"A narrow escape," said the abbe in English, and then learned that the
escape was narrower than the wounded forehead indicated. Another bullet,
without touching the officer, had pierced the sole of his shoe under his
foot, and a third had perforated his coat between the body and the arm
without breaking the skin.
The author's attitude toward the Germans, always free from bitterness,
is sufficiently indicated in such a paragraph as this:
This afternoon I gave absolution and extreme unction to an
Irishman, who has not regained consciousness since he was
brought here. He had in his portfolio a letter addressed to
his mother. The nurse is going to add a word to say that he
received the last sacraments. A Christian hope will soften the
frightful news. Emperors of Austria and Germany, if you were
present when the death is announced in that poor Irish home,
and in thousands, hundreds of thousands of others, in England,
in France, in Russia, in Servia, in Belgium, in your own
countries, in all Europe, and even in Africa and Asia!... May
God enlighten your consciences!
The French wounded in the hospital at Neuilly--during the period when
the German right wing was being beaten back from Paris--frequently
accused the German regulars of wanton cruelty, but testified to the
humanity of the reservists.
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