ven her
and thrust it forward.
She was standing framed in the arch made by the two fallen walls, not
having moved since the moment of her amazing discovery.
The soldier's hunger was greater than his fear, for he almost snatched
the food from Sally's hands and, as he ate it she could not bear
watching him. There is something dreadful in the sight of a human being
ravenously hungry.
Afterwards, when he did not speak, Sally found herself making the first
remarks, and unconsciously and stupidly, not realizing what she was
doing at the moment, she spoke in English.
The next instant, to her surprise, the soldier replied in the same
tongue, although it seemed to Sally that he spoke with a foreign accent,
what the accent was she did not know. Sally had not a great deal of
experience, neither was she particularly clever.
"What are you doing here?" is what she naturally inquired.
The soldier hesitated and placed his hand to his forehead, looking at
the girl dazedly.
"Why am I hiding here?" he repeated. Then almost childishly he went on:
"I am hiding, hiding because no one must find me, else I would be shot
at once. I don't know how long I have been here alone. I am very cold."
"But I don't understand your reason," Sally argued. "Why don't you find
some one to take care of you? You cannot be living here; besides you
could not have been here long without food or water or you would have
died."
"But I have had a little food and water," the soldier replied. "I found
a few cans of food in a closet and there is water in one of the rooms."
His voice had a complaining note which was an expression of suffering if
one had understood. Then his face was feverish and wretched.
"But you don't look as if you had used much water," Sally remarked in
her usual matter-of-fact fashion. She had a way of pursuing her own
first idea without being influenced by other considerations.
"It is hard work when one's arm is like this," the soldier returned
fretfully.
Again Sally surveyed the soiled bandage with disfavor. Apparently it had
not been changed in many days, since it was encrusted with dirt and
blood and having slipped had been pulled awkwardly back into place.
Temprementally, Sally Ashton hated the sight of blood and suffering. In
the years of the Camp Fire training she had been obliged to study first
aid, but she had left the practical application to the other girls. Her
own tastes were domestic and she therefore had
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