The Stanford World (Stanford, Mont.) 1909-1920, August 08, 1918, Image 2

a TELE STANFORD WORLD i/ 66 OUTWIT 4 THE HUN\ ENANT PAT O'BRIEN Copy - Huila, 1918, by Pat Alva O'Brien lallerilikaLTIMEStit It . _,Sairtr.r.ffallt420.•••••••1 , CHAPTER Xi V—Continued. —10-- I decided promptly that the safest place for me was as far back us pos- sible, where I would not lie in the line of vision of others in back of me. Ac- cordingly I slouched over to a table on the platform directly opposite the Stage and I took the seat against the wail. The whole place was new in front of we. I could see everythieg that was going on and everyone who came In, but no one, except those who eat at my own tattle, would notice me untess they deliberately turned around to look. The place began to fill up rapidly. Every second person who came in the place 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 hum tired soldiers in the place and there must have been several hundred civil- ians. The first people to sit at my table were a Belgian and his wife. The Bel - Ile Seemed Better to Parrot the Belgian. gian sea next to Inc and his wife next to , him. I was hoping that other civil- ians %meld occupy the remaining two s•mts a. my table, because I did not relLsh sRe Idea of having to sit through the 1 , ...OW with German soldiers within a few feet of me. That would certainly !rouge spoiled my pleasure for the even - tea. Every uniform that came In the door give me cause to worry until I was sure it was not coming in my direction. t suppose there was a single sot- dt whir came in the door whom I (Inlet follow to his seat—with my tesm dust before they lowered the lights, 'Poo German officers entered. They od at the door for a moment Molt- ke? the place over. Then they made a beeline in my direction and I must co - sfess my heart started to beat a Male faster. I hoped that they would lied another seat before they came to tat vicinity, but thy were getting utterer and nearer and I realized with a nickening sensation that they were !laded directly for the two seats at Ms table, and that was indeed the Cale_ These two seats were in front of the tatile facing the stage and except when the officers would be eating or drink - Ins their backs were toward me, and there was considerable consolation in nat. From my seat I could have acted right over and touched Awe of them on his bald head. It wouhrhave been more than a touch, I ant afraid. If I could have gotten away with it stately, s Ay the Officers seated themselves, • 90^ waiter came to ua with a printed b'ffi-of-tare and program. Fortunately, be waited on the others first and I Widened 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. Hansen knews I would far rather have ordered something to cat, and I was afraid to take a chance at the pronun- dation of the dishes IL set forth. There were a number of drinks listed which I might safely enough have or- dered. For instance. I noticed \Lemon Is q uasn, 1.50,\ \Ginger Beer, \Sparkling Dry Ginger Ale. 1.—\ **Appolinatas, 1.—,\ and \Schweppes Soria, 0.80,\ but it occurred to me that the mere fact that selected some- thing that was listed in English might attract attention to me and something In my pronuncletion might give fur- ther cause for suspicion. It seemed better to parrot the Bel- gium and order \Bock\ and that was aim( I decided to do. One item on the bill of fare tante. Heed me considerably. Although it was Dusted among the \Prizzen der irerthen,\ which I took to Mean ^Prices of drinks,\ it sounded very anarle to me like something to eat, part ?leaven knows I would rather h ave b a ,t one liene..t mouthful of food than all the drinks tit the world. The itCto I refer to %s its \Intlibel Ger- stein de Fleseh (Ytfichaux).\ A double portion of anything would have been mighty %•eleome to me, but I would have been content with a single \ger- sten\ if I had only had the courage to ask for IS To heep myself as composed as pos- sible I jV',h(i a lot of attention to that and I think by the time the waiter came around I almost klieW it by heart. one drink that al- most Made me laugh aloud was listed as \Lemon:idea gliZeuses,\ butt I might as well have introduced myself to the German (ewers by my right name and rank as attempt to pronounce R. %%lien tIM w 111cr eanie to Me, there- fore, I. said \liock\ its casutil ly as I could, and I felt somewimt relit•vt‘d that I tind gotten through that pt rt , ef the ordeal so easily. While the waiter was away I had a champ to examine the hill -of -fare and I observed that a glass of beer cost 80 centimes. The smallest change I had Was ii two -mark paper bill. Apparently the Ili..rman officers were shnilarly fixed and when they offered their bill to the waiter, he handed it bark 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 litol 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 saint- boat and he would have to come to me agate later. The only thing to do, therefore, was to offer him the bill as though I hadn't heard or notleusl what had happened with the Ch•rmans, and ( did so. He said the same thing to the as he had sold to the ollieerS, perhapa a little more sharply. and gave me back the bill. Later on, he returneti to the table with a handful of change and we closed the transaction. I gave him '25 centimes as a tip—I had never yet been to a place where it was necessary to talk to do that. During my first half hour in that theatre, to say I Wits 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 a dozen times I Was on the point of get- ting up and leaving. There were al- together too many soldiers in the place to suit me, and when the German of- ficers seated themselves right at my table I thought that was about all I could stand. As it was, however, the lights went out shortly afterwards and in the dark I felt considerably easier. After the first picture, when the lights went up again, I had regained my composure eonsiderably and I took adeantage 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 Gernmn medical corps of- ficer with three Red Cross nurses. That was the only time I had ever seen a Gernma pursue, for when I was In the hospital I had seen only men orderlies. Nurses didn't work so near the first line trenches. The German soldiers at the different tables were very quiet and orderly. They drank hook beer and conversed among themselves, hut there was no hilarity or rough.housing of any kind. As I sat there, within arm's reach of those German officers nnd 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 fool- ishly in undertaking It. Nevertheless, the evening passed off imevent fully and when the show wes over I mixed with the crowd and die - appeared, feeliee very proud of myself end with a ttood deal more cantidenet titan I had enjoyed at the start. I had passed a night which will live in my life as long as I live. The hill of fare and program and a \throw.. away\ bill advertising the name of the attraction which Was to he pre- sented the following week which was lmnded to me as I came out, I still have and they ere atnong the moat valued souvintirs of my adventure. 444.0114+4+64-044 times, tual if I had encountered the same person twice I suppose my con- duct might have aroused suspicion, 1 Mei a first -clues observation of the damage that was really done by our bombs. One Monti had landed very near the main railroad siiitio11 and if it hail been only thitty tictils nearer would have cempletely demolished it. As the stntion was undoubtedly our airman's (dipoles. I WIIS very Much Iltipressed With tile to - curacy of his aim. It is by no ttlettriS Jilt easy thing to hit a building from the air when you tire going at anywhere front fifty tO One hillidred miles an hour and are being shot at from beneath from a dozen different angles—MileSS, of Course, you are taking one of those desperate chit aces mei flying so low that pin eannot very well MISS your mark and the Huns ciin't very well miss you either! wniked by the station and mingiet with th.• crowds which stood in the entrances. They paid no more at- tention to me than they did to real Bel- gians, anti the fact that the lights evert. all out In this city at night made it impossible fliQfi vay for anyone 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 head- quarters. a huge German flag hung from the window, and I think I would have given ten years of my life to have stolen R. Even if I could have belled it down, however, 1*, would have been impossible for me to have con- cealed it, and to have t•arried it away with Me as a souvenir, therefore would have been out of the mh.stion. As I went along the street one night a lady standing on the corner stopped me and spoke to me. My first impulse, of course, was to answer her. explain- ing that I could not understand, but 1 stopped myself in time, pointed to my ears it mouth anti shook my head, Indicating that I was deaf and dumb, anti she nodded understandingly and walked on. Incidents of that kind were not unusual. and I was always in fear thnt the time would come when some inquisittve anti suspicious German would encounter me and not be so easily satisfied. There are ninny 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, 1 think, will create more surprise than the incidents I atn 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 sot - there at my side looking at the same things, to think how close I was to them and they had no way of knowing. 1 was quite convinced that if I were discovered my fate would have hi -en death because I not only had the forged passport on me. but I had been so many days behind the German lines after I bad escaped that they couldn't safely let me live with the inforrna- Bon I possessed. One night I walked boldly across a park. I heard footsteps behind me and turning round saw two German sol- diers. I slowed up a trifle to let them get ahead of ate. It was rather dark and I got a chance to see what a won- derful uniform the German military authorities have picked out. The sol- diers had not gone more than a few feet ahead of me when they diSap- peared in the darkness like one of those melting pictures on the moving picture screen. CHAPTER XV. Observations in a Belgian City. One night shortly before I left this city, our airmen raided . the place. I (Mina venture. out of the house at the , linos\ but the next night I thought I would go out tmti see what damage had been done. When It became dark I left the house aecordingly and MiXed with the erowd, which consisted largely of Ger. mans. I went from one place to an- other to see what our \strafling\ hail accomplished. Naturally I avoided speaking to anyone.. If a man or woman appeared about to speak to me, I just turned my head and looked or wniked away in some other directiten. I must have been taken for an (un- social sort Of individual a good many As I wandered through the streets I frequently glanced In the cafe win- dow as I passed. , German officers Were usually dining there, but they didn't conduct themselves with any- thing like the light-heartedness which i-lit the alia.d officers in 1,4 111111 rairlS. I was rather sum - I it this because in this part of 11cHL1111 they were much freer than they WollId hare been in Berlin, where, I understand, food is compar- atively scarce and the restrictions are very strict. As I have said, nty own condition In this city was in some respects worse then it had been when I was making My way through the open country. While I had a place to sleep and my clet tics were no longer constantly sessing, my opportunities for getting food were considerably less than they initi been. Nearly all the time I was half famished, and I decided that I would get out of there at once, since I ells entirely through with Iluyilger. 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, and my ankle was stronger, and although my knees were still considerably enlarged, I felt Hutt I was in better shape than I had been ut any time since may Jeep from the train, and I was ready to go through whatever was in store for me. CHAPTER XVI. Leave for the Frontier. To get out of the city, it would be necessary to pass two guards. This I had learned in the course of uty 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 tue to leave. A German soldier's uniform, how- ever, 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 they seemed_to feel. I decided, therefore, to walk out of the city in the daytime, when the sen- tries would be less apt to be on the watch. It worked fine. I was not held up a moment, the sentries evi- dently taking me for a Belgian peas- ant on his way to work. Traveling faster than I had ever done before since my escape, I wits soon out in the open country, and the first Belgian I came to I approached for food. He gave me half of his lunch and we sa( 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 \looney\ in 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 it was only 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 the heavily guarded barbed wire and electrically charged barrier was a problem that I hated to think of even, although the haunt I spent endeavoring to devise Priizen der Vranken , Siorerri 0 , 4a , I 2 OM ' Stade Dubbel GOraten de ?leech Niehaus) Wa r nu** n Kotfie . 1,— Choceutatfe de poeffe 1,50 Meta Wised walk The, de porlic, . , 1.54 Vont* elf , . 2,50 sfitatation OX0 . . C AM . • • . • . 1,15 O ss itaffis asstia eta • ale) .Dct Vtft:hiffesde Grog, , , 2O Verfrisschinfoll Cetus walrr, , , 1,25 artreetspathireop . Lemon squash 1-50 dritioluate • • • I. — larnenadess eat -ruses, 0,110 kittens. . Ginger beer , , I ataitrank chtinpaghtte 1,50 ' See:Wing Dry °Meer Ate . • • I -- fd /floral* Waters Sp•viatr f Vichy • 1/2t.0.V0 Apollinaris. . . n i an Schweppes soda . 0.80 wi i rarijo Vennouth • 1,25 Porto Mode • , 1.50 Pransche . . 1,25 With, 1.04 Dubonnet . . 1.25 Stitt/ • • • 1,50 rh 1,25 ; Malaga 1.50 Grsvrssupttieur(1900)1.50 'Madera. •. • 1.50 Bf74t$MS • Ch4littXk,icrie hyterft • 1 . 50 . _ . • Price List of Drinks O'Brien Picked Up at it Free Motion Picture Show In Beer Barden. a some way Of outwitting the Rune were many. It had occurred to me, for instance, that it would not be such a Matter to vault over the electric fence, which was only nine fet•t high. In col- lege. I knew a ten -foot vault is consid- ered a high-school boy's accomplish- ment, but there were two great dif- ficulties 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, how- ever, the pole-vault idea seemed to me to be out of the question because of the fact that on either side of the elec- tric 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 or condition would be apt to think. Indeed, I don't be- lieve It is possilfle. Another plan that seemed half -way reesonable 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 consider- able skill in stilt -walking and I have no doubt that with the proper equip- ment it would have been quite feas- ible 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. 'rhere 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 Wive made excellent gloves and insulated coverings for my feet in case it was necessary for me to at- tempt to climb over the electric fence bodily. Butt as I had never been - abte to steal( a bicycle this avenue of es- cape Was closed to me. I decided to a - alt 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 from it I shook the fence for several yards. Instantly there came out of the night the nerve-racking conunand: \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 tired, or stay 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 stana, or rather lie, pat. I think my heart made almost as much noise as the rattling of the wire in the first place,,and it was a tense few moments to 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 dif- ferent 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 an humble Belgian house and I knocked at the door and applied for food in nty usual way, pointing to my mouth to indi- cate 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 ating 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 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 Bel - glans who lived near the line. My theory that she realized that I Was not a telgian at all, but prob- eby some English fugitive, was con- firmed a moment later, when, as I made ready to go, she touched me on the arra 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 infilsted upon my taking away, although - at that par- ticular moment I had as much use for Belgian lace as an elephant 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 the lace through my sub- sequent experiences, feeling that it would be a fine souvenir for my mother, although tte a matter of fact if I had known that it was Wang to de- lay my - final escape for even a, single moment, as it did, I am quite sure site would rather I had not seen It. On one piece of lace was the Flem- ish word \Climate\ nett on the other the word \Esperage.\ 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 subse- quently that what the words really stood for were \Charity\ and \Hope and then I was sure that my kind Bel- gian friend had indeed realized my plight and that her thoughtful sou- venir was intended to encourage time 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 an- other house for food. It was occupied by a father and mother and ten chit- Again I Feared I Was Done For. dren. I hesitated to ask them for food without offering to pay for it, as I re- alized what a task it must have been for theta to support themselves with- out baying to feed a hungry man. Ac- cordingly I gave the man a mark and then indicated that I .wanted some- thing 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 iden- tify 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. All the time I was there I could see the father and the eldest son, a boy about seventeen, were extremely nerv- ous. I had indicated to them that I was deaf and dumb, but if they be - !loved 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 - smoke Flemish and I did not understand a word they said, but I think they were discussing my prob- able identity. During their conversa- tion I had a chance to look around the room. There were three alto- gether, 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 re- main a mystery to me. (TO BE CONTINUED.) Wall of a Lost Soul. This is not a camp story, but one written by a lieutenant on his way \over there.” \On our first lap out we were having boat drill one day. The bell rang and every one grabbed up life preservers and started for their lifeboats. As I came - out on the main deck to boat No. 10 one of the aft gams let loose with a terrific roar at target practice. Just then a big negro crane tip scrambling out of a hatchway, yelling, '0, Lordy, Lordy, where ant malt life deserter? , I done henh nnt submarine a-monnin' for mall soul!'\ Free From Conceit, am glad to see you are free from that conceit which prompts profes- sional jealousy,\ said the man who as- stune's a patronizing and pnternni monner. \Well said the young ac- tor, languidly, \to fell you the truth, I haven't seen any actors whose work suggested nay reason whatever for my being jealous,\ • •