one during four years of service
when even an unpleasantness occurred. In the same ward with Captain
Ellis were three officers,--one, Colonel ----, of Alabama (very ill),
another just able to sit up, and one, Lieutenant Cox, of Mississippi,
only suffering from a bad cold which had threatened pneumonia. My
constant habit was to carry into the wards a little basket containing
pieces of fresh linen, sponges, and a bottle of Confederate bay-water
(vinegar). Invariably I bathed the faces and hands of the
fever-patients with vinegar and water, but as soon as they were well
enough to dispense with it gave it up. One day, upon entering the ward
above mentioned, I found Captain Ellis up and standing before the
fire, his back towards it. It struck me at once that he looked
worried, and at the same time appeared to be struggling between
vexation and a desire to laugh. Lieutenant Cox was covered up in bed,
rolling and holding his head, seemingly in dreadful agony.
Approaching, I asked a question or two regarding his sudden seizure,
but he only cried, "Oh, my head! my head!" at the same time shaking as
if with a violent chill. Turning down the sheet, I placed my hand upon
his head, which was quite cool. As soon as I caught a glimpse of his
face, I saw that he was laughing, and, glancing at the others,
realized that all were full of some joke. Drawing myself up haughtily,
I said, "I see I have made a mistake; I came here to nurse
_gentlemen_; I shall not again lend myself to your amusement," and out
I swept, nor ever while in Ringgold entered the officers' quarters
again, except to nurse very sick or dying men. It seems that
Lieutenant Cox had received a box from home containing, among other
dainties, a bottle of home-made wine. One day he said to the other
occupants of the ward, "Mrs. Beers never bathes _my head_. I believe
I'll get up a spell of fever, and see if I can't get nursed like you
other fellows." The others declared that he could not deceive me, and
he offered to bet the bottle of wine that he would have me bathe his
head at my next visit. The result has been described. I had hardly
reached my office, when a special patient and friend of mine, Charlie
Gazzan, of Mobile, Alabama, arrived with an apology from Lieutenant
Cox, a few words of explanation from Captain Ellis, signed by all the
officers in the ward, and the bottle of wine, sent for my acceptance.
I would not accept the wine or read the note, and in this course I