Casper Daily Tribune Newspaper, October 31, 1918, Page 6

NF yy LIEUTENANT PAT O'BRIEN Copyright, Ils, by Pat Aiva O'Brien CHAPTER Viil. Nine Days in Luxembourg. | I was now heading northwest and £} thought that by keeping that course} I would get out of Luxembourg and| into Belgium, where I expected to be pris better off, because the people uxembourg were practically the! e 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 Snuthe sun. As the sun moved I moved the clovhes around correspondingly, be- cause tired as I was I could take only catnaps. That pfternoon 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 coula, 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 lay} 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 I/ edéuld do but wait and see what fate had in store for me. Flay thefe watch- ing the top of the tree for more than | 4p 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 and.I knew that my imagination played mea trick, Iwas niusing on the sorry plight. I wis in—weak, nearly starving to death, arefugee in a hostile country, and waiting patiently to gee 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- osite to the place where Ilay! I had guessed right. Later I heard some children’s voices | and again pecring 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 long 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| { , i came to another river, about Z| once in a lifetime.” | might climb into it and go to sleep, ‘ bearings the day before, and as it had ing so swollen that I figured if T took my shoes off I might not 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 some fifteen minutes I went on my way again. I had gone nearly a mile when | 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 )| I found that this river was the one I had just swum! I hud swum it on the bend and was still on the wrong je. 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 think that I had not paid more atten- tion to the course of the stream be- fore I undertook to cross it, but as a 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 ft. I walked 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 just as well swim in them and save time, All the next day I spent in a forest, | to which my night's travel had brought me about 5 o’elock 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, 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 everywh>re. 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 practichlly 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, and 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 but the longer I looked at it the niore I realized that It would require more energy than I had in my present weak | and exhausted condition, so didn’t at- tempt that. Finally I chose a spot that looked a bit drier than the rest, concluded to take a chance on being discoveredjand | 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, | startled -by some sound in the woods, I | 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 course, 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. I 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 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, byt 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- | manship might | convinced that I had lost the sight of load across and then swim back for) posed I had gotten in a fairly good lap the other. | of my journey—perhaps seven or eight ‘The river was quite wide, but Iam ® | mlles—I began to recognize certain ob- | fairly good swimmer and I figured I) jects as familiar landmarks. At least, could rest awhile after the first trip| I thought I had seen them before and before going back for the “second as I traveled along I knew positively I bundle. | had seen certain objects very recently. ‘The first swim was uneventful. When| Off at my right—not over a quarterof | I landed on the other side I drank till! a mile—I noticed some fairly good | my thirst was quenched and then) sized woods and thought I would go swam back. After resting awhile I| over there to hide that day, because it started across a third time, with my) looked as though the sun was going to shoes and several other things firmly! shine and I hoped to get my clothes | tled to my head. Just about ten feet) dry, and perhaps get » decent sleep. | from the opposite bank one of the| I had this celery and a large beet, so | shoes worked its way loose and sank’ I knew I would be able to live the day | in about eight feet of water. There} through. | was nothing to Go but finish the trip) Finally I made my way over to the and then go back and dive for the! woods, It was still too dark in among missing shoe, as I could not go ©N/| the trees to do much in the way of | with a single shoe. | selecting my quarters for the day and Diving in my weakened condition) I could nut go a step farther. So 1| was a considerable strain, but I had to! waited on the edge of the forest until | havé that shoe and I kept at it for! dawn and: then set out to explore the nearly an hour before I eventually) place, with a view to finding some nook found it, and I was pretty nearly all| where I might sleep. Imagine my dis- in by that time. | gust, and discouragement, too, when an That was the last time I ever took! hotr or so later I came upon the exact | my shoes off, for my feet were hecom-| place where I had spent the day before, | and I renjized that all night long I had a — arcling the very woods T was try- | get away from. I think perhaps | gone all of a quarter of a mile in ght 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 ray us they, perhaps, have never been wel- | comed before. I 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 ia making only seven or eight miles a day, or rather a night, one night lost means a whole lot, especi- ally when each day keeps him from freedom. Such ill fortune and dis- | couragements as this were harder to endure, I believe, than the actual hunger, and the accompanying worry 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 alwdys 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 excellent remedy | for it. Right at this time I would | have welcomed anything for a compan- ion, I believe even a snake would 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, and only a few cows. Several times I searched nests for eggs, but somebody 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. I knew, because the young men have not been forced into the army and are still at home, and as they are decidedly pro-German, 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 | 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. 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 and will still work. My advice to some 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 trayeled many unnecessary miles which ane with a knowledge of wood- 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 T had. At about this tinle blisters began to appear on my legs and my_ knees | swelled. In addition I was pretty well } 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 beard 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 thgm. | On the eighteenth day after my leap from the train I crossed into Belgium. | Building. Security Loan Co., phone | It had taken me just nine days to get | Pee 10-12-tf | through Luxembourg—a distance , Sadie La Touf, manager of the] ¥ | which a man could ordinarily cover in two, but considering the handicaps under which I labored I was very well satisfied with my progress. TO BE CONTINUED r eet apes A i eat Cooking like you want it—at The Harvey. 10-21-tf* te List your property with us. The! Security Loan Company, Room 4, Kimball Bldg. 10-1-t£ | pi a When you are hungry think of the) White House Cafe. 10-26-32) ———_—- j Money to loan on everything. The Security Loan Company, Room 4, Kimball Bldg. 10-1-tf! ———_—_— The latest year jin which the human} body makes growth is the twenty-, fifth. THE CASPER DAILY TRIBUNE |and the public welfare demand that | the earliest practicable moment peace |and voted for unconditional surren-} {was wise. \Nor’s terms imposed upon the | co | his eldest son, which took place at Mrs. B. B. Lummis daughter have returned from a sev-/ eral weeks’ visit with Mr. Lummis’ relatives jn Cheyenne. Her sister, Miss Lou Rhea, is spending the en-| |forced vacation time at the Lummis jhome on Delaware, avenue. Miss Rhea has been teaching in Wyoming. 8 ITH H. C. Bretschneider of the Fran-| co-Wyoming Oil company is ill pt a) LINGOLN'S PLEA “Peace With Victory” Issue in| his condition is improving. Se kal Civil War With Same Party i List your property with us. The t 7 - ‘Security Loan Company, Room 4, Te Coe cael \Kimball Bldg. 10-1-f| In apology. for and defense of! Woodrow Wilson’s recent letter, AT THE MIDWEST. Democratic orators are citing the ap-| _W: W. Rhea, Denver; E. E. Strum, peal made by President Lincoln for |Cit¥; J. P. Chappeau, Jr., Tulsa; T. support of Republican congressmen A. Harris, ‘Laramie; C.W- Barncott, P ah Aides Denver; E. O. Douglas, J. T. Appel- during the Civil War. It will be re-|man,. A. W. Saltow, Cheyenne: V. membered that Democratic congress-|H. Austin, Sterling; E. T. Williams, men at that time were voting against|city; Martin McGrath, Thermopolis; all supplies of money, material and| Martin Holmes, Douglas; H. T. Gar- men for the further prosecution of|ner, Sioux Falls; R. C. Moore, Oma- the war, and that one of the chief|ha; E. W. Chambers, Chadron; G. planks of their platform contained! A. Case, Lost Soldier; W. H. Jones, |Omaha; Guy Craig, Basin; J. | and . little | | HOTEL ARRIVALS. |, Hoffman, Yanelus, D. Gardner, Alliance; E. Taremaniaz, C. B. Geymer, New city: T. R, Adams, F. W.{Vossler, W D. Ferguson, Gary |0.°G. Jones, Omaha; T. W. Johnson, |San Antonio; G. H. Voorhees, Pin. » Ind.; York City; Jack Fowler and wife, | dale; L, Lilly, Lusk; M, C. Gary, New Riverton. AT THE HENNING O. C. Goss, M. L. Franks, J Hutton, C. R. Obe: H. KIDNEYS W York City; J. Elmer Brock Kaycee; Mrs. Brisley, Frederick, Okla.; Wil- iam D. MeGhym, Chicago: J. Cun- EAKENING? LOOK OUT! Kidney and bladder troubles don’t disappear of themselves. They grow upon you, slowly but steadily, under- mining your health and with deadly certainty, until you fall a fictim to ineurable disease. Stop your troubles while there is time. Don’t wait until] little pains become big aches. Don’t trifle with jisease.' To avoid future suffering begin treatment with GOLD MEDAL Haarlem Oil Capsules now. Take three or four every day until you feel that you are entirely free from pain. This well-known preparation has been one of the national remedies of Holland for centuries. In 1696 the government of the Nederlands grant- this declaration: | J. “After four years of failure to re-| Blackwell, city; Earl Doran, J., C. store the Union by the experiment} ™ =e: =e of war—justice, humanity, liberty) immediate efforts be made for a ces- sation of hostilities with a view to an ultimate convention of the states or other peaceable means to the end that may be restored on the basis of the Federal Union of the States.” President Lincoln in effect asked the people to decide whether there should be at that time peace without | victory, or whether the war should be fought to a conclusion, and the issue} fully and finally settled. The people! voted against peace without victory, der of the country’s foes, and the} whole world now knows the decision | | In the present war President Wil-| son has, in terms, proclaimed that} he desires peace without victory. He) used these words: | “T am seeking only to face reali-| ties and to face them without soft) concealments. Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a vic- van- | quished. It would be accepted in| humiliation, under duress, at an in-| tolerable sacrifice, and would leave} a sting, a resentment, a bitter mem- ory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently, but only as upor quicksand.” ,.,, He has never taken that back, and his recent “notes” séem to follow in large measure the same lines. Every Republican candidate for Congress or for the Senate is pledged to a demand for unconditional sur- render of the foe. The pledge is that} the war shall be fought through to a conclusion and that the autocrat who brought on the war shall be defeated forever. soll | We believe that full 99 per cent of the people of the United States de- mand unconditional surrnder as the only basis for peace, President Wil- son in his recent lefter says that he will accept the verditt of the people. It is not a question of criticising the President. It is solely a question of telling him what we believe should be accomplished by the war. If we are for a patched-up peace without victory, we can say that by electing Democratic senators and ngressmen. ‘ If we stand by the demand for ‘‘un- conditional surrender,’’ we can say sO by electing Republican congressmen and senators. REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE'S SON VICTIM OF THE FLU Ishmael C. Jefferis, Republican nominee for state auditor, has been compelled to discontinue his tour of the state on account of the death of ness, 109 E. Sheridan on the 17th of this month. | The fine young man fell a victim to Spanish influenza. Mrs. Jefferis, the bereaved mother, is prostrated at the| family home in Newcastle and Mr. Jefferis is there with her. | While many voters of the state will| not be privileged to meet Mr. Jefferis personally and thereby learn from) contact what an affable and cultured gentleman he is, they will, as a rule, cast their vote for him on election} day. Cee ee City News || Liberty Bonds wanted. Highest) 109 E. Second | 702. cash price paid. Room 4, Kimball) French Shop, and her mother are} both confined to their home with in-| fluenza, | eat | The windows of the stores on Se¢- ond and Center streets are begin- ning to present a Hallowe’en aspect, some externally and some internally.) Youngsters have soaped some of the windows thoroly while others are ar-; tistically decorated in true goblin style. 4 ~ * © The body of C. F, Olman will be taken on this evening’s Burlington train to Cripple, Creek where inter- ment will be made. Mr. Olman form. erly was employed at the Leidecker ‘ool company’s plant and was a vic- tim of Spanish influenza. ¢ 3.8 Liberty Bonds wanted. Highes' cash price paid. Room 4, Kimbal Building. Security Loan Co, phon 10-12-tf FTI ATFAALZ ZL D2 2 ed a special charter authorizing its preparation anc sale. The good housewife of Holland would almost as soon be without food as without her ‘Real Dutch Drops,” as she quaintly calls GOLD MEDAL |Haarlem Oil Capsules. Their use re- stores sertngth and is resnousitle in wa great measure for the stury, |robust health of the Hoitanders. Do not delay. Go to your druggist and insist on his supplying you with a box of GOLD MEDAL Haar!tem Gil Capsules. Take them as directed, and if you are not satisfied with re- |sults your druggist will gladly refund ‘your money. Look for the name {GOLD MEDAL on the box and ac- (cept no other. In sealed boxes, three sizes.—Adv. : THE BLUE FRONT MARKET WILL NOT MOVE But will continue to conduct its ever-zrow- ing meat market in the same place of busi- ast Second street. The Blue Front Market is owned and operated by MEYER BROS. and is not connected in any way with the grocery store operated by the Citizen’s Equity Association. We will have our own delivery cars and will be able to serve our many vatrons bet- ter and more efficiently than-ever. We want all of our friends to continue their liberal patronage with us and we assure you our appreciation and desire to give you the best of service and quality of meats, poultry and fish. : THE BLUE FRONT MARKET Meyer Bros., Props. in Casper We can save you from us Telephone 304 COLD WEATHER IS HERE We Carry the Largest Line of Heater Coles Hot Blast plane Great Western Oak Exclusive agents for the Great Majestic Range Schulte Hardware Co. 132 North Center St. money by buying N