Some while after, M. de Rohan took me with him posting to the
camp at Perpignan. While we were there, the enemy sallied out,
and surrounded three pieces of our artillery before they were
beaten back to the gates of the city. Which was not done without
many killed and wounded, among the others M. de Brissac, who was
then grand master of the artillery, with an arquebus-shot in the
shoulder. When he retired to his tent, all the wounded followed
him, hoping to be dressed by the surgeons who were to dress him.
Being come to his tent and laid on his bed, the bullet was
searched for by three or four of the best surgeons in the army,
who could not find it, but said it had entered into his body.
At last he called for me, to see if I could be more skilful than
they, because he had known me in Piedmont. Then I made him rise
from his bed, and told him to put himself in the same posture
that he had when he was wounded, which he did, taking a javelin
in his hand just as he had held his pike to fight. I put my hand
around the wound, and found the bullet. ... Having found it, I
showed them the place where it was, and it was taken out by M.
Nicole Lavernot, surgeon of M. the Dauphin, who was the King's
Lieutenant in that army; all the same, the honour of finding it
belonged to me.
I saw one very strange thing, which was this: a soldier in my
presence gave one of his fellows a blow on the head with a
halbard, penetrating to the left ventricle of the brain; yet the
man did not fall to the ground. He that struck him said he heard
that he had cheated at dice, and he had drawn a large sum of
money from him, and was accustomed to cheat. They called me to
dress him; which I did, as it were for the last time, knowing
that he would die soon. When I had dressed him, he returned all
alone to his quarters, which were at the least two hundred paces
away. I bade one of his companions send for a priest to dispose
the affairs of his soul; he got one for him, who stayed with him
to his last breath. The next day, the patient sent for me by his
girl, dressed in boy's apparel, to come and dress him; which I
would not, fearing he would die under my hands; and to be rid of
the matter I told her the dressing must not be removed before the
third day. But in truth he was sure to die, though he were never
touched again. The third day, he came staggering to find me in my
tent, and the girl with him, and prayed me most affectionately to
dress him, and showed me a purse wherein might be an hundred or
sixscore pieces of gold, and said he would give me my heart's
desire; nevertheless, for all that, I put off the removal of the
dressing, fearing lest he should die then and there. Certain
gentlemen desired me to go and dress him; which I did at their
request; but in dressing him he died under my hands in a
convulsion. The priest stayed with him till death, and seized his
purse, for fear another man should take it, saying he would say
masses for his poor soul. Also he took his clothes, and
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