; indeed, I would +have eaten the "garbage" direct, let alone the bread. + +Although, as I have said, I suffered greatly from hunger while occupying +this house, there were one or two things I observed through the keyhole +or from the windows which made me laugh, and some of the incidents that +occurred during my voluntary imprisonment were really rather funny. + +From the keyhole I could see, for instance, a shop window on the other +side of the street, several houses down the block. All day long German +soldiers would be passing in front of the house, and I noticed that +practically every one of them would stop in front of this store window +and look in. Occasionally a soldier on duty bent would hurry past, but +I think nine out of ten of them were sufficiently interested to spend +at least a minute, and some of them three or four minutes, gazing at +whatever was being exhibited in that window, although I noticed that it +failed to attract the Belgians. + +I have a considerable streak of curiosity in me and I couldn't help +wondering what it could be in that window which almost without exception +seemed to interest German soldiers, but failed to hold the Belgians, +and after conjuring my brains for a while on the problem I came to the +conclusion that the shop must have been a book-shop and the window +contained German magazines, which, naturally enough, would be of the +greatest interest to the Germans, but of none to the Belgians. + +At any rate, I resolved that as soon as night came I would go out and +investigate the window. When I got the answer I laughed so loud that +I was afraid for the moment I must have attracted the attention of the +neighbors, but I couldn't help it. The window was filled with huge +quantities of sausage. The store was a butcher-shop, and one of the +principal things they sold, apparently, was sausage. The display they +made, although it consisted merely of quantities of sausage piled in +the windows, certainly had plenty of "pulling" power. It "pulled" nine +Germans out of ten out of their course and indirectly it "pulled" me +right across the street. The idea of those Germans being so interested +in that window display as to stand in front of the window for two, +three, or four minutes at a time, however, certainly seemed funny to me, +and when I got back to the house I sat at the keyhole again and found +just as much interest as before in watching the Germans stop in their +tracks when they reached the window, even though I was now aware what +the attraction was. + +One of my chief occupations during those days was catching flies. I +would catch a fly, put him in a spider's web--there were plenty of +them in the old house--and sit down to wait for the spider to come +and get him. But always I pictured myself in the same predicament and +rescued the fly just as the spider was about to grab him. Several times +when things were dull I was tempted to see the tragedy through, but +perhaps the same Providence that guided me safely through all perils was +guarding, too, the destiny of those flies, for I always weakened and the +flies never did suffer from my lust for amusement. + +The house was well supplied with books--in fact, one of the choicest +libraries I think I ever saw--but they were all written either in +Flemish or in French. I could read no Flemish and very little French. +I might have made a little headway with the latter, but the books all +seemed too deep for me and I gave it up. There was one thing, though, +that I did read and re-read from beginning to end--that was a New York +_Herald_ which must have arrived just about the time war was declared. +Several things in there interested me, and particularly the baseball +scores, which I studied with as much care as a real fan possibly would +an up-to-date score. I couldn't refrain from laughing when I came to an +account of Zimmerman (of the Cubs) being benched for some spat with the +umpire, and it afforded me just as much interest three years after it +had happened--perhaps more--than some current item of worldwide interest +had at the time. + +I rummaged the house many times from cellar to garret in my search for +something to eat, but the harvest of three years of war had made any +success along that line impossible. I was like the man out on the ocean +in a boat and thirsty, with water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. + +I was tempted while in this city to go to church one Sunday, but my +better judgment told me it would be a useless risk. Of course some one +would surely say something to me, and I didn't know how many Germans +would be there, or what might happen, so I gave up that idea. + +During all the time I was concealed in this house I saw but one +automobile, and that was a German staff officer's. That same afternoon I +had one of the frights of my young life. + +I had been gazing out of the keyhole as usual when I heard coming down +the street the measured tread of German soldiers. It didn't sound like +very many, but there was no doubt in my mind that German soldiers were +marching down the street. I went up-stairs and peeked through the +window, and sure enough a squad of German infantry was coming down the +street, accompanying a military truck. I hadn't the slightest idea that +they were coming after me, but still the possibilities of the situation +gave me more or less alarm, and I considered how I could make my escape +if by any chance I was the man they were after. The idea of hiding in +the wine-cellar appealed to me as the most practical; there must have +been plenty of places among the wine kegs and cases where a man could +conceal himself, but, as a matter of fact, I did not believe that any +such contingency would arise. + +The marching soldiers came nearer. I could hear them at the next house. +In a moment I would see them pass the keyhole through which I was +looking. + +"Halt!" + +At the word of command shouted by a junior officer the squad came to +attention right in front of the house. + +I waited no longer. Running down the stairs, I flew down into the +wine-cellar, and although it was almost pitch dark--the only light +coming from a grating which led to the backyard--I soon found a +satisfactory hiding-place in the extreme rear of the cellar. I had the +presence of mind to leave the door of the wine-cellar ajar, figuring +that if the soldiers found a closed door they would be more apt to +search for a fugitive behind it than if the door were open. + +My decision to get away from the front door had been made and carried +out none too soon, for I had only just located myself between two big +wine-cases when I heard the tramp of soldiers' feet marching up the +front steps, a crash at the front door, a few hasty words of command +which I did not understand, and then the noise of scurrying feet from +room to room and such a banging and hammering and smashing and crashing +that I could not make out what was going on. + +If Huyliger had revealed my hiding-place to the Huns, as I was now +confident he had, I felt that there was little prospect of their +overlooking me. They would search the house from top to bottom and, if +necessary, raze it to the ground before they would give up the search. +To escape from the house through the backyard through the iron grating, +which I had no doubt I could force, seemed to be a logical thing to do, +but the chances were that the Huns had thrown a cordon around the entire +block before the squad was sent to the house. The Germans do these +things in an efficient manner always. They take nothing for granted. + +My one chance seemed to be to stand pat in the hope that the officer in +charge might possibly come to the conclusion that he had arrived at the +house too late--that the bird had flown. + +My position in that wine-cellar was anything but a comfortable one. Rats +and mice were scurrying across the floor, and the smashing and crashing +going on overhead was anything but promising. Evidently those soldiers +imagined that I might be hiding in the walls, for it sounded as though +they were tearing off the wainscoting, the picture-molding, and, in +fact, everything that they could tear or pull apart. + +Before very long they would finish their search up-stairs and would come +down to the basement. What they would do when they discovered the wine +I had no idea. Perhaps they would let themselves loose on it and give +me my chance. With a bottle of wine in each hand I figured I could put +up a good fight in the dark, especially as I was becoming more and more +accustomed to it and could begin to distinguish things here and there, +whereas they would be as blind as bats in the sun when they entered the +pitchy darkness of the cellar. + +Perhaps it was twenty minutes before I heard what sounded like my +death-knell to me; the soldiers were coming down the cellar steps. I +clutched a wine bottle in each hand and waited with bated breath. + +Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! In a moment they would be in the cellar proper. I +could almost hear my heart beating. The mice scurried across the floor +by the scores, frightened, no doubt, by the vibration and noise made +by the descending soldiers. Some of the creatures ran across me where +I stood between the two wine-cases, but I was too much interested in +bigger game to pay attention to mice. + +Tramp! Tramp! "Halt!" Again an order was given in German, and although I +did not understand it, I am willing to bless every word of it, because +it resulted in the soldiers turning right about face, marching up the +stairs again, through the hall, and out of the front door and away! + +I could hardly believe my ears. It seemed almost too good to be true +that they could have given up the search just as they were about to come +on their quarry, but unless my ears deceived me that was what they had +done. + +The possibility that the whole thing might be a German ruse did not +escape me, and I remained in the cellar for nearly an hour after they +had apparently departed before I ventured to move, listening intently in +the mean while for the slightest sound which would reveal the presence +of a sentry up-stairs. + +Not hearing a sound, I began to feel that they had indeed given up +the hunt, for I did not believe that a German officer would be so +considerate of his men as to try to trap me rather than carry the cellar +by force if they had the slightest idea that I was there. + +I took off my shoes and crept softly and slowly to the cellar steps, and +then step by step, placing my weight down gradually so as to prevent +the steps from creaking, I climbed to the top. The sight that met my +eyes as I glanced into the kitchen told me the whole story. The water +faucets had been ripped from the sinks, the water pipes having been torn +from the walls. Everything of brass or copper had been torn off, and gas +fixtures, cooking utensils, and everything else which contain even only +a small proportion of the metals the Germans so badly needed had been +taken from the kitchen. I walked up-stairs now with more confidence, +feeling tolerably assured that the soldiers hadn't been after me at +all, but had been merely collecting metals and other materials which +they expected an elaborate dwelling-house like the one in which I was +concealed to yield. + +Later I heard that the Germans have taken practically every ounce of +brass, copper, and wool they could lay their hands on in Belgium. +Even the brass out of pianos has been ruthlessly removed, the serious +damage done to valuable property by the removal of only an insignificant +proportion of metal never being taken into consideration. I learned, +too, that all dogs over fourteen inches high had been seized by the +Germans. This furnished lots of speculation among the Belgians as to +what use the Germans were putting the animals to, the general impression +apparently being that they were being used for food. + +This, however, seemed much less likely to me than that they were being +employed as despatch dogs in the trenches, the same as we use them on +our side of the line. They might possibly kill the dogs and use their +skins for leather and their carcasses for tallow, but I feel quite sure +that the Huns are by no means so short of food that they have to eat +dogs yet awhile. + +Indeed, I want to repeat here what I have mentioned before: if any +one has the idea that this war can be won by _starving_ the Huns, he +hasn't the slightest idea how well provided the Germans are in that +respect. They have considered their food needs in connection with their +resources for several years to come, and they have gone at it in such +a methodical, systematic way, taking into consideration every possible +contingency, that, provided there is not an absolute crop failure, there +isn't the slightest doubt in my mind that they can last for years, and +the worst of it is they are quite cocksure about it. + +It is true that the German soldiers want peace. As I watched them +through the keyhole in the door I thought how unfavorably they compared +with our men. They marched along the street without laughter, without +joking, without singing. It was quite apparent that the war is telling +on them. I don't believe I saw a single German soldier who didn't look +as if he had lost his best friend--and he probably had. + +At the same time, there is a big difference--certainly a difference of +several years--between wishing the war was over and giving up, and I +don't believe the German rank and file any more than their leaders have +the slightest idea at this time of giving up at all. + +But to return to my experiences while concealed in the house. After the +visit of the soldiers, which left the house in a wretched condition, +I decided that I would continue my journey toward the frontier, +particularly as I had got all I could out of Huyliger, or rather he had +got all he was going to get out of me. + +During my concealment in the house I made various sorties into the city +at night, and I was beginning to feel more comfortable, even when German +soldiers were about. Through the keyhole I had studied very closely +the gait of the Belgians, the slovenly droop that characterized most +of them, and their general appearance, and I felt that in my own dirty +and unshaven condition I must have looked as much like the average +poor Belgian as a man could. The only thing that was against me was my +height. I was several inches taller than even the tallest Belgians. +I had often thought that red hair would have gone well with my name, +but now, of course, I was mighty glad that I was not so endowed, for +red-haired Belgians are about as rare as German charity. + +There are many, no doubt, who will wonder why I did not get more help +than I did at this time. It is easily answered. When a man is in hourly +fear of his life and the country is full of spies, as Belgium certainly +was, he is not going to help just any one that comes along seeking aid. + +One of the Germans' most successful ways of trapping the Belgians has +been to pose as an English or French prisoner who has escaped; appeal +to them for aid; implicate as many as possible, and then turn the whole +German police force loose on them. + +As I look back now on those days I think it remarkable that I received +as much help as I did, but when people are starving under the conditions +now forced upon those unfortunate people it is a great temptation to +surrender these escaped prisoners to German authorities and receive the +handsome rewards offered for them--or for alien spies, as I was classed +at that time. + +The passport which I had described me as a Spanish sailor, but I was +very dubious about its value. If I could have spoken Spanish fluently +it might have been worth something to me, but the few words I knew of +the language would not have carried me very far if I had been confronted +with a Spanish interpreter. I decided to use the passport only as a +last resort, preferring to act the part of a deaf and dumb Belgian +peasant as far as it would carry me. + +Before I finally left the house I had a remarkable experience which I +shall remember as long as I live. + + + + +XIV + +A NIGHT OF DISSIPATION + + +During the first two days I spent with Huyliger after I had first +arrived in the big city he had told me, among other things, of a +moving-picture show in town which he said I might have a chance to see +while there. + +"It is free every night in the week except Saturdays and Sundays," he +said, "and once you are inside you would not be apt to be bothered by +any one except when they come to take your order for something to drink. +While there is no admission, patrons are expected to eat or drink while +enjoying the pictures." + +A day or two later, while walking the streets at night in search of +food, I had passed this place, and was very much tempted to go in +and spend a few hours, particularly as it would perhaps give me an +opportunity to buy something to eat, although I was at a loss to know +how I was going to ask for what I wanted. + +While trying to make up my mind whether it was safe for me to go in, I +walked half a block past the place, and when I turned back again and +reached the entrance with my mind made up that I would take the chance I +ran full tilt into a German officer who was just coming out! + +That settled all my hankerings for moving pictures that night. "Where +you came from, my friend," I figured, "there must be more like you! I +guess it is a good night for walking." + +The next day, however, in recalling the incident of the evening before, +it seemed to me that I had been rather foolish. What I needed more than +anything at that time was confidence. Before I could get to the frontier +I would have to confront German soldiers many times, because there +were more of them between this city and Holland than in any section +of the country through which I had so far traveled. Safety in these +contingencies would depend largely upon the calmness I displayed. It +wouldn't do to get all excited at the mere sight of a spiked helmet. +The Belgians, I had noticed, while careful to obey the orders of the +Huns, showed no particular fear of them, and it seemed to me the sooner +I cultivated the same feeling of indifference the better I would be able +to carry off the part I was playing. + +For this reason, I made up my mind then and there that, officers or no +officers, I would go to that show that night and sit it through, no +matter what happened. While people may think that I had decided unwisely +because of the unnecessary risk involved in the adventure, it occurred +to me that perhaps, after all, that theater was about one of the safest +places I could attend, because that was about the last place Germans +would expect to find a fugitive English officer in, even if they were +searching for one. + +As soon as evening came, therefore, I decided to go to the theater. I +fixed myself up as well as possible. I had on a fairly decent pair of +trousers which Huyliger had given me and I used a clean handkerchief as +a collar. + +With my hair brushed up and my beard trimmed as neatly as possible +with a pair of rusty scissors which I had found in the house, while +my appearance was not exactly that of a Beau Brummel, I don't think I +looked much worse than the average Belgian. In these days, the average +Belgian is very poorly dressed at best. + +I can't say I had no misgivings as I made my way to the theater; +certainly I was going there more for discipline than pleasure, but I had +made up my mind and I was going to see it through. + +The entrance to the theater or beer-garden--for it was as much one as +the other--was on the side of the building, and was reached by way of +an alley which ran along the side. Near the door was a ticket-seller's +booth, but as this was one of the free nights there was no one in the +booth. + +I marched slowly down the alley, imitating as best I could the +indifferent gait of the Belgians, and when I entered the theater I +endeavored to act as though I had been there many times before. A hasty +survey of the layout of the place was sufficient to enable me to select +my seat. It was early and there were not more than half a dozen people +in the place at that time, so that I had my choice. + +There was a raised platform, perhaps two feet high, all round the walls +of the place, except at the end where the stage was located. On this +platform tables were arranged, and there were tables on the floor proper +as well. + +I decided promptly that the safest place for me was as far back as +possible where I would not be in the line of vision of others in back +of me. Accordingly, I slouched over to a table on the platform directly +opposite the stage and I took the seat against the wall. The whole place +was now in front of me. I could see everything that was going on and +every one who came in, but no one, except those who sat at my own table, +would notice me unless they deliberately turned around to look. + +The place began to fill up rapidly. Every second person who came in the +door seemed to me to be a German soldier, but when they were seated at +the tables and I got a chance later on to make a rough count, I found +that in all there were not more than a hundred soldiers in the place +and there must have been several hundred civilians. + +The first people to sit at my table were a Belgian and his wife. The +Belgian sat next to me and his wife next to him. I was hoping that other +civilians would occupy the remaining two seats at my table because I +did not relish the idea of having to sit through the show with German +soldiers within a few feet of me. That would certainly have spoiled my +pleasure for the evening. + +Every uniform that came in the door gave me cause to worry until I +was sure it was not coming in my direction. I don't suppose there was +a single soldier who came in the door whom I didn't follow to his +seat--with my eyes. + +Just before they lowered the lights two German officers came in the +door. They stood there for a moment looking the place over. Then they +made a bee-line in my direction, and I must confess my heart started to +beat a little faster. I hoped that they would find another seat before +they came to my vicinity, but they were getting nearer and nearer, and I +realized with a sickening sensation that they were headed directly for +the two seats at my table, and that was indeed the case. + +These two seats were in front of the table, facing the stage, and except +when they would be eating or drinking their backs were toward me, and +there was considerable consolation in that. From my seat I could have +reached right over and touched one of them on his bald head. It would +have been more than a touch, I am afraid, if I could have got away with +it safely. + +As the officers seated themselves a waiter came to us with a printed +bill of fare and a program. Fortunately, he waited on the others first, +and I listened intently to their orders. The officers ordered some +light wine, but my Belgian neighbor ordered "Bock" for himself and his +wife, which was what I had decided to order, anyway, as that was the +only thing I could say. Heaven knows I would far rather have ordered +something to eat, but the bill of fare meant nothing to me, and I was +afraid to take a chance at the pronunciation of the dishes it set forth. + +There were a number of drinks listed which I suppose I might safely +enough have ordered. For instance, I noticed "Lemon Squash, 1.50," +"Ginger Beer, 1-," "Sparkling Dry Ginger Ale, 1-," "Apollinaris, 1-," +and "Schweppes Soda, 0.80," but it occurred to me that the mere fact +that I selected something that was listed in English might attract +attention to me and something in my pronunciation might give further +cause for suspicion. + +It seemed better to parrot the Belgian and order "Bock," and that was +what I decided to do. + +One item on the bill of fare tantalized me considerably. Although it was +listed among the "Prizzen der dranken," which I took to mean "Prices of +drinks," it sounded very much to me like something to eat, and Heaven +knows I would rather have had one honest mouthful of food than all the +drinks in the world. The item I refer to was "Dubbel Gersten de Flesch +(Michaux)." A _double_ portion of anything would have been mighty +welcome to me, but I would have been quite contented with a _single_ +"Gersten"--whatever that might happen to be--if I had only had the +courage to ask for it. + +To keep myself as composed as possible, I devoted a lot of attention +to that bill of fare, and I think by the time the waiter came around +I almost knew it by heart. One drink that almost made me laugh out +loud was listed as "Lemonades Gazeuses," but I might just as well have +introduced myself to the German officers by my right name and rank as to +have attempted to pronounce it. + +When the waiter came to me, therefore, I said "Bock" as casually as I +could, and felt somewhat relieved that I got through this part of the +ordeal so easily. + +While the waiter was away I had a chance to examine the bill of fare, +and I observed that a glass of beer cost eighty centimes. The smallest +change I had was a two-mark paper bill. + +Apparently the German officers were similarly fixed, and when they +offered their bill to the waiter he handed it back to them with a remark +which I took to mean that he couldn't make change. + +Right there I was in a quandary. To offer him my bill after he had just +told the officers he didn't have change would have seemed strange, and +yet I couldn't explain to him that I was in the same boat and he would +have to come to me again later. The only thing to do, therefore, was to +offer him the bill as though I hadn't heard or noticed what had happened +with the Germans, and I did so. He said the same thing to me as he had +said to the officers, perhaps a little more sharply, and gave me back +the bill. Later on he returned to the table with a handful of change and +we closed the transaction. I gave him twenty-five centimes as a tip--I +had never yet been in a place where it was necessary to talk to do that. + +During my first half-hour in that theater, to say I was on pins and +needles is to express my feelings mildly. The truth of the matter is +I was never so uneasy in my life. Every minute seemed like an hour, +and I was on the point of getting up and leaving a dozen times. There +were altogether too many soldiers in the place to suit me, and when the +German officers seated themselves right at my table I thought that was +about all I could stand. As it was, however, the lights went out shortly +afterward and in the dark I felt considerably easier. + +After the first picture, when the lights went up again, I had regained +my composure considerably and I took advantage of the opportunity to +study the various types of people in the place. + +From my seat I had a splendid chance to see them all. At one table there +was a German medical corps officer with three Red Cross nurses. That +was the only time I had ever seen a German nurse, for when I was in the +hospital I had seen only men orderlies. Nurses don't work so near the +first-line trenches. + +The German soldiers at the different tables were very quiet and orderly. +They drank Bock beer and conversed among themselves, but there was no +hilarity or rough-housing of any kind. + +As I sat there, within an arm's reach of those German officers and +realized what they would have given to know what a chance they had to +capture an escaped British officer, I could hardly help smiling to +myself, but when I thought of the big risk I was taking, more or less +unnecessarily, I began to wonder whether I had not acted foolishly in +undertaking it. + +Nevertheless, the evening passed off uneventfully, and when the show +was over I mixed with the crowd and disappeared, feeling very proud of +myself and with a good deal more confidence than I had enjoyed at the +start. + +I had passed a night which will live in my life as long as I live. The +bill of fare, program, and a "throw-away" bill advertising the name of +the attraction which was to be presented the following week, which was +handed to me as I came out, I still have and they are among the most +valued souvenirs of my adventure. + + + + +XV + +OBSERVATIONS IN A BELGIAN CITY + + +One night, shortly before I left this city, our airmen raided the place. +I didn't venture out of the house at the time, but the next night I +thought I would go out and see what damage had been done. + +When it became dark I left the house, accordingly, and, mixing with the +crowd, which consisted largely of Germans, I went from one place to +another to see what our "strafing" had accomplished. Naturally I avoided +speaking to any one. If a man or woman appeared about to speak to me, I +just turned my head and looked or walked away in some other direction. +I must have been taken for an unsociable sort of individual a good many +times, and if I had encountered the same person twice I suppose my +conduct might have aroused suspicion. + +I had a first-class observation of the damage that was really done by +our bombs. One bomb had landed very near the main railroad station, and +if it had been only thirty yards nearer would have completely demolished +it. As the station was undoubtedly our airman's objective, I was very +much impressed with the accuracy of his aim. It is by no means an easy +thing to hit a building from the air when you are going at anywhere from +fifty to one hundred miles an hour and are being shot at from beneath +from a dozen different angles--unless, of course, you are taking one of +those desperate chances and flying so low that you cannot very well miss +your mark, and the Huns can't very well miss you, either! + +I walked by the station and mingled with the crowds which stood in the +entrances. They paid no more attention to me than they did to real +Belgians, and the fact that the lights were all out in this city at +night made it impossible, anyway, for any one to get as good a look at +me as if it had been light. + +During the time that I was in this city I suppose I wandered from one +end of it to the other. In one place, where the German staff had its +headquarters, a huge German flag hung from the window, and I think I +would have given ten years of my life to have stolen it. Even if I could +have pulled it down, however, it would have been impossible for me to +have concealed it, and to have carried it away with me as a souvenir +would have been out of the question. + +As I went along the street one night a lady standing on the comer +stopped me and spoke to me. My first impulse, of course, was to answer +her, explaining that I could not understand, but I stopped myself in +time, pointed to my ears and mouth, and shook my head, indicating that +I was deaf and dumb, and she nodded understandingly and walked on. +Incidents of this kind were not unusual, and I was always in fear that +the time would come when some inquisitive and suspicious German would +encounter me and not be so easily satisfied. + +There are many things that I saw in this city which, for various +reasons, it is impossible for me to relate until after the war is over. +Some of them, I think, will create more surprise than the incidents I +am free to reveal now. + +It used to amuse me, as I went along the streets of this town, looking +in the shop windows, with German soldiers at my side looking at the same +things, to think how close I was to them and they had no way of knowing. +I was quite convinced that if I were discovered my fate would have been +death, because I not only had the forged passport on me, but I had been +so many days behind the German lines after I had escaped that they +couldn't safely let me live with the information I possessed. + +One night I walked boldly across a park. I heard footsteps behind me +and, turning around, saw two German soldiers. I slowed up a trifle to +let them get ahead of me. It was rather dark and I got a chance to see +what a wonderful uniform the German military authorities have picked +out. The soldiers had not gone more than a few feet ahead of me when +they disappeared in the darkness like one of those melting pictures on +the moving-picture screen. + +As I wandered through the streets I frequently glanced in the cafe +windows as I passed. German officers were usually dining there, but +they didn't conduct themselves with anything like the light-heartedness +which characterizes the Allied officers in London and Paris. I was +rather surprised at this, because in this part of Belgium they were much +freer than they would have been in Berlin, where, I understand, food is +comparatively scarce and the restrictions are very rigid. + +As I have said, my own condition in this city was in some respects worse +than it had been when I was making my way through the open country. +While I had a place to sleep and my clothes were no longer constantly +soaking, my opportunities for getting food were considerably less than +they had been. Nearly all the time I was half famished, and I decided +that I would get out of there at once, since I was entirely through with +Huyliger. + +My physical condition was greatly improved. While the lack of food +showed itself on me, I had regained some of my strength, my wounds +were healed, my ankle was stronger, and, although my knees were still +considerably enlarged, I felt that I was in better shape than I had been +at any time since my leap from the train, and I was ready to go through +whatever was in store for me. + + + + +XVI + +I APPROACH THE FRONTIER + + +To get out of the city it would be necessary to pass two guards. This +I had learned in the course of my walks at night, having frequently +traveled to the city limits with the idea of finding out just what +conditions I would have to meet when the time came for me to leave. + +A German soldier's uniform, however, no longer worried me as it had at +first. I had mingled with the Huns so much in the city that I began to +feel that I was really a Belgian, and I assumed the indifference that +the latter seemed to feel. + +I decided, therefore, to walk out of the city in the daytime when the +sentries would be less apt to be on the watch. It worked splendidly. I +was not held up a moment, the sentries evidently taking me for a Belgian +peasant on his way to work. + +Traveling faster than I had ever done before since my escape, I was soon +out in the open country, and the first Belgian I came to I approached +for food. He gave me half his lunch and we sat down on the side of the +road to eat it. Of course, he tried to talk to me, but I used the old +ruse of pretending I was deaf and dumb and he was quite convinced that +it was so. He made various efforts to talk to me in pantomime, but I +could not make out what he was getting at, and I think he must have +concluded that I was not only half-starved, deaf, and dumb, but "luny" +into the bargain. + +When night came I looked around for a place to rest. I had decided to +travel in the daytime as well as night, because I understood that I was +only a few miles from the frontier, and I was naturally anxious to get +there at the earliest possible moment, although I realized that there I +would encounter the most hazardous part of my whole adventure. To get +through that heavily guarded barbed and electrically charged barrier was +a problem that I hated to think of, even, although the hours I spent +endeavoring to devise some way of outwitting the Huns were many. + +It had occurred to me, for instance, that it would not be such a +difficult matter to vault over the electric fence, which was only +nine feet high. In college, I know, a ten-foot vault is considered a +high-school boy's accomplishment, but there were two great difficulties +in the way of this solution. In the first place, it would be no easy +matter to get a pole of the right length, weight, and strength to serve +the purpose. More particularly, however, the pole-vault idea seemed to +be out of the question because of the fact that on either side of the +electric fence, six feet from it, was a six-foot barbed-wire barrier. To +vault safely over a nine-foot electrically charged fence was one thing, +but to combine with it a twelve-foot broad vault was a feat which even a +college athlete in the pink of condition would be apt to flunk. Indeed, +I don't believe it is possible. + +Another plan that seemed half-way reasonable was to build a pair of +stilts about twelve or fourteen feet high and walk over the barriers +one by one. As a youngster I had acquired considerable skill in +stilt-walking, and I have no doubt that with the proper equipment it +would have been quite feasible to have walked out of Belgium as easily +as possible in that way, but whether or not I was going to have a chance +to construct the necessary stilts remained to be seen. + +There were a good many bicycles in use by the German soldiers in +Belgium, and it had often occurred to me that if I could have stolen +one, the tires would have made excellent gloves and insulated coverings +for my feet in case it was necessary for me to attempt to climb over the +electric fence bodily. But as I had never been able to steal a bicycle, +this avenue of escape was closed to me. + +I decided to wait until I arrived at the barrier and then make up my +mind how to proceed. + +To find a decent place to sleep that night I crawled under a barbed-wire +fence, thinking it led into some field. As I passed under, one of the +barbs caught in my coat, and in trying to pull myself free I shook the +fence for several yards. + +Instantly there came out of the night the nerve-racking command, "Halt!" + +Again I feared I was done for. I crouched close down on the ground in +the darkness, not knowing whether to take to my legs and trust to the +Hun's missing me in the darkness if he fired, or stay right where I was. +It was foggy as well as dark, and although I knew the sentry was only a +few feet away from me I decided to stand, or rather lie still. I think +my heart made almost as much noise as the rattling of the wire in the +first place, but it was a tense few moments for me. + +I heard the German say a few words to himself, but didn't understand +them, of course, and then he made a sound as if to call a dog, and I +realized that his theory of the noise he had heard was that a dog had +made its way through the fence. + +For perhaps five minutes I didn't stir, and then, figuring that the +German had probably continued on his beat, I crept quietly under +the wire again, this time being mighty careful to hug the ground so +close that I wouldn't touch the wire, and made off in a different +direction. Evidently the barbed-wire fence had been thrown around an +ammunition-depot or something of the kind and it was not a field at all +that I had tried to get into. + +I figured that other sentries were probably in the neighborhood and I +proceeded very gingerly. + +After I had got about a mile away from this spot I came to a humble +Belgian house, and I knocked at the door and applied for food in my +usual way, pointing to my mouth to indicate I was hungry and to my ears +and mouth to imply that I was deaf and dumb. The Belgian woman who lived +in the house brought me a piece of bread and two cold potatoes, and as I +sat there eating them she eyed me very keenly. + +I haven't the slightest doubt that she realized I was a fugitive. +She lived so near the border that it was more than likely that other +fugitives had come to her before, and for that reason I appreciated more +fully the extent of the risk she ran, for no doubt the Germans were +constantly watching the conduct of these Belgians who lived near the +line. + +My theory that she realized that I was not a Belgian at all, but +probably some English fugitive, was confirmed a moment later when, as +I made ready to go, she touched me on the arm and indicated that I was +to wait a moment. She went to a bureau and brought out two pieces of +fancy Belgian lace, which she insisted upon my taking away, although at +that particular moment I had as much use for Belgian lace as an elephant +has for a safety-razor, but I was touched with her thoughtfulness and +pressed her hand to show my gratitude. She would not accept the money I +offered her. + +I carried that lace through my subsequent experiences, feeling that it +would be a fine souvenir for my mother, although, as a matter of fact, +if she had known that it was going to delay my final escape for even a +single moment, as it did, I am quite sure she would rather I had never +seen it. + +On one piece of lace was the Flemish word "_Charite_" and on the +other the word "_Esperance_." At the time, I took these words to mean +"Charity" and "Experience," and all I hoped was that I would get as +much of the one as I was getting of the other before I finally got +through. I learned subsequently that what the words really stood for was +"Charity" and "Hope," and then I was sure that my kind Belgian friend +had indeed realized my plight and that her thoughtful souvenir was +intended to encourage me in the trials she must have known were before +me. + +I didn't let the old Belgian lady know, because I did not want to alarm +her unnecessarily, but that night I slept in her backyard, leaving early +in the morning before it became light. + +Later in the day I applied at another house for food. It was occupied +by a father and mother and ten children. I hesitated to ask them for +food without offering to pay for it, as I realized what a task it must +have been for them to support themselves without having to feed a hungry +man. Accordingly, I gave the man a mark and then indicated that I wanted +something to eat. They were just about to eat, themselves, apparently, +and they let me partake of their meal, which consisted of a huge bowl of +some kind of soup which I was unable to identify and which they served +in ordinary wash-basins! I don't know that they ever used the basins to +wash in as well, but whether they did or not did not worry me very much. +The soup was good and I enjoyed it very much. + +All the time I was there I could see the father and the eldest son, a +boy about seventeen, were extremely nervous. I had indicated to them +that I was deaf and dumb, but if they believed me it didn't seem to make +them any more comfortable. + +I lingered at the house for about an hour after the meal, and during +that time a young man came to call on the eldest daughter, a young woman +of perhaps eighteen. The caller eyed me very suspiciously, although +I must have resembled anything but a British officer. They spoke in +Flemish and I did not understand a word they said, but I think they were +discussing my probable identity. During their conversation, I had a +chance to look around the rooms. There were three altogether, two fairly +large and one somewhat smaller, about fourteen feet long and six deep. +In this smaller room there were two double-decked beds, which were +apparently intended to house the whole family, although how the whole +twelve of them could sleep in that one room will ever remain a mystery +to me. + +From the kitchen you could walk directly into the cow-barn, where two +cows were kept, and this, as I have pointed out before, is the usual +construction of the poorer Belgian houses. + +I could not make out why the caller seemed to be so antagonistic to me, +and yet I am sure he was arguing with the family against me. Perhaps +the fact that I wasn't wearing wooden shoes--I doubt whether I could +have obtained a pair big enough for me--had convinced him that I was not +really a Belgian, because there was nothing about me otherwise which +could have given him that idea. + +At that time--and I suppose it is true to-day--about ninety per cent. of +the people in Belgium were wearing wooden shoes. Among the peasants I +don't believe I ever saw any other kind of footwear, and they are more +common there than they are in Holland. The Dutch wear them more as a +matter of custom. In Belgium they are a dire necessity because of the +lack of leather. I was told that during the coming year practically all +the peasants and poorer people in Germany, too, will adopt wooden shoes +for farm-work, as that is one direction in which wood can be substituted +for leather without much loss. + +When the young man left I left shortly afterward, as I was not at all +comfortable about what his intentions were regarding me. For all I knew, +he might have gone to notify the German authorities that there was a +strange man in the vicinity--more, perhaps, to protect his friends from +suspicion of having aided me than to injure me. + +At any rate, I was not going to take any chances and I got out of that +neighborhood as rapidly as I could. + +That night found me right on the frontier of Holland. + + + + +XVII + +GETTING THROUGH THE LINES + + +Waiting until it was quite dark, I made my way carefully through a field +and eventually came to the much-dreaded barrier. + +It was all that I had heard about it. Every foot of the border-line +between Belgium and Holland is protected in precisely the same manner. +It is there to serve three purposes: first, to keep the Belgians from +escaping into Holland; second, to keep enemies, like myself, from +making their way to freedom; and, third, to prevent desertions on the +part of Germans themselves. One look at it was enough to convince any +one that it probably accomplished all three objects about as well as +any contrivance could, and one look was all I got of it that night, +for while I lay on my stomach gazing at the forbidding structure I +heard the measured stride of a German sentry advancing toward me, and I +crawled away as fast as I possibly could, determined to spend the night +somewhere in the fields and make another and more careful survey the +following night. + +The view I had obtained, however, was sufficient to convince me that +the pole-vault idea was out of the question even if I had a pole +and were a proficient pole-vaulter. The three fences covered a span +of at least twelve feet, and to clear the last barbed-wire fence it +would be necessary to vault not only at least ten feet high, but at +least fourteen feet wide, with certain knowledge that to touch the +electrically charged fence meant instant death. There would be no second +chance if you came a cropper the first time. + +The stilt idea was also impracticable because of the lack of suitable +timber and tools with which to construct the stilts. + +It seemed to me that the best thing to do was to travel up and down +the line a bit in the hope that some spot might be discovered where +conditions were more favorable, although I don't know just what I +expected along those lines. + +It was mighty disheartening to realize that only a few feet away lay +certain liberty and that the only thing that prevented me from reaching +it were three confounded fences. I thought of my machine and wished that +some kind fairy would set it in front of me for just one minute. + +I spent the night in a clump of bushes and kept in hiding most of the +next day, only going abroad for an hour or two in the middle of the +day to intercept some Belgian peasant and beg for food. The Belgians +in this section were naturally very much afraid of the Germans, and I +fared badly. In nearly every house German soldiers were quartered, and +it was out of the question for me to apply for food in that direction. +The proximity of the border made every one eye one another with more or +less suspicion, and I soon came to the conclusion that the safest thing +I could do was to live on raw vegetables, which I could steal from the +fields at night as I had previously done. + +That night I made another survey of the barrier in that vicinity, but it +looked just as hopeless as it had the night before, and I concluded that +I only wasted time there. + +I spent the night wandering west, guided by the North Star, which had +served me so faithfully in all my traveling. Every mile or two I would +make my way carefully to the barrier to see if conditions were any +better, but it seemed to be the same all along. I felt like a wild +animal in a cage, with about as much chance of getting out. + +The section of the country in which I was now wandering was very heavily +wooded and there was really no very great difficulty in keeping myself +concealed, which I did all day long, striving all the time to think of +some way in which I could circumvent that cursed barrier. + +The idea of a huge step-ladder occurred to me, but I searched hour after +hour in vain for lumber or fallen trees out of which I could construct +one. If I could only obtain something which would enable me to reach a +point about nine feet in the air, it would be a comparatively simple +matter to jump from that point over the electric fence. + +Then I thought that perhaps I could construct a simple ladder and lean +it against one of the posts upon which the electric wires were strung, +climb to the top and leap over, getting over the barbed-wire fences in +the same way. + +This seemed to be the most likely plan, and all night long I sat +constructing a ladder for this purpose. + +I was fortunate enough to find a number of fallen pine-trees from ten +to twenty feet long. I selected two of them which seemed sufficiently +strong and broke off all the branches, which I used as rungs, tying them +to the poles with grass and strips from my handkerchief and shirt as +best I could. + +It was not a very workmanlike-looking ladder when I finally got +through with it. I leaned it against a tree to test it and it wabbled +considerably. It was more like a rope ladder than a wooden one, but I +strengthened it here and there and decided that it would probably serve +the purpose. + +I kept the ladder in the woods all day and could hardly wait until dark +to make the supreme test. If it proved successful, my troubles were +over; within a few hours I would be in a neutral country out of all +danger. If it failed--I dismissed the idea summarily. There was no use +worrying about failure; the thing to do was to succeed. + +The few hours that were to pass before night came on seemed endless, but +I utilized them to reinforce my ladder, tying the rungs more securely +with long grass which I plucked in the woods. + +At last night came, and with my ladder in hand I made for the barrier. +In front of it there was a cleared space of about one hundred yards, +which had been prepared to make the work of the guards easier in +watching it. + +I waited in the neighborhood until I heard the sentry pass the spot +where I was in hiding, and then I hurried across the clearing, shoved my +ladder under the barbed wire, and endeavored to follow it. My clothing +caught in the wire, but I wrenched myself clear and crawled to the +electric barrier. + +My plan was to place the ladder against one of the posts, climb up to +the top, and then jump. There would be a fall of nine or ten feet, and I +might possibly sprain my ankle or break my leg, but if that was all that +stood between me and freedom I wasn't going to stop to consider it. + +I put my ear to the ground to listen for the coming of the sentry. There +was not a sound. Eagerly but carefully I placed the ladder against the +post and started up. Only a few feet separated me from liberty, and my +heart beat fast. + +I had climbed perhaps three rungs of my ladder when I became aware of an +unlooked-for difficulty. + +The ladder was slipping! + +Just as I took the next rung the ladder slipped, came in contact with +the live wire, and the current passed through the wet sticks and into my +body. There was a blue flash, my hold on the ladder relaxed, and I fell +heavily to the ground unconscious! + +Of course, I had not received the full force of the current or I would +not now be here. I must have remained unconscious for a few moments, but +I came to just in time to hear the German guard coming, and the thought +came to me that if I didn't get that ladder concealed at once, he would +see it even though, fortunately for me, it was an unusually dark night. + +I pulled the ladder out of his path and lay down flat on the ground, +not seven feet away from his beat. He passed so close that I could have +pushed the ladder out and tripped him up. + +It occurred to me that I could have climbed back under the barbed-wire +fence and waited for the sentry to return and then felled him with a +blow on the head, as he had no idea, of course, that there was any one +in the vicinity. I wouldn't have hesitated to take life, because my only +thought now was to get into Holland, but I thought that as long as he +didn't bother me perhaps the safest thing to do was not to bother him, +but to continue my efforts during his periodic absences. + +His beat at this point was apparently fairly long and allowed me more +time to work than I had hoped for. + +My mishap with the ladder had convinced me that escape in that way was +not feasible. The shock that I had received had unnerved me and I was +afraid to risk it again, particularly as I realized that I had fared +more fortunately than I could hope to again if I met with a similar +mishap. There was no way of making that ladder hold, and I gave up the +idea of using it. + +I was now right in front of this electric barrier, and as I studied it I +saw another way of getting by. If I couldn't get over it, what was the +matter with getting under it? + +The bottom wire was only two inches from the ground, and, of course, I +couldn't touch it, but my plan was to dig underneath it and then crawl +through the hole in the ground. + +I had only my hands to dig with, but I went at it with a will, and +fortunately the ground was not very hard. + +When I had dug about six inches, making a distance in all of eight +inches from the lowest electric wire, I came to an underground wire. I +knew enough about electricity to realize that this wire could not be +charged, as it was in contact with the ground, but still there was not +room between the live wire and this underground wire for me to crawl +through, and I either had to go on digging deep enough under this wire +to crawl under it or else pull it up. + +This underground wire was about as big around as a lead-pencil and there +was no chance of breaking it. The jack-knife I had had at the start of +my travels I had long since lost, and even if I had had something to +hammer with, the noise would have made that method impracticable. + +I went on digging. When the total distance between the live wire and the +bottom of the hole I had dug was thirty inches I took hold of the ground +wire and pulled on it with all my strength. + +It wouldn't budge. It was stretched taut across the narrow ditch I had +dug--about fourteen inches wide--and all my tugging didn't serve to +loosen it. + +I was just about to give it up in despair when a staple gave way in the +nearest post. This enabled me to pull the wire through the ground a +little, and I renewed my efforts. After a moment or two of pulling as I +had never pulled in my life before a staple on the next post gave way, +and my work became easier. I had more leeway now and pulled and pulled +again until in all eight staples had given way. + +Every time a staple gave way it sounded in my ears like the report +of a gun, although I suppose it didn't really make very much noise. +Nevertheless, each time I would put my ear to the ground to listen for +the guard, and, not hearing him, went on with my work. + +By pulling on the wire I was now able to drag it through the ground +enough to place it back from the fence and go on digging. + +The deeper I went the harder became the work, because by this time my +finger-nails were broken and I was nervous--afraid every moment that I +would touch the charged wire. + +I kept at it, however, with my mind constantly on the hole I was digging +and the liberty which was almost within my reach. + +Finally I figured that I had enough space to crawl through and still +leave a couple of inches between my back and the live wire. + +Before I went under that wire I noticed that the lace which the Belgian +woman had given me as a souvenir made my pocket bulge, and lest it might +be the innocent means of electrocuting me by touching the live wire, I +took it out, rolled it up, and threw it over the barrier. + +Then I lay down on my stomach and crawled or rather writhed under the +wire like a snake, with my feet first, and there wasn't any question of +my hugging Mother Earth as closely as possible, because I realized that +even to touch the wire above me with my back meant instant death. + +Anxious as I was to get on the other side, I didn't hurry this +operation. I feared that there might be some little detail that I had +overlooked, and I exercised the greatest possible care in going under, +taking nothing for granted. + +When I finally got through and straightened up there were still several +feet of Belgium between me and liberty, represented by the six feet +which separated the electric barrier from the last barbed-wire fence, +but before I went another step I went down on my knees and thanked God +for my long series of escapes and especially for this last achievement, +which seemed to me to be about all that was necessary to bring me +freedom. + +Then I crawled under the barbed-wire fence and breathed the free air +of Holland! I had no clear idea just where I was, and I didn't much +care. I was out of the power of the Germans, and that was enough. I had +walked perhaps a hundred yards when I remembered the lace I had thrown +over the barrier, and, dangerous as I realized the undertaking to be, I +determined to walk back and get it. This necessitated my going back on +to Belgian soil again, but it seemed a shame to leave the lace there, +and by exercising a little care I figured I could get it easily enough. + +When I came to the spot at which I had made my way under the barbed wire +I put my ear to the ground and listened for the sentry. I heard him +coming and lay prone on the ground till he had passed. The fact that he +might observe the hole in the ground or the ladder occurred to me as I +lay there, and it seemed like an age before he finally marched out of +earshot. Then I went under the barbed wire again, retrieved the lace, +and once again made my way to Dutch territory. + +It does not take long to describe the events just referred to, but the +incidents themselves consumed several hours in all. To dig the hole +must have taken me more than two hours, and I had to stop frequently +to hide while the sentry passed. Many times, indeed, I thought I heard +him coming and stopped my work, and then discovered that it was only +my imagination. I certainly suffered enough that night to last me a +lifetime. With a German guard on one side, death from electrocution +on the other, and starvation staring me in the face, my plight was +anything but a comfortable one. + +It was the 19th of November, 1917, when I got through the wires. I had +made my leap from the train on September 9th. Altogether, therefore, +just seventy-two days had elapsed since I escaped from the Huns. If I +live to be as old as Methuselah, I never expect to live through another +seventy-two days so crammed full of incident and hazard and lucky +escapes. + + + + +XVIII + +EXPERIENCES IN HOLLAND + + +But I was not yet quite out of the woods. + +I now knew that I was in Holland, but just where I had no idea. I walked +for about thirty minutes and came to a path leading to the right, and I +had proceeded along it but a few hundred yards when I saw in front of me +a fence exactly like the one I had crossed. + +"This is funny," I said to myself. "I didn't know the Dutch had a fence, +too." I advanced to the fence and examined it closely, and judge of my +astonishment when I saw beyond it a nine-foot fence apparently holding +live wires exactly like the one which had nearly been the death of me! + +I had very little time to conjecture what it all meant, for just then I +heard a guard coming. He was walking so fast that I was sure it was a +Dutch sentry, as the Huns walk much more slowly. + +I was so bewildered, however, that I decided to take no chances, and +as the road was fairly good I wandered down it and away from that +mysterious fence. About half a mile down I could see the light of a +sentry station, and I thought I would go there and tell my story to the +sentries, realizing that as I was unarmed it was perfectly safe for me +to announce myself to the Dutch authorities. I could be interned only if +I entered Holland under arms. + +As I approached the sentry box I noticed three men in gray uniforms, +the regulation Dutch color. I was on the verge of shouting to them when +the thought struck me that there was just a chance I might be mistaken, +as the German uniforms were the same color, and I had suffered too many +privations and too many narrow escapes to lose all at this time. + +I had just turned off the road to go back into some bushes when out of +the darkness I heard that dread German command: + +"Halt! Halt!" + +He didn't need to holler twice. I heard and heeded the first time. Then +I heard another man come running up, and there was considerable talking, +but whether they were Germans or Hollanders I was still uncertain. +Evidently, however, he thought the noise must be a dog or the wind. + +Finally I heard one of them laugh and heard him walk back to the sentry +station where the guard was billeted, and I crawled a little nearer to +try to make out just what it all meant. I had begun to think it was all +a nightmare. + +Between myself and the light in the sentry station I then noticed the +stooping figure of a man bending over as if to conceal himself, and on +his head was the spiked helmet of a German soldier! + +I knew then what another narrow escape I had had, for I am quite sure +he would have shot me without ceremony if I had foolishly made myself +known. I would have been buried at once and no one would have been any +the wiser, even though, technically speaking, I was on neutral territory +and immune from capture or attack. + +This new shock only served to bewilder me the more. I was completely +lost. There seemed to be frontier behind me and frontier in front of +me. Evidently, however, what had happened was that I had lost my sense +of direction and had wandered in the arc of a circle, returning to the +same fence that I had been so long in getting through. This solution of +the mystery came to me suddenly, and I at once searched the landscape +for something in the way of a landmark to guide me. For once my faithful +friend, the North Star, had failed me. The sky was pitch black and there +wasn't a star in the heavens. + +In the distance, at what appeared to be about three miles away, but +which turned out to be six, I could discern the lights of a village, and +I knew that it must be a Dutch village, as lights are not allowed in +Belgium in that indiscriminate way. + +My course was now clear. I would make a bee-line for that village. +Before I had gone very far I found myself in a marsh or swamp, and I +turned back a little, hoping to find a better path. Finding none, I +retraced my steps and kept straight ahead, determined to reach that +village at all costs and to swerve neither to the right nor to the left +until I got there. + +One moment I would be in water up to my knees and the next I would +sink in clear up to my waist. I paid no attention to my condition. It +was merely a repetition of what I had gone through many times before, +but this time I had a definite goal, and, once I reached it, I knew my +troubles would be over. + +It took me perhaps three hours to reach firm ground. The path I struck +led to within half a mile of the village. I shall never forget that +path; it was almost as welcome to my feet as the opposite bank of the +Meuse had seemed. + +The first habitation I came to was a little workshop with a bright light +shining outside. It must have been after midnight, but the people inside +were apparently just quitting work. There were three men and two boys +engaged in making wooden shoes. + +It wasn't necessary for me to explain to them that I was a refugee, even +if I had been able to speak their language. I was caked with mud up to +my shoulders, and I suppose my face must have recorded some of the +experiences I had gone through that memorable night. + +"I want the British consul," I told them. + +Apparently they didn't understand, but one of them volunteered to +conduct me to the village. They seemed to be only too anxious to do all +they could for me; evidently they realized I was a British soldier. + +It was very late when my companion finally escorted me into the village, +but he aroused some people he knew from their beds and they dressed and +came down to feed me. + +The family consisted of an old lady and her husband and a son who was a +soldier in the Dutch army. The cold shivers ran down my back while he +sat beside me, because every now and again I caught a glimpse of his +gray uniform and it resembled very much that of the German soldiers. + +Some of the neighbors, aroused by the commotion, got up to see what it +was all about, and came in and watched while I ate the meal those good +Dutch people prepared for me. Ordinarily, I suppose, I would have been +embarrassed with so many people staring at me while I ate, as though I +were some strange animal that had just been captured, but just then I +was too famished to notice or care very much what other people did. + +There will always be a warm place in my heart for the Dutch people. +I had heard lots of persons say that they were not inclined to help +refugees, but my experience did not bear these reports out. They +certainly did much more for me than I ever expected. + +I had a little German money left, but as the value of German money is +only about half in Holland, I didn't have enough to pay the fare to +Rotterdam, which was my next objective. It was due to the generosity of +these people that I was able to reach the British consul as quickly as +I did. Some day I hope to return to Holland and repay every single soul +who played the part of Good Samaritan to me. + +With the money that these people gave me I was able to get a third-class +ticket to Rotterdam, and I am glad that I didn't have enough to travel +first-class, for I would have looked as much out of place in a +first-class carriage as a Hun would appear in heaven. + +That night I slept in the house of my Dutch friends, where they fixed +me up most comfortably. In the morning they gave me breakfast and then +escorted me to the station. + +While I was waiting in the station a crowd gathered round me, and soon +it seemed as if the whole town had turned out to get a look at me. It +was very embarrassing, particularly as I could give them no information +regarding the cause of my condition, although, of course, they all knew +that I was a refugee from Belgium. + +As the train pulled out of the station the crowd gave a loud cheer, and +the tears almost came to my eyes as I contrasted in my mind the conduct +of this crowd and the one that had gathered at the station in Ghent when +I had departed a prisoner en route for the reprisal camp. I breathed a +sigh of relief as I thought of that reprisal camp and how fortunate I +had really been, despite all my suffering, to have escaped it. Now, at +any rate, I was a free man and I would soon be sending home the joyful +news that I had made good my escape. + +At Einhoffen two Dutch officers got into the compartment with me. They +looked at me with very much disfavor, not knowing, of course, that I was +a British officer. My clothes were still pretty much in the condition +they were when I crossed the border, although I had been able to scrape +off some of the mud I had collected the night before. I had not shaved +nor trimmed my beard for many days, and I must have presented a sorry +appearance. I could hardly blame them for edging away from me. + +The trip from Einhoffen to Rotterdam passed without special incident. +At various stations passengers would get into the compartment and, +observing my unusual appearance, would endeavor to start a conversation +with me. None of them spoke English, however, and they had to use their +own imagination as to my identity. + +When I arrived at Rotterdam I asked a policeman who stood in front of +the station where I could find the British consul, but I could not make +him understand. I next applied to a taxicab driver. + +"English consul--British consul--American consul--French consul," +I said, hoping that if he didn't understand one he might recognize +another. + +He eyed me with suspicion and motioned me to get in and drove off. I had +no idea where he was taking me, but after a quarter of an hour's ride he +brought up in front of the British consulate. Never before was I so glad +to see the Union Jack! + +I beckoned to the chauffeur to go with me up to the office, as I had no +money with which to pay him, and when we got to the consulate I told +them that if they would pay the taxi fare I would tell them who I was +and how I happened to be there. + +They knew at once that I was an escaped prisoner and they readily paid +the chauffeur and invited me to give some account of myself. + +They treated me most cordially and were intensely interested in the +brief account I gave them of my adventures. Word was sent to the +consul-general, and he immediately sent for me. When I went in he shook +hands with me, greeting me very heartily and offering me a chair. + +He then sat down, screwed a monocle on his eye, and viewed me from top +to toe. I could see that only good breeding kept him from laughing at +the spectacle I presented. I could see he wanted to laugh in the worst +way. + +"Go ahead and laugh!" I said. "You can't offend me the way I feel this +blessed day!" And he needed no second invitation. Incidentally, it gave +me a chance to laugh at him, for I was about as much amused as he was. + +After he had laughed himself about sick he got up and slapped me on the +back and invited me to tell him my story. + +"Lieutenant," he said, when I had concluded, "you can have anything you +want. I think your experiences entitle you to it." + +"Well, Consul," I replied, "I would like a bath, a shave, a hair-cut, +and some civilized clothes about as badly as a man ever needed them, I +suppose, but before that I would like to get a cable off to America to +my mother, telling her that I am safe and on my way to England." + +The consul gave the necessary instructions, and I had the satisfaction +of knowing before I left the office that the cable, with its good +tidings, was on its way to America. + +Then he sent for one of the naval men who had been interned there since +the beginning of the war and who was able to speak Dutch, and told him +to take good care of me. + +After I had been bathed and shaved and had a hair-cut, I bought some new +clothes and had something to eat, and I felt like a new man. + +As I walked through the streets of Rotterdam, breathing the air of +freedom again and realizing that there was no longer any danger of being +captured and taken back to prison, it was a wonderful sensation. + +I don't believe there will ever be a country that will appear in my +eyes quite as good as Holland did then. I had to be somewhat careful, +however, because Holland was full of German spies, and I knew they +would be keen to learn all they possibly could about my escape and my +adventures, so that the authorities in Belgium could mete out punishment +to every one who was in any respect to blame for it. As I was in +Rotterdam only a day, they didn't have very much opportunity to learn +anything from me. + +The naval officer who accompanied me and acted as interpreter for me +introduced me to many other soldiers and sailors who had escaped from +Belgium when the Germans took Antwerp, and as they had arrived in +Holland in uniform and under arms the laws of neutrality compelled their +internment, and they had been there ever since. + +The life of a man who is interned in a neutral country, I learned, is +anything but satisfactory. He gets one month a year to visit his home. +If he lives in England, that is not so bad, but if he happens to live +farther away, the time he has to spend with his folks is very short, as +the month's leave does not take into consideration the time consumed in +traveling to and from Holland. + +The possibility of escape from internment is always there, but the +British authorities have an agreement with the Dutch government to send +refugees back immediately. In this respect, therefore, the position of +a man who is interned is worse than that of a prisoner who, if he does +succeed in making his escape, is naturally received with open arms in +his native land. Apart from this restraint, however, internment, with +all its drawbacks, is a thousand times--yes, a million times better than +being a prisoner of war in Germany. + +It seems to me that when the war is over and the men who have been +imprisoned in Germany return home they should be given a bigger and +greater reception than the most victorious army that ever marched into a +city, for they will have suffered and gone through more than the world +will ever be able to understand. + +No doubt you will find in the German prison-camps one or two +faint-hearted individuals with a pronounced yellow streak who +voluntarily gave up the struggle and gave up their liberty rather than +risk their lives or limbs. These sad cases, however, are, I am sure, +extremely few. Nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand of the men +fighting in the Allied lines would rather be in the front-line trenches, +fighting every day, with all the horrors and all the risks, than be a +prisoner of war in Germany, for the men in France have a very keen +realization of what that means. + +But to return to my day in Rotterdam. + +After I was fixed up I returned to the consulate and arrangements were +made for my transportation to England at once. Fortunately there was a +boat leaving that very night, and I was allowed to take passage on it. + +Just as we were leaving Rotterdam the boat I was on rammed our own +convoy, one of the destroyers, and injured it so badly that it had to +put back to port. It would have been a strange climax to my adventure +if the disaster had resulted in the sinking of my boat and I had lost +my life while on my way to England after having successfully outwitted +the Huns. But my luck was with me to the last, and while the accident +resulted in some delay, our boat was not seriously damaged and made +the trip over in schedule time and without further incident, another +destroyer having been assigned to escort us through the danger zone in +place of the one which we had put out of commission. + +When I arrived in London the reaction from the strain I had been under +for nearly three months immediately became apparent. My nerves were +in such a state that it was absolutely impossible for me to cross the +street without being in deadly fear of being run over or trampled on. +I stood at the curb, like an old woman from the country on her first +visit to the city, and I would not venture across until some knowing +policeman, recognizing my condition, came to my assistance and convoyed +me across. + +Indeed, there are a great number of English officers at home at all +times "getting back their nerve" after a long spell of active service +at the front, so that my condition was anything but novel to the London +bobbies. + +It was not many days, however, before I regained control of myself and +felt in first-class shape. + +Although the British authorities in Holland had wired my mother from +Holland that I was safe and on my way to England, the first thing I did +when we landed was to send her a cable myself. + +The cable read as follows: + + _Mrs. M. J. O'Brien, Momence, Ill., U. S. A._: + + Just escaped from Germany. Letter follows. + + PAT. + +As I delivered it to the cable-despatcher I could just imagine the +exultation with which my mother would receive it and the pride she would +feel as she exhibited it among her neighbors and friends. + +I could hear the volley of "I told you so's" that greeted her good +tidings. + +"It would take more than the Kaiser to keep Pat in Germany!" I could +hear one of them saying. + +"Knew he'd be back for Christmas, anyway," I could hear another remark. + +"I had an idea that Pat and his comrades might spend Christmas in +Berlin," I could hear another admitting, "but I didn't think any other +part of Germany would appeal to him very much." + +"Mrs. O'Brien, did Pat write you how many German prisoners he brought +back with him?" I could hear still another credulous friend inquiring. + +It was all very amusing and gratifying to me, and I must confess I felt +quite cocky as I walked into the War Department to report. + +For the next five days I was kept very busy answering questions put +to me by the military authorities regarding what I had observed as to +conditions in Germany and behind the lines. + +What I reported was taken down by a stenographer and made part of the +official records, but I did not give them my story in narrative form. +The information I was able to give was naturally of interest to various +branches of the service, and experts in every line of government work +took it in turns to question me. One morning would be devoted, for +instance, to answering questions of a military nature--German methods +behind the front-line trenches, tactics, morale of troops, and similar +matters. Then the aviation experts would take a whack at me and discuss +with me all I had observed of German flying-corps methods and equipment. +Then, again, the food experts would interrogate me as to what I had +learned of food conditions in Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium, and as +I had lived pretty close to the ground for the best part of seventy-two +days I was able to give them some fairly accurate reports as to actual +agricultural conditions, many of the things I told them probably having +more significance to them than they had to me. + +There were many things I had observed which I have not referred to +in these pages because their value to us might be diminished if the +Germans knew we were aware of them, but they were all reported to the +authorities, and it was very gratifying to me to hear that the experts +considered some of them of the greatest value. + +One of the most amusing incidents of my return occurred when I called at +my banker's in London to get my personal effects. + +The practice in the Royal Flying Corps when a pilot is reported missing +is to have two of his comrades assigned to go through his belongings, +check them over, destroy anything that it might not be to his interest +to preserve, and send the whole business to his banker or his home, +as the case may be. Every letter is read through, but its contents is +never afterward discussed nor revealed in any way. If the pilot is +finally reported dead, his effects are forwarded to his next of kin, +but while he is officially only "missing" or is known to be a prisoner +of war they are kept either at the squadron headquarters or sent to his +banker's. + +In my case, as soon as it was learned that I had fallen from the sky it +was assumed that I had been killed, and my chum, Paid Raney, and another +officer were detailed to check over my effects. The list they made and +to which they affixed their signatures, as I have previously mentioned, +is now in my possession and is one of the most treasured souvenirs of my +adventure. + +My trunk was sent to Cox & Co. in due course, and now that I was in +London I thought I would go and claim it. + +When I arrived in the bank I applied at the proper window for my mail +and trunk. + +"Who are you?" I was asked, rather sharply. + +"Well, I guess no one has any greater right to Pat O'Brien's effects +than I have," I replied, "and I would be obliged to you if you would +look them up for me." + +"That may be all right, my friend," replied the clerk, "but according +to our records Lieutenant O'Brien is a prisoner of war in Germany, +and we can't very well turn over his effects to any one else unless +either you present proof that he is dead and that you are his lawful +representative, or else deliver to us a properly authenticated order +from him to give them to you." + +He was very positive about it all, but quite polite, and I thought I +would kid him no more. + +"Well," I said, "I can't very well present proofs to you that Pat +O'Brien is dead, but I will do the best I can to prove to you that he is +alive, and if you haven't quite forgotten his signature I guess I can +write you out an order that will answer all your requirements and enable +you to give me Pat O'Brien's belongings without running any risks." And +I scribbled my signature on a scrap of paper and handed it to him. + +He looked at me carefully through the latticed window, then jumped down +from his chair and came outside to clasp me by the hand. + +"Good Heavens, Lieutenant!" he exclaimed as he pumped my hand up and +down. "How did you ever get away?" And I had to sit right down +and tell him and half a dozen other people in the bank all about my +experiences. + +[Illustration: COPY OF TELEGRAM INVITING LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN TO MEET KING +GEORGE] + +[Illustration: COPY OF TELEGRAM SENT BY LIEUTENANT O'BRIEN IN ANSWER TO +AN INVITATION TO MEET KING GEORGE] + +I had been in England about ten days when I received a telegram which, +at first, occasioned me almost as much concern as the unexpected sight +of a German spiked helmet had caused me in Belgium. It read as follows: + + _Lieut. P. A. O'Brien, Royal Flying Corps, Regent's Palace + Hotel, London_: + + The King is very glad to hear of your escape from Germany. + If you are to be in London on Friday next, December 7th, His + Majesty will receive you at Buckingham Palace at 10:30 A.M. Please + acknowledge. + + CROMER. + +Of course, there was only one thing to do and that was to obey orders. I +was an officer in the army and the King was my commander-in-chief. I had +to go, and so I sat down and sent off the following answer: + + _Earl Cromer, Buckingham Palace, London_: + + I will attend Buckingham Palace as directed, Friday, December + 7th, at 10:30. + + LIEUTENANT PAT O'BRIEN. + +In the interval that elapsed I must confess, the ordeal of calling on +the King of England loomed up more dreadfully every day, and I really +believe I would rather have spent another day in that empty house in the +big city in Belgium, or, say, two days at Courtrai, than go through what +I believed to be in store for me. + +Orders were orders, however, and there was no way of getting out of it. +As it turned out it wasn't half so bad as I had feared; on the contrary, +it was one of the most agreeable experiences of my life. + + + + +XIX + +I AM PRESENTED TO THE KING + + +When the dreaded 7th of December arrived I hailed a taxicab and in as +matter-of-fact tone of voice as I could command directed the chauffeur +to drive me to Buckingham Palace, as though I were paying my regular +morning call on the King. + +My friends' version of this incident, I have since heard, is that +I seated myself in the taxi and, leaning through the window, said, +"Buckingham Palace!" whereupon the taxi driver got down, opened the +door, and exclaimed, threateningly: + +"If you don't get out quietly and chuck your drunken talk, I'll jolly +quick call a bobby, bli' me if I won't!" + +But I can only give my word that nothing of the kind occurred. + +When I arrived at the palace gate the sentry on guard asked me who +I was, and then let me pass at once up to the front entrance of the +palace. + +There I was met by an elaborately uniformed and equally elaborately +decorated personage, who, judging by the long row of medals he wore, +must have seen long and distinguished service for the King. + +I was relieved of my overcoat, hat, and stick and conducted up a long +stairway, where I was turned over to another functionary, who led me to +the reception-room of Earl Cromer, the King's secretary. + +There I was introduced to another earl and a duke whose names I do not +remember. I was becoming so bewildered, in fact, that it is a wonder +that I remember as much as I do of this eventful day. + +I had heard many times that before being presented to the King a man is +coached carefully as to just how he is to act and what he is to say and +do, and all this time I was wondering when this drilling would commence. +I certainly had no idea that I was to be ushered into the august +presence of the King without some preliminary instruction. + +Earl Cromer and the other noblemen talked to me for a while and got me +to relate in brief the story of my experiences, and they appeared to be +very much interested. Perhaps they did it only to give me confidence and +as a sort of rehearsal for the main performance, which was scheduled to +take place much sooner than I expected. + +I had barely completed my story when the door opened and an attendant +entered and announced: + +"The King will receive Leftenant O'Brien!" + +If he had announced that the Kaiser was outside with a squad of German +guards to take me back to Courtrai my heart could not have sunk deeper. + +Earl Cromer beckoned me to follow him, and we went into a large room, +where I supposed I was at last to receive my coaching, but I observed +the earl bow to a man standing there and realized that I was standing in +the presence of the King of England. + +"Your Majesty, Leftenant O'Brien!" the earl announced, and then +immediately backed from the room. I believed I would have followed +right behind him, but by that time the King had me by the hand and was +congratulating me, and he spoke so very cordially and democratically +that he put me at my ease at once. + +He then asked me how I felt and whether I was in a condition to +converse, and when I told him I was he said he would be very much +pleased to hear my story in detail. + +"Were you treated any worse by the Germans, Leftenant," he asked, "on +account of being an American? I've heard that the Germans had threatened +to shoot Americans serving in the British army if they captured them, +classing them as murderers because America was a neutral country and +Americans had no right to mix in the war. Did you find that to be the +case?" + +I told him that I had heard similar reports, but that I did not +notice any appreciable difference in my treatment from that accorded +Britishers. + +The King declared that he believed my escape was due to my pluck and +will power, and that it was one of the most remarkable escapes he had +ever heard of, which I thought was quite a compliment, coming as it did +from the King of England. + +"I hope that all the Americans will give as good an account of +themselves as you have, Leftenant," he said, "and I feel quite sure they +will. I fully appreciate all the service rendered us by Americans before +the States entered the war." + +At this point I asked him if I was taking too much time. + +"Not at all, Leftenant, not at all!" he replied, most cordially. "I +was extremely interested in the brief report that came to me of your +wonderful escape, and I sent for you because I wanted to hear the whole +story first-hand, and I am very glad you were able to come." + +I had not expected to remain more than a few minutes, as I understood +that four minutes is considered a long audience with the King. Fifty-two +minutes elapsed before I finally left there! + +During all this time I had done most of the talking, in response to the +King's request to tell my story. Occasionally he interrupted to ask a +question about a point he wanted me to make clear, but for the most part +he was content to play the part of listener. + +He seemed to be very keen on everything, and when I described some of +the tight holes I got into during my escape he evinced his sympathy. +Occasionally I introduced some of the few humorous incidents of my +adventure, and in every instance he laughed heartily. + +Altogether the impression I got of him was that he is a very genial, +gracious, and alert sovereign. I know I have felt more ill at ease when +talking to a major than when speaking to the King--but perhaps I had +more cause to. + +During the whole interview we were left entirely alone, which impressed +me as significant of the democratic manner of the present King of +England, and I certainly came away with the utmost respect for him. + +In all of my conversation, I recalled afterward, I never addressed the +King as "Your Majesty," but used the military "sir." As I was a British +officer and he was the head of the army, he probably appreciated this +manner of address more than if I had used the usual "Your Majesty." +Perhaps he attributed it to the fact that I was an American. At any +rate, he didn't evince any displeasure at my departure from what I +understand is the usual form of address. + +Before I left he asked me what my plans for the future were. + +"Why, sir, I hope to rejoin my squadron at the earliest possible +moment!" I replied. + +"No, Leftenant," he rejoined, "that is out of the question. We can't +risk losing you for good by sending you back to a part of the front +opposed by Germany, because if you were unfortunate enough to be +captured again they would undoubtedly shoot you." + +"Well, if I can't serve in France, sir," I suggested, "wouldn't it be +feasible for me to fly in Italy or Salonica?" + +"No," he replied; "that would be almost as bad. The only thing that +I can suggest for you to do is either to take up instruction--a very +valuable form of service--or perhaps it might be safe enough for you to +serve in Egypt; but, just at present, Leftenant, I think you have done +enough, anyway." + +Then he rose and shook hands with me and wished me the best of luck, and +we both said, "Good-by." + +In the adjoining room I met Earl Cromer again, and as he accompanied me +to the door he seemed to be surprised at the length of my visit. + +"His Majesty must have been very much interested in your story," he +said. + +As I left the palace a policeman and a sentry outside came smartly to +attention. Perhaps they figured I had been made a general. + +As I was riding back to the hotel in a taxi I reflected on the +remarkable course of events which in the short space of nine months had +taken me through so much and ended up, like the finish of a book, with +my being received by his Majesty the King! When I first joined the Royal +Flying Corps I never expected to see the inside of Buckingham Palace, +much less to be received by the King. + + + + +XX + +HOME AGAIN! + + +That same day, in the evening, I was tendered a banquet at the Hotel +Savoy by a fellow-officer who had bet three other friends of mine that +I would be home by Christmas. This wager had been made at the time he +heard that I was a prisoner of war, and the dinner was the stake. + +The first intimation he had of my safe return from Germany and the fact +that he had won his bet was a telegram I sent him reading as follows: + + _Lieutenant Louis Grant_: + + War-bread bad, so I came home. + + PAT. + +He said he would not part with that message for a thousand dollars. + +Other banquets followed in fast succession. After I had survived nine +of them I figured that I was now in as much danger of succumbing to a +surfeit of rich food as I had previously been of dying from starvation, +and for my own protection I decided to leave London. Moreover, my +thoughts and my heart were turning back to the land of my birth, where I +knew there was a loving old mother who was longing for more substantial +evidence of my safe escape than the cables and letters she had received. + +Strangely enough, on the boat which carried me across the Atlantic I saw +an R. F. C. man--Lieutenant Lascelles. + +I walked over to him, held out my hand, and said, "Hello!" + +He looked at me steadily for at least a minute. + +"My friend, you certainly look like Pat O'Brien," he declared, "but I +can't believe my eyes. Who are you?" + +I quickly convinced him that his eyes were still to be relied upon, +and then he stared at me for another minute or two, shaking his head +dubiously. + +His mystification was quite explicable. The last time he had seen me I +was going down to earth with a bullet in my face and my machine doing +a spinning nose dive. He was one of my comrades in the flying corps and +was in the fight which resulted in my capture. He said he had read the +report that I was a prisoner of war, but he had never believed it, as he +did not think it possible for me to survive that fall. + +He was one of the few men living out of eighteen who were originally +in my squadron--I do not mean the eighteen with whom I sailed from +Canada last May, but the squadron I joined in France. He rehearsed +for me the fate of all my old friends in the squadron, and it was a +mighty sad story. All of them had been killed except one or two who +were in dry-dock for repairs. He himself was on his way to Australia to +recuperate and get his nerves back into shape again. He had been in many +desperate combats. + +As we sat on the deck exchanging experiences I would frequently notice +him gazing intently in my face as if he were not quite sure that the +whole proposition was not a hoax and that I was not an impostor. + +Outside of this unexpected meeting, my trip across was uneventful. + +I arrived in St. John, New Brunswick, and eventually the little town of +Momence, Illinois, on the Kankakee River. + +I have said that I was never so happy to arrive in a country as I was +when I first set foot on Dutch soil. Now I'm afraid I shall have to take +that statement back. Not until I finally landed in Momence and realized +that I was again in the town of my childhood days did I enjoy that +feeling of absolute security which one never really appreciates until +after a visit to foreign parts. + +Now that I am back, the whole adventure constantly recurs to me as a +dream, and I'm never quite sure that I won't wake up and find it so. + + +THE END + + + * * * * * + + +[Transcriber's Notes: + +The transcriber made these changes to the text to correct obvious +errors: + + 1. p. 172 woulb --> would + 2. p. 265 geting --> getting + +End of Transcriber's Notes] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Outwitting the Hun, by Pat O'Brien + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK OUTWITTING THE HUN *** + +***** This file should be named 42490.txt or 42490.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/2/4/9/42490/ + +Produced by sp1nd, Richard J. 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