The Belgian percentage was 66 2-3, the English 33 1-3 and the French
7. I have no idea how accurate the figures were, or his authority for
them. He spoke of them as official. From casualties to hospitals and
nurses was but a step. I spoke warmly of the work the nurses near the
front were doing. But one officer disagreed with me, although in the
main his views were not held by the others.
"The nurses at the base hospitals should be changed every three
months," he said. "They get the worst cases there, in incredible
conditions. After a time it tells on them. I've seen it in a number of
cases. They grow calloused to suffering. That's the time to bring up a
new lot."
I think he is wrong. I have seen many hospitals, many nurses. If there
is a change in the nurses after a time, it is that, like the soldiers
in the field, they develop a philosophy which carries them through
their terrible days. "What must be, must be," say the men in the
trenches. "What must be, must be," say the nurses in the hospital. And
both save themselves from madness.
CHAPTER XXIII
THE LITTLE "SICK AND SORRY" HOUSE
And now it was seven o'clock, and raining. Dinner was to be at eight.
I had before me a drive of nine miles along those slippery roads. It
was dark and foggy, with the ground mist of Flanders turning to a fog.
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