OUTWITTING
TNT ? I
^LIEUTENANT 1 ^
^ PAT O'BRIEN
<D, /w, ty fAT ALVA O'BA/tff g
it occurred to me tnitt it trie eignt
of us in thut car could Jump tit a given
signal and seize those four Hun guards
by surprise, we'd have a splendid
chance of besting (hem and jumping
oh the train when It first slowed down,
tiut when I passed the Idea on to my
comrades they turned it down. Kven
If the plan worktSI out as gloriously
as 1 had pictured, they pointed out,
the fact that so many of us hud es
caped would almost Inevitably resnlt
In our recapture. The Huns would
have scoured Belgium till they had
got us and then we would all be shot,
i’erhnps they were right.
Nevertheless, I was determined that,
no matter what the others decided to
do, I was going to make oDe 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 thut my one and only chance of
getting free before we readied It was
through the window! 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
stoppisl entirely, it would he 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 his gun which he held between Ills
knees occasionally struck my foot—
made no objection. Imagining no doubt
that I four.d the ear 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 ns It thundered
along grew loader. It seemed to say:
“You'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 nocs have it," and
closed down the window again.
As soon us the window was closed,
the noise of the train naturally sub
sided aud 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, Put, chuck it!" he
urged. "Don't he u lunatic! This rnii
roud Is double-tracked and rlck-bal
lasted aud tlie other trick is on your
side. You stand every chance in the
world of knocking your bruins out
against tlie rails, or hitting a bridge or
u whistling post, and If you escape
those you will probably be hit by an
other truln on the other truck. 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, arid the idea of re
maining u prisoner of war Indefinitely
went against my grain. 1 resolved to
take my chance now at the risk of
breaking my neck.
'17)0 ear was full of smoke. I looked
across at the guard. He was rattier an
old man. going home on leave, and lie
seemed to Iw dnumlng of what was In
store for him rather than paying any
particular attention to me. Once In a
while I had smiled at him. ami I figured
that he hadn't the slightest Idea of
what was going through my mind ull
tiie time we had been traveling.
I tiegun lo cough as though my throat
was badly Irritated by tlie smoke and
then 1 opened the window again. Tills
time the guard looked up und showed
his disapproval, but did not say any
thing.
It was then 4 o'clock In the morn
ing and would soon he light. I knew I
had to do It right then, or never, as
there would be no chance to escape In
the daytime.
I had on a trench coat that I had
used us a Hying coat and wore my
knapsack, which 1 had constructed
out of a gas hag brought Into Courtrai
by a lirltlsh prisoner. In this 1 had
two pieces of bread, a piece of suu
snge and a pair of Hying mittens. All
of them had to go with rne through the
window.
The train was now going at a rate of
between thirty and thirty-five miles an
hour, and again It seemed to admonish
“I Pulled Myself Up, Shoved My Feet
Through the Window, and Let Go."
me us 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.”
t waited no longer. Standing upon
the bench ns 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 I he top of the ear with my right,
I pulled myself up. shoved my feet und
legs out of the window and let go.
There was a prayer on my lips as I
wmiit out, und I expected a bullet he
Hub my sfro aider», Bat It mwr MB
WTcr In nn Insttfnt.
I landed' on ray left side nnd tgce.
Burying ray fnce In the rock hnllnst,
cutting It open iukI closing my left
eye, skinning my luinds und shins nnd
slraOiuig my ankle. For a few mo
ments 1 was completely knocked out,
und If fhey shot i*t me through the
window, In tire first moments after my
escape, I had rio way of knowing.
Of course', if they couki have Mopped
the train right then, they could easily
have recaptured me. hut 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 n few minutes and
when T examined myself and found no
hones broken, 1 didn't stop to worry
about my curs and bruit s, but jumped
Up with the Idea of putting as great a
distance between me and that track as
possible before daylight came. .Still be
Iu*dazed, 1 forgot all about tlie barbed
wire fence along the right- >f way and
ran full tilt Into it. Right mere I lost
one of my two precious pieces of bread,
which fell out of my knapsack, but I
could not stop to look for il then.
The one tiling that was uppermost In
my mind was that for the moment 1
was free, und it was up to me now to
make the most of my liberty.
CHAPTER VII.
Crawling Through Germany.
The exact spot at which 1 made my
desperate leap I don't know. Perhaps,
ufter tlie war Is over, someone on that
train will he good enough to tell me
and then I may go hack and look for
the dent I must have made In the rock
ha Hast.
I have said, I didn't stop very long
that morning ufter I once regained my
senses.
I was bleeding profusely from the
wounds caused hy the fall, hut 1
checked it somewhat with handker
chiefs 1 held to my face, and 1 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.
ltefore I slopped I had gone about u
mile. Then I took tny course from the
stars and found that I had been going
just opposite to the direction I should
be making, hut I could not go hack
across llie track there.
Heading west, therefore, I kepi this
course lor about two and a half hours,
hill as I was very weak from loss of
blood I didn't cover very much ground
In that time. Just before daylight, 1
came lo a canal which I knew 1 hud lo
cross, and 1 swam it with everything
1 Irtfll on.
This swim, which proved to he the
first of a series that I was destined to
make, taught me several things.
In the tirsi place, I had forgotten to
remove tuy wrist-watch. This watch
had been broken in my fall from the
air, hut 1 had It repaired at Courtral.
In the leap from the train, the crystal
had been broken again, but it was
still going and would probably have
been of great service to me in my
subsequent adventures, hut the swim
across the canal ruined it.
Then, too, 1 had not thought to take
my map out of my sock and the water
damaged that, too.
Thereafter, whenever I had any
sw imming to do, I was careful to tuke
such mutters Into consideration, and
my usual practice was to make a
bundle of all the tilings that would be
damaged hy water and tie It to iny
head. In this way I was able to keep
them dry.
It was now daylight and I knew that
It would he suicidal for me to attempt
to travel In the daytime. My liritish
uniform would have been fulul to me.
I decided to hide In the daytime and
travel only at night.
Not far from the canal I could see a
heavilv-wooded piece of ground, and i
made my way there. Hy this time I
had discovered that my left ankle had
been strained in my leap from the
train, anil when I got to the woods I
was glad to lie down and rest. The
wound in my mouth imd been opened.
too, when I jumped, and It would have
been difficult for me to have swallowed
had not the piece of bread, which was
to serve for my breakfast, got wet
when I swam the canal. 1 found a safe
hiding place in which to spend the
day and I tried to dry some of my
clothes, hut a slight drizzling rainfall
made that out of the question. I knew
that I ought to sleep, us I planned to
travel at night, hut sore ns I was,
caked with mud and blood, m.v cloth
ing soaked through and my hunger not
nearly appeased, sleep was out of flie
question. This seemed to me about
the longest day I had ever spent, hut
1 was still to leant how long a day can
really he and how much longer a night.
When night came I dragged tnyself
together and headed northeast.
M.v clothing consisted of my Flying
Corps uniform, two shirts, no under
wear, leuther leggings, heavy shoes, a
good pair of wool socks anil a German
cap. I had u wallet containing sev
eral hundred fraucs in paper money
and various other papers. I also had
u Jackknife 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 lmd carried 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 ndles before duyllght. Then
I located in some low bushes, 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, hut became very hungry and
thirsty before the night was over.
For the next six days I still figured
tlmt I wus In Germany, arid I was liv
ing on nothing hut rntdiage. sugar
beets and-an occasional carrot, always
in the raw state Just ns 1 got them
out of the fields. The water I drank
was often very rank. One night I lay
in a cabbage patch for an hour lopping
the dew from the leaves with my
tongue!
During this period I realized that I
must avoid meeting anyone at oil haz
ards. I was in the enemy's country nidi
my uniform would have been a dead
give-away. Anyone who captured me
or who gave informntion from whoh
my capture resulted might have been
sure of a handsome reward. 1 knew
that it was necassary for me to make
progress as fast us possible, but the
main consideration was to keep out ot
sight, even If It took me a year to get
to Holland, which v ,. my object.,v.
From niv map I estimated that 1 was
about thirty-five miles from Strnssburg
when I- made my leap from the train,
and if I could travel in a straight line
I had perhaps one hundred and fifty
miles to travel. As it was, however,
1 was compelled to make many detours,
and I figured thut 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 p.ue
trees about twelve feet high. They
were very close together and looked
almost as if they had been set out
They proved to be u serious obstacle
to me because, I could not see the stars
through them and 1 was relying upon
the heaven to guide me to freedom. 1
am not much of an astronomer, but 1
know the I’ole Star when I see It. Hut
lor It 1 wouldn t lie here today!
I believed It mined every night and
day while T was ranking my way
through Germany and Luxembourg.
My invariable program at ibis stage
of mv journey was to travel steadily
nil night until about six in the morn
ing, when 1 would commence looking
around for a place wherein to hide
during tile day. Low hushes or woods
hack from the road, as far as possible
from the traveled jfathwuy, usually
served me for this purpose. Having
found such a spot . woultl drop down
and try to sleep. My overcoat was
my ot v e. vering, and that was usu
ally soaked through, either from tile
rain or from swimming.
The only sleep I got during those
days was from exhaustion, and it usu
ally came to me towards dusk when
ii was time for me to start again.
It was a mighty fortunate thing for
me that I was not a smoker. Somehow
1 have never used tobacco in any form.
I was now fully repaid for whatever
pleasure 1 had foregone in the past as I
a result of my habits in that partic- \
ulur, because ray 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 to
bacco.
(To he Continued)
films FOR APPAREL
ARE SCARCE IN GERMANY
AMSTERDAM, Aug. S.—A woman
living in Germany has written lo a
relative here that owing to the scar
city of clothing she has had her ycl
low window curtains taken down,
dyed navy blue and converted into a
eoat and skirt. Her sheets she has
had made Into underclothing
-«
NOTICE
HTWWlfcjt'STTheTTdy Scouts will be
discontinued until further notice.
D. C. CZEHWKNKA, Scoutmaster.
Copper River
and Northwestern Ry.
FOUR TRAINS WEEKLY BETWEEN
CHITINA AND KENNECOTT
Leave Cordova, Second Street Depot, on Mon
days, Thursdays and Saturdays
Leave Chitina for Cordova Sundays, Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays
Leave Chitina for Kennecott Sundays, Tuesdays
and Friday!
Leave Kennecott for Chitina Mondays, Wednes
days, Thursdays and Saturdays
Tim above schedule subject to change without
notice.
Dining Car in Connection with all Regular
Passenger Trains between Cordova and Chitina.
Freight received and delivered at Cordova
\\ barf from !) a. m. to 5 p m., except Sundays.
'l'ickets on sale at Second Street Depot office
i :; nr before departure of trains.
CALEB CORSER Superintendent
D. L. LEATON, Ticket Agent
i
- --—r-—-r
h !2i_5$_?322?r2ID» BpHA flying Cq.rpa. /
'/t Ul.y-E-N.I-g.B- L.I.I
/ 3/Llout. A.O'Brian, R.P.Q#^* R. ) Reported Biasing 17-0-17
^ Paokel In TrmV
3 aulta PyJaaM*
1 Shirt.
4 V(5i3 .
4 Pru. Pant*.
2 Pra. "osMnatloiU.
1 Night ShLrV.
9 Towel a-.
1 Pr. Short,#.
1 Pr. Putta## •
2 Prs. Breech##*.
1 Pr. Trou##f*.
1 Strap.
1 Suit ciTillgn olotha*.
—«. 1 Belt. ■ * v" - —
' 1 Tunlo.
1 Anerloan Tualo.
1 Fr. Ar.ltle Boots.
1 British Wan Goat.
2 Pr. Goggle*.
1 Sar. Brpwoe Bell.,
1 Cane.
1 Box DentrlflO#.
3 Blankets.
<^^-7 SSiR
J°r.
Ccr.eandlng No. 66 Squadron,
Royal Flying Corps.
Photograph of Official Memorandum, Giving an Inventory of the Personal
Belongings of Lieutenant O’Brien, Which Were Turned Over to Lieu
tenant Raney When O'Brien Wli Reported Missing on August 17, 1917.
SAVE -SUGAR
FOR TOE
M\N
YHO
iFIOHTS — -
Sell At A Bargain !
Ford's latest improved Ton
Truck, worm gear drive, extra
wide wheels on rear (8 inches
wide), solid Duval tires; built
for hauling fuel. Has platform
top, hickory stakes. Practi
cally new. Runs a few times
as a jitney from Seward to
Bear Lake. Have had load 15
to 20 people. Was bought last
winter before the advance in
automobiles. I can and will
sell at a bargain, as war re
quires me to go Outside. Can
be seen at Ford Garage, Sew
ard.
INDEPENDENT FUEL CO.
Seward
!■ !■■■—a—»
CORDOVA
MACHINE WORKS
E. R. GARNE8, Prop.
Residence Shop
Phone 101-S. Phone 182
Machine Woi k of all Kinds,
Hlackaiultblng. General Repair
ing, Horse Shoeing. Oxy Acety
lene Welding and Cutting
AUTOMOBILES
REPAIRED
Office and Shop: City Dock
Cordova, Alaaka.
Out of Town Jobs Given Strict
Attention.
***’ »•%«
/ PROFESSIONAL #
8 8
DRS. DAGGETT A BLYTH
Northern Hotel Building,
Cordova.
DENTISTRY
Houre 9 a. m. to 9 p. m.
Special Attention to
Prophylaxla and Pyorrhea.
PHONE 200
— —■—r -
WM. A. HESSE
l
Mining Engineer.
U. 9. Mineral Surveyor.
U. 9. Deputy Surveyor.
BOX 11 CORDOVA, ALASKA
DR. W. H. CHASE
PHY8ICIAN and SURGEON
Office over Cordova Drug Store,
Calla May be Left at Cordova
Drug Store. Residence.
Alaakan Hotel
DR. W. W. COUNCIL
PH Y81CIAN AND SURGEON.
Office and Residence: Cordova
General U ox pita 1 (Oetrander Hulld
Ing-.
Rhonea—Residence 116; office 1S1
---
DR. C. L. HALE
DENTIST
Office: Over Blum, O’Nelll'a Store
SMITH & McCONAGHY
PLUMBERS AND STEAM FITTERS
Cor. Front end B Street*
Office Open Evenings
E. F. MEDLEY
Attorney end Counsellor at Lav*.
Room 1.
Adams Block CORDOVA, ALASKA
j
WILLIAM PALLISTER, M.D,
Specialist In the treatment of
dlneasei and deformities of the
eye, ear, note and threat; glautet
fitted.
JUNEAU GENERAL HOSPITAL
FRANK A. METCALF
Civil and Mining Engineer
U. S. Mineral Surveyor
Juneau Alaska
FRANK H. FOSTER
Attorney at Law
Room 1 Alaskan Hotel
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
♦ ♦
♦ Windsor Hotel ♦
• ♦
♦ L. Wain, Prop. ♦
♦ _ ♦
♦ - ♦
♦ Where You Get *
♦ Comfort ajid Service •
♦ ♦
♦ And the Kates Are Right. ♦
♦ _ ♦
♦ _ •
♦ , ♦
♦ Cordova Alaska ♦
♦ ♦
* ♦
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦•♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦•
1. 1 . ■ !!!■- '■ ■—J
f mi i nii iii i I ifc i iBiiiiifiMil<niiMliilMii&lfc;iiii m J
Sixty Steam Heated Rooms Eletric Lighted
Hot and Cold Water in Every Room
With or Without Bath.
1 Cordova Housel
I DOOLEY AND GREENIG 1
Headquarters for Railroad and Mining Men j
Satisfaction Our an teed > j
Rates Reasonable \ 1