Page:The Writings of Prosper Merimee-Volume 6.djvu/351

 CHAPTER XXVII THE HOSPITAL "Father. Why are you so obstinate ? Pierre. Why you so troublesome, that a poor wretch Can't die in peace. But you, like ravens, will be croaking round him ?" Otwat, Venice Preserved.

A FORMER monastery, sequestrated some time before by the Town Comicil of La Roehelle, had been, during the siege, turned into a hospital for the wounded. The pavement of the chapel (whence benches, altar, and all other furniture had been removed) was covered with hay and straw, and hither they carried the rank and file. The refectory was set apart for officers and gentlemen. It was a spacious apartment, handsomely panelled with old oak, and its walls were pierced with wide pointed windows, giving light enough for the surgical operations which unceasingly went on within it. Here Captain George lay on a mattress, stained with his own blood and with that of many other unfortimates who had preceded him in this place of pain. A truss of straw served him as 313