The Flaming Sword in Serbia and ElsewhereStobart, M. A. (Mabel Annie)
History
The Flaming Sword in Serbia and Elsewhere
Stobart, M. A. (Mabel Annie)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Hospitals; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
When we arrived at the cathedral, half-a-dozen great brutal bells,
hanging by themselves, in a frame in the churchyard, began to flop
clumsily, and, as we entered the cathedral gates, they suddenly, all
together, higgledy-piggledy, on different notes, broke into a deafening
jangle, proclaiming in fiendish discord, "Here's the end of all things;
you can't understand life; you can't understand death; there is no
time, or rhyme, or reason anywhere; it's just a jumble, and the end is
death."
The brass band, with its attempt at tune, persisted bravely for a
minute or two, and the disharmony was complete; it reminded me of the
bells during that "last night" at Tongres.
Permission to hold an English service in the Serbian Church, had been
specially obtained from the Archbishop at Belgrade. Never before in the
history of the Church, has the Anglican ritual been performed in the
Church of the Greek orthodox faith. I hoped this was significant of a
future when political alliances would mean unity, not only in worldly,
but in spiritual policy. It testified, however, to a considerable
breadth of view on the part of the Serbian Archbishop, and of the local
chief priest at Kragujevatz.
At the end of the service the representative of the Crown Prince came
up to me and expressed--in French--in graceful phrases the gracious
sympathy of his Royal Master. And the procession formed once more,
and started for the cemetery. Here a temporary resting-place had been
provided; the town had the generous intention of erecting, when the war
was ended, a permanent memorial to the British nurses, and doctors who
had given their lives for Serbia; and this intention will, I am sure,
one day be fulfilled. The final prayers were spoken; all was over; and
we returned to camp.
We found Mrs. Dearmer not so well; temperature 105°. But one of the
nurses, thinking to cheer me, told me that one of the patients--a
consumptive tubercular soldier--had died. This should be a great
relief, she said, as now we had had our three deaths (including the
baby) and according to superstition we needn't have any more. Besides,
Mrs. Dearmer was better again. "Ah, yes; she's all right now," said one
of her nurses to me; "she has sneezed three times, and no invalid ever
sneezes unless getting better." I mentioned this to Dr. Dearmer, and he
reminded me that the child whom Elisha cured had also sneezed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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