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(Concluded from last week.)
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I—Introductory. Pat O’Brien
tells of his purpose in writing the story
of his adventures.
CHAPTER II—Tells of his enlistment in
the Royal Flying corps, his training in
Canada and his transfer to France for ac-
tive duty.
CHAPTER III—Describes fights in which
he brought down two German airplanes
and his final fight in which he was
brought down wounded within the Ger-
man lines and was made a prisoner of
‘war.
CHAPTER 1V—Discovers that German
hospital staff bawrbarously neglected the
fatally wounded and devoted their ener
gies to restoring those who might be
returned to the firing lines. Witnesses
death in fight of his best chum, Lieut.
Paul Rainey.
CHAPTER V—He is taken to the of-
peers prison camp at Courtrai. There he
egan planning his escape. By great sac-
rifice he manages to save and hide away
two daily rations of bread.
1 plugged wearily along and about
11 o'clock, after I had covered perhaps
4} Found Myself Right in a German
Back Yard.”
four miles, I sat down to rest for a
moment on a shock of brush which
was sheltered from the drizzle some-
what by other shocks which were
stacked there. It was daylight when
I awoke, and I found myself right in
a German backyard. You can imagine
that I lost no time in getting out of
that neighborhood and I made up my
mind right there and then that I would
never give away 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 though this principality is officially |
neutral, it offered me no safer a haven
than Belgium would. The Huns have
violated the neutrality of both, and dis-
covery would have been followed by
the same consequences as capture in
Germany proper.
In the nine days T had covered per-
haps seventy-five miles, and I was that
much nearer liberty, but the lack of
proper food, the constant wearing of
wet elothes, 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 con-
tinue, but I plugged along.
CHAPTER VIIL
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
of Luxembourg were practically the
same as Germans.
One of the experiences I had in Lux-
embourg 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 under-
brush, and picked out a thick clump
of brushes 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, be-
cause tired as I was I could take only
catnaps.
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 couly,
JHE AL:
LIELITENANT
PAT BRIE
©, 948, by FAT ALVA OBRIEIY
9.
LEN
but on second thought I decided to
look before I leapt. 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 ap-
parently quite safe as long as I lap
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 only see 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 brushes the task of
trimming the branches from the trunk
would be so much harder.
But even without this feeling of se-
curity, there was really nothing else 1
could do but wait and see what fate
had in store for me. I lay there watch-
ing the top of the tree for more than
an hour. Time and time again I saw it
sway and fancied it was coming 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 op- | startled by some sound in the woods, I
posite to the place where Ilay! I had
guessed right.
Later I heard some children’s voices
and again peering through the under-
brush 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 getting tempted to go boldly
up to them and take a chance of get-
ting 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 afterwards it began to rain
and about 4 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 in a log 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 8
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 samk
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
i with a single shoe.
Diving in my weakened condition
was a 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 becom-
ing so swollen that I figured if I took
my shoes off I might net be able 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
gome fifteen minutes I went on my way
again. I had gone nearly 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, think-
ing 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.” 1 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
| Just as well swim in them and save
|
| energy than I had in my present weak
think that I had not paid more atten-
tion to the course of the stream be-
matter of fact, there was really no
way of telling. The river was not
shown on the map at all.
Now I had to cross it, whereas be- '
fore I could have turned it.
boldly into the water, not bothering to |
take my clothes off this time, nor did |
I ever bother to take them off after-
wards when swimming canals and
rivers. I found it was impossible to
keep them dry anyway, and so I might
time.
All the next day I spent in a forest,
to which my night's travel had brought
me about 5 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 con-
cealment, 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 ap-
peared, a drizzling rain began and I
gave up my search for a dry spot
which would serve me as a bed. Some
of the leaves were beginning to fall, |
but of course there was not enough of
them to form a covering for the
ground, and the dampness seemed to
have penetrated everywhore.
I wandered around through the
woods for two or three hours looking !
for shelter, but without any success,
for, although 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 someone ;
would surely happen on to me.
Once I came very near to the ends
of the woods and heard voices of men
driving by in a wagon, but I couldn't
make out just what they were, snd
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 and 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
and exhausted condition, so didn’t at-
tempt that.
Finally I chose a spot that locked 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,
would suddenly awake.
After what seemed like a year or
more, night finally came, and with a
“dud” sky, low-hanging clouds and still
more rain. There was not a star in the !
sky, of ccurse, and that made it very |
bad, because without the aid of the
stars I had absolutely no way of know-
ing which direction I was going. It
was just a case of taking a chance. 3:
probably would have been better off if
I had simply picked out a place and
stayed there until the weather im-
proved, but naturally I was impatient
to be on my way when each day with-
out 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 towards morning, when I sup-
posed I had gotten in a fairly good lap
of my journey—perhaps seven or eight
miles—I began to recognize certain ob-
jects 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—net 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 te 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 dis-
gust, and discouragement, too, when an
hour or so iater 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 try-
ing 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 wel-
comed before. 1 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
I walker? !
i and only a few cows.
|
. searched nests for eggs, but somebody
night lost means a whole lot, especi-
. ally when each day keeps him from
fore I undertook to cross it, but as a |
freedom. Such ill fortune and dis-
. couragements as this were harder to
i endure,
| hunger, and the accompanying worry
I believe, than the actual
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 of habit and helped to pass
the time away. 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
for it. Right at this time I would
have welcomed anything for a compan-
ion. I believe even
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 op-
portunities 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,
Several times I
excellent remedy |
a snake would
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 Luxem- ;
bourg.
and are still at home, and as they are
' decidedly pro-Germsan, 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
I knew, because the young men
“have not been forced into the army
that I was suffering about the worst |
hardships any human being could ever
be called upon to endure, but I was
later to find that the best of my jour-
ney 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
afterwards compelled to eat or go
without.
for me. I think T heard them once
or twice that day, and my heart nearly
dently they decided to lock in seme
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 ex
pense of going somewhat out of ms:
way. 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
I kept away from the rcads
my journeying through
night.
and did all
A
Map Shewing the Progress O’Brien
Made in Passing Out of Luxembcurg |
The Heavy Dotted .
Into Belgium.
Line Shows the Course of That Part
of His Journey Toward Holland.
‘ "Huns and this Pat O’Brien—this fel-
! low who keeps after me all the time
stopped on each occasion, but evi- :
‘ ‘to lie down—this yellow Pat O’Brein
and leans on my neck and wants me
wants me to go back to the Huns!”
After a spell of foolish chutter 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 I was about on my last legs. I
fields, beet patches, woods, swamps— :
anywhere provided 1 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 near- |
est of all to giving up the struggle. |
The Meuse at this point is about
half a mile wide—as wide as the Hud-
son River at West Point.
in normal condition I wouldn't have
San Diego bay, California, is a mile
and a half wide, and I had often swam
across and back, and the San gaoquin,
which is also a mile and a half wide,
; had never proven an obstacle to me.
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 the merits
In the wretched shape in which 1 !
was very much tempted to lie down
then and there and call it a beat.
Things seemed to be getting worse for
Kept Pulling and Crawling Up
That Infernal Bank.
me the farther I went, and all the
. time I had before me the spectre of
Had I been :
that electric barrier between Belgium
! and Holland, even if I ever reached
hesitated a moment to swim across. '
| ‘upon one bold move.
then was, however, the Meuse looked |
like the Atlantic ccean to me. I
looked for a boat, but could find none.
+ I tried to get a piece of wood upon
and will still work. My advice to some
| was equally unsuccessful.
of those nature seekers is that 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 experi-
ence of mine I made many mistakes
and traveled many unnecessary miles
which one with a knowledge of wood-
manship 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 volun-
tarily. 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 ap-
pearance I must have presented at this
time—my unhealed wounds, eighteen
days’ growth of Dbcard and general
haggard and unkept visage—I think
the fear I felt about meeting strangers
was perhaps unwarranted. The
chances are they would have been in-
finitely more scared than I!
As it was, I was nearly out of Lux-
embourg before I came face to face
with anyone. It was about 6 o'clock in
the morning and I was traveling along
a regular path, Just as I was ap-
proaching a cross-path, I heard foot-
steps coming down it. I stopped short,
stooped over and pretended to be ad-
justing my shoelace, 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.
On 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.
CHAPTER IX.
1 Enter Belgium.
I have said it was about the
eighteenth day after my escape that
I entered Belgium, but that is more
or less guess work. I was possibly
well into that country before I real-
ized that I had crossed the line.
About the third day after I figured
I was in Beigium I started to swim
a canal just before daylight. I was
then heading due north in the direc-
tion of the German lines. I was just
about the 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 op-
posite side, as I reasoned they would
not be looking for me there. I found
a sheltered clump of bushes that were
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 come up soon
and kept me warm, and I planned to
camp right there, food or no food,
until the Hun got tired of searching
which I hoped to ferry across, but I
Get across I must, and I decided
there was nothing to do but to swim.
It was then about 3 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 fagzged out. I sank a
little and tried to touch bottom with
my feet, but the water was still be-
yond my depth.
There are times when everyone will
pray, and I was no exception. I
prayed for strength to make those
| few wicked yards, and then, with all
'
I cried aloud.
‘to Holland, don’t you? But this Pat
.O’Brien—this Pat O’Brein who calls
‘trai—after
the will power I could summon, struck
out for dear life. It seemed a life-
time 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 exhaus-
tion.
It was now about 4 o’clock in thc
morning and I was entirely unpro-
tected from observation. If anyone
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 tow-path 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 aH
day, without food or drink.
That night I made a little head-
way, but when day broke I had a
dreadful fever and was delirious. I
talked to -myseif and thereby in-
creased 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 fezr that another day of
this would about finish me.
I have a distiret recollection of a
ridiculous conversation I carried on
with an imaginary Fat O'Brien—a
sort of duplicate of my=o't. I argued
with him as I marched drem:lly 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 Stat”
“You want me to geu
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 Cour-
all you've done, North
Star? I don’t want to follow him—I
just want to follow you—because you
—you are taking me away fsom the
)
there alive. What was the use of
further suffering when I would prob.
ably be captured in the end anyway!
Before giving up, however, I decided
I would ap:
proach one of the houses in the vis
cinity and get food there or die in
the effort.
I picked out a small house because
I figured there would be less likeli
hood of soldiers being billeted there.
Then I wrapped a stone in my khaki
handkerchief as a sort of camouflaged
weapon, determined to kill the occus
pant of the house, German or Belgian,
if that step was necessary in order
to get food. I tried the well in thg
! yard, but it would not work, and then
'I went up 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 wus, probably, because I was
still attifed 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 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
fAothes 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 efiort to conceal its
presence or its mission.
Continued next week) .
The Jordan.
The Jordan has nothing to make it
specially attractive beyond the histor-
ical associations connected with it.
But as the stream that is woven in so
freely with the thread of the Bible
narrative, it will always retain the
place it has held so long in the esti-
mation of christians who visit the Ho-
ly Land. It is the only river of any
importance in all that part of the
country which the Jews occupied.
And yet there is a great deal of truth
in the description which one has thus
given of it:
“For all practical purposes to
which a river is ordinarily applied, the
Jordan is useless; so rapid, that its
course is to a great extent a contin-
ued cataract; so crooked, that in the
whole of its lower and main course it
has hardly half a mile straight; so
broken with rapids and other impedi-
ments, that no boat can float for more
than the same distance continuously;
so deep below the surface of the ad-
jacent country, that it is invisible,
and can only be approached with dif-
ficulty; resolutely refusing all com-
munication with the ocean, and end-
ing in a lake, the peculiar conditions
of which render navigation impossi-
ble.” With all these characteristics,
the Jordan, in any sense we attach to
the word “river” is no river at all.
Alike useless for irrigation and nevi-
gation, it is, in fact, what its Arabic
name signifies, nothing but a “great
watering place.”
The plain of Jericho, owing to the
want of culture and the neglect of ir-
rigation, has lost very greatly in its
former fertility. We found the ride
across, hot and uninteresting, and
were not sorry when we reached the
banks of the sacred stream, and got
our first view of its rapidly flowing
waters, which are invisible till that
position, is gained. The banks of the
river are fringed with broad belts of
tamarisk, oleander, and willow trees,
among which reeds and underwood
spring up so as to form impenetrable
jungles. These offer secure dens for
the wild boar and the leopard, and
from these in former times, as the
prophet says, “the lion would come up
from the swellings of Jordan.”—
From “Rambles Through Bible
Lands,” by Richard Newton, D. D.
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