Newspaper Page Text
ST. CH ABLES HERALD. HAHNVILLE. LOUISIANA. OUT TNG Lieutenant Pat THE HUM" O'Brien DR (Copyright. 1918. by Pat Ahra O'Brien) In DR imV° 0Esp ERATI0N BY HUN( BOLDLY TO A BELGIAN HOUSE ANI a resident of Moi Join« the British n F f y,n * ««Ps on the Jjf eeeIn £ <»* period .r n ? rr* 'S" 10 Cenadel" 1916 ' ««» on tbe front* n°t He ls ""«"«I ti f Ayers, from which h : Be enga « es in several hi actlve German flyers Ô'Brten So? !' Ct0r,ous - Final|f" an dea «* by a miracle a ^ Be faI,s 8 J h four hospital, with a bullet n*, , t0 flnd himself a pf a P ,ng hospital he is sent to his moutb - AftS erman there he Is placed upon a frZ 2"^ Court rai f ' n ; he He decides to take io t aln boun d for a prisdf 1 stay the open window of t t S f erate cba nce for IIbertI many - an hour. Bis the car w hile the train i3 rou ß h crawls through GeïmanTî ndV* the faI1 ' 0 'B* "T from I CHAp TER IX-^ontm^ ®ud of bottom to it I so of I CHAp TER IX-^ontm^ j* «retiree tod^M 0 !"" œ " al Wte iPosite side as rZ am to the op j"0t be taS, n" "»nid j» sheltered clumn there. I f 0UQ d *" * ow.„p »" p « **• rent were Artest part th^T Ü*,? 1 "® 1 an<1 la the to and made Ji2J d J? nd 1 5 PaWl#d ®s Possible. ThJ !?„ confortable and kept me warm n»* 0 ?* Dp 8000 «amp |ig ht 1 Planned to Until the B«? 1 ,ood or no food ! tor æ, t ? ot T tIred °* searching' I «0 Æ re., to l?""' 0 -re »topped, on each heart nearIy dently they d-nL " 108 ' hot evl other dlrertlon an^r Iook ln some molested. d 1 waa n °t further I ? 1 ^ the same time I as ahitoire*„,! me 1 Adored EÄt=s? " pens ^ay me to I aTthTe^l ^y- I dSd^j to « 1 ; 1 0X11 ot my I ? kept in that direction fnrM^ and I 1 <H«i not cot* months * ""h" 0 " "*«. I kept .to * "Ï and did all m T fZS™? the roads and «elds, beet paSe^S*J2 m>ugh .anywhere provldS' r I vary *» K. «en MÏ „„l!r Ukto r* Important renM jmtSi Y** I a * ftrer ".Uretow"L* , f , the *— "est of all tn -«-I« came near ^^TheWeuse at thls^St îflbîït' I in nornal condition I wouldn't have I caSL ^ n? a moment to swim across. «an Dfego bay, California, is a mile ; c ™™Kr d t' and 1 ^ S.h?, a ' "d the San Jaoquin. H * hlch k also a mile and a half wide, ^tf had n*er proven an obstacle to me. I thîï V* tched *hape ln whlciT 11 *hen vas, however, the Meuse looked I Wlta like ti# Atlantic ocean to* m^^ J aad looked^ a boat, but could flnd none. I " d I fried to get a piece of wood -.I.« k r. 161 a t*** 6 °t wood upon 1 îf , ' ed 10 ferry a cr °88. but I was e^allj unsuccessful. Get across I must, and I decided there i is nothing to do but to swim. . « wp then about 3 o'clock in the morn Là. | my Star, t Z^ ^ ^ himself waded ln and was soon In bey id my depth and had to swim ! 8treak After I out an hour of it I was very * much exhausted, and I doubted I"*? wheth« I could make the opposite ? , me bank, i though It was not more »frnp } i™*'7 thirty forty feet away. I choked ! , rJ Just • i n— —j - I fling Infernal and Crawling Bank. Up lit yoc few the out time id my arms and legs fagged out 1 sank a to touch bottom with water was still be when everyone will no exception. I to make those t and then, with all id summon, struck [It seemed a life • felt the welcome I al Wte the op "»nid f 0UQ d were la the PaWl#d confortable 8000 to food ! , 7 ueu I0r the searching' I a^ted—fainted 0 -re nearIy mi ? n , Wa ® now aboai evl- "°f nln 8 and I wa some J**?* 1 fro " observi further I ? ad 5° me along I „ ^ *«• daa bottom myself np to the The bank was r shaking so viole: hold of the gra the grass shook coaid not retain m I would faint th sept pulling and U P that infernal made it Then for the firs " Possibly two hours to I regained consciousn *sr^rx 5 S my I beaUa ® Ia my face. and 1 kaew . that I had ti life us the npro yone been rid. ore no was Ï™ freai ton 0 "- ™ • tow-pa ni * "Ï -re«. . bo., roads and flnd me. Bui dangerons tor me to I vary Fortunately' Ukto Umtbbto «to* ,1 Y** I a * T ' wreoot food or d-- 1 myself and my chances of I I caSL D r* ht ® Ven 016 sligh a f*°* the Bel «ia gan to fe ar that anothi ^ woQid ab ° nt ^ "ï H * have a distinct recoil ^tf 0101 " conversation I I ^aginary p a t I of 11 ° h f dDp,1 f te <* mys^if.^ r I Wlta " m 88 1 marched dran hi J aad h ® answ ered me back / I " d 1*° ^.«"sagreed, I call the my one constant friend, Star, to stand by me. t Z^ ere , yoa are ' yo« old Noah al r d ' "^n want m t] ^ BoUan d. don't you? But thg ^ ^"-fhls Pat O'Breln wh himself a soldler-he'a got a —___ ! 8treak North Star—end he « * >e dott «l He wants me t I"*? Ue down here for the H ? , me 800 take me back to i™*'7 aBer a ^ you've done, No» , rJ 1 don,t Wfl nt to follow him-» Just want to follow you—because yon are , him-» Just want to follow you—because yo off I 7T yon are taking me away from Bieter J Huns and this Pat O'Brien—this fefo low who keeps after me all the .time and leans on my neck and wants me to lie down—this yellow Pat O'BrSn 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 be cause X was about on my last legs. I was very much tempted to Ue down tten and there and call it a beat Things seemed to be getting worse for me the farther I went and all the time I had before me the spectre 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 prob ably he captured In the end anyway? Before giving up, however, I decided upon one bold move. I would ap proach one of the houses In the vi cinity and get food there or die ln the effort I picked ont a small house because I figured there would be less likeli hood of soldiers being billeted there. Then I wrapped a stone ln my khaki handkerchief as a sort of camouflaged weapon, determined to kiU the occu pant of the house, German or Belgian, If that step was necessary in order to get food. I tried the well In the yard, but it would not work, and then I went np to the door and knocked. It was 1 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. k of at me One as 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 the hard-looking ap pearance, 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 char acter as stood before them that night ! I had not shaved for a month, my qlothes were wet, torn and dirty, my leggings were gone—they had gotten so heavy I had to discard 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, 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 be cause she begrudged it to me. For if ever a man showed he was flmlshed, did that night I swallowed those warm potatoes ravenously and I drank four glasses of water, one after an other. It was the best meal I had had since the "banquet" ln tbe prison at CourtraL The woman of the house was prob ably 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 dol lar 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 hurrry to leave the first human habitation I had entered ln four weeks—I reflected on my un happy 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 appropriate ly for the life they lead than I was clothed for mine—and there was not the slightest reason to hope that con ditions would grow any better. Perhaps the first warm food I had eatrn for over a month had released unused springs of philosophy ln me, as food sometimes does for a man. I pointed to my tom and water soaked clothes , and conveyed to them as best I could that I would be grate ful for an old suit, but apparently they were too poor to have more than they attually needed themselves, and I rose x> go. I had aroused them out of bed ind I knew I ought not to keep them u? longer than was absolutely necessay. As I approached the door I got a glance à myself in a mirror. I was the a widest sight I had laid eyes on ! The gllnase I got of myself startled me almos as much as if I bad seen a dreaded (terman helmet! My left eye was fairly well healed by this time and I wa? beginning to regain sight of It, but if y face was so haggard and my beard lo long and unkempt that I looked im Santa Claus on a bat! As the} let me out of the door I I pointed tt the opposite direction to the one I Utended taking and started yo off iu the âlrection I had indicated. Bieter I chawed my course completely fefo throw off iny possible pursuit .time The next <!kv I was so worn out from me like to be I for of of sure and exhaustion that I threw my coat thinking that the less ;ht I had to carry the better It be for me, but when night came ay mistake because the were now getting colder. I ;ht at first it would be better for retrace my steps and look for at I had so thoughtlessly dis hut I decided to go on with lien began to discard everything had in my pocket, tonally throw wrist watch into a canal, A itch does not add much but when yon plod along and sot eaten for a month it finally rather heavy. The next discarded was a pair of flying mitt» Bord quite them were the h felt than of any! dng a them at the me were a land and pair hing mittens I had gotten at Camp in Canada, and had become moos, as my friends termed iow shoes." In fact, they diculous pair of mittens, but I ever had and I really when I lost those mittens else. I could not think else ever using them, so I i in the mud and burled could not help but laugh ght if my friends could see my mittens, because they indlng Joke in Canada, Eng ce. I had onWo shirts and as they were always bofc wet and didn't keep me warm, It ias useless to wear both. One of thele was a shirt that I had bought in FVance, the other an Amer ican army shirt They were both khaki and one as apt to give me away bnryil as the other, so I discarded the French-j shirt The American army shirt 11 brought back with me to England and It Is still in my possession. When I escaped from the train I still had the 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 proven very useful when swimming rivers, for I carried my map and a few other be longings 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 tell-tale 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 con siderably less ceremony than my fly ing mittens had received perhaps; so that was the end of my Bavarian hat My experience at the Belgian's honse whetted my appetite for more food and I figured that what had been done once could be done again. Diagram Showing How O'Brien Lost Precious Hours by Swimming a Riv er and Later Finding That He Was on the Wrong 81de and Had to Swim Back. Sooner or later, I realized I would probably approach a Belgian and find a German instead, but ln such a con tingency I was determined to meas ure my strength against the Hun'a If necessary to effect my escape. As it was, however, most of the Bel gians to whom I applied for food gave it to me readily enough, and if some of them refused me it was only be cause they feared I might be a spy or that the Germans would shoot them if their action were subsequently found oat About the fifth day after I had en tered Belgium I was spending the day as usual in a clomp of bushes when I discerned in the distance what ap peared to be something hanging on line. All day long I strained my eyes trying to decide what it could be and arguing with myself that it might be sometblag that I could add to my in adequate wordrobe, 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 re moved. As soon as darkness fell, however, I crawled out of my hiding place and worked np to the line and got a pair of overalls for my Industry. The pair of overalls was the first bit of civil ian clothes I had thus far picked np with the exception of a civilian cap which I bad found at the prison and concealed on my person and which I still had. The overalls were rather small and very short, bnt when I pot them an 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 bnt a safe proposition, because their families are large and sometimes as many as seven or eight sleep ln a single room. The bam 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 back yard at night in the hope of finding food scraps, bnt my success in that direction was so slight that I soon decided that it wasn't worth the risk and I continued to live on 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 day time. 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 bam I would ha,ve a fair chance of finding my way around by the moon light which would enter the windows. The bam adjoined the main part of the honse, but I groped around very carefully and soon I touched some thing 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 that it was an old coat. It was too short for an over coat and too long for an ordinary coat, bnt nevertheless I made use of for the Belgia Some days I a Belgian peas ment I was a form entirely. Later on, ho was too dangei on anyway ai dug a bole an ter >le who had worn it. I got a scarf from l.nt and with this equlp to conceal my uni ever, I decided that it ms to keep the uniform I when night came I buried it. I never realised until I had to pa: with it Just hoW much I thought o: that uniform. Pt had been with m through hard trlfils and I felt as if were abandoning a friend when parted with it I was tempted to kee_ the wings off the tunic, but though) that would be a dnngerous concession to sentiment in the event that I wal ever captured. It was the only tll| tinction I had lift, as I had glv^ the Royal Flying) Corps badges a: the stars of my t*ank to the Germ: flyipg officers as souvenirs, but I f| that it was safer to discord it it finally turned out through all subsequent experiences, my esci would never have been jeopardi: had I kept my uniform but of cou I had no idea what was In store me. There was one thing which snrpr me very much as I Journeyed thrc Belgium and that was the scarclt dogs. Apparently most of them been taken by the Germans and are left are beasts of burden wh too tired at night to bark or b intruders. This was a mighty thing for me, for I would ce: have stirred them up ln through back-yards as I som did when I was making a short One night as I came out of it was so pitch dark that I coi see ten feet ahead of me and right in the back of a little although I did not know it I along fearing I might come to roads at which there would probability be a German se My precaution served me stead for had I come out ln street of the village and wi feet of me, sitting on som where they were building a liti I could see the dim outline man spiked helmet! I could not cross the only thing to do was to It meant making a long d< losing two hours of precious I a my to bull, me uiere horses nearly believe horses many, noticed nes, tires. losing two hours of precious effort, bnt there was no h so I plodded wearily b the Huns at every step. The next night while c fields I came to a road, the main roads of Belgl paved with cobble stones, roads yon can hear a wagi about a mile or two away. Intently before I moved hearing nothing conclndi way was clear. As I emerged from the my first glimpse of the r< shock of my life I In e as far aa I could see, thi lined with German soldi they were doing in that ginm I did not know, bnt mighty sure I didn't trying to find out Again it was necessa: my course and lose a ce: of ground, bnt by this ti: come fairly well recon' reverses and they did r as much as they did at At this period of my a day or night passed wi I began to feel almost bnt such disappoin rather rare. One evening as I was a canal about two hundi I suddenly noticed abou yards away a canal bo: the side. It was at a sort of place and I wondered boat had stopped for. to see. As I neared the were leaving it and I cross over into the distance I followed the: not gone very far they were after. 1 ting the common but b stealing potatoes ! Without the means potatoes didn't Interest I thought that the bo: probably yield me mon tato patch. Knowing would probably take th fields, I climbed up th boat leisurely and wi ular plans tp conceal my head appeared abo the boat I saw silhoi the sky, the dread < man soldier—spiked A chill ran down dropped to the bank slunk away. Evidently not seen me or, if he ably figured that I foraging party, but I wouldn't pay in futu thing for granted. that good the fight. and upon chapterI Experiences in I think that one of I had to contend witl through Belgium wasj w - ( - A [ and overcoat it. from equlp uni small ditches. They intercepted mg at every half mile or so, sometimes more frequently. The canals and th» big rivers I could swim. Of course, I got soaked to the skin every time I did it, but I was becoming harden«] to that These little ditches, however, wer» too narrow to swim and too wide to Jump. They had perhaps two feet ot 1 , 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 anded In about two feet of water and ree of mud. Getting out of that ess was quite a Job. The water waa oo dirty and too scanty to enable me o wash off the mud with which I was overed and it was too wet to scrape that it uniform came I pa: o: m if when kee_ though) 0 "' A * us t ba( l to "wait until it dried and scra P e It then, wal In many sections of Belgium through tll| whlcli I had to pass I encountered glv^ large areas of swamp and marshy ground and a: Germ: I f| esci cou rather than waste the time involved In looking for better underfooting—which I might not have found anyway—I used to pole right through the mud. Apart from the discomfort of this method of travel lng 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 ob served the unusual combination, ] thought It was a donkey and ox oc bull, but closer inspection revealed te me that cows were being used for th« purpose. From that I was able to observa uiere mast be very few horses left in Belgium except those owned by th« Germans. Cows and donkeys are now 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 dozes horses ln the possession of the nativ« population. One of the scarcest things In Ger many, apparently, is rubber, for | noticed that their motor trucks, or lo*» nes, unlike our own, had no rubbai tires. Instead heavy iron bands wer« employed. I could hear them com« rumbling along the stone roads fo* miles before they reached the spo) where I happened to be in hildlna When I saw these military roads ia Belgium for the first time, with theil heavy cobblestones that looked as U they would last for centuries, I real ized at once why It was that the Ger mans had been able to make such • rapid advance into Belgium at th< 8tart of the war. I noticed that the Belgians ase4 dogs to a considerable extent to pull their carts, and I thought many time» Burying His Uniform at Night. that If I could have stolen one o) those dogs it would have been a vert good companion for me and might 1) the occasion arose, help me out in a fight. But I had no way of feeding 1( and the animal would probably hava starved to death. I could live on veg> etables, which I could always depend upon finding in the fields, but a dofl couldn't, and so I gave up the idea. In Belgium, after weeks of hardships and narrow escapes from recapture, O'Brien finally finds a man whom he believes to be his friend. Cheered by the prospect of final escape, he gains courage to continue hrs heartbreaking tramp through Belgium. Don't miss the next installment. (TO BE CONTINUED.) A new oil-burning apparatus heats [ and lights the room at the same time»