I opened the case, and before the knives, the long surgeon's knives
which were in use before the scalpel superseded them, they fell back,
muttering and amazed.
I did not know that Elsa Lee also was watching until, having
requested Jones, who had been a sailmaker, to thread the needles,
his trembling hands refused their duty. I looked up, searching the
group for a competent assistant, and saw the girl. She had dressed,
and the light from the lantern beside me on the deck threw into
relief her white figure among the dark ones. She came forward as my
eyes fell on her.
"Let me try," she said; and, kneeling by the lantern, in a moment
she held out the threaded needle. Her hand was quite steady. She
made an able assistant, wiping clean the oozing edges of the wound
so that I could see to clip the bleeding vessels, and working deftly
with the silk and needles to keep me supplied. My old case yielded
also a roll or so of bandage. By the time Burns was attempting an
incoordinate movement or two, the operation was over and the
instruments put out of sight.
His condition was good. The men carried him to the tent, where
Jones sat beside him, and the other men stood outside, uneasy and
watchful, looking in.
The operating-case, with its knives, came in for its share of
scrutiny, and I felt that an explanation was due the men.
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