t. It
was chosen from an idea that Drusilla's friends at home might prefer
it to the open hill where the soldiers lay; but if there had been time
for consideration and inspection, it would have been otherwise
arranged: for the appearance of the place struck a chill to our
hearts--it looked so dark and dreary, with the grass more than a foot
high, and the weeds towering above it; and from its being close to the
bay, and the porous nature of the soil, the grave which had been dug
on the forenoon was almost filled by water; and on the words,
"Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God," we heard the coffin
splash into the half-full grave. There was a general regret afterwards
that this burial-ground had been chosen, but poor Drusilla will not
sleep the less soundly; and we all agreed, on leaving her grave, that
whoever of us was next called to die, should be buried on the hill, in
the spot allotted to the poor soldiers, open and unprotected as it
was. Death seemed very near to us then; we had already lost two
orderlies, and many of the nurses were lying at the gates of death.
Miss A---- had made an almost miraculous escape, and was not yet out
of danger from relapse. The first gap had been made in our immediate
party, and who of us could tell whether she herself was not to be the
next?

'The evening was fast closing as we returned, some in caiques, and
others walking solemnly and sadly; for, besides the feelings naturally
attending such a scene, we all regretted poor Drusilla, who, although
she had not been long among us, was so obliging and anxious to be of
use. She was a good-looking young woman, and immediately on her
arrival had become the object of attraction to one of the clerks,
whose attentions, however, she most steadily declined. He still
persisted in showing the most extraordinary attachment to her, and
during her illness was in such a state of excitement and distress as
to be utterly incapacitated for attending to his duties properly. He
used to sit on the stairs leading to her room, in the hopes of seeing
some one who could tell him how she was, and went perpetually to the
passage outside her room, entreating of the Misses Le M----, who
generally sat up with her, to let him in to see her. This they refused
till the night of her death, when she was quite insensible, and past
all hope of recovery; so that his visit could do her no harm. He
stayed a few minutes, and looked his last on her; for in the morning
at