He brought relief to a battalion by making a daring journey through
the German lines with two other men. On the way to the American lines
he killed one German officer, fell into a trench with two others and
killed them, and was under fire all the time.]
Greenway couldn’t make Bill see the futility of the idea of getting
over to France without enlisting in the service, so there was nothing
to do but let Bill come along. They took the train together at Osborn,
Bill carrying his bed rolled up in a slicker, and together they made
the trip to New York.
Bill met some of his old comrades of the Cuban campaign and confided
to them his plans. They told him how impossible it was, and that he
could not even get on the dock at Hoboken without a pass. Bill’s urbane
confidence may have been a little shaken but not his determination. He
went to Washington to see Senator Ashurst, and the Senator tried to get
Bill a passport but without success, as there was no way for the War
Department to act in the circumstances. Bill came back to New York with
more determination than ever.
“I got my sailing orders,” said Greenway, “and with my sister,
sister-in-law and Bill went to the Hoboken pier and found that I was
to sail on the _Agamemnon_, which was formerly the German steamship
_Kaiser Wilhelm II_. I went aboard and found that I had a large and
comfortable stateroom and came ashore and told Bill.
“Bill declared that he was going to get aboard of that boat, although I
pointed out the guards to him and told him how impossible it was. Bill
was not disconcerted in the least. After sizing up the situation to his
own satisfaction he said:
“‘Just you get somebody to talk to that guard over there to distract
his attention while you are going through the gate.’
“I got an officer friend of mine to talk to the guard, and Bill picked
up my bags and followed me. To my surprise he got through the gate
without being seen by the guard, and we proceeded to the gangplank.
There we ran into a snag. The captain called out to stop that civilian,
and Bill was held up. It was only momentarily, however. I stepped up
and told the captain that he was a friend of mine, carrying my bags
aboard for me, and the captain permitted him to pass.
“When Bill got into that stateroom of mine he was the happiest man I
ever saw. ‘If you get me off this boat they will have to throw me and
hog-tie me and carry me off,’ was the way Bill put it as he sank into a
chair and wiped his forehead.
“We sailed that night at high tide, and Bill stayed secreted in my
room. I would smuggle food from the dining-room to him, but after two
days of this Bill rebelled at having to live on cold food and declared
that he intended having regular meals like the others on board. I
told him that if he were discovered the chances were that he would
find himself in the brig, but he said he would risk it, and out of my
stateroom he went.