St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1893-05-20
SISTER GABRIELLE.
A Reminiscense of Max O'Rell During
the Franco-Prussian War.
BY HIS WIFE.

When the Franco russian war hrok,
out l was young girl, and the awfu
news OF the commencement of hostilitie
made profound impression upon me
When, four years later, | met and mar
ried my husband, it was one of my great
delights to get him to tell me cali about
the war;" Of the many "reminiscences
of his soldier days, none, perhaps, inter
estcd me more than the story of sweet
nun who nursed him in St. Malo Hospi
tai. This is the story just as l heard it
for the first time many years ago.
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
There" said my husband, sis Just
about the spot where l 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. l 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-ln France, at any rate-and you may
fancy that the groans and means of the
other wounded were not soothing either.
One day the doctor told me | should soon
te able to be removed to country hos
pltal. That was after | had been 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 for
bits of shattered bone:
"'We shall be able to pack you off in
a few days. You would like to get
transferred to St. Malo, would you not?
You come from that part of the country,
don't you2 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-
tlous. 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 it all in
good part.
In few days, then, I 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 a 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 a very good fell
low. He and struck up quite friend.
ship after while.
"Well, life was, if 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 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 should have loved my sister. If
she had lived. / loved the sound of her
voice, and the touch of her delft. gentle
hands. 1would have gone through the
probings without a groan, if |
'he might have rebandaged the arm after |
wards. But DR.. Nadaud always did that
aimself. Sister Gabrielle that was
What they called her-would come direct
J ne had done with me, and would trv
he bandages to make sure they were not
lurtlng, arrange the pillows afresh, and
mooth out the wrinkles in the counter
,ane, and my brow at the same time.
with me all the while in
ne sweetest fashion possible. Her voice
fas great part Of her charm: very low.
nd yet the clearest voice in the world
he had a way of looking at one all the
lme, too, with gaze that was almost
IKE mothers caress, and that wrapped
ne around with a delicious feeling of
ecurity and well-being. Sometimes she
'ould sit and talk with me about the
attles, and lead me into chats about nv
lother, who was i'll herself at this time.
40 not able to come and see me.
How old was Sister Gabrielle2' Oh
suppose she must have been about
Senty-four or five then. She had the
orman blue eyes, and fair complexion
hich the white wrappings about her
zee seemed to heighten and irradiate, Is
the white lawn, or is it beauty that !
le self-denying life lends to them
hich makes the faces of SO MANY Of :
'osc women look SO lovely? called | /
ster Gabrielle an angel just now, but | /
" aaass net fancy theEs Was spy cold | t