end him as far as I could,
poor boy. I had no doubt that the men of his regiment would look after
him and treat him kindly.

A few nights after this I was in the trenches, when I saw a shell coming
directly towards our position. I cried out at the very top of my voice,
"Close cover," that the men might get close under the embankment of the
trench. Some followed my advice, but others stood still, when the shell
exploded in the midst of us, wounding twelve of our number, some very
severely, and, in addition, a captain of my regiment. I saw him fall,
and thought that he was killed. I ran to him and found that he
breathed, so I went and brought a stretcher from the end of another
trench, and placed him on it. He begged to be allowed to die in peace,
as he was mortally wounded, but another man and myself undertook to
carry him to the hospital, at the Twenty-one Gun Battery. The shortest
way was across the open space between the trenches. As there were fully
a hundred shells and rockets in the air at once, there was plenty of
light for us to see our way. We agreed to run the risk of being shot,
and to carry him across, as it was important to have him looked to at
once. We reached the battery without being hit, but our poor captain
died within a quarter of an hour of entering the hospital. We
afterwards carried his body to his quarters, where his brother officers,
when they heard of what had happened, soon came to take a last look at
one they all loved so well.

The day was coming on, as we well knew by the advance in our trenches,
when another attack on the fortress was to be made. The Russians had
kept us fully employed, and during July and August several times came
out from behind their lines to attack us, and were as often driven back.
There is one matter I forgot to talk of. All this time it was pleasant
to know that we were thought of by the people at home. Comforts of
every sort were sent out to the soldiers--food, and clothes, and books;
and missionaries and other ministers of religion came out and preached
to those in health, and comforted the sick and dying; but besides this,
hospitals were established in the more healthy parts of the country
belonging to our allies, the Turks, to which our sick and wounded were
sent. What also won the hearts of our wounded men was the gentle care
with which they were tended, not by hired nurses, but by many ladies who
came out from England on purpose to assist them.