"My wife takes much interest. She will be delighted."
And the big German, again embracing the little Frenchman, had promised,
and had sent his compliments to Madame.
The other was a young priest. He wore the regulation Red Cross uniform,
but kept his cassock hanging on a peg behind his bed. He had pretty
frequent occasion to take it down. These small emergency hospitals,
within range of the guns, were reserved for only dangerous cases: men
whose wounds would not permit of their being carried further; and there
never was much more than a sporting chance of saving them. They were
always glad to find there was a priest among the staff. Often it was the
first question they would ask on being lifted out of the ambulance. Even
those who professed to no religion seemed comforted by the idea. He went
by the title of "Monsieur le Pretre:" Joan never learned his name. It
was he who had laid out the little cemetery on the opposite side of the
village street. It had once been an orchard, and some of the trees were
still standing. In the centre, rising out of a pile of rockwork, he had
placed a crucifix that had been found upon the roadside and had
surrounded it with flowers.
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