The Washington herald., 1919-04-15
AND HERE IT CONTINUES.

Four months l lay paralyLeu, never
expecting to recover. My food con-
sisted of milk and kasha, fed to me by
an attendant Death would have been
a welcome visitor on many a gray
day. It seemed so futile. so hopeless
to continue to live in such a state, but
the doctor, who was a Jew, and a man
OF sterling heart, would not give up
hope. He persisted in his daily grind,
praising my stoicism and encouraging
me with kind words. His faith was
finally rewarded.
At the end of four months I began
to feel life circulating in my tnani-
mate body. My fingers could move!
What a JOY that was! In few days
l could turn my head bit and
stretch my arm. 1t was so marvellous,
this gradual resurrection of my life
less organs To be able to close my
| fingers after four months of NUMB
ness! 1t was thrilling. To be in po-
sition to bend a knee that had been
torpid so long, 1t was a miracle. And
I offered thanks to God with all the
fervor that l could command.
One day a woman by the name OF
Daria MaXimOVna NaSilieva came 10
see me. | searched my mind in vain
| for an acquaintance of that name as
| had her shown to my bed. But as
was perhaps the only patient in the
ward that had no visitors and received
| no parcels one can imagine how joy
! Gus | was over the call. She intro
| duced herself as the mother Of Ste
pan, of my company. OF course,
knew Stepan well. He was a student
before the war and volunteered as an
/ under-offiCer.
"Stepan has just written me about
you" Madame Nasilieva said, urg-
ing me to look you up. Go to the
Ekatcrina Hospital and visit our Yash-
ka.' he writes. She is lonely there,
and I want you to do for her as much
rs you would do for me, for she saved
my life once. and has been like god
mother to the boys here. She is a
decent. patriotic young woman and
my interest in her is but that Of a
comrade, for she is a soldier, and a
brave and gallant soldier He praised
you so much. darling, that my heart
just went out to you. May God bless
you
She brought me some dainties, and
we became friends Immediately. l told
her all about her son and our life in
the trenches. She wept and wondered
how | had borne it. Her attachment
to me grew so strong that she made It
a habit to visit me several times a
week. although she lived on the out
skirts of the city. Her husband was
assistant superintendent at a factory
and they occupied a small but COM
Portable dwelling in keeping with their
means. Daria MaXimovna herself was
a woman of middle age, modestly
dressed and of gentle appearance. She
had a married daughter, Tonetchka,
and another son, a youth of about II,
who was a high school student
My friend buoyed up my spirits and
my recovery progressed. AS 1 grad
ually regained full control of my mus
cles and nerves, I teased the doctor
sometimes:
We'll. doctor" I would say to him,
Il am going to war again.
mo. no." he would answer. there
will be no more war for you, golubsh-
ka."
wondered whether I really would
be able to return to the front. There
was that fragment of shell yet in my
body. The doctor would not extract It.
He advised me to await complete re-
covery and have 1t removed at some
future date through an abdominal op-
Grafton. as the fragment Is lodged in
the omentum. 1 have not yet found
the opportunity to undergo such an