The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1918-10-04
CHAPTER xxVIl-continued.

not stop To figure IT our when ne was
hit.
one very -nice-lookiu~, overcnthusi-
astc young thing. stopped at my bed
and asked. what wounded you in tho
faceg'
III "a polite bur bored tone I an
swered. "a rifle bullet
With "a look OF disdain she passed
TO the next bed. first calculating. cont
Only p buIIetE / thought it was a
she'll Why She should think a shelf
wound was more of a distinction beats
me- ] don't see q whole lot Of differ
encc myself.
Ihe American Women'S War hoSpi-
tai was a heaven for wounded men.
They Were allowed every privilege pos
sible conducive with the rules and mill
tary discipline. The only fault was
that the mems pas-es were restricted.
To get a pass required IN act ~ par
bameut- Tommy tried many tricks "a
get out, bur the commandment. an old
Boer war officer. was wise to them an.
nnd il took 4 new and clever ruse to
make him atix his signature - the
coveted Slip of paper.
As soon as ID would get dark many q
patient climbed over the wall and went
"on his own" regardless of many signs
staring him In the face. cont of bounds
FOR patients Generally the nurses
were looking the other way when one
Of these night raids started. ] hope
this information viii get none Of them
into trouble. but I cannot resist the
temptation 10 Iet the commandment
know chat occasionally ve put il " @
ON him.
one afternoon ! received q note.
Through QUIZ underground channel. from
my female visitor. asking md to attend
"A party III her house that night. II
answered that She could expect me and
To- meet me ut "a certain place on the
road wei known by an patients. and
some visitors. as "over the an" I
told her I would be on hand at seven
thirty.
About seventeen I sneaked my
nvercoat and cap out OF the ward and
bid il in the bushe Then 7 told the
nurse, q particular friend of mine. that
] was going for "a walk in the rose gar
den. She winked and I knew that ev-
erything was all right on her end.
Going out of the ward, l slipped into
the bushes and made for the wall. It
was dark as pitch and l was cropping
through the underbrush. when sudden
ly I stepped into space and felt myself
rushing downward, Il horrible bump,
and ~blackness. When l came to my
wounded shoulder was hurting horri-
bly,. ! was lying against a circular
wall of bricks. dripping with moisture,
and far away l could hear the %trickling
dSNvater. I had in the darkness fallen
into an old disused wei. But why
wasn't 1 wet? According to all rules
Iishould have been drowned. Perhaps
Twas and didn't know it.
As the shock of my sudden stop
gradually wore off it came TO me that
] was lying on "a ledge ana that the
least movement on my part would pre-
Gpitate me 10 the bottom Of the well.
/ struck "a match. In its faint glare
] saw that was lying in n circular
hole about twelve feet deep-thc well
had been filled in The dripping had
heard came from n water pipe over or
my right.
With my wounded shoulder it was
impossible to Skinny up the pipe. I
could not yell for help. because the
rescUer would want To know how the
accident happened. and / would be
hst4tu btAtAt AAt t0AiiAllNnAlAilt nl
charges. l just had To grin and bear
il. with the forlorn hope that one OF
the returning night raiders would pass
and l could give him our usual signal
Of "siss-s-s-s." which would bring him
To the rescue.
Every half-hour I could hear the
clock in the village strike. each stroke
bringing forth n mufied volley of
curses on the man who had dug the
After two hours l heard TWO men
talking in low voices. l recognized
Corporal Cook. an ardent might raid
err" He heard my ''siss-s-s-sr and
came to- the edge Of the hole. / ex-
planned my predicament and amid a lot
OF impertinent remarks, which ut the
time did not resent l was soon ished
out
Taking off our boots. we sneaked into
the ward. i was sitting on my bed in
the dark, just starting 10 undreSs,
when the man next TO me. Ginger
Phillips. whispered. "'Op il. Nank. ere
comes the matrOn-'
1 Immediately got under the covers
and feigned sleep. The matron stood
talking I'm low tones To the night nurse
and | fell asleep.
When 1 awoke In the morning the
night sister. an American. was bending
over me. An awful sight met my eyes.
The c~Overlet on the bed and the sheets
were a mass of mud and green slime.
She was a good sport all right. and
hustled 10 get clean clothes and sheets
so that no one would get wise. but ION
her own she "a mi a good tongue
flashing but did not export me. One of
the Canadians in the ward described
her as being "A Jake of u good fell
low"
Next visiting day 1 had an awful
time explaining to my visitor why /
had not met her at the appointed time
and place.
And for a week every time / passed
n patient he would call, well, well,
here's the Yank. Hope you are feel
ing well. old top"
The surgeon in our ward was an
american. a Harvard unit man. named