THE LAST LAP
Crossing the River--The Terrible Swamp--Valuable Apples--Safe
Across the Border--Real Walking at Last--Barbarous Barbering.
"September fifth: Stopped raining and a little warmer. Got our clothes
dry once more. Cover in a wood outside a small town. Going last night
good, after we had crossed another peat bog. Meals: milk, baked
potatoes and apples. Hope to reach the river to-night. Bad feet. Best
of health otherwise."
"September sixth: No rain and warmer. Heavy dew. Fairly good going.
Best of cover. Had a fire. Pretty comfortable. Milk, potatoes,
apples."
"September seventh: Still fine weather. Very poor cover in a hedge.
Good road to go on. Made pretty good time last night. Feet feeling
better. Running out of tobacco. Otherwise in the best and still hope
the same. Meals: potatoes and beets."
We spent a great deal of time discussing ways and means of adding to
our stock of tobacco. Any smoker knows what it is to want the weed.
Consider then our half famished, wet and utterly weary condition. It
was a real necessity to us. We discussed waiting at the roadside until
a man with a pipe appeared; when we should rob him. We dismissed that
as too hazardous. It would be necessary to kill him and that seemed a
bit thick for a pipe of tobacco. So we did the only thing that was
left to do--cut down our already scanty rations of tobacco and took
scrupulous care to smoke to a clean ash every vestige of each heel of
old pipe, but in spite of that our supply became exhausted.
"September eighth: Lovely weather to-day. Good going last night in
small swamp. Good cover in a forest on the banks of the Ems. We will
try to cross to-night. Meals: potatoes and mangels. Our final try for
liberty. Feel good for it."
We had arrived at the river at two o'clock that morning, too played
out to attempt the crossing then. We retraced our steps to a potato
field, dug some of the tubers and, when daylight came, lit a fire and
roasted them. We were in a dense forest of young trees, so that by
lighting the fire before the mist lifted, the latter hid our smoke.
We remained unperceived, though we could hear voices and footsteps on
every side.
"September ninth: Swam the river and two canals. Crossed a large
swamp. No rain but very cold. Think we are over the border. Very poor
cover in a hedge. Wet to the skin. Clothes got soaked but in best of
spirits and confident."
We went down to survey the river shortly before dusk and found it both
broad and swift. We went back again and tore a gate from its hinges,
carried it the five hundred yards down to the river and then stripped
for the crossing. The gate was not big enough to carry us but answered
for our clothes. Simmons swam ahead, guiding it, while I shoved from
behind. We made the crossing without mishap but straightway fell into
one of the worst experiences of the entire trip. We plunged into a
swamp which took us five hours to get through. There were moments when
we all but gave up and thought we should never get out. At times we
sank in it up to our waists, particularly after leaping at the
numerous tufts of grass which seemed to promise a footing that they
never realised and which sometimes sent us in it to the armpits, so
that we were sure we were doomed to be sucked down for good in the
filthy mess.
The fearful odour that our plunging around stirred up, naturally aided
our nervous imaginings and it was undoubtedly the worst trial we had
yet met with on the journey. I cannot convey the black despair which
took possession of our hearts at the seeming hopelessness of all our
efforts to find firm footing or a break in the landscape which might
indicate a change in the nature of the country, a light, a voice,
anything that would help to lift from our hearts the feeling of utter
isolation from all human assistance and the seeming certainty that a
few bubbles would be the only indication that we had struggled there.
The darkness of the night intensified these thoughts. The rain did not
matter. In fact it helped; for we were covered with the worse than
water of the morass.
We looked at one another. We dared not speak. Anyhow, to do so was not
our custom at such times as these. But each knew. A dull anger took
possession of us at the thought of so inglorious an end after all that
we had suffered to attain our freedom. With a prayer in our hearts we
cast ourselves forward and somehow, sometime, found at last that we
were safe and so flung ourselves down in our stinking clothes to lie
like dogs in a drunken stupour that recked not of time or of our
enemies.
We discovered an apple orchard here, in which the fruit was ripe. All
the apples we had had up to date had been of the small and green
variety. And even they, with the occasional milk, represented our all
of luxury, so that these seemed indeed the food of the gods. We
proceeded to fill up and after eating all that we thought we could,
filled our pockets until they bulged, and started off, each carrying
an armful of the fruit. At every step we dropped some. We stopped
again and ate our surplus to make room. We refused to lose any of
them. We came to a river, stripped, tied our clothes up in a bundle
and proceeded to swim across, shoving the clothes ahead. I lost
control of mine and they sank. I dived repeatedly in the darkness
before I found them. The cargo of apples in the pockets made a bad
matter worse. I should rather have drowned than have lost my apples.
The possible loss of the clothes worried us very little. We had
already decided in that event to waylay some German Michel rather
than to go naked into Holland. However, by alternately dragging the
bundle behind and swimming on our backs with it held high on the chest
with one hand, we made the crossing, apples and all.
We were sitting in the shadow preparing to dress and wondering whether
we were really over the border and if we could safely walk abroad,
when we heard men walking toward us. We knew them to be Germans by the
clank of the hobnailed boots which all our guards had worn. We had not
a stitch on and our hearts were in our mouths. The patrol of six men
stopped within five yards of us and then passed on within five feet
and did not see us. We dressed quickly and went on, only to find a
canal, for which we had to strip again.
Arriving at the other side; we dressed in the shadow of the bank,
crawled to the top and plunged through the heather on to a road which
we had almost crossed, when there came a cry of "Halt!" The patrol
must have been standing in the trees where we had broken out from the
heather, and very quietly, too, for we had lain for five minutes to
make certain that all was safe. Evidently we were on or near the
border if the number of patrols was any indication. We were not
certain whether these were Hollanders or Germans. We made one big buck
jump. "Fire, Gridley, when ready!" I left the entire knee of one
trouser leg on a clutching thorn. But the patrol did not fire.
And then another canal. "I'm fed up with swimming to-night."
"So am I," agreed Simmons. "There are houses over there. There must be
a bridge."
We slunk along the bank and to our joy found a small bridge. We dashed
across it and debouched safely into a tiny village. Here we saw a
difference, especially in the houses and the roadway. It was in the
very atmosphere, a result no doubt of instincts made keen by the
hunted lives we had led. On either side the fields stretched out,
criss-crossed by a perfect network of small canals and ditches, which
also served as fences.
We knew we were in Holland.
We deemed it unwise to show ourselves as yet, distrusting the
sympathies of the Hollanders and fearful that they might give us up;
and continued this policy until the next day. However, we took a
chance and stuck to the road, a treat, indeed, to feel a firm footing
after our weeks of travelling across country fields. This enabled us
to shove thirty miles between us and Germany by morning.
[Illustration: PRIVATE MERWIN C. SIMMONS OF THE 7TH BATTALION,
1ST DIVISION, CANADIAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.]
It was not quite daylight when we espied a cow in a field at the
roadside and gave chase. There was no other food in sight, so when our
quarry threw up its tail and bounced off; we set out grimly to run our
breakfast down. It was half an hour later that we corralled it in a
corner between two broad ditches and were already licking our chops in
anticipation; when we discovered that our cow was only a big heifer.
Twenty-four hours earlier it would have been a tragedy. As it was, we
only laughed. Such is liberty.
At this distance from the border we felt that we were safe from the
Germans but were very much afraid that we might be interned. So we
holed up in a farmhouse which had been partly burned down and built a
roaring fire out of the remains of the charred furniture, placed some
of the potatoes that were lying about in the fire, made a rough bed
and went to sleep. Awakening later in the day, we raked the blackened
potatoes out of the ashes and filled up on them. We were a fearful
team; absolutely filthy, uncombed, unwashed, unshaven, and with the
Russian's paint still thick upon us. Afterward we went down to the
canal and endeavoured to knock the worst of it off. All danger was
past now. We seemed to walk on air. We were once again British
soldiers. And so fell to abuse of one another, finding fault and
grousing; as all good British soldiers do when they are well off. I
made out to shave Simmons. The terrible razor had never been sharp and
lately had rusted from its travels. Simmons swore lustily and
threatened me, ordering me at the same time and in no uncertain terms;
to desist from the torture.
"Well, we want to go into Holland lookin' respectable. What'll they
think of British soldiers if they see us? Have a heart!" I
expostulated.
"Don't give a damn! I've had enough for being a Canadian; but I won't
stand for this." I left him with his beard still on in patches and the
bare spots bleeding angrily. As I had already committed myself, I had
to bear in silence his purposely clumsy handling of that hack-saw. It
was terrible, and Simmons, the scoundrel, laughed like a demon.