El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-08-23
IN THE LITTLE
HOSPITAL.
A Touching Sketch OF
Two Patients Who sailed
Together
BY y. Y. ELACK--
EN y. v. BLACK

In the little country hospital the
young nurses We're very good and at
tcntive 70 everybody. not having been
in the business long enough to have
grown callous. They were nice girls.
mostly in their first years course. and
their lips would twitch and their faces
whitens very often In the operating
room or when they held n patients
hand while he died in the night But
they were brave and went about the
pretty hospital singing softly In the
cool corridors. carrying little white
clothed trays to the sickrooms and be-
ing the best of medicines themselves
by reason of their neatness. their
bright eyes and their kind voices
Now. one beautiful bright spring aft
ernoon at the railroad junction in the
town two trains filed with pleasure
seekers smashed together. and the doc
tors and the matron and the nurses
were plunged into a world OF work. for
ambulance after ambulance came driv
ing up from the scene OF the accident
and lefeto the care of the girls many
people sorely hurt And among them
was a very little boy about years old
whom nobody knew anything about be-
cause his father and mother were both
killed in the collision, and there was
nothing on them to show who or what
they were except that they were very
poor. II is COMPREHENSIVE that a very
great deal of attention was paid to this
little fellow. and he would have been
placed In the women's ward. as the
hospital was too small for a children's
ward. hut the women's ward was full.
So the boy. quite insensible. was laid
on a cot in the mems ward. and next to
him was laid a big brown bearded man.
also insensible. from whose clothes
had been gathered quite q sum of mon
ey and whose few papers went to show
he had been n sailor. He was very
rough looking man indeed
The man came to his senses first, and
1t was night. The nurse on watch was
quite frightened at the man. He was
in pain, and great allow ance must be
made for that. but never In all her life
had the little nurse to listen to such
words As came from the big brown
bearded mans lips. He wanted to get
up and go right away. but he found he
could not move his great massive legs.
So he began to abuse his fate and the
railway and the hospital and the nurse
and mankind in general. He was n
very bitter mouthed man indeed. The
little nurse by the light OF the night
lamp did her best to soothe him be-
cause he reused other patients. and
there was a terrible grooming and wall
ing In the small ward. And all ut once
the little boy came to his senses. too.
just for n minute. and his face was
turned TO the sailors face, and his eyes
fell upon the sailors eyes He was not
quite sensible yet. for IL seemed he mis-
took the sailor for his dead papa. and
he said very prettily:
Good morning dad. How are you
this morning."
The sailor. looking into the little fell
lows eyes. was abashed and stopped
his swearing and was silent for a mo-
ment and then muttered clumsily:
I'm all right
THAT'S nice said the boy and be-
came unconscious again.
The sailor did not abuse anything
any more just then. but lay grooming.
and every now and again when the lit |
tie nurse slipped 10y in the shadows he !
called to her softly, and the first time |
he said:
Pretty little chap.
The nurse nodded and smiled and !
the sailor smiled back. and until morn |
ing came ut last he only groaned and |
watched the child and did not curse at !
all. but every time the nurse came to |
wipe his brow or give him drink he |
whispered to her to look at the boy.
Pretty boy, He thought / was his |
dad" he said and would have laughed |
only his pain made him groan instead. |
Again he caught the nurses hand.
'.Said il was nice. he did. Cute amt |
he:" And then his face twisted In |
pain.
But neither could the sailor rise |
from his back, and neither could the |
sailor hope to sail the sea again. for he |
was in the same case with the child |
and both were slowly dying. At first |
sometimes the big tyown man would |
forget himself in his pain. and the
nurses would shut their ears. terrified. |
move him 10 n room by himself. and |
that frightened him to silence. for ever |
since the accident he had n great love |
for the child. The child would look at
his huge friend in surprise when he |
Cell into one OF his RACES and say:
oh. John. that's not nicer'
And John would bite his lips at once |
and te patient. Then the child would |
say:
How do you feel, John?"
And the sailor would answer:
First rate. Joe"
That's nice" little Toe would say.
And they would lie quiet and look out |
of the window ut the river and beyond |
where the big hills purpled to the skies |