THE SOLDIER'S b'YIEND. cannot be paid dearer to her heart than in giving her more work to do." In March, 1856, Miss Nightingale sustained a slight injury from the upsettingof a vehicle, in which, with some of the nurses, she was proceeding up to the front of Balaklava. Her back being hurt, she was obliged to remain for a short time in the Castle Hospital, which had been erected during the summer of 1855, in a lonelybut healthy spot at the mouth of Balaklava Harbour. During the spring, despite her anxieties and responsibilities, she found time to attend to different minor affairs ; through her exertions, "a considerable quantity of school materials, such as maps and slates, was supplied to the schools ;" she advanced on her own responsibility, a sufficient sum from ' The Times' Fund' to complete the erection of the Inkerman Café ; she aided the active senior chap- lain in establishing a library and school-room, and warmlyassisted him inorganizing evening lectures for the men. She took a kindly interest in the private affairs ofthe men, and forwarded their savings to their families in England, at a time when there was no provision for sending home small sums ; she wrote letters for the sick, she studied the comforts of those who were convalescent, and, from the dying, she took charge of bequests. She had a tent constructed, to protect from the glaring heat of an Eastern sun the invalids who were permitted to enjoy the air, and en- dured the mortification of a refusal, from the hospital authorities, to have the tent put up. 41
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