My friend said he would be glad to accompany me to Rebais, as that was
as near as any place for recruiting a nurse.
And so again I whisked across the Marne. This time _en grande vitesse_,
and in little over an hour was greeted by the gentle superior who 'mid
the ruins of all the neighboring houses was quietly continuing her work
in the convent.
Yes. Madame Guix was there--a heroine, so I learned, loved and respected
by every soul who had been obliged to remain in that unfortunate town. I
found her ministering to twenty-six severely wounded men--French,
English and Germans--quite alone to do all the work, an eighty-year-old
doctor coming in but once every two days.
"I cannot leave them," said she, pointing to the soldiers, when I asked
her to ally forces in the reconstitution of my hospital. "But just as
soon as they are able to be removed, I will come, I promise."
In the parlour below, the Sister Superior told me of the invasion, while
I waited the return of the military motor which was to bear me home.
"She is wonderful," said Soeur Laurent, referring to Madame Guix.
"Wonderful--afraid of nothing. Once at the beginning of the invasion
she was put against the wall and a brute of a German aimed and pulled
the trigger of a gun he had found in a corner. She had accidentally
covered it with a wounded man's great coat! He accused her of hiding
arms! Then in the thick of the battle, she went out into the German
lines and sought a doctor for our men--feeling herself incompetent. The
whole German medical staff came in and felicitated her on her courage
and devotion, before they left. I tell you all this because she never
will!"
A couple of days later a doctor and the _infirmiers_ arrived, the latter
not picked men, since in ordinary life they are a tax collector, a super
at the Theatre de Belleville, an omnibus painter, a notary's clerk and a
barber! But they are all "good fellows," ready to work with no choice
as to the "job."
Madame Guix duly made her appearance, and our hospital was declared
open.
From loans and requisitions we accumulated a hundred beds, and for
fifteen months now, by begging and strictest economy, we have managed to
keep alive and to care, as best we can and in our primitive way, for all
those of France's brave sons who come to us, sick or wounded. With
God's help, we shall go on doing so until the day of our complete
victory.