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Page 46
And lucky was it for that gentleman that the officer who
now desired his attendance on the commandant had roused
him from that Lethean slumber in which he had been, only
a few minutes before, so luxuriously indulging.
"Doctor Von Vottenberg," commenced the captain, as soon
as that official made his appearance before him; "you
are quartered with Mr. Ronayne. Have you seen any thing
of him last night or this morning--no evasion, nay,"
seeing that the doctor's brow began to be overclouded,
"I mean no attempt to shield the young man by a suppression
of the truth."
"I certainly saw him last night, Captain Headley, but
not at a very late hour. We took a glass or two of punch,
and smoked a couple of pipes together, but we both went
to bed early, and for my part, I know that I slept so
soundly as to have heard nothing--seen nothing, until I
got up this morning."
The doctor spoke truly as to the time of their retirement
to rest, for the ensign had left him early in the night,
while he had found his way to his own bed, early in the
morning.
"The boat is nearing the landing-place, sir," reported
the sergeant of the guard, who now came up, and more
immediately addressed Lieutenant Elmsley.
This information, for the moment, banished the subject
under discussion. "Let the men pile their arms," ordered
Captain Headley; "and when this is done, Mr. Elmsley,
follow me to the landing-place."
In a few minutes both officers were there. The boat was
within fifty yards, when the subaltern joined his captain;
and the oarsmen, evidently desirous of doing their best
in the presence of the commanding officer, were polling
silently and with a vigor that soon brought it to its
accustomed berth.
"What body is that, Corporal Nixon?" inquired the latter,
"and how is it that you are only here this morning?"
"Sir," answered the corporal, removing one of his hands
from the steer-oar, and respectfully touching his cap,
"it's poor Le Noir, the Frenchman, killed by the Injins
yesterday, and as for our absence, it couldn't be helped,
sir; but it's a long report I have to make, and perhaps,
captain, you would like to hear it more at leisure than
I can tell it here."
By this time the men had landed from the boat, leaving
the Canadian to be disposed of afterwards as the commanding
officer might direct. The quick eye of the latter
immediately detected the slight limping of Green, whose
wound had become stiff from neglect, cold, and the cramped
position in which he had been sitting in the boat.
"What is the matter with this man?" he inquired of the
corporal. "What makes him walk so stiffly?"
"Nothing much the matter, captain," was the indifferent
reply. "It's only a ball he got in his leg in the scrimmage
last night."
"Ha! the first gun-shot wound that has come under my
treatment during the three long years I have been stationed
here. Quick, my fine fellow, take yourself to the hospital,
and tell the orderly to prepare my instruments for
probing."
"Scrimmage last night; what do you mean, Corporal
Nixon--whom had you the scrimmage with?"
These remarks fell at the same moment from the lips of
the commander and those of the surgeon, the latter rubbing
his hands with delightful anticipation of the treat in
store for him.
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