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Show ' NURSE WHO WORKED WITH EDITH CAYELL SPENDS FIRST DECORATION DAY IN AMERICA i Real Story of English Martyr Told for Firat Tims j in America I BY JACQUELINE VAN TIL, Nurse Companion of Edith Cavcll In Belgium. I NEW YORK, May 30. You in America Am-erica havo a day you call Decoration Day, or Memorial Day, for special re-! membrance of heroes who died fori their country. j On that day my thoughts will be In Belgium In Brussels where Edith Ca-vcli, Ca-vcli, English martyr nurse, was killed by the Germans, for aiding her countrymen.' coun-trymen.' As I look back on the years I spent ;Wiih Miss Cavoll, remember her leach-! lngs, her bravencss, tho suffering, the uinlles and tears, the horror of it all, Miss Cnvell's work and her death seem' liko a dream to mc. Here in the suu-j shine and happiness of America I cannot can-not believe it is true. But deep in my heart is an ache that forbids me to xorget one moment of it. j Everything in Belgium for me seems to date back to the day when the fouri long streams of German soldiers poured pour-ed into Brussels. As the Germans' swept forward in the.r mad rush tor Paris they left behind them many' wounded soldiers who had fuugntl I against them. I Told to Love Country. It was then an organization wes , formed by tho Princess LeCroy, to care for them and try to get them out of the country, shortly after this Miss Cavoll called us together and told us to love our country'. That was all. It was not very long beforo the first two men who had escaped from the clutches of the Germans came to us. They had with them the passport enrd which was to identify thorn to us. They were received in the clinique, cared for, and then takon In by Mlss Cavellj to a guide, who in turn took , them to the border and safety in Holland. I Moro than GO times alter that was this repeated and more than 400 men were saved by Mi33 Cavell in this way. Spleo Come to "Clinic. Then came the evonts that led up to Miss Cavcll's arrest and execution.' Near the clinique was a cafo where 1 sonio of the convalescent ones and I: workers nl the clinique used to gather, it is there, 1 am afraid, that something some-thing must have been overheard by one of the German spies, j Once there came to tho clinic a sol- ; dler from Poland with the usual pass-1 port card. He only stayed one day, but wo felt he was not what he said jhe was. And then anothe:, Gaston Qulen, who stayed at the clinique two weeks. He Vas given the customary' 'escort through'Holland, and it was he' jv.-ho later returned to German head-' .quarters and gave tho information' (that led to Miss Ca oil's arrest and execution. 1 ! Among others with whom Miss Cavell Ca-vell had connection was Monsieur) Buucq, a poor man with a family who j sometimes- gave shelter to those who came to us. On July 12, 1915, the Ger-J mans came to the clinique and began to investigate. 1 I And then on Aug 12. cam the fate-,ful fate-,ful day when Miss Cavell was arrest-l ed. Two autos 'and seven Germans' came to the clinic and placed her un-j der arrest. As she left, she said: 3e good and be wise, my children. I shall relurn." I I Even then we had no idea of the' seriousness of what was happening,' although wo felt a great fear when Monsieur Baucq was also arrested. Wo 1 "My thoughts will be in Belgium fL " where Edith Cavell vas killed." I!ifrw v ' V ftk were, of course, not allowed to sec Miss Cavell, although once we cent ( flowers and she was allowed to reply j to us. The letter was dated Sept. 15, and ono paragraph will remain in my mind forever: "Everywhere in life we learn something some-thing new," she said. "And if you were in --my place you would realize how precious is liberty and how grateful grate-ful we should be to have it. But vo must all learn .patience. It is not enough to be a good nurse, but you should also be Christian women." Martyr'c Last Letter. Then there was a lapse and we heard no mure until Oct. 10, when Miss Wilklns, tho dlrectrico, who took Miss Cavell's place, received for us Miss Cavell's last letter. "This is a very sad moment for mc to write you my last goodbye," said the letter. "It makes mo think of the 17th of September which had closed ;my oighth year as the directrice of Jour little cliuiquo. I wasso happy to .be called to help in the work. The first of Oct., 1907, we had only four young pupils and now there are many, 1 bellove 50 or 60, counting the trained nurses who have left the clinique. "A little word yet: Mistrust evil speaking. Because I loved my country with my whole heart I am here. I have seen in the past eight years and now also, many mistakes which could have been avoidcJ. Hero and there a, w'hlE.pered word, although uttered Without bad intention, has ruined good names, responsibilities 'and lives." Powerless to Help. There was nothing more after that letter, for on Oct. 11 we learned thnt Nurse Cavell was to be executed. Miss Wilkins, the directrice, fainted when she heard the nev.s. But wo were powerless, pow-erless, allhough we hurried to the cardinal and Brand Whltlock. They, as tho world now knows, were equally equal-ly powerless and the next morning a frightened, sad little group cf nurses' went to the prison hoping for a lasti (Sight of the one they loved so well.' But we had not reckoned on the dif-1 ference between German and Belgium 1 time and we wore too late, although I we suw one machine wending its way to the rifle range where the execution vas held. I thought I caught a glimpse of Miss Cavcll in the auto, but I havo never been sure. , Wp were later told that Miss Cavell vasbrave to tho last and proudly in- jsioted on being executed in the English Eng-lish way, sitting down with her feet tied together so that her position might not be undignified when she fell. And Monsieur Baucq -had to watch the execution as he awaited his turn to die. ." When we returned to the town we found there the German proclamation i telling that the sentence had been ex- jeeuted. It road: SENTENCED "Baucq and Cavell have been executed." exe-cuted." And such is tho story of Edith Ca- veil she who gave her all to save the world from the clutches of German im-l Iperiallsm. J |
