most impatient of patients. Then she would wander
on about her home, how she nursed half the year, and spent the remainder
with her married sister in Fondborough Manor.

One day one of the Orderlies shaved him, and every one was surprised "to
see how much better he looked!"

They used to give him aspirin, and though it generally failed to bring
sleep, his pains would be relieved almost instantly, and his spirits
would rise to tremendous heights. The only time he was able to sleep
seemed to be between six and ten. He was nearly always awakened by the
lusty voice of a peasant entering the room beneath. He complained to the
Orderly, with the result that the next night the lusty voice was
suddenly silenced.

"Shut yer mouth, or I'll knock yer blinking face in!" And Lusty Voice
understood.

* * * * *

At last the Doctor gave his consent for removal to the Base Hospital,
and the Subaltern found himself being once more hauled on to a stretcher
and heaved into the Ambulance.

They dragged him out at the station, and he saw the long train, each
carriage brilliantly lit. The sight seemed so civilised that it cheered
him not a little.

The carriage was an ordinary "wagon-lit" converted with considerable
ingenuity into a Hospital Train. He shared his compartment with a young
Guardee, "a sitting case."

He had no sooner settled down than a voice was heard calling for
"Second-Lieutenant Hackett."

"Here," replied the Guardee, without any enthusiasm.

A dapper Staff Officer, so tall that he had to stoop to enter the
compartment, drew a paper from his pocket.

"You?" he asked. "Well, Hackett, this is a great evening in your life,
and I congratulate you." He shook the Guardee's left hand. "You have
been given the D.S.O.," he added hurriedly, for the train had already
begun to move. With that he disappeared.

It was not until the following morning that the Sister came in to dress
his wound.

"What strong teeth you've got, boy!" she said.

Nobody knew better than he did that his teeth were large and tended to
protrude, but it is always annoying to have one's defects admired.

The Orderly was, in his way, an artist. He was light-handed, quick,
deferential, and soothing--a prince among Orderlies. He produced
wonderful tit-bits--amongst other things tinned chicken, sardines,
chocolate, and, for the Guardee, stout! Three minutes after the Sister
had strictly forbidden him to read, the Orderl