The Opposite House: A Novel — page 211: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

206 The Opposite House. figures before his eyes became more indistinct, blending into a misty blur. Only the blossom waving on the rock opposite stood forth distinctly before his eyes, and seemed to be transformed into a girl’s rosy face, nodding gently and consolingly to him. The wounded man closed his eyes with a smile, and dreamed of the little wild rose amid the swaying boughs. Dreary weeks dragged slowly along on leaden wings; weeks alternating between the delusions of fever and death-like exhaustion, and which gave cause for greater apprehension from the sufferer’s nervous exhaustion than from the wound itself. Gerrald was in a hospital. How he had come | there he did not know; he only remembered dimly that he had been awakened on the battle-field by the rescuing party, and had stood beside Haldern’s corpse to kiss, with deep emotion, the cold brow of his loyal comrade. As he closed his glazed eyes and then sank fainting himself,the nervous fever set in, the surgeon had stated. Now the worst was over. The struggle between life and death had ended. Gerrald’s youth and vigorous constitution had again snatched him from the edge of the grave, beside which he had so often stood without descending into it. Next to his couch was the one occupied by the French cuiras- sier. It brought a soothing sensation to the young Comiclboolkk<s