But this comfortable carriage only increased her labors, in one way, for
with it she went about more than ever. No weather was too severe, no
snowstorm too furious, to keep her indoors; the men needed her and she
must go to them. "She was known to stand for hours at the top of a bleak
rocky mountain near the hospitals, giving her instructions while the
snow was falling heavily. Then in the bleak dark night she would return
down the perilous mountain road with no escort save the driver."[13]
It was not only for the invalids that Miss Nightingale toiled through
this second winter; much of her time was given to the convalescents and
those who were on active duty. She established libraries, and little
"reading huts," where the men could come and find the English magazines
and papers, and a stock of cheerful, entertaining books, carefully
chosen by the dear lady who knew so well what they liked. She got up
lectures, too, and classes for those who wished to study this or that
branch of learning; and she helped to establish a café at Inkerman,
where the men could get hot coffee and chocolate and the like in the
bitter winter weather. There really seems no end to the good and kind
and lovely things she did. I must not forget one thing, which may seem
small to some of you, but which was truly great in the amount of good
that came from it. Ever since she first came out to Scutari, she had
used all her influence to persuade the soldiers to write home regularly
to their families. The sick lads in the hospital learned that if they
would write a letter--just two or three lines, to tell mother or sister
that they were alive and doing well--and would send it to the
Lady-in-Chief, she would put a stamp on it and speed it on its way. So
now, in all the little libraries and reading huts, there were pens, ink
and paper, envelopes and stamps; and when Miss Nightingale looked in at
one of these cheerful little gathering places, we may be sure that she
asked Jim or Joe whether he had written to his mother this week, and
bade him be sure not to forget it. Does this seem to you a small thing?
Wait till you go away from home, and see what the letters that come
from home mean to you; then multiply that by ten, and you will know
partly, but not entirely, what your letters mean to those at home. It
has always seemed to me that this was a very bright star in Miss
Nightingale's crown of glory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account