The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1919-01-09

| 10 meet me nj certain place t. ttft
road well known by all patients, and
some visitors as "over the wall"
! told her would he on hand nj seyrn-
thirty.
About seventeen | Snealsed my
overcoat and cup out Of the ward and
/ hid 1t in the bushes. Then | told tn
nurse a particular friend Of nine. that
| was going for a walk in the rose gar
den. She winked and | nne~ 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
~ stepped into space and felt myself
rushing downward, a horrible bump
and blackness. When | came to my
wounded shoulder was hurting s0rri-
hly. | WIS lying against a circular
wall of bricks, dripping with moisture
and far away could hear the trickling
of water. had in the darkness fallen
into an old disused well. But why
wasn't | wet? According 10 all rules
| should haye been drowned. Perhaps
l was and didn't know II.
AS the shock Of my sudden stop
gradually wore of ii came to me that
/ was lying on ledge and that the
least movement on my part would pr<-
cipitate me to the bottom of the we'll
| struck a match. In its faint glare
I saw that l was lying in circular
hDtn nh .gl, Il. a..
had been filled In The dripping had
heard came from water pipe over on
my right
With my wounded shoulder II was
impossible to shiny up the pipe. l
could not yell for help, because the
reScuer would want to know how the
accident happened, and ! would be
hailed before the commandant on
charges. | just had to grin and bear
It, with the forlorn hope that one Of
the returning night raiders would pass
and I could give him our usual signal
of "sss-S-s-s," which would bring him
to the rescue.
Every half-hour I could hear the
clock In the village strike each suroke
bringing forth muffled volley of
curses on the man who had dug the
we'll
After two hours | heard two men
talking in low voices. recognized
Corporal Cook, an ardent might raid
er." He heard my "siSs-s-s-s" and
/ came to the edge of the hole. | ex
planned my prcdcament and amid a lot
uf impertinent remarks which at the
time did not resent. | WAS soon fished
out
Taking off our boots we Snealied into
the ward. | was sitting on my bed in
the dark just starting to undre>s,
when the man next to me "Ginger'
Phillips. whispered, cop il. 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 TINT 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 az being "a Jake of good fell
low"
tGi do haH NJ nj
time explaining to my visitor why
had not met her at the appointed time
and place.
And for week every time | passed
patient he would call, well, we'll,
here's the Yank. Hope you are feel
/ ing well, old top"
! The surgeon In our ward was an
! American. Harvard unit man. named
Frost. We nicknamed aim Jack
Frost He was loved by all. If
Tommy was to be cut up he had no OBJ
lection to undergoing the operation II
Jack Frost was to WELD the knife.
Their confidence in him was pathetic.
He was the best sport have ever met.
One Saturday morning the command
ant and some high up" officers were
inspecting the ward. when one of the
patients who had been wounded in the
head by bit Of Shrapnel fell on the
floor in fit. They brought him round,
and then looked for the ward orderly
to carry the patient back TO his bed
mt the other end of the ward. The or
derby was nowhere to he found-like
our policemen, they never nre when
needed. The officers wtrr nj loss
how TO get Palmer into his bed. Doc
tor Frost WAS fidgeting around In
nervous manner, when suddenly with
muffled "d--n" and II few other
qualifying adiectives, he STOPPED down
! and took the man in his aims like
haby-he was no feather, eiihrr-and
staggered down the ward with him, put
him in bed and undreSsed him. A low
murmur of approval came from the pa
ticnts. Doctor Frost got very red. and
as soon as he had finished undressing
Palmer, hurriedly left the ward.
The wound in my face had almost
healed and | was notwithstanding
sight left cheek twisted into Il
knot, the eye pulled down, and my
mouth pointing in n north by uorh-
west direction. | was very dowuheart-
ed and could imagine myself during
! tho nf my lifu hniTr Shnpued nv