Ruby Lorraine Radford

“ Though Mabel tried to dissipate the stormy atmosphere by her light mood, Nancy could not shake off her depression and a sense of foreboding. The nurses and medical officers had a long, private dining room at the rear of the first floor. Nancy noticed that for a change everyone seemed to be on hand.
Major Reed was in a high mood as he sat with a group of his medical officers. Nancy’s heart swelled with pride when she glanced from one to the other of their personnel. Here were medical men trained in all branches of healing, and nurses with various specializations for assisting them. ”

“ She was too grateful to know it was there to make Billy’s descent less dangerous.
Thirty feet above the ground the sturdy limbs of a young oak spread around the pine trunk. Billy stepped lightly to those limbs and a few minutes later had scrambled safely to the ground.
Kitty caught him to her, moaning, “Oh, Billy darling, you might have broken your neck! Never do such a thing again.”
“Huh!” he grunted, resenting being made a baby. “It was fun—like climbing our old magnolia back in N’ Orleans. Aunt Nina let me play up there any time.” ”

“ The longer she stared, the more positive she became that the horn-rimmed glasses and small mustache belonged to the same man who had sat beside the blond corporal the day she left her home town. Though she had had only a hasty glance as she went down the aisle of the train those faces had become indelibly impressed upon her mind.
As Mabel came nearer, Nancy saw Tini’s companion watching covertly. She couldn’t blame any man for being attracted by Mabel, for she was really worth looking at in her trimly fitting uniform with her cap sitting jauntily on her golden curls. ”

“ Kitty admitted. “But Hazel, isn’t it wonderful to be able to help people at a time like this?”
“There’s nothing in life quite so wonderful. You have the spirit of a real Canteen worker, Kitty. It’s a privilege to feed men’s bodies when they’re hungry, but it’s still more wonderful to give comfort to their souls and anxious minds as I saw you doing several times today.”
Kitty had had no greater sense of pride when she donned her cap and gown at graduation than she felt the day she was entitled to wear her Canteen uniform the first time. ”

“ Suddenly Nancy’s tone became pleading. “Tini, can’t you see that all these rules are for our own good, and the safety of the boys out yonder we’re offering our lives to save?”
“I understand what we’re going into the same as you, Nancy Dale. But some of the restrictions are utterly silly.”
“We’ve got to trust the judgment of our superiors about that. They understand the whole situation better than we do.”
“I see no reason why we can’t tell our family and friends what we’ve been doing. I didn’t let out any military secrets in those letters.” ”

“ Then she and her father and Hazel had eaten lunch together in the hospital dining-room, where there was little chance for connected conversation. So Kitty was also glad of this opportunity to develop their friendship.
Hazel couldn’t praise Kitty’s delicious dinner enough, and remarked several times how wonderful it was to be in a real home.
“It’s nothing like the lovely bungalow we had in New Orleans,” said Kitty. “Of course we had our own things there. But I’m not complaining. It’s too wonderful that we can be together in any sort of home now.” ”

“ Mabel assured her.
Mabel was beginning to look something like a guinea egg, for the hot sun and constant glare had peppered her fair face with freckles. She wore her hair pinned up tightly under her kerchief, as most of the others did. Wind blew almost constantly across the island, and without some protection hair would always be in their faces.
Nancy had burned badly on their last sea voyage, and was now beginning to peel. “There’s one consolation,” she remarked to Mabel. “Everybody looks about as bad as everybody else.” ”

“ But she made bold to ask one further question.
“Do you know where they haul the garbage, Dad?”
He led her to the window and pointed across the marshes. “See that smoke on the horizon.”
“Yonder—way south?”
“That’s it. That’s where they burn it.”
“Why so far away?”
“We couldn’t stand the stench if it was too close. Even at that distance a southwest wind will bring the odor into my window. I’ll surely be thankful when they use the incinerator again.”
Kitty’s mind was clicking like a teletype machine as she left the hospital. ”

“ The corporal was a much larger man than the bluejacket, and soon had him down on the seat, his hands clawing at his throat. Jim could not break their grip with his bare hands. Hilda had snatched up one of the oars, as if to help. Suddenly he seized it from her and cracked it down over Ned Owens’s head. The corporal crumpled into the bottom of the boat like a crushed egg.
The moment his hands relaxed their grip on Olan’s throat, the half-conscious man rolled into the water with a list of the boat. ”

“ Sally went back to the kitchen to end their teasing, and Kitty asked, “Is the nutrition course very hard?”
“Oh, no. Miss Pearson makes it very interesting. You learn all about food needs in emergencies and food values for all times,” explained Mrs. Evans.
“I guess we could all learn a lot about that.”
“Indeed we could! Part of our work, too, is giving instructions and demonstrations to people. Good health and sane living are so dependent on proper diet.”
“More so than most people will admit,” said Judy. “You’ll learn about that in nutrition class.” ”

“ The trip up to the new hospital was an exciting experience to these nurses, most of whom had never left the States before.
“Seems queer to find it so much warmer as we go north,” said Nancy during their first day’s travel by train.
“I feel as though I’m living upside down, or something,” remarked Mabel. “When we’re asleep it’s broad daylight at home. While it’s warm at home we’re shivering here.”
Though it was late fall in the southern hemisphere, flowers were still blooming in great profusion in gardens and parks. ”

“ Maybe if I’d put him to bed myself I would have touched him and found he had a fever.”
“Don’t be absurd, Kitty,” said Hazel almost severely. “You couldn’t have prevented his picking up some germ. Stop blaming yourself for what can’t be helped.”
“I know. You’re only trying to make me feel better about it,” said Kitty, wiping her tears with a large handkerchief which Brad had thrust into her hands.
“That’s right. Dry your tears. You know men don’t like to see a woman cry,” Hazel reminded her.
Kitty smiled. “Brad’s been awful good—helping us out.” ”

“ She let Mabel lead her like a sleep-walker to the phone in Lieutenant Hauser’s office.
“Hello! Yes—this is Nancy. Oh Dad, that you? I was afraid something was wrong with you or Mom.”
Mabel could hear Mr. Dale’s deep voice as she stood close to Nancy: “No, we’re all right, but we had upsetting news just now from the government—”
“From the government—you—you mean about Tommy?” asked Nancy.
“They report he’s been missing in action over enemy territory since the second of March.”
“Oh Dad!” wailed Nancy. “It can’t be true! It just can’t! God wouldn’t let anything happen to our Tommy.” ”

“ That’s a very long time.”
“I never saw such magnificent trees,” said Hazel. Her eyes turned here and there as if she could not take in enough of the beauty.
“And smell the fragrance of the sun on the pine needles,” said Kitty.
“A wise old Hindu told me once that man can gain renewed vitality in a pine grove quicker than anywhere else,” Mr. Carter told them.
“Then anybody ought to live forever here,” said Brad. ”

“ While the two men went into a grip, Nancy grabbed the keg from under their feet, but she was not quick enough to save more than half of the remaining water.
She dragged the keg with her toward the prow as the raging men grappled. Jim Benton and Hilda were sitting in the prow, and the slack sail had at first cut off their view of what was happening. The men were already at each other’s throats before Jim realized there was a row, and rushed to separate them.
Terrified, the women feared the struggle would capsize the boat. They huddled together in the prow to keep a balance. ”

“ He had the look of a man whose dealings with law-breakers had soured him on the world.
“I must confess I didn’t do any managing,” Kitty admitted ruefully. “I was sitting here waiting for Dad when in came Lieutenant Cary.”
“Waiting in the dark?” her father asked.
“I turned off the light to watch the storm—see what I could see outside,” Kitty floundered.
“So—he didn’t realize anyone was in here?” asked the officer.
Kitty’s excited breath caught in her throat a moment before she could explain, “He went straight to Dad’s desk with a flashlight, and picked up those order sheets.” ”

“ In spite of the physical weariness Nancy had a wonderful sense of well-being. At the moment she felt certain there was no greater work in the world than that of any army nurse.
Mabel and Shorty had already gone out on duty when Nancy and Ida Hall returned to their room. Nancy was relieved to see that Mabel had put her clothes in order. The two nurses who had been off duty had arranged hanging places for their garments. Mabel had even put Nancy’s pajamas on the foot of her bunk, and her bedroom slippers were near by. ”