the room was a small table, well-stocked with
medicine-phials, etcetera, and a couple of chairs, upon one of which--
the one which stood next the head of the bed--sat a man in a white
flannel shell-jacket and blue military trousers with a stripe of yellow
braid down the seams.

The room in which I found myself was evidently, from the size and
position of the windows--one in the wall at the foot of the bed, and the
other in the wall on my left--a corner room in some tolerably extensive
building. Looking out between the lattices of the jalousies, which were
adjusted in such a way that I was able to see distinctly the various
objects outside, I perceived that the building was situated in the midst
of a park or grove of magnificent cotton, kennip, and other trees, the
branches of which were swaying and the leaves rustling cheerily in the
strong sea-breeze which rushed through them. The sunlight flashed
brilliantly upon the swaying foliage, and gleamed upon the plumage of
the bright-winged birds and gaudy butterflies which flitted restlessly
from tree to tree; while the long, luxuriant grass in the distance--
where I could see it--bowed and undulated beneath the strong breeze like
a billowy sea; the background of clear, pure, blue sky beyond completing
a picture, the joyous freshness of which seemed almost heavenly to me in
my extreme weakness. The air, too, was full of the chirping of millions
of insects and lizards, the lowing of distant cattle, the bleat of
sheep, the rifle-like crack of waggon-drivers' whips, the voices and
laughter of men close beneath my window, and a multitude of other joyous
sounds.

I lay for a long time drinking in with silent ecstasy these glorious
sights and sounds which fell so soothingly upon my senses, quite
forgetful of self and my past suffering, and utterly indifferent to
everything but the sensuous pleasure of the moment. Indeed my poor head
felt so light and weak that I seemed almost incapable of the exertion of
thought.

At length I turned my head toward the man in the chair by my bedside.
He had a book in his hand, and his body was turned somewhat from me in
order that the light might fall more fully upon the pages.

"Where am I?" I murmured.

The man turned quickly, and rising laid his book upon the chair, face
downward, while he bent over me.

"How do you find yourself now, sir?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied, scarcely realising the meaning of my own
words. "Is