(Copyright, 1918, by Pat Alva O'Brien)
DRIVEN TO DESPERATION BY HUNGER, O'BRIEN GOES
BOLDLY TO A BELGIAN HOUSE AND ASKS FOR FOOD.
Synopsis.—I’at O'Brien, a resident of Momence, Ill, after seeing
service iu the American Flying corps on the Mexican border in 1916,
joins the British Royal Flying corps in Canada, brief
ing period is sent to France. He Is assigned to a squadron in
service on the front, Ke engages in several hot fights with Germag
flyers, from which he emerg Finally, in a fight with four
German flyers, O'Brien is shot down. He falls 8,000 feet
by a miracle, awakes find himself a
hospital, with a bullet in his mouth.
hospital he is sent to a prison camp at Courtral.
there he is placed upon a train bound for a prison ©
He decides to desperate chance for liberty. He leaps through
open window the while the train is traveling 35
hour. His by the fall, O'Brien
through and Luxembourg, traveling at
day, garbage
train-
active
and after a
es victorious,
and, escaping
death to prisoner
After a days in
After a
np
German
the
stay
Germany.
in n
hole few
short
in
take a
of
car miles
wounds reopened almost 1terally
and
viegetables stolen fr
ISRAEL
Germany night
living on and raw
CHAPTER IX—Continued.
a
the bank of the o:
and
side, as 1
for me
lump of
18 able to drag
k, but I got
high and |
that I took
Bhd wi
up to the
bank a
us
there,
I ran up
listance hen swam so violently when
reasoned the
there,
bushes that
near the
that I could
f
myseil
canal
The
ln con
and
me for
along wi
while
thout a
would
trudge
word until the fevel
He on me agnin.
I knew that I hs
cause I was ahout
food be
on
as very much tempted to
then and there and
Things scemed to be getting worse for
me the farther 1 went, and all the
I had before me the spectre of
electric barrier between Belgium
and Holland, even if I ever reached
there alive What was the use of
further when 1 ould prob
ably be captured ie the end anyway?
I decided
would ap
the vi
in
my
down
beat
lie
call it a
time
that
suffering
Defore giving up, however,
upon bold
proach one of
cinify and get
the effort,
1 picked out
I figured there
of
Then I wrap
handkerchief as a
determined
of th
that
get
one move. 1
the houses in
food there
or dle
foux
likell
hood soldiers being billeted there.
wed a stone in my khaki
sort camouflaged
to kill the occu
house, German or Belgian,
SOD Was need in order
food, 1 tried ft well in the
but it would not work, and tha
I went up to the door and knocked
{ It was 1 o'clock in the morning. An
old lady cue to the window nnd
looked out. She could not Imagine
what I was, probably, beenuse 1 was
the will power 1 could suninmon, attired in that old reoat, She
ant for lita, It seemed a life-| gave an ery and her husband and a
thog bofaie | finally fell the wel me | Loy ene to the door
/
“l] Kept Pulling and Crawling Up
That Infernal Bank. of
Ww eapon,
pant
if
to
yard
and gasped, and and
were completely I sank a
Jiltle and bott
my feet, ns
yond my depth.
There are times
pay, dal i
prayed ‘or
arms logs
sary
with |
bes
touch
the water v
* ¢
tried to
but
om he
when ever:
WHS no ex
strength ike
widked yards, and then, with all
ception,
to 1 those
few
struck | stil OV
deur
They could not speak English and 1
could not speak Flemish, but 1 pointed
to my flying coat and then to the sky
and sald “Fleger” (flier), which I
thought would tell them what I was,
Whether they understood or were
intimidated by the hard-looking ap-
pearance, 1 don't know, but certainly
It would have to 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 month,
clothes and dirty, my
were gone—they had gotten
<0 heavy I had to discard them-—-my
hair was matted and my
hed with fever. In
carried the in my
and I made no effort
presence or lis
they ioned indoors,
my first hot meal in more
True, it consisted only
They had been
1) the old woman
fined them up in milk
st Kettles I ha
«d for
tithough 1
be a
for an
torn
shaved
were wet,
not my
leggings
cheeks were
my hand 1
handkerchief
to eonceal
fon.
flus
rock
its
miss
Anyway, mot me
gave me
than a month!
warm potatoes,
prey cooked, but
in one of
ver
bread t she shook
3] « seen,
t day 1 WHS
exh
20 worn
nation that
my coat, thinking tha
st 1 had carry the
id be for me, but when nig!
I regretted my mistake
nights were now getting
thought at first it would bx
to retrace my steps look
coat 1 had thoughtiessly dis
but I decided to £0 on wi
to
wou
because
colder,
better
and
ne 80
carded,
out it.
I then began to disc
that I had in my pocket
ing my
ard everything
wrist watch into a canal. A
wristi-watch does not add much
weight, but when yeu plod along and
not eaten for a month it finally
hecomes rather vy. The nex
thing 1 discarded was a pair of flying
mittens,
have
nea
These mittens 1 had gotten at Camp
orden, in Canada, and had
guite famous, as my friends termed
. shoes.” in fact, they
ridiculous pair of mittens, but
the best pair 1 ever had and J really
felt worse when 1 lost those
than anything else, 1
anybody else ever
hole in the
and could not
the thought if my
me burying my
wore a standing
land and France,
I had on two shirts
all
become
Hem
were n
Know
mitten
could not think
of
and buried
but nugh
could see
they
Eng
mud
help
friends
mittens, because
ke In Canada,
dug a
thom
nt
and as they were
¥8 both wet und didn't keep me
warm, It wis useless to wear both
One of these was a shirt that I ha
bought in France, the other an Amer
lena army shirt. They were both
khak! and on apt to give me away
as the other, ao | discara sd the French
shire. The American aruyy
ue
brought back with me to England and
it is still in my possession.
When 1 escaped from the train I still |
had the Bavarian cap of bright red
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 1
carried my mup and a few other be
longings in it and I had fully made
up my mind to bring It home
souvenir, jut the farther 1
the heavier my extra clothing became,
so 1 discard
the would be a
threw it
imming a
mud on
with
my y- i
perhaps ;
fis A;
went |
was
cap.
compelled to
I knew that it
tell-tale mark If I
away, one night after sw
river, I dug a hole in the soft
the bank and buried it,
siderably less ceremony tl
ing mittens had received
that was the end of my I
My at the
house wh my apps
food I figured that wl
done could
even
simply
HO
too, con
ian
experience
tied for
hat ha
done
{ite
be
he 2
nn a
oe creabora io
haat As
A
Diagram 8 How Q’Brien Lost
Precious Hours by Swimming a Riv.
er ard Later Finding That He Was
on thes Wrong Side and Hac
Back.
nowing
to Swim
that
they hu
wer my breeches,
for |
I planned to search another house
further Entering lelgian |
any but a safe |
thelr families are
As Mmuny
thing
ometimes #8 seven
room. The
with the
was always
dumb |
of the |
or eight steed in a single
usually connected
proper, and there
danger of disturbing s«
ven if
not
Frequently I took a
searching a back yard
food
direc
is
houae
ne me
the inmates
house were aroused.
chance of
at night in the
scraps, but my
tion was so slight
that it wasn't
and I continued to
ables that I could
in the flelds and the
il that able to get
3
Belgian peasants in the day-
finding
success in that
soon decided
the risk
live on raw veget
with safety
worth
ie
I was
asional
from the
time,
Nevertheless | determined to
the of clothing and
when night came I picked out a house
that looked ns though it might furnish
me with what 1 wanted. It was a
moonlight night and if I could get in
the barn I would have a fair chance of
finding my way —— by the moon-
light which would enter the windows,
The barn adjoined the main part of
the he use, but 1 groped around very
soon I touched some-
n a peg. 1 didn’t
Know but 1 confisented
it and carried it out into the elds.
There In moonlight 1 examined
my booty and found that it was an old
cont. It was too short for an over
long for an ordinary
vevertheless 1 made use of
wns
get more way
was,
tl
Lae
coat gnd too
it. It had probably been an overcoat
for the who had worn it
Some days later 1 got a searf fron
jelgian
ment | able
form entirely,
Later on, however, 1 decided
was too dangerous to keep the uniform
on anyway and when night came 1
dug a and buried it.
I never tlized until I had
with it just how h 1 thou
that uniform. It been wit
through hard trials and I felt
{
were aban ing a friend
wns to conceal my uni
that 1
hole
mu
had
dot
parted with it. I was tempte«
the wings off the tur but
that a. be a dangerous
to sentiment ln the eve
ever captured. It w
dnction 1 had left,
the Royal Flying
irs of 1 rank
gouvenirs,
to
ny
officers
as
safer to dis
was
the-wav
the on
crawled
dered
d for i
hot five
noticed
beat had
to sew,
stop
As I neared the
leaving it and 1
over into the field
nee 1 followed
far
after
wore
Cross
dixta
before 1 saw what
were They were com
the common but
10f gone yeory
mit-
stealing potatoes
Without
potatoes
I thought the boat
yield me more
probably 3
tato patch. Knowing the
would probably take
fields, 1 climbed up
boat leisurely and without
ular plans to concenl
my head appeared
the boat 1
the sky, the
man soldier—apiked helmet and al
A chill ran down my spine as 1
dropped to the bank of the canal and
siunk away. Evidently the sentry had
not seen me or, if he had, he had prob- |
ably figured that I was one of the
foraging party, bul 1 realized that it
wouldn't pay in future to take any- |
thing for granted, |
to
me
cook
a bit
itself
he
didn’t
that
means
interest and
their
time
stern
in
the of the
any partie- |
Just as
stern of
against
outline of a
myself
the
saw silhouetted
dread
nhove
ror
i
CHAPTER X,
Experiences in Belgium,
I think that one of the worst things
!
I had to contend with In my journey
small ditchés, They intercepted me
at every half mile or so, sometimes
more frequently. The canals and the
big rivers [ could swim. Of course, |
got sonked to the skin every time I
did it, but I hardened
to that,
These little
too narrow and
Jump. They had perhaps two
water in them and three feet
and It was almost Invariably a
wading through Some of
doubt, I
been In decent
WH oming
ditches, however, were
in
feet of
of mud,
to swim too wi
then
He
could have jumped if I had
shape, but with a bad
ankle and in the weakened condition
in which I was, 18 almost gut of
the {on
n.
One nigl I
ques
came about
ught 1
and it
nfort I
[ f
nine feet
was strong enough t jump it
worth trying
suffer after
Wis
ed
it wonld
anion for
ion Ar
SO,
live on veg
could depend
tue fields, but & dog
the idea.
d to death,
which 1
in
and so I gave up
always
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 his
heartbreaking tramp through
Belgium. Don't miss the next
instaliment.
a
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
5S SA
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