"Ah!" he said, "yes; that was only to be expected. Well--" He turned to
the head nurse and gave her certain instructions in so low a tone of
voice that I could not catch what he said. Then, drawing a notebook
from his pocket, he very carefully and with much consideration wrote
what I imagined to be a prescription, tore out the leaf, and handed it
to the nurse, with instructions to have it made up. Then, turning again
to me, he inquired how I felt. I described my symptoms as well as I
could, wondering all the while how it was that I was only able to speak
in the merest whisper.
The members of the staff, including the Head himself, could not have
listened with more rapt attention, had I been communicating to them some
item of intelligence of the most tremendous import; and when I had
finished, the Head drew away from my bed to the far end of the room,
where for some minutes he appeared to be delivering a lecture to the
members of his staff, who had followed him. Then, the lecture being
finished, they all came back to the side of my bed, and one of the
nurses having carefully folded back the covering as low as my waist, the
Head proceeded to deftly loosen the fastenings of an enormous bandage
which I now discovered enveloped my chest. This done, I was very
tenderly raised to a sitting posture--an operation which gave me
excruciating pain, by the way--and the endless turns of the bandage were
deftly unwound, one of the nurses seating herself upon the bed and
supporting me meanwhile. When at length the bandage was removed,
several broad strips of dressing were disclosed, which, upon removal,
revealed a ghastly great jagged wound stretching right across my chest,
the edges of which had been very neatly drawn together by a number of
stitches. Then, for the first time, I remembered the violent blow on
the chest which I had received when the bows of the _Kasanumi_ were
destroyed. The wound was intently examined by the entire staff,
pronounced to be healing most satisfactorily, and then, after being
thoroughly sponged with warm water, was re-dressed, and a fresh bandage
applied. Meanwhile, I had made the discovery that my head also was
enveloped in bandages, and when I asked why, was informed that I had
received a scalp wound, which, however, was of no serious consequence.
When this also had been re-dressed, the entire operation occupying the
best part of half an hour, I felt considerably easier, although much
exhausted. While the wound in my chest was being dressed, I had seized
the opportunity to look round the ward, and saw that several of the beds
were occupied, one of the patients, who appeared to be suffering from a
broken arm, being a man whom I appeared to know. As I sat staring at
him he turned his head and our eyes met, whereupon, to my amazement, up
went his uninjured hand to the salute.
"Who is that man?" I demanded. "I seem to recognise his face."
"You do?" remarked the Chief. "Ah! no wonder. He is one of the
survivors of the disaster by which you so nearly lost your honourable
life. He was one of the crew of the _Kasanumi_."
"One of the crew of the _Kasanumi_!" I repeated. "Of course; I
remember now. How come he and I to be here?"
"You were both, with the rest of the crew of your ship, rescued by the
_Akatsuki_, which ship was happily at hand when the disaster occurred,"
replied the Chief.
"Ah, yes, the disaster!" I remarked. "Yes, I am beginning to remember
all about it now. What was the nature of the disaster, doctor? Was
that ever ascertained?"
"According to your friend, Captain Ito, who brought you here, there is
no doubt that your ship struck a mine," was the reply. "Of course she
went down, though not so quickly but that the entire crew were saved,
together with most of their personal effects. There was time, indeed,
to save most, if not all, of your belongings, Captain, and they are now
here, awaiting your convalescence."
"Thank you," I said. "And, pray, when did the disaster occur?"
"Just a week ago, last night," was the reply.
"A week ago!" I exclaimed in consternation. "Then, have I lain here
all that time, unconscious?"
"You certainly have," replied the Chief. "Now, however, that you are
happily conscious once more, we must do our utmost to keep you so, and
to assist your recovery. Therefore, no more conversation, if you
please, until I give you permission. What you now have to do is to
remain perfectly quiet and free from all excitement, pleasurable or
otherwise. Rest, sleep, take such food and such medicines as I shall
order for you, and recover strength as rapidly as possible. Then, when
you are sufficiently well to receive visitors, I will permit a few of
the many who are now eager to see you, to do so. No, not another word!"
And therewith the little fellow and his staff turned away and proceeded
to overhaul the rest of the patients.
The nurse whom I had at first seen upon recovering consciousness
appeared to have been specially told off to look after me, for upon the
departure of the staff she came and knelt by my bedside, as is their
fashion, instead of sitting.
She was just within the range of my vision, as I lay, and I suppose I
must have stared at her pretty intently for some time, for presently I
saw her colour rising, which at once brought me to my bearings.
Thinking to put her at her ease, I said to her:
"Nurse, what is your name?"
She coloured still more, and after regarding me steadfastly for a
moment, answered:
"My contemptible and insignificant name, illustrious Captain, is
Peach-blossom."
"Peach-blossom!" I repeated. "And a very appropriate name, too, by
Jove! See here, Peach-blossom. The Chief Surgeon seems to have
forgotten that I said I was thirsty. Do you think you could find me
something to drink? Two or three tumblers of cold water, now, eh? I
have an idea that they would taste particularly good."
"I will speak to the Chief, noble Captain, and if he consents I will
honourably let you have it," she replied.
The Chief evidently consented, and a few minutes later I was quenching
my thirst with the most delicious draught I had ever tasted. It was
only pure, cold water, but as I slowly imbibed it I told myself that at
last I really understood the full meaning of the term, "nectar."
Well, there is no need for me to dwell at length upon my sojourn in the
hospital. I was given to understand that I was making a splendid
recovery, yet although I was brought back to the Elliot Islands and
admitted to the hospital on the morning of 20th June, it was not until
nearly three weeks had passed that I was permitted to receive visitors,
the first of whom was that fine fellow Ito, to whom I owed my life.
I shall not readily forget the little chap's delight when, upon entering
the ward, he discovered me sitting up in bed, reading, propped up by
cushions and a bed-rest. He sprang forward, his eyes fairly snapping
with pleasure and excitement, and seizing my welcoming hand, shook it
with such energy that good little Peach-Blossom felt constrained to
spring hastily to her feet and rescue me from his too strenuous
demonstrations of joy. At her vigorous remonstrances, however, he
dropped my hand as though it had burnt him and, sinking into a chair by
my bedside, proceeded to apologise with almost abject contrition, and
would not be comforted until I had assured him, not quite truthfully, I
am afraid, that he had not hurt me. Then, in answer to my questions, he
proceeded to tell me what he knew of the matter.
It appeared that at the moment when the explosion occurred, the
_Akatsuki_ was so close to the _Kasanumi_ that the two craft were all
but touching each other, although, from the _Kasanumi's_ bridge, where I
was then standing, I could not see the other destroyer. It also
appeared that at the moment when I ordered the course of the _Kasanumi_
to be altered, the _Akatsuki_ was close astern of us, and broad on our
port quarter, the consequence being that the shifting of our helm
carried us so close athwart her bows that she all but touched us when
crossing our stern. It was at this moment that the explosion occurred;
and Ito, instantly divining what had happened, at once manoeuvred his
craft in such a fashion as to lay her alongside the fast-sinking
_Kasanumi_, so that the crew of the latter were able to transfer
themselves directly from one ship to the other without using boats.
Meanwhile, the helmsman and signalmen on the _Kasanumi's_ bridge had
seen me tossed over the rail by the force of the explosion, and,
although themselves severely shaken, had instantly flung themselves down
upon the turtle-back, where they found me lying bleeding and insensible.
To pick me up and carry me aft was the next thing to be done, for they
realised at once that their own ship was sinking, and they did it,
transferring my senseless body to the _Akatsuki_ the moment that she got
alongside. I was at once taken below and temporarily patched-up, while
the crew of the _Kasanumi_ were being transferred, together with such of
their belongings as they were able to save, my cabin steward with the
utmost devotion concentrating all his efforts upon saving the most
valuable of my belongings, regardless of the loss of his own.
It was at first thought that possibly the _Kasanumi_ might be saved, and
Ito did his utmost in that direction, working for more than half an hour
upon the stricken craft. But the damage was too serious, and despite
collision mats and pumps the craft continued to settle until at length,
recognising that all efforts were useless, he ordered all hands aboard
his own ship, and cast off, the _Kasanumi_ foundering almost before the
_Akatsuki_ could back off clear of her.
Ito made no attempt to attack the ships in Port Arthur roads
single-handed, but at once shaped a course for the Elliot Islands,
running clear of the fog half an hour later. Arrived at our base, he
lost no time in having me conveyed ashore to the hospital, where, as
already recorded, I lay for a week in a state of alternating delirium
and coma before I recovered my senses.
The doctors assured me that I was making a splendid recovery; yet to
myself my progress appeared to be horribly slow, and it was certainly
not accelerated by the knowledge that while I was lying there helpless,
big events were happening which had all the appearance of leading up to
still bigger events in the near future. For instance, there was the
second sortie of the Russian squadron from Vladivostock, in the middle
of June, lasting over a fortnight, during which it inflicted great loss
and damage upon the Japanese. It was a most risky thing to do, and must
certainly have resulted in disaster had not poor, unhappy Admiral
Kamimura been morally chained down, and prevented from taking effective
measures against the raiders, by a stringent order that he was to hold
the Strait of Korea at all costs. Yet, such is human inconsistency,
notwithstanding the above stringent order, which bound the unfortunate
admiral hand and foot, and effectually precluded his pursuit of the
raiding ships, he was so severely blamed by "the man in the street" for
the damage done that a mob actually attacked and wrecked his house!
This, of course, was most unjust and cruel treatment of a thoroughly
capable and zealous man who, hampered though he was, did all he could to
bring the raiders to book, and indeed, but for a sudden change of
weather at a critical moment, would probably have brought them to action
and given them a severe punishing.
Then, there was the abortive sortie of the Port Arthur fleet, three days
after the destruction of the _Kasanumi_. True, the ships were only at
sea for about twenty-four hours, and did nothing, narrowly escaping
capture only by Togo's over-eagerness to engage them, thus discovering
himself to the Russians in time to allow the latter to make good their
retreat back to Port Arthur; but, all the same, I felt that I was losing
much in not being present. To me it seemed that our plucky little
Admiral had missed a splendid chance over this last event; for we did
the enemy no perceptible damage, and only succeeded in driving him back
to his lair. As a matter of fact the only injury sustained by the
Russians was that which happened to the battleship _Sevastopol_, which
struck one of our mines as she was returning to Port Arthur anchorage,
and was only got into the harbour with the utmost difficulty.