Hutchinson gazette., 1900-06-14

IN THE HOSPITAL.


young nurses were very good and net
been In the business long enough 10
have grown callous, They were nice
girls, mostly In their first years
course, and their lips would twitch
and their faces whlten very often In
the operating room, or when they
held 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 sick rooms, and being the best
OF medicines themselves by reason of
their neatness, their bright eyes and
their kind voices
Now, one beautiful bright spring
afternoon, ut the railroad junction
in the town, two trains, filled tn
pleasure seekers, smashed lCg,aer,
aud the doctors and the mutron and
the nurses were plunged into u world
of work, for ambulance after nmbu-
lance came driving up from the scene
OF the accident and left to the care
of the girls many people sorely hurt.
And among them was u very little
boy, about six yenrs old, whom no.
bbuy knew anything about, bec0us
his luther and mother We're both kill
ed in the collision, and there wus
nothing on them TO show who or what
they were, except that they were very
poor, II IL comprehensive that n
very great deal of attention was aid
to this little fellow, and he would
have been placed in the woman's
ward, as the hospital was too small
for children's ward, but the
woman's ward was full. So the boy,
quite insensible, was laid on cot In
the mems ward, and next TO him was
laid big, brown-bearded man, also
unknown, and evidence to show that
he Ind gathered quite n sum of mon
ey and whose few papers went to
show he had been sailor. He was
a very rough loking man, indeed.
The man came TO his senses first,
and 1t was night, The nurse on watch
was quite frightened at the man. lie
was IN pain, and great allowance
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 nurses and man
kind in general, He was very Bit
ter mouthed man, indeed. The little
nurse, by the light of the night lamp,
did her best to soothe him, because
he reused other patients, and there
was terrible grooming and waiting
in the small ward. And all AT once
the little boy came TO his senses, too,
hIst for 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 ii
seemed he mistook 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
fellows eyes, was abashed and stop
ped his swearing, and was silent foI
n moment, and then muttered clum
silly;
"I'm all right"
"Thats 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
little nurse slipped by 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
morning came at last, he only groan-
ed and watched the child, and did
not curse Mt all, but every time the
nurse came To wipe his brow or give
him drink, he hispered to her to
look at the boy.
"Pretty boy-he thought ] was his
dad" he said, and would have laugh
ed only his pain made him gronn in
stead, Again he caught the nurses
hand.
"Said IL was nice, he did. Cute,
ainh hep" and then his face twisted
in pain.
But neither could the suilor rise
from his back, and neither could the
sailor hope to sail the sea again, for
he was in the same case with the shild
and both were slowly dying. At first
sometimes the BIZ brown man would
forget himself ! ais pain, and { 0
nurses would shut their ears, terri
fed, and the matron would threaten
to move him TO n room by himself,
and that frightened him TO silence,
for ever since the accident he had a
great love for the child, The child
would look at his huge friend in sur
prise when he fell into one OF his
RACES and sny:
"0h! John, that's not nice"
And John would bite his lips at
once and be patient. Then the child
would say:
"lIow do you feel, John2"
And the sailor would answer;
"First rate, joe"
"That's nice" liOtle JOG mouIu y,
and they would lie quiet and look out
of the window at the river and be-
yond where the big hills purpled to
the skies, and were always looking
up.
So " was in the mornings, when
Joe seemed always first awake, and
a I,.. ,L.l fna