Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-01-02
JULIET.
Story Of a Hospital Patient--The
New Nurse.

Story Of a Hospital Patlent--Ihe
New Nurse.
Do not for a moment associate any
thing fair or girlish with our Juliet.
Big, brown and bearded, he lay in Cot
No. 10, Ward X, of the Army Hospital
at Quincy, Ill, saying little, and COM
planning not at all. We girls, on our
daily rounds through the wards with
flowers and delicacies, came to speak
of him as Juliet simply by reason of
the great devotion of a convalescent
comrade by the name of Romeo
Romeo Wilkins. OF course, at any
time, from the hospital register, we
could easily have found his proper
name and rank; but nothing so prosaic
was ever thought of. We chose always
rather to have u own distinctive
titles-as "Achilles' for him Of the
wounded heel. Schiller" because Of a
taste in apples similar to that attributed
to the great German poet, and "Dick-
ems" because of a fancied personal re-
semblance to that popular author. Ii
there was only an appearance of levity
in this, it was only an appearance, for
our sympathy was of a very sincere
and tender kind. In those early years
of the war;, when we looked upon so
much suffering and could do so little to
relieve it, we must sometimes 'laugh
TO hide the tears we shed" and our pet
names were endearing rather than dis
respectful.
There was nothing at all romantic
about Romeo. He was simply an hon
est, ignorant, but exceedingly kind
hearted fellow, not quite well enough
to be returned to duty, but well enough
TO do many little kind offices for his
more helpless comrades. In particular
did he engage himself with services as
delicately conceived as they were often
awkwardly rendered for his neighbor of
Cot No. 10. 1t was this that in the be-
ginning, as / have said, led us to adopt
for the object OF his devotion the name
of Juliet. A%fterward, when by chance
one of us read u. Hatch'' on the cor
ner of his pocket-handkerchief, we re-
jected all suggestions of James OF
Joseph or John, and chose to count the
initial as proof positive of Juliet.
He must have overheard sometime a
bit of our idle talk, for there was a sly
twinkle in his eye as he handed me one
day a package marked, ''For the
Young Ladies. With the compliments
Of the fair Juliet" 1t proved to be a
collection of mementoes, mostlypressed
flowers or pebbles from various battle
fields. dairtily put up, and addressed in
a scholarly hand. Little amenities of
this kind, the nicely of the few per-
sonal effects that a soldier may carry
with him, the choice diction and enun-
citation that belong only to the cul-
tured, revealed Juliet to be of distinctly
higher social grade than most OF his
comrades, and we pleased our
about him. Sometimes these were
based upon the ring, a lady's ring, set
with a small damond, that he wore on
his little finger; sometimes upon a
small volume constantly under his pill
low, and frequently read. At first we
had a pretty theory that this was the
New Testament that he was under tilial
promise to read daily: but this we were
Obliged TO abandon on discovering the
book to be a copy Of Sponsors ''Faerie
Queen" Of course, there was a cruel
fair one someWhere-We made no doubt
OF that.
81 can not understand" said Doctor
w, reporting the case to the chief sur
geon, why this nan does not i'm
prove. HIS wound is a comparatively
tritling affair, there have been no com
plications, and no inflammation, yet
there is still no sign OF healing"
We girls held to our original diagno-
sis, especially when the nice morsels
we ourselves prepared, in the hope of
tempting his appetite, We're received
with courteous thanks. only to be sent
away, after our departure, scarcely
tastcd.
Poor, simple, faithful Romeo: 1t was
all Il sad puzzle to him. ct stands to
reason" he said conidential|y, one
morning. tibet a man thet don't sleep
o nights amt ago;n' to get well. When
he has a nice feather pillow brought to
him, say it's meant to sleep on, and
not to keep verses under tibet you've
writ when you think everybody's asleep
and nobody don't know it,"
Here was another revelation. Ii we
had had any doubts before we had none
nov. A man is not generally given to
writing verses to his mother or his sis
ter, and if he had a wife she would come
to him, we reasoned. We knew now
that he loved hcr-we had named her
Duessa by this time-that she was un-
kind, and we hated her.
One morning there was a general
confusion in the hospital. A telegram
had been received that a hOSpital boat
would be i'll at noon with one hundred
additional sick and wounded for us.
1t was !. short notice, and taxed not on
Ii Tie entire hospital force, but all our
volunteer service as well. it was de-
cided to sake possession of an adjoin-
ing building and emove to it all of our
inmates WING were able to bear the