Tensas gazette., 1918-12-20
CHAPTER xxvIl-continued.

Tommy generally replies that he did
not stop 10 figure 1t out when he was
hit.
-. One very nice-lOoking overenthusi-
Fastic young thing, stopped at my bed
and asked, "What wounded you in the
face?
In polite but bored tone an
swered. "A rifle bullet"
With a look of disdain she passed
to the next bed, first calculating. "Oh!
Only bullet? I thought it was a
she'll" Why she should think a shell
wound was more of distinction beats
me. ] don't see whole lot Of differ.
ence IHyself.
The 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 passes were restricted.
To get pass required an act of par
lament. Tommy tried many tricks to
get out, but the commandant, an old
Boer war officer, was wise to them all,
>and It tsJfa new and clever ruse to
make him affix his signature to the
coveted slip of paper.
As soon as 1t would get dark many
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 looking the other way when one
OF these night raids started. l hope
this information will get none of them
into trouble, but l cannot resist the
temptation to let the cOmmandant
know that occasionally we put it over
on him.
One afternoon / received a note,
through our underground channel, from
my female visitor, asking me to attend
q party at her house that night. /
answered that she could expect me and
to meet me at a certain place on the
road well known by all patients, and
some VISITORS as "over the wall"
told her would be on hand at seven
thirty.
ABOUT SEVENTEEN I 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
i was going for walk in the rose gar
den. She winked and knew that ev-
erything was all right on her end.
Going out of the ward, slipped into
the bushes and made for the wall. 1t
was dark as pitch and was cropping
through the underbrush, when sudden
ly Istepped into space and felt myself
rushing downward, q horrible bump
and blackness. When l came to my
wounded shoulder was hurting horri-
bly,. was lying against q circular
wall Of bricks, dripping with moisture.
and Tar away could hear the trlckling
Z Of water. bad In the darkness fallen
into an nd disused well. But why
0nt1 wet? According to all rules
{ ] should have been drowned. Perhaps
! was and didn't know 1t.
As the shock of my sudden stop
gradually wore of 1t came to me that
was lying on a ledge and that the
least movement on my part would pre-
cipitate me TO the bottom of the well.
l struck a match. In its faint glare
I saw that I was lying In a circular
hole about twelve feet deep-the well
had been filed in! The dripping had
heard came from a water pipe over on
my right.
With my wounded shoulder 1t was
impossible to shiny up the pipe. I
could not yell for help, because the
rescuer would want to know how the
accident happened, ana I would be
hailed before the cOmmandant on
charges. just had to grin and bear
1t, with the forlorn 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 I could hear the
clock In the village strike, each stroke
bringing forth muffied volley Of
curses on the man who had dug the
well.
After two hours I heard two men
talking In low voices. l recognized
Corporal Cook. an ardent might raid
er." He heard my "siss-s-s-s" and
came to the edge of the hole 1 ex-
planned my predicament and amid a lot
OF impertinent remarks, which ut the
time did not resent, l was soon fished
out.
Taking off our boots. we sneaked into
the ward. i was sitting on my bed in
the dark, just starting to undress,
when the man next to me, "Ginger"
Phillips. whispered. "'Op 1t, Yank. ere
comes the matron."
l Immediately got under the covers
and feigned sleep. The matron 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 coverlet on the bed and the sheets
were mass of mud and green slime
She was a 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
lashing but did not report me. One Of
the Canadians in the ward described
her as being "a Jake of a good fel-
low"