He then forced his way into the hospital, pointing his
revolver at the French wounded, who thought their last hour had come. He
himself was wounded, and at last appeared to yield to the remonstrances
of the Sister in charge, and allowed his wound to be dressed. But in the
middle of the dressing, he broke away without his tunic, and helmetless,
in a state of mad excitement, and presently reappeared with a file of
soldiers. Placing them in the street opposite the rooms occupied by the
French wounded, he ordered them to fire a volley. No one was hurt,
though several beds were struck. Then the women's wards were searched.
Two sick men, _eclopes_ without visible wounds, were dragged out of
their beds and would have been bayoneted then and there but for the
entreaties of the nurses, who ultimately released them.
An awful night followed in the still burning or smouldering town.
Meanwhile, at nine o'clock in the evening a party of German officers
betook themselves to the hamlet of Poteau--a village north of
Senlis--where M. Odent had been kept under guard since the afternoon.
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