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come off; so, obtaining the loaded revolver of his comrade, he put it under his pillow and awaited the reappearance of the surgeon.
He returned not long after, accompanied by two men with a stretcher, and approached the cot.
“What are you going to do?”
asked the corporal.
“My boy, we will have to take your leg off,” was the reply of the surgeon.
“Not if I know myself,” rejoined the corporal, with determination expressed in both looks and language.
For a moment the surgeon was taken aback by the soldier's resolute manner.
But directly he turned to the men and said, “Come, boys, take him up carefully,” whereupon the stretcher-bearers advanced to obey the order.
At the same instant the corporal drew the revolver from beneath his pillow, cocked it, and, in a voice which carried conviction, exclaimed, “The man that puts a hand on me dies!”
At this the men stepped back, and the surgeon tried to reason with the corporal, assuring him that in no other way could his life be saved.
But the corporal persisted in declaring that if he died it should be with both legs on.
At that “Sawbones” (as the men used to call them) lost his temper and sought out the surgeon in general charge, with whom he soon returned to the corporal.
This head surgeon, first by threats and afterwards by persuasion, tried to secure the revolver, but, failing to do so, turned away, exclaiming, with an oath, “Let the d-- fool keep it and die!”
but a moment after, on second thought, said to the first surgeon that, as they wanted a subject to try the water-cure on, he thought the corporal would meet that want.
After obtaining a promise from the surgeon that he would not himself take the leg off or allow any one else to, the corporal assented to the proposition.
A can was then arranged over the wounded knee, in such a manner as to drop water on the cloth which enwrapped it day and night, and a cure was finally effected.
This is the substance of the story as I received it from the
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