My War Experiences in Two ContinentsMacnaughtan, S. (Sarah)
History
My War Experiences in Two Continents
Macnaughtan, S. (Sarah)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals, charities, etc.; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives, English
There was the occasion when she reached the port on the Caspian Sea one
hour after the English boat had sailed. She called it the "English"
boat, but whether it could have belonged to an English company, or was
merely the usual boat run in connection with the train service to
England, I do not know. A "Russian" vessel was due to leave in a couple
of hours' time, but for some reason Miss Macnaughtan was obliged to walk
three-quarters of a mile to get permission to go by it. We can never
forget her piteous description of how she staggered and crawled to the
office and back, so ill that only her iron strength of will could force
her tired body to accomplish the distance. She obtained the necessary
sanction, and started forth once more upon her way.
She stayed for a week at the British Embassy in Petrograd, where her
escort was obliged to leave her, so the rest of the journey was
undertaken alone.
We know nothing of how she got to Helsingfors, but I believe it was at
that place that she had to walk some considerable distance over a frozen
lake to reach the ship. She was hobbling along, leaning heavily on two
sticks, and just as she stumbled and almost fell, a young Englishman
came up and offered her his arm.
In an old diary, written years before in the Argentine, during a time
when Miss Macnaughtan was faced with what seemed overwhelming
difficulties, and when she had in her charge a very sick man, a kind
stranger came to the rescue. Her diary entry for that day is one of
heartfelt gratitude, and ends with the words: "God always sends
someone."
Certainly at Helsingfors some Protecting Power sent help in a big
extremity, and this young fellow--Mr. Seymour--devoted himself to her
for the rest of the journey in a marvellously unselfish manner. He could
not have been kinder to her if she had been his mother, and he actually
altered all his plans on arriving in England, and brought her to the
very door of her house in Norfolk Street. Without his help I sometimes
wonder whether my aunt would have succeeded in reaching home, and her
own gratitude to him knew no bounds. She used to say that in her
experience if people were in a difficulty and wanted help they ought to
go to a young man for it. She said that young men were the kindest
members of the human race.
[Page Heading: ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND]
It was on the 8th of May that Miss Macnaughtan reached home, and her
travels were over for good and all. One is only thankful that the last
weeks of her life were not spent in a foreign land but among her own
people, surrounded by all the care and comfort that love could supply.
Two of her sisters were with her always, and her house was thronged with
visitors, who had to wait their turn of a few minutes by her bedside,
which, alas! were all that her strength allowed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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