THE DOCTOR.
“And his wound? Is it a serious one?” said a round, full voice, as the
doctor left my room at the conclusion of his visit.
“No, sir; a fractured bone is the worst of it,--the bullet grazed, but did
not cut the artery, and as--”
“Well, how soon will he be about again?”
“In a few weeks, if no fever sets in.”
“There’s no objection to my seeing him?--a few minutes only,--I’ll be
cautious.” So saying, and as it seemed to me, without waiting for a reply,
the door was opened by an aide-de-camp, who, announcing General Crawfurd,
closed it again, and withdrew.
The first glance I threw upon the general enabled me to recognize the
officer who, on the previous morning, had ridden up to the picket and given
us the orders to charge. I essayed to rise a little as he came forward; but
he motioned me with his hand to lie still, while, placing a chair close
beside my bed, he sat down.
“Very sorry for your mishap, sir, but glad it is no worse. Moreton says
that nothing of consequence is injured; there, you mustn’t speak except I
ask you. Hampden has told me everything necessary; at least as far as he
knew. Is it your opinion, also, that any movement is in contemplation; and
from what circumstance?”
I immediately explained, and as briefly as I was able, the reasons for
suspecting such, with which he seemed quite satisfied. I detailed the
various changes in the positions of the troops that were taking place
during the night, the march of the artillery, and the strong bodies of
cavalry that were posted in reserve along the river.
“Very well, sir; they’ll not move; your prisoner, quartermaster of an
infantry battalion, says not, also. Yours was a bold stroke, but could not
possibly have been of service, and the best thing I can do for you is not
to mention it,--a court-martial’s but a poor recompense for a gun-shot
wound. Meanwhile, when this blows over, I’ll appoint you on my personal
staff. There, not a word, I beg; and now, good-by.”
So saying, and waving me an adieu with his hand, the gallant veteran
withdrew before I could express my gratitude for his kindness.
I had little time for reflecting over my past adventure, such numbers of my
brother officers poured in upon me. All the doctor’s cautions respecting
quietness and rest were disregarded, and a perfect levee sat the entire
morning in my bed-room. I was delighted to learn that Mike’s wound, though
painful at the moment, was of no consequence; and indeed Hampden, who
escaped both steel and shot, was the worst off among us,--his plunge in the
river having brought on an ague he had labored under years before.
“The illustrious Maurice has been twice here this morning, but they
wouldn’t admit him. Your Scotch physician is afraid of his Irish
_confrère_, and they had a rare set-to about Galen and Hippocrates
outside,” said Baker.
“By-the-bye,” said another, “did you see how Sparks looked when Quill
joined us? Egad, I never saw a fellow in such a fright; he reddened up,
then grew pale, turned his back, and slunk away at the very first moment.”
“Yes, I remember it. We must find out the reason; for Maurice, depend upon
it, has been hoaxing the poor fellow.”
“Well, O’Malley,” growled out the senior major, “you certainly did give
Hampden a benefit. He’ll not trust himself in such company again; and
begad, he says, the man is as bad as the master. That fellow of yours never
let go his prisoner till he reached the quartermaster-general, and they
were both bathed in blood by that time.”
“Poor Mike! we must do something for him.”
“Oh, he’s as happy as a king! Maurice has been in to see him, and they’ve
had a long chat about Ireland, and all the national pastimes of whiskey
drinking and smashing skulls. My very temples ache at the recollection.”
“Is Mister O’Mealey at home?” said a very rich Cork accent, as the
well-known and most droll features of Dr. Maurice Quill appeared at the
door.
“Come in, Maurice,” said the major; “and for Heaven’s sake, behave
properly. The poor fellow must not have a row about his bedside.”
“A row, a row! Upon my conscience, it is little you know about a row, and
there’s worse things going than a row. Which leg is it?”
“It’s an arm, Doctor, I’m happy to say.”
“Not your punch hand, I hope. No; all’s right. A neat fellow you have for
a servant, that Mickey Free. I was asking him about a townsman of his
own--one Tim Delany,--the very cut of himself, the best servant I ever had.
I never could make out what became of him. Old Hobson of the 95th, gave
him to me, saying, ‘There he is for you, Maurice, and a bigger thief and a
greater blackguard there’s not in the 60th.’
“‘Strong words,’ said I.
“‘And true’ said he; ‘he’d steal your molar tooth while you were laughing
at him.’
“‘Let me have him, and try my hand on him, anyway. I’ve got no one just
now. Anything is better than nothing.’
“Well I took Tim, and sending for him to my room I locked the door, and
sitting down gravely before him explained in a few words that I was quite
aware of his little propensities.
“‘Now,’ said I, ‘if you like to behave well, I’ll think you as honest as
the chief-justice; but if I catch you stealing, if it be only the value of
a brass snuff-box, I’ll have you flogged before the regiment as sure as my
name’s Maurice.’
“Oh, I wish you heard the volley of protestations that fell from him fast
as hail. He was a calumniated man the world conspired to wrong him; he was
never a thief nor a rogue in his life. He had a weakness, he confessed, for
the ladies; but except that, he hoped he might die so thin that he could
shave himself with his shin-bone if he ever so much as took a pinch of salt
that wasn’t his own.
“However this might be, nothing could be better than the way Tim and I got
on together. Everything was in its place, nothing missing; and in fact, for
upwards of a year, I went on wondering when he was to show out in his true
colors, for hitherto he had been a phoenix.
“At last,--we were quartered in Limerick at the time,--every morning used
to bring accounts of all manner of petty thefts in the barrack,--one fellow
had lost his belt, another his shoes, a third had three-and-sixpence in
his pocket when he went to bed and woke without a farthing, and so on.
Everybody save myself was mulet of something. At length some rumors of
Tim’s former propensities got abroad; suspicion was excited; my friend
Delany was rigidly watched, and some very dubious circumstances attached to
the way he spent his evenings.
“My brother officers called upon me about the matter, and although nothing
had transpired like proof, I sent for Tim, and opened my mind on the
subject.
“You may talk of the look of conscious innocence, but I defy you to
conceive anything finer than the stare of offended honor Tim gave me as I
began.
“‘They say it’s me, Doctor,’ said he, ‘do they? And you,--you believe them.
You allow them to revile me that way? Well, well, the world is come to a
pretty pass, anyhow! Now, let me ask your honor a few questions? How many
shirts had yourself when I entered your service? Two, and one was more like
a fishing net! And how many have ye now? Eighteen; ay, eighteen bran new
cambrie ones,--devil a hole in one of them! How many pair of stockings had
you? Three and an odd one. You have two dozen this minute. How many pocket
handkerchiefs? One,--devil a more! You could only blow your nose two days
in the week, and now you may every hour of the twenty-four! And as to
the trilling articles of small value, snuff-boxes, gloves, bootjacks,
nightcaps, and--’
“‘Stop, Tim, that’s enough--’
“‘No, sir, it is not,’ said Tim, drawing himself up to his full height;
‘you have wounded my feelings in a way I can’t forget. It is impossible
we can have that mutual respect our position demands. Farewell, farewell,
Doctor, and forever!’
“Before I could say another word, the fellow had left the room, and closed
the door after him; and from that hour to this I never set eyes on him.”
In this vein did the worthy doctor run on till some more discreet friend
suggested that however well-intentioned the visit, I did not seem to be
fully equal to it,--my flushed cheek and anxious eye betraying that the
fever of my wound had commenced. They left me, therefore, once more alone,
and to my solitary musings over the vicissitudes of my fortune.