THE A MERIC A N-SCA X DIN A VIA N RE VIE W 
477 
a public speaker, in order that her recollections from the prison camps 
might help awaken in her compatriots a realization of their duty toward 
these unfortunate sufferers. 
At present Elsa Brandstrom is occupied with the thought of 
establishing a home in Germany for war prisoners who are broken 
down in body and mind, for which purpose she intends to use the royal¬ 
ties she receives from her book. Any one who knows her determined 
will and her power to carry her resolutions through has no doubt but 
that sooner or later she will realize this plan. 
On the gloomy background of the war two women figures stand 
out, two sisters of charity: Edith Cavell and Elsa Brandstrom. The 
first gave up her life in the service, the other sacrificed hers inch by 
inch, throughout months and years, to thousands of martyrs who drew 
strength and comfort from her. Both lives are praiseworthy, but it 
is natural that the Swedes are inclined to give the place of honor 
to Elsa Brandstrom, the Swedish Florence Nightingale, in whose 
person and work we find expressed that which we have learned to 
value as the best and noblest in Swedish national character. 
Helpless 
By Per Sivle 
Translated from the Norwegian by Mabel Johnson Leland 
I. 
When I lie awake at night unable to sleep, then it is that recol¬ 
lections visit me. One by one they hurry by that window of my soul 
which faces the past. And I recognize them readily, those with the 
smell of woods and the roar of waterfalls, those of tobacco smoke and 
the noisy crowds, here a sound, there a shape—recognize them readily 
every one, some only too well. 
Now and then it happens that one of this light-footed procession 
pauses on its way, turns, and nods a greeting through the window-pane. 
To some I stretch welcoming arms, entreating them to linger, the 
longer the better; while there are others, which I hear and see quite 
as distinctly, in spite of every attempt to cover eyes and ears. 
Only last night some old acquaintances whom I had long for¬ 
gotten paused outside and peered in. They were three pairs of eyes, 
and it is these three pairs of eyes that implore me to tell their story. 
II. 
During the summer I read for confirmation it happened that I 
came into possession of a gun. 
