The Press., 1895-02-07
CHAPTER. 1.

Of John II. Wut%OH, 1T. D., tdtc Oj tEC
 army medical dPl0tmpHt.l
 CHAPTER |.
 In the year 1878 tO~k k my degreo of doctor of medicine of tho University of London and proceeded to Netley to go through the course prescribed for sur geons in the army. Having completed my studies there, l was duly attached to the Fifth Northum berland Fusiliers as assistant surgeon. The regiment was stationed in India at tll0 time, and be- fore could join it the second Afghan war had broken out. On landing at Bombay, learned that my corps had advanced through tho passes and was al. ready deep ill the enemy's country. l followed, however, wIth many other officers who were in the same situation as myself, and succeeded in reaching Kandahar in safety, where l found my regiment and at once entered upon my new duties.
 The campaign brought honOrs and pro- motion to many, but for mo it had nOth- ing but misfortune and disaster. l was removed from my brigade and attached to the Berkshires, with whom l served at the fatal battle of Maiwand There l was struck on the shoulder by JeZail bullet, which shattered the bone and grazed the subclavian artery. should have fallen into the hands of the mur- derous Ghazis had it not been for the devotion and courage shown by Murray, my orderly, who threw me across pack horse and succeeded in bringing mo safe ly to the British lines.
 Worn with pain and weak from the prolonged hardships which had under gone, was removed, with a great train of wounded sufferers, to the base hos pital at Peshawur. Here 1 rallied, and had already improved so far as to be able to walk about the wards, and even to bask little on the veranda, when l was struck down by enteric fever, that curse of our Indian possessions. For months my life was despaired of, and when at last came to myself and be- came convalescent I was so weak and emaciated that medical board deter. mined that not day should be lost in sending me back to England. was dis patched accordingly in the troopship Orontes and landed a month later on Portsmouth jetty, with my health ire trievably ruined, but with permission from a paternal government to spend the next nine months in attempting to improve it.
 had neither kith nor kin in Eng land, and was therefore as free as air or as free as an income of Is. 6d a day will permit a man to be- Under such circumstances I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspoOl into which all the loungers and idlers of the entire empire are irresistibly drained. There ] staid for some time at private hotel in the Strand, leading a comfortless, mean ingless existence and spending such money as had considerably more free ly than l ought. So alarming did the state of my finances become that l soon realized that l must either leavo the metropolis and rusticate somewhere in | the country, or that 1 must make com. 1 plete alteration i'll my style of living Choosing the latter alternative, l began by making up my mind to leave the ho- tel and to take up my quarters i'll some less pretentious and less expensive domi- cile
 On tho very day that had come to this conclusion l was standing at the Criterion bar when some one tapped me on the shoulder, and turning round recognized young Stamford, who had been a dresser under me at Bart's. The sight of friendly face ill the great will derness of London is pleasant thing indeed to lonely man. In old days Stamford had never been particular crony of mine, but now hailed him with enthusiasm, and he, in his turn, appeared to be delighted to see me. In the exuberance of my joy asked him to lunch with me at the Holborn, and we started off together in hanson.
 Whatever have you been doing with yourself, Watson?' he asked, in undis- guised wonder, as we rattled through the crowded London streets. "You are as thin as lath and as brown as nut. " | gave him short sketch of my ad- ventures and had hardly concluded it by the time that we reached our desti, nation
 Poor devilP' he said commiserat, ingly after he had listened to my mis,