"I believe so," she said. "We met here by accident. I know nothing of
her."
"Not even her name?" inquired the German surgeon.
Mercy's resolution was hardly equal yet to giving her own name openly as
the name of Grace. She took refuge in flat denial.
"Not even her name," she repeated obstinately.
The old man stared at her more rudely than ever, considered with
himself, and took the candle from the table. He hobbled back to the bed
and examined the figure laid on it in silence. The Englishman continued
the conversation, no longer concealing the interest that he felt in the
beautiful woman who stood before him.
"Pardon me," he said, "you are very young to be alone in war-time in
such a place as this."
The sudden outbreak of a disturbance in the kitchen relieved Mercy from
any immediate necessity for answering him. She heard the voices of the
wounded men raised in feeble remonstrance, and the harsh command of the
foreign officers bidding them be silent. The generous instincts of the
woman instantly prevailed over every personal consideration imposed on
her by the position which she had assumed. Reckless whether she betrayed
herself or not as nurse in the French ambulance, she instantly drew
aside the canvas to enter the kitchen. A German sentinel barred the
way to her, and announced, in his own language, that no strangers were
admitted. The Englishman politely interposing, asked if she had any
special object in wishing to enter the room.
"The poor Frenchmen!" she said, earnestly, her heart upbraiding her for
having forgotten them. "The poor wounded Frenchmen!"
The German surgeon advanced from the bedside, and took the matter up
before the Englishman could say a word more.
"You have nothing to do with the wounded Frenchmen," he croaked, in the
harshest notes of his voice. "The wounded Frenchmen are my business, and
not yours. They are _our_ prisoners, and they are being moved to _our_
ambulance. I am Ingatius Wetzel, chief of the medical staff--and I tell
you this. Hold your tongue." He turned to the sentinel and added in
German, "Draw the curtain again; and if the woman persists, put her back
into this room with your own hand."
Mercy attempted to remonstrate. The Englishman respectfully took her
arm, and drew her out of the sentinel's reach.
"It is useless to resist," he said. "The German discipline never gives
way. There is not the least need to be uneasy about the Frenchmen. The
ambulance under Surgeon Wetzel is admirably administered. I answer for
it, the men will be well treated." He saw the tears in her eyes as he
spoke; his admiration for her rose higher and higher. "Kind as well as
beautiful," he thought. "What a charming creature!"
"Well!" said Ignatius Wetzel, eying Mercy sternly through his
spectacles. "Are you satisfied? And will you hold your tongue?"