WORKING UP A RECKONING. WORKING UP A RECKONING. CHAPTER XXX. "The guide said there were two kinds of leprosy, the 'wet' and the 'dry.' In the wet leprosy the body of the victim abounds in running sores, while in the dry there is nothing of the sort, and the appearance of the skin is not greatly different from what it is in health. The disease generally attacks the joints of the hands or feet, particularly those of the former, and the sufferer loses the first joint of the fingers and thumbs at about the same time. Then, in a few months, he loses the second joints, and in two or[Pg 415] three months more the third joints go. We saw lepers in all the stages of the disease—some with the first joints of the hands gone, others who had lost the second joints, and others the third; while others, again, had lost the hands at the wrists. There seems to be no cure for most of the forms of the leprosy; and when a man is attacked with it, he must go at once to the hospital, no matter whether he is rich or poor. And when he has gone there, he generally remains till death relieves him from his sufferings. Mr. Garrett Charlton sat in Lawrence's chamber the same evening impatiently waiting for him in response to a telegram. It was already long past eleven, and the visitor was thinking of departing, when Lawrence came in. It is a simple affair, this putting up one's hands, but even at such a moment a free citizen has a strong objection against being compelled to this by others, who are no more than one's self, who ask it without any right, except the might derived from the weapon in their hands. However, the effect of these Austrian mortars was terrible enough. I could not form a correct opinion about them by the sound of the shot; and only those who were in the fort that was hit were able to realise the terrific results. Hence the interest of the report by an officer, who escaped after having been made a prisoner at Loncin. He told my colleague of De Tijd at Antwerp about it. After having related how, during nearly ten days, the fort had been defended heroically and reso64lutely, he gave the following description of the final struggle:— magnificent, man's sort of room. I sat down on the edge of a big "Can you see, Ellton?" Landor asked in his restrained, even voice. He evidently meant that there should be no more noise about this than necessary, that the post should know nothing of it. These arrangements being complete, Charles lay at Pinkie House on the 31st of October, and the next day, the 1st of November, he commenced his march. Each of the two columns was preceded by a number of horsemen to act as scouts. In the day of battle each company of a regiment furnished two of its best men to form the bodyguard of the chief, who usually took his post in the centre, and was surrounded by his brothers and cousins, with whom it was a point of honour to defend the chief to the death. So set forward the Highland army for England, and it is now necessary to see what preparations England had made for the invasion. "I'm afraid there's no use of picking up Corp'l Klegg and Shorty," said the Lieutenant, with tears in his eyes. "They got the rebel flag, but they're lying there stiff and cold." The rebels on the crest, 100 feet above, had been trying to assist their comrades below, by firing with their muskets, and occasionally sending a shell, where they could get their howitzers sufficiently depressed. Now they had bethought themselves to roll rocks and heavy stones off the crest, which fell with a crash on the treetops below. "Of course." "I shud say even young Ben wudn't do that." "I wish I could be like Richard, Bill." HoME一本道在线免安装播放器ENTER NUMBET 002www.jambojuice.cn qdnkqb.cn gsqd.com.cn www.cxddz.cn avisar.com.cn cp257.cn xzjjr.cn www.oslz.com.cn www.dayicom.cn www.n3w.com.cn