|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 94
"No, Picard," said John, "France will not fall."
"And that being settled, sir," said Picard, with grim humor, "I think
you'd better lie down again. You've talked a lot for a man who has been
unconscious four days."
"You're right, my good Picard, as I've no doubt you usually are. Was I
troublesome, much, when I was out in the dark?"
"But little, sir. I've lifted much heavier men, and that Dr. Delorme is
strong himself, not afraid, either, to use the knife. Ah, sir, you
should have seen how beautifully he worked right under the fire of the
German guns! Psst! if need be he'd have taken a leg off you in five
minutes, as neatly as if he had been in a hospital in Paris!"
John felt apprehensively for his legs. Both were there, and in good
condition.
"If that man ever comes near me with the intention of cutting off one of
my legs I'll shoot him, good fellow and good doctor though he may be,"
he said. "Help me up a little higher, will you, Picard? I want to see
what kind of a place we're in."
Picard built up a little pyramid of saddles and knapsacks behind him and
John drew himself up with his back against them. The rows and rows of
wounded stretched as far as he could see, and there was a powerful odor
of drugs. Around him was a forest, of the kind with which he had become
familiar in Europe, that is, of small trees, free from underbrush. He
saw some distance away soldiers walking up and down and beyond them the
vague outline of an earthwork.
"What place is this, anyway, Picard?" he asked.
"It has no name, sir. It's a hospital. It was built in the forest in a
day. More than five thousand wounded lie here. The army itself is
further on. You were found and brought in by some young officers of that
most singular company composed of Americans and English who are always
quarreling among one another, but who unite and fight like demons
against anybody else."
"A dollar to a cent it was Wharton and Carstairs who brought me here,"
said John, smiling to himself.
"What does Monsieur say?"
"Merely commenting on some absent friends of mine. But this isn't a bad
place, Picard."
The shed was of immense length and breadth and just beyond it were some
small buildings, evidently of hasty construction. John inferred that
they were for the nurses and doctors, and he wondered which one
sheltered Julie Lannes. The forest seemed to be largely of young pines,
and the breeze that blew through it was fresh and wholesome. As he
breathed it young Scott felt that he was inhaling new life and strength.
But the wind also brought upon its edge that far faint murmur which he
knew was the throbbing of the great guns, miles and miles away.
"Perhaps, Monsieur had better lie down again now and sleep awhile," said
Picard insinuatingly.
"Sleep! I need sleep! Why, Picard, by your own account I've just
awakened from a sleep four days and four nights long."
"But, sir, that was not sleep. It was the stupor of unconsciousness.
Now your sleep will be easy and natural."
"Very well," said John, who had really begun to feel a little weary,
"I'll go to sleep, since, in a way, you order it, but if Mademoiselle
Julie Lannes should happen to pass my cot again, will you kindly wake me
up?"
"If possible, sir," said Picard, the faintest smile passing over his
iron features, and forced to be content with that reply, John soon slept
again. Julie passed by him twice, but Picard did not awaken him, nor
try. The first time she was alone. Trained and educated like most young
French girls, she had seen little of the world until she was projected
into the very heart of it by an immense and appalling war. But its
effect upon her had been like that upon John. Old manners and customs
crumbled away, an era vanished, and a new one with new ideas came to
take its place. She shuddered often at what she had seen in this great
hospital in the woods, but she was glad that she had come. French
courage was as strong in the hearts of women as in the hearts of men,
and the brusque but good Dr. Delorme had said that she learned fast. She
had more courage, yes, and more skill, than many nurses older and
stronger than she, and there was the stalwart Suzanne, who worked with
her.
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|