ghtingale--that Englishwoman whose name
shall never die, but sound like music on the lips of British men until
the hour of doom.

She has read Dr. F----'s letter, which lies on the table by her side,
and asks, in her gentle but eminently practical and business-like way,
"What do you want, Mrs. Seacole--anything that we can do for you? If
it lies in my power, I shall be very happy."

So I tell her of my dread of the night journey by caicque, and the
improbability of my finding the "Hollander" in the dark; and, with
some diffidence, threw myself upon the hospitality of Scutari,
offering to nurse the sick for the night. Now unfortunately, for many
reasons, room even for one in Scutari Hospital was at that time no
easy matter to find; but at last a bed was discovered to be unoccupied
at the hospital washerwomen's quarters.

My experience of washerwomen, all the world over, is the same--that
they are kind soft-hearted folks. Possibly the soap-suds they almost
live in find their way into their hearts and tempers, and soften them.
This Scutari washerwoman is no exception to the rule, and welcomes me
most heartily. With her, also, are some invalid nurses; and after they
have gone to bed, we spend some hours of the night talking over our
adventures, and giving one another scraps of our respective
biographies. I hadn't long retired to my couch before I wished most
heartily that we had continued our chat; for unbidden and most
unwelcome companions took the washerwoman's place, and persisted not
only in dividing my bed, but my plump person also. Upon my word, I
believe the fleas are the only industrious creatures in all Turkey.
Some of their relatives would seem to have migrated into Russia; for I
found them in the Crimea equally prosperous and ubiquitous.

In the morning, a breakfast is sent to my mangled remains, and a kind
message from Mrs. B----, having reference to how I spent the night.
And, after an interview with some other medical men, whose
acquaintance I had made in Jamaica, I shake hands with the
soft-hearted washerwoman, up to her shoulders in soap-suds already,
and start for the "Hollander."

FOOTNOTE:

[B] Subsequently I saw much of Miss Nightingale, at Balaclava.

CHAPTER X.

"JEW JOHNNY"--I START FOR BALACLAVA--KINDNESS OF MY OLD
FRIENDS--ON BOARD THE "MEDORA"--MY LIFE ON SHORE--THE
SICK WHARF.

During my stay in Constantinople, I was accustomed to employ, as a
guide, a young Gree