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A study in crimson tones
In
the
year
1878
I
took
my
degree
of
Doctor
of
Medicine
of
the
University
of
London
,
and
proceeded
to
Netley
to
go
through
the
course
prescribed
for
surgeons
in
the
army
.
Having
completed
my
studies
there
,
I
was
duly
attached
to
the
Fifth
Northumberland
Fusiliers
as
Assistant
Surgeon
.
The
regiment
was
stationed
in
India
at
the
time
,
and
before
I
could
join
it
,
the
second
Afghan
war
had
broken
out
.
On
landing
at
Bombay
,
I
learned
that
my
corps
had
advanced
through
the
passes
,
and
was
already
deep
in
the
enemy
's
country
.
I
followed
,
however
,
with
many
other
officers
who
were
in
the
same
situation
as
myself
,
and
succeeded
in
reaching
Candahar
in
safety
,
where
I
found
my
regiment
,
and
at
once
entered
upon
my
new
duties
.
The
campaign
brought
honours
and
promotion
to
many
,
but
for
me
it
had
nothing
but
misfortune
and
disaster
.
I
was
removed
from
my
brigade
and
attached
to
the
Berkshires
,
with
whom
I
served
at
the
fatal
battle
of
Maiwand
.
There
I
was
struck
on
the
shoulder
by
a
Jezail
bullet
,
which
shattered
the
bone
and
grazed
the
subclavian
artery
.
I
should
have
fallen
into
the
hands
of
the
murderous
Ghazis
had
it
not
been
for
the
devotion
and
courage
shown
by
Murray
,
my
orderly
,
who
threw
me
across
a
pack-horse
,
and
succeeded
in
bringing
me
safely
to
the
British
lines
.
Worn
with
pain
,
and
weak
from
the
prolonged
hardships
which
I
had
undergone
,
I
was
removed
,
with
a
great
train
of
wounded
sufferers
,
to
the
base
hospital
at
Peshawar
.
Here
I
rallied
,
and
had
already
improved
so
far
as
to
be
able
to
walk
about
the
wards
,
and
even
to
bask
a
little
upon
the
verandah
,
when
I
was
struck
down
by
enteric
fever
,
that
curse
of
our
Indian
possessions
.
For
months
my
life
was
despaired
of
,
and
when
at
last
I
came
to
myself
and
became
convalescent
,
I
was
so
weak
and
emaciated
that
a
medical
board
determined
that
not
a
day
should
be
lost
in
sending
me
back
to
England
.
I
was
dispatched
,
accordingly
,
in
the
troopship
"
Orontes
,
"
and
landed
a
month
later
on
Portsmouth
jetty
,
with
my
health
irretrievably
ruined
,
but
with
permission
from
a
paternal
government
to
spend
the
next
nine
months
in
attempting
to
improve
it
.
I
had
neither
kith
nor
kin
in
England
,
and
was
therefore
as
free
as
air
--
or
as
free
as
an
income
of
eleven
shillings
and
sixpence
a
day
will
permit
a
man
to
be
.
Under
such
circumstances
,
I
naturally
gravitated
to
London
,
that
great
cesspool
into
which
all
the
loungers
and
idlers
of
the
Empire
are
irresistibly
drained
.
There
I
stayed
for
some
time
at
a
private
hotel
in
the
Strand
,
leading
a
comfortless
,
meaningless
existence
,
and
spending
such
money
as
I
had
,
considerably
more
freely
than
I
ought
.
So
alarming
did
the
state
of
my
finances
become
,
that
I
soon
realized
that
I
must
either
leave
the
metropolis
and
rusticate
somewhere
in
the
country
,
or
that
I
must
make
a
complete
alteration
in
my
style
of
living
.
Choosing
the
latter
alternative
,
I
began
by
making
up
my
mind
to
leave
the
hotel
,
and
to
take
up
my
quarters
in
some
less
pretentious
and
less
expensive
domicile
.
On
the
very
day
that
I
had
come
to
this
conclusion
,
I
was
standing
at
the
Criterion
Bar
,
when
some
one
tapped
me
on
the
shoulder
,
and
turning
round
I
recognized
young
Stamford
,
who
had
been
a
dresser
under
me
at
Barts
.
The
sight
of
a
friendly
face
in
the
great
wilderness
of
London
is
a
pleasant
thing
indeed
to
a
lonely
man
.
In
old
days
Stamford
had
never
been
a
particular
crony
of
mine
,
but
now
I
hailed
him
with
enthusiasm
,
and
he
,
in
his
turn
,
appeared
to
be
delighted
to
see
me
.
In
the
exuberance
of
my
joy
,
I
asked
him
to
lunch
with
me
at
the
Holborn
,
and
we
started
off
together
in
a
hansom
.
"
Whatever
have
you
been
doing
with
yourself
,
Watson
?
"
he
asked
in
undisguised
wonder
,
as
we
rattled
through
the
crowded
London
streets
.
"
You
are
as
thin
as
a
lath
and
as
brown
as
a
nut
.
"
I
gave
him
a
short
sketch
of
my
adventures
,
and
had
hardly
concluded
it
by
the
time
that
we
reached
our
destination
.
"
Poor
devil
!
"
he
said
,
commiseratingly
,
after
he
had
listened
to
my
misfortunes
.
"
What
are
you
up
to
now
?
"
"
Looking
for
lodgings
.
"
I
answered
.
"
Trying
to
solve
the
problem
as
to
whether
it
is
possible
to
get
comfortable
rooms
at
a
reasonable
price
.
"
