When You Were Absent

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hospital where he had been. His father had written to America to try and get him into a sanitarium and was waiting for an answer. His father had just recovered from a siege of dysentery at the commencement of the war. His mother and three other children were still somewhere in the interior, and I have since heard that they had had to flee before the advancing armies. Donald hadn't been in camp long when he was given over to his father. The child was beautifully developed from head to knees. One leg was shriveled and quite useless. The other could be moved a little. The upper part of Donald's body was firm and plump. He had a brilliant colouring and beautiful eyes. He was two years old and had a keen intelligence. Tom was still weak from dysentery, and it required a great deal of lifting and carrying and standing in queues, washing of clothes and so on. He could get none of the many nurses to massage the lad, so he did it himself. Hours he spent, with the Bible beside him rubbing and praying over Donald. When we left camp Donald was able to move two of the toes. His father had done through prayer, perseverance and love, what skilled training and indifference could not accomplish. With all his physical weakness, his anxiety for his wife and children, the burden of Donald, only once did I see Mulholland not ready with his sparkling Irish wit and laughter. Pick a fight he would and could-what Irishman won't? But he was always ready for a laugh, or a ready word to turn a tear into laughter. I wonder how they are faring now. They came to see us off. The father had tried every way to get permission to enable Donald to go out with the Americans, but all to no purpose. Beautiful, clever Donald, disciplined he was too. There was Norah Edwards too-another roommate of ours. Many a laugh we had. Tears were tacitly understood to be taboo, and I had blessed her for her studied blindness to my "burnt legs." Miss Bartlett with the shining eyes, and 65 years, used to do eye exercises. At first she watched her opportunity for a time when there was no queue for the bathroom. But after we had surprised her several times doing balancing exercises and rolling her eyes, she consented to do the exercises in the

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