Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1893-03-23
SISTER GABRIELLE.
A "Reminiscences OF Max O'ReIi During
the Franco-Prussian War.
BY HIS WIFE.

When the Franco Prussian war broke
out ! was young girl, and the awful
news OF the commencement of hostilities
made profound impression upon Inc.
When, four years later, | met and mar
ried my husband, it was one of my great
delights to get him to tell me ''all about
the war" Of the many "reminiscences
of his soldier days, none, perhaps, inter-
ested me more than the story Of o sweet
nun who nursed him in st. Malo Hospi-
tai. This is the story just as heard it
for the first time many years ago. l
hope it will not lose too much by not be-
ing told in French, as it was then given
to me.
We were sitting by the bridge of Neu-
lily, near the Bots de Boulogne, in Paris:
''Tbere," said my husband, sis just
about the spot where / was knocked
over. We were fast getting the better
of the Communards, and my men were
warming to the work in grand style,
when the piece of spent shell hit me, and
some of the fellows carried me off to the
hospital. ! remember being puzzled
that there should be relatively no pain in
wound of that sort; but the pain came
soon enough when the fever set in. The
doctor OF the Versailles Hospital was a
rough specimen, as army doctors often
are-in France, at any rate-and you may
fancy that ths s~oaas- a.ld- sAes.s-of -tlso-
other wounded were not soothing either.
One day the doctor told me should soon
lie able to be removed to country hos
pital. That was after had leen under
his treatment for six weeks.
1.-THE sights, sounds and smell of the
place had grown so sickening to me that
think could have kissed him when he
talked of sending me TO St. Malo. He
came in one morning, and, in his brusque
way, said, as he probed the wound Tor
bits of shattered bone:
"'We shall be able to pack you off in
few days. You would like to get
transferred to st. Malo, would you not?
You come from that part of the country,
don't your The air will suit you.'
''He was brute, but he had awfully
good cigars, and he used to make me
smoke one when he was going to have
an extra go at my wound. suppose he
hoped the goodness might prove infec-
tious. used to call him strings Of bad
names while he was digging away at his
work on my arm. Somehow it relieved
me, and, truth to tell, he took IL all in
good part.
sin u few days, then, saw the last OF
him, and he of me; and glad enough was
l to find myself in the clean, quiet, nun
attended hospital in the dear old Breton
town. There had room to myself. as
each officer had and to lie there in that
sweet, sunny room and hear no groans
but my own was almost like being in
heaven. The daily cleanings Of the
wound, still pretty painful, were recon-
mended under the hands of another sur
geon, who proved to be very good fell
low. He and l struck up quite friend
ship after while.
"Well, life was, il not exactly rosy, at
any rate once more worth living. The
brightness and calm were very sweet
after the horrors of the Versailles hospi-
tai, and a serenity filled the air, like an
echo of organ tones brought in by the
nuns from chapel
"The nun who attended to me was an
angel. Don't be jealous. / was there
in st. Malo three months. Before one
month had passed / had grown to love
her as l should have loved my sister. il
she had lived. ! loved the sound of her
voice, and the touch of her deft, gentle
hands. would have gone through the
surgeons probings without q groan, II
she might have rebandaged the arm after
wards. But DR.. Nadaud al~'ays did that
himself Sister Gabriells-that was
what they called her--would come direct
ly he had done with me, and would try
the bandages to make sure they were not
hurting, arrange the pillows afresh, and
smooth out the wrinkles in the counter.
pane, and my brow at the same time,
sympathizing with me all the while In
the sweetest fashion possible. Her voice
was great part o. her charm: very low,
and yet the clearcst voice in the world.
She had way of looking at one all the
time, too, with gaze that was almost
like mothers carcss, and that wrapped
one around with delicious feeling OF
security and wcll-being. Sometimes she
would sit and talk with me about the
battles, and lead me into chats about my
mother, who was i'll herself at this time,
and not able to come and see me.
How old was Sister Gabrieller Oh
| suppose she must have been about
twenty-four OF five then. She had the
Norman blue eyes, and fair complexion,
which the white wrappings about hel
face seemed to hcighten and irradiate. Is
It the white lawn, or is it beauty that
the self-deuying life lends to them,
which makes the faces OF so many Of
those women look so lovcly2 called
Sister Gabrielle an angel just now, but
you must not fancy there was any cold