"And Captain Waterman, have you got him?"
"That's all right, Pollard, he's safe enough," replied the Major.
"Thank you, sir," said Tom, "I don't care now."
What happened after that Tom didn't remember. He had a confused idea that he was carried down a long line of trenches, and that he heard cheering words during his journey. But nothing was plain to him, except a burning sensation in his left arm and in his right shoulder; for the rest he was faint, sick, and weary.
"You are feeling better now, are you not, Pollard?" It was the doctor who spoke.
"Yes, sir, I am feeling all right," replied Tom; "there is not much the matter with me, is there?"
"You are simply a miracle," replied the doctor, "only a couple of flesh wounds, that's all. You have lost a great deal of blood, of course, but you will soon be as fit as a fiddle again. I wonder that a hundred bullets did not go through you!"
"They came mighty near," was Tom's reply.
"You must be removed from here at once," said the doctor, "this region's too unhealthy for you."
An hour later Tom found himself away from the screech of shells.