The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1916-03-25

7 seldom did so. I believe he resented
using even the speech Of the hated and
despised English.
During the first few days he suffered
severely and the doctor kept him I'M
| der the influence of an opiate. AS he
| grew better however, he grew COM
| municative and kept me busy attend =
| ing his many wants. When all else
! failed he insisted that I give him les
sons in French.
AS for Captain Frazer, I had hoped
| that he and the Prussian officer might
| become if not friends, at least tolerant
| acquaintance, and SO help each other
beguile the tedious hours Of GONZALES
cence. We always found that the men
l in the wards made better progress than
| the officers, %fio are isolated.
However, tne first few days proved
that my hopes for the two men were
not to be realized. Captain Frazer and
| Won Schulling, though they belonged to
/ the same social class in their respec-
! tive countries, were as far apart in
| thought as east and west.
The Englishman is essentially an in
! dividual, and he remains so even in
| war, when he is making history. His
tendency is to think that things Eng
] llsh are badly managed, and he says so
! in no uncertain terms, though only to
his own countrymen And he is not per.
petualIy nerving himself with thoughts
| of the glory Of his country, of the
| splendor OF his cause or of the fact
that he is soldier in q famous army.
These are things he takes for granted,
and to his mind the less said about be-
ing heroic or romantic the better. As
for him. he has work to do which, al
though he will not say so, he will do as
only Englishmen can, but the romance
or poetry Of his deeds he leaves to 9TH
ers to express.
The German, however, is an abso-
lutely different type. His passion for
abstract thought has mastered him SO
that he sees abstraction even In con-
crete things. To no German is Ger
many merely collection of Germans;
to no German is he himself merely
man in world of other men and
things concrete. He Is a factor in some
farreaching process, unit in some
great institution or cog in some intri-
cate machine. Many nations have tried
to initiate the English, but no one has
ever tried to initiate the Germans be-
cause the German himself is initiative
AS an individual he is i'll at ease and
prefers always to be typical and repre-
sentative rather than simply himself.
On the other hand, the English Off
Ger, or at least So it seems to me from
my obServa ton of the few I have
nursed, would rather be anything than
a type, and what he says and does is
said and done on his own initiative.
During his commissioners Captain Won
Schulling's attitude toward me often
left me, young and unsophisticated as I
was, puzzled and at loss to define a
vague something back of his manner.
Afterward I understood
On the other hand, had many de-
hghtful talks with Captain Frazer
whenever. my duties permitted though
I did not realize then how blank the
time was between these talks or how
looked forward to them as the bright
est moments in my day. Our CONVEX
Stations were simple and ordinary
enough, but Won SchuIling resented
them and even went as far as to imply
that Captain Frazer and myself were
In some undehhed way 1eagued against
him. Looking back, realize how fool
ishly blind was in those days, but in
the light Of succeeding events I can
only thank heaven for my blindness.
Captain Won Schulling often tried my
patience to the utmost, but / made a
determined effort to see only the best
in him, though Captain Frazer's occa-
sionaI cool intersections showed me the |
hOpelessness of my efforts. The man
was absurdly sentimental or brutaIly
callous by turns, an almost Incredible
combination of childishness and bru- |
tally.
As time passed rumors OF impending |
danger came to our ears. and with |
them Won Sehuilng developed a queer |
exaltatiou, as though he felt the APP
proach of the time when he should be |
in power. With 1t there crept into his /
voice and manner an arrogant and as
sertfve tone which irritated me to the |
highest degree, though Captain Frazer I
passed it over in amused silence. Then |
one morning the enemy's firing grew |
more distinct; carts began passing the /
hospital laden with household goods. |
Droves of cattle-eVen little boys and
girls, each with a bundle done up in a |
towel or pillow slip-tiny mites Of four
and five doing all they could to save |
the home; mothers with babes at the |
breast-came in endless streams
Sometimes beside the roadway long /
rows of fugitives would sit resting be- I
fore recommending their journey. l re-
call one group of little children alone |
unattended 1t was pathetic picture /
that VIII live in my memory forever.
All this proved only too conclusively |
that the enemy was advancing and /
that our lines were hurried1y falling 4
back.
These things seemed to stimulate, to |
encourage Won Schulling to make him |
self generally offensive. AS was chang |
ing the bandages on his wounded Shout |
der one morning he put his other arm
about me and drew me to him until his I
lips touched my face. 1 freed myself
at once, but in spite of my natural |
anger, the Instructive fear of what |
Captain Frazer would attempt to do if |
I disclosed the situation held me silent |
Nevertheless T looked anxfously across |
the room to be sure he had not seen, /
and Won Schulling, catching my hur-