Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1920-05-07
CHAPTER /.

rpObued pretty promptly 10 the rail-
Ing call. After that. and with III
cataclysmic suddenness which marke
all changes OF military status on IN
western front, he became, one frost
morning. a Case, and got himsei
roughly classified (and tenderly han
dled) as a Stretcher Case, a Gram
Blesse, and. in consequence. prope
temporary inmate OF a field hospita
on the Belgian plains.
There. he was unOfficially known al
Joyeanx. or Joyous One; not becaus,
he displayed a very buoyant DISPOSE
uon-fsT from tl-but because he be
longed to the Foreign legion; and in
the course OF another day or two he
was routine-ticketed as an Eyacue,
and provided with lukewarm hot
water bottle and couple OF evil
smelling cigarettes to console him on
the road to the base hospital at Neu-
lily.
At Neuilly he became, for the first
time since his enlistment, an Indlyid-
ual, and at the very outset he was dis
tinguished by certain qualities which
had passed unnOticed In the frying pan
and fire of the trenches. For one
thing, he was obviously Immune TO
Kindness; and for another, he was ap-
parently Immune TO hope. He was a
man Of inveterate silence; not the
grim silence of fortltude In suffering
(Which Is altogether too common vir-
tue In base hospitals to earn any es-
pecial merritt. but rather the logged
reticence OF black moods and chronic
bitterness To be sure. speech was
physically difficult to him. but other
men with similar misfortunes smoke
blessings with their eyes. and gave
back gratitude in yoiceless murmurs.
Not so the Joyous One. From the day
of his arrival he demanded nothing.
desired nothing, hut to brood sulIenly
aloof; and so, when he became an In
dividual. he also became IA mystery TO
the nursing staff IL was rumored that
he was an impacable woman hater.
and there seemed to be something In
Il.
Regardless OF the care of the Amer
can nurses Gall hOverngly attentive
o one of their own nation who had
ought for France), his spirit remained
'bysmal and clouded in gloom. Only
vice, in the initial month of his con
'nement, did he betray the weakness
4 an ordinary eunotio,. 80, .,.,,t -
ion a gold-laced general had come to
alute. In the name of the republic. one
I the individuals neighbOrs, and TO
oliver bit of bronze which dangled
'om a ribbon striped red and green.
was said (and doubted by those who
admit seen iD that at these ceremo-
les the Individual had grown fever
n, and let tears come 10 his eyes but
ibSequently he had relapsed into
III greater depths of stoicism than
fore; his own bed-jaclSet was limo
mt OF cross or medal, and his depres-
on was apparent. and acute. The
irses' arguing that perhaps his pride {
as wounded as seriously as his flesh.
Tered quick coincidence and got them
ives rebuhed with shrugs of the In
shoulders. and narticulate
unds which had all the earinarks OF
ppressed profanity lie didn't even
item when Pierre Dutout. a hard-hit
'ritorial In the next bed. squandered
lays supply of energy to lean across
d whisper sympathetically TO him:
ID man Vieux espece de chOux-
'ute know how II Is
] | haven't got any friends either.
want you to take my Crolx de
ere. When l go nowhere.
wen when speech returned TO the
ividual he was a man OF curt re-
nses and singing monosyllables-
roblem TO the surgeons. a problem
he nurses and (if the expression in
eyes meant anything) an over Il
lining problem TO himself II ap-
red that, after all. II wasn't simply N
nen that he hated-it was the uni N
e. AZ
Is military book implied that he Inn
no parents. no close relations. no NV
ads to notify, no fixed abode. He v
ived no visitors. no letters. no
ages freighted with magical de- \
:. But TO those who pitied him In
MS loneliness he WAS utterly con
'tU0us; he even went so far as 10
sidelong to the floor a religious IL
card rendered him by a devout ,.
sentimental passer-by. and he did =,
her presence unashamed. Later. H.
a smiling orderly picked up that =,
card and tucked II under his pill a.
he was no less contemptuous in l..
lifting IL TO remain. But the one -,
ndous fact which. more than all
combined, made him an object of 81
dered curiosity was this-that of ,,..'
cores and scores OF men with -,
who were reborn at Neu- h.,.,
hat spring and summer, he was ~,
lily one who had never asked for tai,,
ror. Co. So
J, of itself, wouldn't have been one