The lane ending in a field made me take to working across country. There were quite a number of Germans scattered1 about making hay. I had to go very cautiously so as to avoid meeting anyone face to face, as they might have asked me awkward questions relating to my work, etc. I also could not walk across fields with long grass in them by day without risking causing suspicions in the minds of any farmer who might see me, as the Germans themselves are very careful not to damage any crops in these times.
[126]And now happened the most remarkable2 thing that could well have fallen to the experience of anyone outside a novel.
I was walking along a hedge very slowly, watching a German in the distance, when suddenly I thought I heard my name being spoken very clearly and distinctly. Again I heard it and this time I was certain, and immediately thought that I was imagining it and that I was really going mad. I was told afterwards that I clutched my head with both hands. It was an awful shock to hear this, after not having seen anyone or been with anyone who knew me for two and a half days, and having crossed two rivers and got miles from the camp in which my only acquaintances and friends in Germany were locked up. I turned round and then I heard it again coming out of the hedge, and not only my name this time but an exceedingly English sentence which told me that I was a something fool, and that I was to come back. I promptly3 did so and [127]found Major C.V. Fox, D.S.O., and Lieut. Blank lying at the bottom of the hedge. I at once joined them, and I naturally thought that all the officers from the camp had escaped and were spread far and wide over Germany, and that I had found a couple of them without being unduly4 lucky. However, that was not the case. Fox and Blank had escaped sixteen hours after I did, but while I had been hung up between the ambush5 and the first bridge for four hours, they had pushed ahead and crossed both rivers and got to their present hiding-place at daybreak.
It was a great relief to have somebody with whom to talk, and we set to and discussed details in low whispers.
I then found out that I had not been missed at roll-call the night I had hidden in the tin office.
Fox told me his adventures and I gave him an account of mine in exchange.
Again our luck was well to the fore6. On examining our supplies of food, etc., I found [128]that Fox had lost nearly all his biscuits and chocolate in the crossing of the Aller, which they had had to negotiate by swimming a raft across. This had got swamped, as its buoyancy was poor, naturally with disastrous7 consequences to much of the perishable9 food they had taken with them.
I had got a good number, and so would be able to supply them and in exchange they gave me other things.
My compass was a good one, theirs poor; whereas my map was exceedingly bad and theirs quite good.
We found that we had both the same ideas of the route to be taken towards the frontier. The Germans had captured three other lots of escapers in the district around Osnabrück.
Forest guards were active in the woods in this district, and this had decided10 both of us on our line before we met.
Another fact which made us the more sure which route we should follow was the nature [129]of the ground as shown by the maps. The country which we eventually traversed is shown as marshy11, and we had both decided that the great drought in Germany this summer would have dried this up to a very large extent, and we hoped that the Germans might not have taken this fact into consideration in allocating13 guards, so that this district would be more lightly watched than others. As a matter of fact the maps exaggerate the marshes14, and I should think that even after really wet weather it would be possible to follow the same line.
Face to Face
"FACE TO FACE WITH A FLAPPER ON HER WAY TO BATHE" (page 120).ToList
The one disadvantage to this joining-up of parties lay in its greater visibility and the loss of its elasticity15, owing to the fact that we were now three whereas two is the ideal number. It is naturally more difficult for three to dive into hiding immediately on sighting a German than it is for one or two.
However, the pros16 easily outweighed17 the cons8. While we were thus talking we got rather a scare. A man on a horse came [130]along the road and stopped immediately opposite the patch of brambles in the midst of which we lay. The horse began tearing at the leaves of a small tree, thereby18 making a noise which seemed to us, cowering19 under cover, as if it might be caused by the man trying to force his way into our hiding-place.
We lay absolutely still, but we felt very uncomfortable, especially as the contents of our bags were mostly strewn about the ground drying. We should never have had time to collect our belongings20 together and bolt if an intrusion resulted in our hiding-place being exposed. However, after two or three minutes of suspense21 on our part the horse moved on down the road and we breathed again.
Up to this time I had been exceedingly sparing in what I had eaten. In fact I had overdone22 my economy in this respect, as I had felt a bit weak once or twice that day. The other two had fed well up till then, and when I saw what they intended [131]to eat that evening I also increased my ration12. From this time onwards we usually had a pound of food each per day.
This we intended to augment23 when possible.
The details of Fox and his companion's adventures are outside the scope of this narrative24, but the broad facts which must be included in order to account for their presence in the hedge are as follows.
On Wednesday afternoon, 20th June, they had left Schwarmstedt camp with a fatigue25 party detailed26 for tree-felling, disguised as British soldiers. The Germans of course did not realise that two of the party were really officers, but they were naturally bound to find out the deception27 which had been practised on them on the return of the fatigue party to camp. The fatigue party broke up and scattered about while working at their tree-felling job, and it was not possible for the German escort to keep a watch on all and every soldier at the same time.
[132]Accordingly these two, nicely judging their chance, slipped away when the Boches were looking in the other direction.
It did not take them long to get some distance away, and that night they approached the river Aller with the object of effecting a crossing.
On nearing the railway bridge they had discovered an ambush waiting for them, and consequently cleared away from that area.
Striking the river some distance up-stream, they made a rough raft from wooden palings, and putting their food and clothes on it swam it across. It was here that Fox discovered that his companion was far from being a strong swimmer. Therefore Fox, who had not entirely28 recovered from the injuries he had received in a previous attempt to escape by jumping from a train, had to swim the raft backwards29 and forwards several times by himself until all the food and clothing had been transported across. The raft was not a large one or very buoyant, which [133]resulted in much of the food being destroyed. Fox also assisted Blank to cross, so had plenty of swimming to do.
After crossing this river, they had pushed rapidly on and crossed another by a bridge, without apparently30 getting into any trouble.
They reached their hiding-place during the early hours of Thursday morning and had remained there all day, drying their goods and chattels31.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
scattered
|
|
| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
remarkable
|
|
| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
promptly
|
|
| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
unduly
|
|
| adv.过度地，不适当地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
ambush
|
|
| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
fore
|
|
| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
disastrous
|
|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
cons
|
|
| n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
perishable
|
|
| adj.（尤指食物）易腐的，易坏的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
marshy
|
|
| adj.沼泽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
ration
|
|
| n.定量(pl.)给养，口粮；vt.定量供应 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
allocating
|
|
| 分配，分派( allocate的现在分词 )； 把…拨给 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
marshes
|
|
| n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
elasticity
|
|
| n.弹性，伸缩力 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
pros
|
|
| abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
outweighed
|
|
| v.在重量上超过( outweigh的过去式和过去分词 )；在重要性或价值方面超过 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
thereby
|
|
| adv.因此，从而 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
cowering
|
|
| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
belongings
|
|
| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
suspense
|
|
| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
overdone
|
|
| v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
augment
|
|
| vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
narrative
|
|
| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
fatigue
|
|
| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
detailed
|
|
| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
deception
|
|
| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
backwards
|
|
| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
chattels
|
|
| n.动产，奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |