ng a
rest. The officers and sisters in the theatre were in high spirits. They
were trying to speak French and ridiculing each other's efforts. Captain
Wycherley began to hum a tune and wave his amputation knife like the
conductor of an orchestra, whereupon the others locked arms and danced
up and down the theatre, talking and joking. Then Captain Calthrop broke
away and danced by himself, kicking his legs up in the air. The Sisters
watched him and laughed loudly. One of them could hardly control
herself, and shrieking with laughter, cried:

"Oh, Captain Calthrop, you really are _too_ funny!"

Captain Dowden had not joined in the merrymaking. He was standing by the
table on which the corpse was lying. He smiled uneasily and said to an
orderly: "Tie up his jaw and his feet and hands and take him away. And
tell the bearers to get a move on. Let's get finished as quickly as
possible."

The orderly pushed the dead man's lower jaw sharply against the upper,
so that the teeth clicked, and kept it in position by tying a bandage
right round the head. Then he crossed the dead hands and feet and tied
them together also.

He went to the door and shouted, "Bearers!"

But only one bearer appeared with a stretcher over his shoulder. I
helped him to lift the corpse on to it and carry it away. It was an
intensely black night. All was silent except for an occasional muffled
boom in the distance and the sound of someone whimpering in one of the
wards. Our load was very heavy and we had to feel our way slowly along
the duckboards. When they came to an end we walked through the grass. I
was in front and all at once I tripped over some obstacle. With a
strenuous effort I retained my balance but nearly tipped the dead man
off the stretcher. We walked on, but did not reach the mortuary,
although we should have done so long ago. We put the stretcher down and
looked around. The darkness enveloped us like a mantle. We could see
nothing except a few shafts of light that shone through chinks in the
walls of the distant operating theatre. Roughly guessing our direction
we continued our journey. I felt a tent rope brushing against my leg. I
stepped over it and encountered another, while the orderly knocked his
foot against a peg. We put the stretcher down a second time. It rested
partly on the ground and partly on the ropes, and we held the corpse for
fear it should roll off. We shouted for a light. Someone answered near
by and struck a match.