THE surgeons had supposed that the hospital of Spielberg would provide
all that was requisite except the instruments, which they brought with
them. But after the amputation, it was found that a number of things
were wanting; such as linen, ice, bandages, &c. My poor friend was thus
compelled to wait two hours before these articles were brought from the
city. At length he was laid upon his bed, and the ice applied to the
trunk of the bleeding thigh. Next day it was dressed; but the patient
was allowed to take no nourishment beyond a little broth, with an egg.
When the risk of fever was over, he was permitted the use of
restoratives; and an order from the Emperor directed that he should be
supplied from the table of the superintendent till he was better.
The cure was completed in about forty days, after which we were conducted
into our dungeon. This had been enlarged for us; that is, an opening was
made in the wall so as to unite our old den to that once occupied by
Oroboni, and subsequently by Villa. I placed my bed exactly in the same
spot where Oroboni had died, and derived a mournful pleasure from thus
approaching my friend, as it were, as nearly as possible. It appeared as
if his spirit still hovered round me, and consoled me with manifestations
of more than earthly love.
The horrible sight of Maroncelli’s sufferings, both before and
subsequently to the amputation of his leg, had done much to strengthen my
mind. During the whole period, my health had enabled me to attend upon
him, and I was grateful to God; but from the moment my friend assumed his
crutches, and could supply his own wants, I began daily to decline. I
suffered extremely from glandular swellings, and those were followed by
pains of the chest, more oppressive than I had before experienced,
attended with dizziness and spasmodic dysentery. “It is my turn now,”
thought I; “shall I show less patience than my companion?”
Every condition of life has its duties; and those of the sick consist of
patience, courage, and continual efforts to appear not unamiable to the
persons who surround them. Maroncelli, on his crutches, no longer
possessed the same activity, and was fearful of not doing everything for
me of which I stood in need. It was in fact the case, but I did all to
prevent his being made sensible of it. Even when he had recovered his
strength he laboured under many inconveniences. He complained, like most
others after a similar operation, of acute pains in the nerves, and
imagined that the part removed was still with him. Sometimes it was the
toe, sometimes the leg, and at others the knee of the amputated limb
which caused him to cry out. The bone, moreover, had been badly sawed,
and pushed through the newly-formed flesh, producing frequent wounds. It
required more than a year to bring the stump to a good state, when at
length it hardened and broke out no more.