Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XI. To Belgium
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
TO BELGIUM 20i
discoveries as he may make in the course of his practice, to-
gether with various suggestions for improvements in hygienic
arrangements in the held, which may be found of use in
future wars—if any !
We speed past a wrecked road bridge and a railway bridge
which has been treated in the same way, and watch an air-
man ascending from earth in elegant circles, his wings tinted
red by the evening sky. Here is another troop train—there is
seemingly no end to all these soldiers. Wherever one goes
and whatever time it is, everywhere one finds myriads of
soldiers as in a gigantic ant-heap. By degrees twilight descends
upon us, and the pretty scenery through which we pass
evades my gaze.
It is now dark. We sit still and chat whilst the train speeds
on and the hours pass. The hours are short in Dr. Frohlich’s
company, but the train is interminably long—it consists of
forty-two coaches. At Carignan, where the line swings round
towards the Belgian frontier, and where the ground begins to
rise, the train is divided into two sections, each drawn by two
locomotives. We felt a tremendous pulling and tugging in
our half. We are now on the " war road," whose acquaintance
I had made on the journey to Sedan. The wounded, dream-
ing about battlefields, bombs, and shells, must think that they
have suddenly been overtaken by an earthquake, to put a
finishing touch to their adventures. The cartridge cases with
their flowers came hopping down from the table and we our-
selves get a terrible shaking. But we are just as cheerful,
and there are no pauses in our talk except when Dr. Fröhlich
goes his round among the wounded.
After a plain but excellent supper we retired to rest. At
Bertrix the two halves of the train were put together once
more, and the poor wounded soldiers are brought a stage
nearer to the homeland.
It was four o’clock when Dr. Fröhlich came in to call me,
and a moment later we stopped at Libramont. Here our
ways parted. But before saying good-bye we paid a visit
to the kindly, cheerful sisters, who had steaming coffee ready
at the station for the many travellers. ’ Then we asked the
station commander whether he could help me to get to Namur.
" No, not the whole way, but as far as Jemelle. Once you get
there, you will have no difficulty in finding somebody to take
you the rest of the distance."
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
