"
The physicians came forward and bent over the body. One of them
shook his head, as the bright light of the lantern fell on her
face while he raised the girl from the ground.
"She is a lady," said one of the others in a low voice.
The men brought a stretcher and lifted the girl's body gently from
the ground, scarcely daring to touch her, and gazing anxiously but
yet in wonder at the white face.
When she was laid upon the coarse canvas there was a moment's
pause. The crowd pressed closely about the hospital men, and the
yellow light of the lanterns was reflected on many strange faces,
all bent eagerly forward and down to get a last sight of the dead
girl's features.
"Andiamo," said one of the physicians in a quiet sad voice. The
bearers took up the dead Zouaves again, the procession of death
entered the gates of the hospital, and the heavy doors closed
behind like the portals of a tomb.
The crowd closed again and pressed forward to the ruins. A few
gendarmes had come up, and very soon a party of labourers was at
work clearing away the lighter rubbish under the lurid glare of
pitch torches stuck into the crevices and cracks of the rent
walls. The devilish deed was done, but by a providential accident
its consequences had been less awful than might have been
anticipated.
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