Crook County journal., July 25, 1918, Page Page 6, Image 6

Page
JULY BS,
CROOK COl'XTV JOURNAL
TV V
U
THE HUN"
LIEUTENANT
PAT O'BRIEN
urnM, uu, k? ru tin o ana
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I Introductorr. Pt O'Brlaa
tails of hia purpua la writing the buwi
mi bis adventuraa. j
CHAPTER tt Telia nf Ma enllatnutnt In
tha Royal Flylns corpa, bla training la
Canada and rua usual or to 'ranee for ac
tive duty.
CHAPTER m Describee flihts In which
fca brought down two Uarmu airplanes
aad bla Anal right In which ba waa
toousht dowa wounded wlthia tha Ger
ansa llnaa and waa mada a prisoner ot
War.
CHAPTER IV Discovers that Oman
koapltal atari barbarously neglected tha
fatally wounded and devoted their ener
gies to restoring- thoaa who might ba
returned to tha firing tinea. Witnesses
flaath In fight of bis boat chum, Lieut,
raid Ralney.
CHAPTER V Ha Is taken to tha of
floers prison camp at Courtral. There ha
began planning his escape. By great sac
Since he manages to save and hide aaay
two daily raUuaa of bread.
CHAPTER VI.
A Leap for Liberty.
I had been Id prison at Courtral
nearly three weeks when, on the morn-
lug of September 9th, I and six other
officers were told that we were to be
transferred to a prison camp In Ger
many. One of the guards told me during the
day that we were destined for a re
prisal camp in Strassburg. They were
ending us there to keep our airmen
from bombing the place.
Be explained that the English car-
lied German officers on hospital ships
for similar purpose and he excused
the German practice of torpedoing
these Teasels on the score that they
also carried munitions I When I
pointed out to him that France would
hardly be sending munitions to Eng
land, 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, be
cause I realized that If ever the op
portunity 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 argu
ment as to whether Heidelberg was on
the Rhine or not, and we argued back
and forth so vigorously that the Ger
man came out of his room, map in
hand, to settle it After the matter
was entirely settled to our satisfac-
I Confiscated the Map.
tlon, 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 con
fiscated 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 camp In Ger
many, 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 gotten 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 these containing troopsjjolng
ouTVnriNG
l If if
home on leave, au3 Hie Tweirtn re
served for us. We were placed In a
fourth-class compartment with old,
hard, wooden seats, filthy floor and
no lights save a candle placed there
by 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 trlpP one of
them shouted sarcastically.
"Prop me a line when you get to
Berlin, will you 7" shouted another In
broken English.
"When shall we see you again V
asked a third.
"Retneniber me to your friends, will
youT Tou'll find plenty where you're
going!" shouted another.
The German officers made no efflort
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 windew.
"You're an officer, arent your I
asked, respectfully enough.
Tea, what of ltT 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 least be
transferred to second-class compart
ment V
"If I had my way," be replied, "you'd
ride with the hogs I"
. 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 d sight
better than riding with the Germans !"
I yelled after him, but If he consid
ered that a good joke, 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. s
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, as fur as I
was concerned, the war was over.
It occurred to me that If the eight
of us In that car could jump at a given
signal and seize those four Hun guard
by surprise, we'd . have a splendid
chance of besting them and jumping
oft 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 worked out as gloriously
is I had pictured, they pointed out,
the fact that so many of us had es
caped 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 con
cluded that my one and only chance of
getting free before we reached It was
through the window I 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 bis 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 compart
ment 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 :
Tou'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 noes have It" and
closed down the window again.
As soon as the window was closed,
the noise of the train naturally sub
sided and its speed seemed to dimin
ish, 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 con
fided to the English officer who sat
next me what I had planned to do.
"For God's sake, Pat, chuck it I" he
urged. "Don't be a lunatic ! This rall
roud is double-tracked and rock-bal-lasted
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 an
other 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 thou
sand to escape, and the Idea of re
maining a prisoner of war Indefinitely
went against my grain. I resolved to
take my chance now at the risk 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 Rtilnir fhrougTi my mTud all
, the time we had been traveling.
I began to rough as though my throat
j was 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 any
: thing.
It was then 4 o'clock In the morn
ing and would soon be light I knew I
j bad to do It right then, or never, as
i there would be do chauce to escape In
the daytime,
j I had on a trench coat that I had
I used as a (lying coat and wore my
I knapsnrk, which I had constructed
out of a gas bug brought Into Courtral
J by a British prisoner. In this I had
itwo pieces of bread, a piece of sau
sage and a pair of Hying 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 agnln It seemed to admonish
"I Pulled Myself Up, Shove My Feet
j Through the Window, and Let Go."
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 upon
the bench as If to put the bag on the
rack and taking hold of the rack with
my left hand ar.d ,a strap that hung
, from the top of the car with my right,
1 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 be-
tween 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 bands and shins and
' straining my ankle. For a few mo
ments I was completely knocked out
and if they shot at me through the
I 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 of 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 be
ing dazed, I forgot all about the barbed
wire fence along the right of way and
' ran full tilt into it. Bight 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,
j 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
1 make the most of my liberty.
CHAPTER VII.
Crawling Through Germany.
The exact spot at which I made my
desperate leap I don't know. Perhaps,
after the war is over, someone 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
' 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 handker
chiefs 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 to leave
tell-tale 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
bad been broken in my fall from the
air, but I had It repaired at Courtral.
In the leap from the train, the crystal
had been broken again, hut it was
iTtn goliig am! wouM "proliuhly" Have
been of great service to me lu my
subsequent adventures, but the swim
across the, ennui ruined It
Then, too, I had not thought to take
my map out of my nock and the water
damaged that too.
Thereafter, whenever I had sny
swimming to do, 1 was careful to tuke
such matters Into consideration, and
my usual practice waa to make a
bundle of all the things that would ba
damaged by water and tie It to my
head. In this way I was able to keep
thetu dry.
It was now daylight and I knew that
It would be sukidsil for me to attempt
to travel In the daytime. ' My British
uniform would have been filial to me.
I decided to hide In the daytime and
travel only at night
Not fur front 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 bad
been strained tn 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
bad not the piece of bread, which was
to serve for my breakfast, got wet
when I swam the canal. I found a safe
biding place tn which to spend the
day and I tried to dry some of ma
clothes, but a slight drlxxling 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 waa,
caavd with mud and blood, my cloth
ing soaked through and my hunger not
nearly appeased, sleep was out of the
question. This seemed to me about
the longest day I hud ever spent, but
I was still to learn how long a day ran
really be aud 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 under
wear, leather leggings, heavy shoes, a
(mh1 pair of wool socks and a German
cap. I bad a wallet containing sev
eral hundred francs In paper money
and various other papers. I also hud
a jackknlfe which I had stolen one
day before from the property room at
Courtral. where all the personal ef
fects taken from prisoners were kept.
For a day or two I hud curried a knap
sack, 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 per
haps ten miles before duyllght. Then
I located In some low buNhes, 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 liv
ing on nothing but cubhage, sugar
beets and an occasional carrot, alwuys
In the raw stute just as I got them
out of the fields. The water I drunk
was often very rank. One night I lay
In a cabbage patch for an hour lapping
the dew from the leaves with my
tongue I
During this period I reullted that I
must avoid meeting anyone at all has
ards. I was In the enemy's country and
my uniform would have been a dead
give-away. Anyone 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 necewsury for me to niuke
progress as fust 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 m leup from the truln,
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 heaven 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 today I
I believed it ruined every night and
day while I was making my way
through ' Germany and Luxembourg.
My invariable program at this stage
of my. Journey was to travel steudily
all night until about six in the morn
ing, when I would commence looking
around for a place wherein to hide
during the day. Low bushes or woods
back from the road, as fur 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 usu
ally soaked through, either from the
rain or from swimming.
The only sleep I got during those
days was from exnaustlon, and It usu
ally came to me towards dusk when
it was time for me to start aguln.
It was a mighty fortunate thing for
me that I was not a tmoker. Somehow
I have never used tobacco in any form.
I was now fully repaid for whatever
pleasure I bad foregone in the pust as
a result of my habits In that partic
ular, because my sufferings would cer
tainly 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 jnd exhausted whiin the time
Came Tor me to lie on tbe mora, tlntT
I waa very much tempted to sleep
through the night, I knew, however,
that that would be a bud precedent to
establish and I wouldn't give In,
I plugged wearily along and about
It o'clock, after I had covered perhaps
"I 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 drtxzle some
what by other shocks which were
stacked there. It was daylight when
I awoke, and I found myself right In
a flerinnn 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 heurt. 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 (hough this principality In officially
neutral. It offered mo 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 proier.
In the nine days I 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 clothes, and the loss of sleep and
rest hud reduced me to a very murb
weakened condition. I doubted very
much whether I would be able to con
tinue, but I plugged along.
CHAPTER VIII.
Nine Days In Luxembourg.
I was Dow beading 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 hud traveled all night and I
was feeling very weuk. 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 tuke only
catnaps.
That afternoon I awoke from one
of these naps with a start There were
voices not a dozen feet from me I My
first Impulse was to Jump to my feet
and sell my life as dearly as I could,
but on second thought I decided to
look before I leapt. Peeping through
the underbrush I conld 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 lay
where I was.
- It then occurred to me that If the
tree upon which they were working
should happen to full tn my direction
it would crush me to death I It was
toll enough to reach me and big enough
to kill me If it lunded 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 I
could do but wait and see what fate
bad 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 coining 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.
(To be continued)
w. s. s. .
The1 Journal, per year, $2.00
FRENCH OCCUPY
CHATEAU THIERRY
Cornerstone in Line of Far
thest Gorman Operations
Is Taken.
With the French Army In France.
Chuteuu Thierry, the cornerstone of
the line of tha farthest German ad
vance, fell when tha French occupied
the city, driving lh Uerumiii before
them.
Tbs enemy has beguu his retreat
northward under heavy pressure from
all sides, French, American and Brit
ish all participating In tha thrust
which Is pushing tha Ouruians back.
The Qertnan position In the vicinity
of Chateau Thierry was doomed from
the moment their divisions recroaaed
the Marne.
Franco-American troops carried out
an euclrcllug movement (rout tha
northwest at tha same time which
mad t It absolutely necessary for tha
enemy to withdraw.
Ou the main battle field between the
Alans and the Marne the Germans
again have been driven back a consid
erable dlatauoe. They have been push
ed back over tha BolsaoarCbaleau
Thierry road at several points north
of the Ourcq.
South of the river undr the coin
blued preaaure of French troops ad
vancing from tha woet and tha Freuco
Amerlcun forces who followed the en
amy across the Marne and who are
now pushing him northward, the Oer
niuus fell back rapidly.
ALLIES IN CONTROL
OF SUFPLY LINES
With the American Armies In
Frunce. The Franco-American ad
vance continues everywhere from Sola
sous to east of Chateau-Thierry.
Oulchy-lo-Cbatcuu bus been pene
trated, placing the rullwuy and the
Diuln highway from Chateau-Thierry
to Kismet under allied control and
thus adding to the difficulties of the
Omnia retirement from the Murue.
American and French Infantry are
across the Marne In great number,
heavily reinforced by allied artillery,
which effected tha pimeapro without op
position. French cavalry la operating
northeast of Chateau-Thierry, far in
advance of the Infantry.
American field guns are firing on
Solano u a, while the Franco-American
Hue has been straightened south of
that city until practically all the mala
highway from Solsson to Chateau
Thierry Is In our possession.
The district south of the Murne and
east of Chateau-Thierry la entirely
cleared of Germans. Two badly cut up
regiments war left south of the Mam
In the Ocrman retreat. Allied u tutor
bombed the bridge acros the river
and their escape wa Impossible,
Indian scout who were with Per
thing In Mexico, played a prominent
part In the scout work In the river
region. ,
ALLIES CONTINUE ADVANCE
Important Gains Mad In Solssons and
Rhalms Salient
Parts. Important gains by the
French, American, Italian and British
troop In the territory comprising the
Solssons-Rhelms salient are reported
In the official communication Issued
by the war office.
Under the double pressure of the
Franco-American force between the
Ourcq aud the Marne and the French
units who crossed the river between
Fossoy and Charteves, the Germans
were driven back beyond the line ot
Bczu St. Germain and Moot St Pete.
Chateau Thierry Is wldoly freed to
the north.
Between the Marne and Rhelms the
fighting wa extremely violent
Franco-British and Italian troops at
tacked with Indefatigable energy and
captured St. Euphrulse and Doullly
! Lnd marie coins In the ArrlrA vnllpv '
Courton wood and Hols Du Rol. I
Americans Capture 6000 Huns.
Washington. FreBh successes for
the American forces In their drive be
tween the Aisne and the Marne were:
reported in General Pershing's com-!
munique to the war department Tha
Americans were driving ahead with
undiminished vigor and spirit, tha
Statement said. More than 6000 pris
oners, over 100 cannon and many
trench - mortars and machine gum
have been taken by American dlvt'
sions In the last few days on the Alsnav
Marne front, General Pershing re
ported.
Ludendorff Chief of German Armlet,
Paris. Oeneral Ludendorff has re!
celved in a German official statement
the title of chief of the general ataff,'
accordiug to the Matin. The news-1
paper point out that that title be
longed to Field Marshal von HInden-f
burg and wonder what has becoma
of him. J