I am glad that it has been given
to me to tell you the story of one of the most beautiful things that
ever happened in Switzerland--the founding of the Red Cross. You will
remember it with greater interest, I am sure, because, while I talk, the
cross of the Swiss flag floats over us, and it was here in this old town
of Geneva the merciful work had its beginning."
Lloyd settled herself to listen, still stroking Hero's back with her
slipper toe.
"He was my friend, Henri Durant, and in the old days of chivalry they
would have made him knight for the noble thought that sprang to flower
in his heart and to fruitage in so worthy a deed. He was travelling in
Italy years ago, and happening to be near the place where the battle of
Solferino was fought, he was so touched by the sufferings of the wounded
that he stopped to help care for them in the hospitals. The sights he
saw there were horrible. The wounded men could not be cared for
properly. They died by the hundreds, because there were not enough
nurses and surgeons and food.
"It moved him to write a book which was translated into several
languages. People of many countries became interested and were aroused
to a desire to do something to relieve the deadly consequences of war.
Then he called a meeting of all the nations of Europe. That was over
thirty years ago. Sixteen of the great powers sent men to represent
them.
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