Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 5.djvu/345

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THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. 323 Then, getting on his feet, he ran on as well as he chap. could, stumbling and getting up over and over '__ again, but always taking care to be moving up hill, till at last, when quite worn out, he found himself close to the dead body of an English Staff-officer — the body, he presently saw, of his friend Nolan. Eemembering that Nolan had fallen at a very early period in advance of the brigade, Morris inferred that he must be nearly within the reach of his fellow-countrymen ; so, being now quite exhausted, he laid himself down beside the body of his friend, and again became unconscious. Besides the three deep ugly wounds received in his head, Morris, in the course of these his struggles for life, had suffered a longitudinal frac- ture or split of the right arm, and several of his ribs were broken.* There was a circumstance in the lives of Nolan Morris m>t. and Morris which made it the more remarkable that the dead body of the one and the shattered frame of the other should be thus lying side by side. On the flank march, Morris and Nolan, who were great allies, had communicated to each other a common intention of volunteering for any special service that might be required in the course of the campaign ; and they found that each of them, in anticipation of the early death that might result from such an enterprise, had written a letter which, in that event, was to be delivered.

  • The longitudinal splitting of the arm was of the kind

which, it seems, is scientifically described as a ' Saliswitoh ' fracture. '