The herald., 1896-02-02
A DOCTORS STORY

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1t was just after the Sspoy rebellion
was stationed at Kerapore on de-
tached duty. The place was, perhaps
the very worst spot that could have
been selected as depot for troops, yet
for some occult reason 5000 men were
garrisoning it. The water was vile, oi
sanitation there was none, and, as
consequence, the boys were dying like
sheep with the rot, while the 9th
wives and children, who had the best
of care, Jared no better than the COM
mon soldier. AT last time came when
l, then not more than boy OF 70, WAS
the sole survivor of the medical stah
This woke up our commandant, who
reported tn gravity of the situation
and the immediate necessity of reiiel.
A further supply of surgeons was
promised. Meantime | was raised a
step and ordered to select some spot
for the establishment of u health sta
ton not too remote.
l went to work and found, about
twenty-five miles away, in some woody
foothills, just the place | needed. lt
was an old mosque on the brow or q
hill. 1t WAS almost a fort, SO thlck
were it's stone walls, making it dellc-
iously cool inside, while round it was
grassy plateau which would be an eX-
calent place of exercise for GONZALES
cents. But. chief of all, in the center
OF the building was a well OF sparkling,
cool water. It had, found, beon at one
time thu dep 1t of a iargs force, for 1t
was veil stocked with rifles, am munl-
ton, cots aud bedding in abundance,
and some medical stores. In the con-
fusion of the great rebellion and sub
sequently, it appeared to have been
overlooked.
I at once set to work and very sooo
had everything in perfect order, with
abundance OF nsce5saries aud lux lrie5
for the sick. a. rapidly as possible
| removed the most serious cases to
the new hospital. and soon had over
300 Inmates. of which number women
aud children were about one-third.
The married ladies were OF iuestimable
service in the wlmen's department,
while the young ladies helped all they
could in the babies ward. The change
Of air, water, diet, etc, q id wonders; at
the end OF three months we had not
lost case, while from time to time
some altera sion5 and improvements
we're suggested and carried out which
added nuch to the comfort of patients.
Among these was the perforation OF
the wallis, making additional inlet5 for
light and air, and the fitting up Of the
fiat roof rs playground and lounglng
place.
Returning one morning from an
early walk, suddenly came upon a
crowd of natives who were eagerly lis
tening to fasir VINO was addressing
them in vehement tones. His auditors
seemed greatly moved and l noticed
some fierce glances at me as L passed.
l soon, however, forgot all about it in
the routine of my many duties, and
should probably have thought no more
of it had not Mrs. Ohalloner, the wife
of old Mayor Challoner of ours, whis-
pered in my ear one morning, "Come
up on the roof" Ms. Challoner was
my second mother, and, owing to my
close friendship with her husband,
treated me almost as one Of her own.
Frank" said she. ~ don't like the
look OF things. / fear another out
break. know how cool you are and
not easily alarmed, but soma extra cara
must be taken; we must keep the gates
always shut and locked, and have more
Of a guard. II we were attacked sue
cessfully you know what would be our
fate. After being preserved so far it
would be sad to bs caught at last in
trap like this" AS she spoke, brave
soldiers wife though she WAS, her
cheek paled and her firm lips trembled.
saw the danger; it was never out of
sight; but feared that an application
for a sufficient force would bs refused,
and go it turned out, for my applica-
ton was thought TO be almost absurd.
Without causing alarm l ordered thu
gates to be kept locked, (they were
heavy iron ones, and the guard regu-
larly mounted Some weeks passed
and nothing happened TO increase Mrs.
Challoner's anxiety and my own, but
one Sunday night, after dinner, as l
WAS smoking and slowly pacing the
little grassy plateau [ have spoken OF,
was siezed from behind in a powerful
grasp. The thing happened 80 sud
denly that for an instant I lost my
presence of mind; thon, adopting an
old Eton trick, used under similar cir
cumstsuces, L had my foe under me
and my hand at his throat. At the
same moment the scufils alarmed tho
sentry, and in twinkling we had him
inside. the gate was locked and we
awaited an attack. Nothing happened
that night, however, bat the next day
We were assailed by a bowling, raging
mob Of at least 2000 armed men.
at once sent off u native servant
whom l could trust, asking for relief,
and proceeded to arrange for defense.
| now knew why / had been assaulted.
1t was thought / carried the key of the
gate, the only ready means OF entrance
to the building. The enemy had no ar
tillery, aud it would take that to force
! a oreach in tho walls. The gate was
therefore the main place to defend,
and as fortunately there were small
f1anking towers with windows on either
side OF it we were able to fire upon any
one attempting to force an entrance.
An attack on the gate was at once
made ID a rush, and va received them
with a volley from both towers and
from the roof. They fell by scores,
while we, under such cover, we're an
harmed. The ladies relieved each
other at the tower windows, everyone
of them conld use rifle, (the married
ones I should say) while the msn kept
up hot fire from the roof, which was