The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1918-09-20
CHAPTER xxvlI-centInued.

@lG
One very nice-Iooking, overenthusf- |
astic young thing. stepped at my bed |
and asked, What wounded you in the |
facef
In polite but bored tone an
swered, "a rife bullet"
With a look of disdain she passed
20 the next bed, frst calculating, sOhl
Only q buIleti / thought it was a
shell" Why she should think a shell
wound was more OF distinction beats
nae. ! don't see whole lot Of differ
ence myself.
The American Women's War hospi-
tai was heaven for wounded men.
They were allowed every privilege pos
sibie conducive with the rules and mill
tary discipline. The only fault was
that the mems passes were restricted.
To get pass required an act of par
lament Tommy tried many tricks to
get out, but the commandant, an old
Bosr war officer, was wise to them all,
and 1t took new and clever ruse to
make him affix bis signature to the
coveted slip Of paper.
as seon as IL would get dark many a
patient climbed over the wall and went
~on his own" regardless of many signs
staring him In the face, "Out of bounds
for patients" Generally the nurses
were locking the other way when one
OF these night raids started I hope
this information viii get none of them
into trouble, but I cannot resist the
temptation to LET the commandant
know that occasionally we put 1t over
on him.
One afternoon I received a note,
through our underground channel, from
my female visitor, asking me to attend
a party at her house that night.
answered that she could expect me and
to meet me at certain place on the
road we'll known by all patients, and
some visitors, as 'sover the wall"
told her / would be on hand at seven
thirty.
About seven-flfteen / sneaked my
-overcoat and cap out of the ward and
hid II In the bushes. Then I told the
nurse. particular friend of mine, that
was going for walk In the rose gar
den. She winked and knew that ev-
-erything was all right on her end.
0DAA6 OuN Oh ND1 WAEu~ BAlRp&0 1nNO
the e..~a.~~ -na made for ss.~ s~afa- H
was dark as pitch and I was cropping
through the underbrush, when sudden
~ stepped into space and felt myself
rushing downward, a horrible bump,
and blackness. When I came to my
wounded shoulder was hurting horri-
bly,. was lying against circular
wall of bricks. dripping with moisture.
and far away could hear the trickling
of water. had In the darkness fallen
into an old disHsed well. But why
wasn't wetY According to all rules
should have been drowned. Perhaps
/ was and didn't know IL
As the shock of my sudden stop
gradually were off IL came to me that
was lying ON ledge and that the
least movement on my part would pre-
eipitate me 10 the bottom of the well.
struck match. In its faint glare
saw that was lying In a circular
hole about twelve feet deep-the well
had been filled ini The dripping had
heard came from q water pipe over on
my right.
With my wounded shoulder 1t was
impossible 70 shiny up the pipe. i
could not yell for help, because the
rescusr would want to know how the
accident happened. and L would be
hailed before the commandant on
charges. / just had to grin and bear
1t, with the foriorn hope that one of
the returning night raiders would pass
and / could give him our usual signal
of "siss-s-s-s." which would bring him
TO the rescue.
Every half-hour could hear the
clock la the village strike, each stroke
bringing forth a muffled volley of
curses on the man who had dug the
well.
After tive hours heard two men
talking in low voices. recognized
Corporal Cook, an ardent might raid
err" He heard my ''siss-s-s-s'' and
came to the edge OF the hole. ex-
planned my predicament and amid lot
of impertinsnt remarks, which at the
time / did not resent. was soon fshed
out.
Taking of eur boots, we sneaked into
the ward. was sitting on my bed in
the dark, just starting to undress.
when the man next to me. Ginger"
Phillips, whispered. sop Ii. Yank, ere
comes the matron."
Immediately got under the covers
and feigned sleep. The Natron stood
talking In low tones to the night nurse
and fell asleep,
When | awoke In the morning the
night sister, an American, was bending
over me. An awful sight met my eyes.
The eoverlet on the bed and the sheets
were mass of mud and green slime.
She was good sport all right. and
hustled to get clean clothes and sheets
so that no one would get wise, but ION
her own" she gave me good tongue
flashing but did not report me. One of
the Canadians in the ward described
her as being "a Jake of good fell
low
Next visiting day had an awful |