plucking a
white fowl... I see an Algerian non-commissioned officer pacing the
corridor....

Towards noon, the head doctor arrived followed by my comrades, and our
vehicles. With him I made the round of the buildings again while they
were unpacking our stores. I had got hold of a syringe, while waiting
for a knife, and I set to work distributing morphia. The task before
us seemed immense, and every minute it increased. We began to divide it
hastily, to assign to each his part. The cries of the sufferers muffled
the sound of a formidable cannonade. An assistant at my side, whom I
knew to be energetic and resolute, muttered between his teeth: "No! no!
Anything rather than war!"

But we had first to introduce some order into our Inferno.

In a few hours this order appeared and reigned. We were exhausted by
days of marching and nights of broken sleep, but men put off their packs
and set to work with a silent courage that seemed to exalt even the
least generous natures. Our first spell lasted for thirty-six hours,
during which each one gave to the full measure of his powers, without a
thought of self.

Four operation-wards had been arranged. The wounded were brought in
unceasingly, and a grave and prudent mind pronounced upon the state of
each, upon his fate, his future.... Confronted by the overwhelming
flood of work to be done, the surgeon, before seizing the knife, had
to meditate deeply, and make a decision as to the sacrifice which
would ensure life, or give some hope of life. In a moment of effective
thought, he had to perceive and weigh a man's whole existence, then act,
with method and audacity.

As soon as one wounded man left the ward, another was brought in; while
the preparations for the operation were being made, we went to choose
among and classify the patients beforehand, for many needed nothing
more; they had passed beyond human aid, and awaited, numb and
unconscious, the crowning mercy of death.

The word "untransportable" once pronounced, directed all our work. The
wounded capable of waiting a few hours longer for attention, and of
going elsewhere for it were removed. But when the buzz of the motors was
heard, every one wanted to go, and men begging to be taken away entered
upon their death agony as they assured us they felt quite strong enough
to travel....

Some told us their histories; the majority were silent. They wanted
to go elsewhere... and above all, to sleep, to drink. Natural wants
domi