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The Kopje Garrison: A Story of the Boer War, a fiction by George Manville Fenn |
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Chapter 38. The Doctor's Diplomacy |
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_ CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT. THE DOCTOR'S DIPLOMACY It was a couple of days later, when the kopje was dotted with the rough shelters that the uninjured men had worked hard to erect from the ruins of the village, the principal being for the benefit of the wounded. The position was the same, or nearly the same, as it had been before. The Boers had retreated to their laagers, which were more strongly held than ever, and the investment was kept up with more savage determination; while the defenders had only the kopje to hold now, the village being a desolation, and the colonel's forces sadly reduced. The doctor was in better spirits, and showed it, for he had managed to get something like order in his arrangements for his wounded men. But the colonel and the major were in lower spirits, and did not show it, for matters looked very black indeed, relief seeming farther off than ever. "My last orders were to hold this place," said the colonel to the major, "and I'm going to hold it." "Of course! Keep on. Every day we shall be having another man or two back in the ranks. Ah! here is Emden.--Well, how are the lads?" "Getting on splendidly. My dear sirs, I have heard people abuse the Mauser as a diabolical weapon. Nothing of the sort; it is one of the most humane. The wounds are small, cleanly cut, and, so long as a bone is not touched, begin to heal with wonderful rapidity. Come and have a look round." "Yes; we have come on purpose," said the colonel. "By the way, though, before we go into the officers' shelter, I wish you had contrived differently about Roby and Lennox. It seemed very short-sighted, after what has occurred, to place them next to one another." "My dear sir," cried the doctor, "I did all I could to try and save the poor fellows' lives as they were carried in to me, without thinking about their squabbles and quarrels and rank." "Yes, yes; of course, doctor. I beg your pardon. You have done wonders." "Thankye! Done my best, of course. But don't you worry about those two; they'll be all right. Come and see." "But about the men? Nothing more serious, I hope." "N-n-no. Had to take that fellow's leg off to save his life." "What poor fellow? Oh yes--Corporal May?" "Yes. He objected strongly, but it had to be done. He threatens to commence an action against me when he gets home--so I hear." They had been moving towards the shelter of corrugated iron beneath which the officers lay, each of whom greeted them with a smile. They were all badly wounded, but looked restful and contented, as wounded men do who have achieved a victory. Roby seemed to be the most cheerful, and he beckoned to the colonel to come closer, while the doctor cocked his eye rather drolly and in a way that the chief did not understand. "Well, Roby," said the colonel, "you look better." "Well, for a man who has had the top of his head rasped by a bullet and got a hole right through his leg, I call myself a wonder." "Does your wound pain you much?" "Quite enough; but there, I don't mind. We've whipped." "Yes," said the colonel, smiling; "we've whipped, thanks to every one's gallant behaviour. You did splendidly, Roby." "Did my best, sir," said the captain quietly. "But I'm not quite as I should like to be," he continued confidentially. "Don't take any notice. I can't quite understand about my hurt on the head." "Indeed?" said the colonel, frowning. "I recollect, of course, getting the stinging pain in my leg, and going down, and then it seemed to me that one of the Boers kicked me at the top of the forehead with his heavy boot, and I was trampled on. After that I fainted, and didn't come to until the firing was going on and Lennox came running through it to pick me up. Colonel, that's about the bravest thing that has been done since we've been here." "Quite," said the colonel, watching the speaker curiously. "I want you to promise me that you'll mention it well in your despatch about the taking of the laager." "If I ever get a despatch to headquarters it shall contain that, I promise you." "Thank you," said Roby warmly, and with the tears now in his eyes. "I say, colonel, I'm sorry I went down; but the doctor says the lads got back after another skirmish, with plenty of cattle and stores." "Yes," said the colonel; "it was a splendid addition to our supplies and--" "Stop! stop! please, colonel," said the doctor. "Roby's weak yet." "Oh no, doctor." "My dear fellow, I say yes; and I say," said the doctor, bending down to whisper to his patient, "Lennox and Dickenson are both very feeble. Think of them." Roby took the doctor's hand and pressed it, accompanying the pressure with a significant look. "Thank you for coming, colonel," he said, "and you too, major. Emden's an awful tyrant when he gets us on our backs." "Right," said the doctor. "Nero was nothing to me.--Now, gentlemen, just a word or two with the rest of my nursery folk, and then I must order you off." The colonel nodded, passed on to Captain Edwards, and said a word or two; the same followed at Dickenson's side, where the young officer, forgetful of his wounds, gave his chief a look full of exultation, receiving a good-humoured nod in return, and Dickenson turned his face sidewise with a sigh of content. "Wait a bit," he said to himself. "I'll have it out with the old man as soon as I get better. He's bound to ask poor old Drew's pardon. But fancy Roby turning like this." Meanwhile the colonel had passed on to Lennox's side, to find him far the greatest sufferer of the party present, and unable to do more than smile his thanks and lie back, extremely weak, but with a look of calm restfulness in his eyes that told that there was nothing mental to trouble him and keep him back. "What do you think of them, colonel?" said the doctor as soon as they were outside. "All much better than I expected," said the colonel. "But what about Roby? He is quite delirious from his wound, is he not?" "Perfectly calm, sir, with his _mens_ much more _Sana_ than his _corpus_. I thought he was all wrong at first, but he's only weak-- pulse regular, temperature as cool as a hot iron roof will let it be." [Note: _Mens sana in corpore sano_.] "But, hang it all, doctor! his head's all in a muddle about storming the little kopje and getting the cattle and stores away." "Yes; that's the comical part of it. He's a bit mixed, and in his present state I let him think what he likes, so long as it is not likely to do him any harm." "But really, Doctor Emden, I fail to follow your reasoning," said the colonel rather stiffly. "Never mind, colonel; leave it. I don't follow all your military manoeuvres, so I leave them to you. Let the cobbler stick to his last. There, man, don't look mystified. Let me explain. Roby had bad concussion of the brain from that first shot. There was no fracture, but the bone was, so to speak, a little dented down, and the consequence was that, though he rapidly recovered his health bodily, he did not get his mental balance quite right at the same time." "Then you think that charge of his against Lennox was a trifling aberration that's now over. I hope you are right, doctor; but--" "But me no buts," said the doctor. "I stake my reputation upon it. Surely, man, you can see the proof? The poor fellow showed you that he has not the slightest recollection now of what has been going on since the expedition to the laager." "To be sure," said the major. "I see now. That explains it. He talked as if he thought this was the result of being shot down there." "To be sure he does. He thinks, too, that Edwards is wounded from a skirmish with the Boers during the retreat." "Then there was no nonsense, no unreality, in his display of interest in poor Lennox?" "Not a bit. He's delighted with the poor fellow's gallantry, and talks to me about how much he owes him." "But his charge of cowardice?" "Wind, my dear sir; wind. Let it blow away. If any one were to tell him of it now he would stare with astonishment and ask you if you meant to insult him. Take my word for it, the hallucination has completely passed away. The fresh wound, with its loss by haemorrhage, and the reaction, has acted antagonistically to his mental trouble. He has, so to speak, stepped mentally from the attack on the Boers to their attack on us, and as soon as he recovers his strength he'll be as good a man as ever." "But when we tell him about his charge?" said the colonel. "Why tell him, sir? Let it rest. If it ever comes out by accident, that's quite another thing. The trouble has settled itself, as some troubles will." "I wish this one would," said the major, "for I'm getting very sick of being penned up here on very reduced rations. Have they quite forgotten us at headquarters?" "No," said the colonel. "Their hands are full.--Meanwhile, doctor, our ranks are very thin, so as fast as you can send the poor lads back to the ranks, let us have them again. The Boers will not let us rest like this for long." _ |
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