Book Description

Excerpt from The New Magdalen The Cottage on the German frontier - Bed L. C. back; three camp chairs L. and R., candle burning on table. R. 2 E.; canvas curtain hanging Over L. U. E.; practical window R., in flat; Captain Arnold discovered seated looking over dispatches, at table. Enter Surgeon Surville through L. U. E. Capt. A. (sharply) What is it? Surgeon S. A question to ask. Are we safe for the night? Capt. A. Why do you want to know? Surgeon S. (pointing to L. U. E.) The poor follows are anxious about the next few hours. They dread a surprise, and they ask me if there is any reasonable hope of their having one night's rest. What do you think of the chances? Surely you ought to know! Capt. A. I know that we are in possession of the village for the present, and I know no more. (ho'dsup papers) Here are the papers of the enemy; they give me no information that I can rely on. For all I can tell to the contrary, the main body of the Germans, outnumbering us ten to one, may be nearer this cottage than the main body of the French. Draw your own conclusions - I have nothing more to say. Rises, puts on military cloak, lights cigar at candle and moves towards L. U. K. Surgeon S. Where are you going? Capt. A. To visit the outposts. Surgeon S. Do you want this room for a little while? Capt. A. Not for some hours to come. Are you thinking of moving any of your wounded men in here? Surgeon S. I was thinking of the English lady. The kitchen is not quite the place for her. She would be more comfortable here; and the English nurse night keep her company. Capt. A. (smiling) They are two tine women - and Surgeon Surville is a ladies' man. Let them come in if they are rash enough to trust themselves with you. Caution the women to limit the exercise of their curiosity to the inside of this mom. Surgeon S. What do you mean? Capt. A. Did you ever know a woman who could resist looking out of the window? Dark us it is? sooner or later these ladies of yours will feel temped to open that window. Tell them I don't want the light of the candle to betray my headquarters to the German scouts. How is the weather? Still raining? Surgeon S. Pouring. Capt. A. So much the better, the Germans won't see us. (exit through door in flat, R. Surgeon S. (going to canvas door) Miss Merrick, hare you time to take a little rest? Mercy, (outside) Plenty of time. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.