The wounded were provided with soup and bread, and such as were able to
walk were allowed to get out and stroll about. The surgeon who
accompanied the train and the doctor in charge of the hospital attended
to all the serious cases, and these were carried into the tent for the
night thus making room for the others to lie at length in the waggons.
Only three of these contained British wounded, the others were all
occupied by Boers. Chris and Sankey excited the admiration of the
wounded soldiers by conversing with the Boers and the natives in their
own languages. Most of the Boers, indeed, could speak English perfectly,
but did not now condescend to use it. Some even refused to speak in
Dutch to the lads, as their dislike to the colonists who had taken up
arms against them was even more bitter than that which they felt for the
soldiers.
For six days they travelled on, at the end of that time Chris felt sure
that he could walk without difficulty. He had, at very considerable pain
to himself, each night undone his bandage, and had with his finger
scratched at the two tiny wounds until they were red and inflamed, so
that on the two occasions on which they were examined by the doctor,
they appeared to be making but little progress towards healing.
Pages:
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320