The doctor knew him, but said that he was not with
the army, but was, he believed, away visiting some towns on the
Volga, where a serious pestilence was raging.
Charlie remained but a short time at Bercov. His wound was healing
rapidly, and the surgeon who attended him assured him that there
was every prospect of his making a complete cure, if he would but
keep his arm, for some weeks, in a sling.
He had nothing to complain of, either as to his comfort or food.
The governor, who spoke a little Polish, visited him every day, and
asked many questions as to his native country. On one of these
visits he said to him:
"You asked me yesterday if I knew Doctor Kelly, one of the chief
surgeons of the army, who, as you had heard, was at present on the
Volga. You mentioned that he was a friend of yours, and that you
had made his acquaintance, when you were unlucky enough before to
be a prisoner in our hands. I am sorry to say that I have today
seen an official report, in which his name appears among the list
of those who have fallen victims to the pestilence."
"I am sorry to hear that," Charlie exclaimed; "both because he was
very kind to me, and I liked him much, and because, in the second
place, I was sure that he would have used his influence, with the
czar, to obtain my exchange as soon as possible.
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