opped off, are you? ha, ha!" Hardly
what one might call tactful, what? I withdrew my hand and put it behind
my back. In time though we became fairly good friends, but how I longed
to be back in France again!

Being a civilian hospital they were short-staffed. "Everyone seems mad
on war work," said one sister to me peevishly, "they seem to forget
there are civilians to nurse," and she flounced out of the room.

A splendid diversion was caused one day when the Huns came over in full
force (thirty to forty Gothas) in a daylight raid. I was delighted! This
was something I really _did_ understand. It was topping to hear the guns
blazing away once more. Everyone in the place seemed to be ringing their
electric bells, and, afraid I might miss something, I put my finger on
mine and held it there. Presently the matron appeared: "You can't be
taken to the cellar," she said, "it's no good being nervous, you're as
safe here as anywhere!" "It wasn't that," I said, "I wondered if I might
have a wheel chair and go along the corridor to see them." "Rubbish,"
said she, "I never heard of such a thing," and she hurried on to quiet
the patient in the next room. But by dint of screwing myself half on to
a chair near the window I did just get a glimpse of the sky and saw
about five of the Huns manoeuvring. Good business!

One of the things I suffered from most, was visitors whom I had never
seen in my life before. There would be a tap at the door; enter lady,
beautifully dressed and a large smile. The opening sentence was
invariably the same. "You won't know who I am, but I'm Lady L----, Miss
so-and-so's third cousin. She told me all about you, and I thought I
really _must_ come and have a peep." Enters and subsides into chair near
bed smiling sweetly, and in nine cases out of ten jiggles toes against
it, which jars one excessively. "You must have suffered _terribly_! I
hear your leg was absolutely _crushed_! And now tell me all about it!
Makes you rather sick to talk of it? Fancy that! Conscious all the time,
dear me! What you must have gone _through_! (Leg gives one of its
jumps.) Whatever was that? Only keeping your knee from getting stiff,
how funny! _Lovely_ having the _Croix de Guerre_. Quite makes up for it.
What? Rather have your _leg_. Dear me, how odd! Wonderful what they do
with those artificial limbs nowadays. Know a man and really you can't
tell _which_ is which. (Naturally not, any fool could make a leg the
shape of the other