I
have seen some of them since then. They are apparently well and
strong, and yet not one word can you get out of them about their
sufferings. You are almost unique, Mr. Thane. I am glad you feel
disposed to talk about it all. It is a good sign. It--"
"I didn't say much about it at first," he interrupted hurriedly.
"Moreover, Miss Crown," he went on, "a lot of those chaps,--the
majority of them, in fact,--worked that dodge for all it was worth.
It was a deliberate pose with them. They had to act that way or
people wouldn't think they'd been hurt at all. Bunk, most of it."
"I don't believe that, Mr. Thane. I saw too many of them. The ones
with whom I came in contact certainly were not trying to deceive
anybody. They were in a pitiable condition, every last one of
them,--pitiable."
"I do not say that all of them were shamming,--but I am convinced
that a great many of them were."
"The doctors report that the shell-shock cases--"
"Ah, the doctors!" he broke in, shrugging his shoulders. "They were
all jolly good fellows. All you had to do was to even hint that
you'd been knocked over by a shell that exploded two hundred yards
away and--zip! they'd send you back for repairs. As for myself,
the only reason I didn't like to talk about my condition at first
was because it hurt my throat and lungs. It wasn't because I was
afflicted with this heroic melancholy they talk so much about.
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