The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-02-20
NURSE MORRISON.

She was rather a little woman, with
a great mass of yellow hair and a timid
sort of way about her. She looked after
her cases, however, with a great deal Of
nerve, and Trafford, my senior, agreed
with me hat she knew her work. 1t
was a small hospital, as hospitals go
nowadays, and Trafford and I, the only
resident medical officers, could speculate
on life and humanity and yet do our
work, we thought. with credit. To us
she was just Nurse Morrison. Still,
when the staff nurse told us that wild
horses wouldn't drag Nurse Morrison's
history out Of her, we, the stat, felt
sympathetic and interested.
"She doesn't wear a wedding ring
anyway" Trafford said one night. He
had just been doing his round, and she
was on night duty.
THAT proves nothing, except in nov
els" l said sagely. "Inever could make
out what would bar a woman from get
ting, OF getting rid of. a wedding ring
any time it suited her."
"She's plucky, !" Trafford said, stretch
ing on our sofa and staring up at the
ceiling, "but l don't think much of her
constitution, don't you know. She's
rather neurotic, poor little SOUL"
you're right" told him. "I've
speaks to her suddenly, her eyes look
quite fearful"
AT this Trafford sat up, took his pipe
out of his mouth and stared at me.
"What the devil have You to do with
her eyes?" he asked sharply. "Remem-
Der, ono for all, I'm senior resident
here"
"Who said you w~eren't?" l asked. II
don't see what that has to do with it,"
II do. I'm responsible for things in
my department, and I won't have any
humbugging firtations going on"
"Better talk to the matron and report
me to the board, I said sulkily and
took up the book that / had been read
ing when he came in. l didn't read,
though, ant Trafford still smoked and
stared at the ceiling. Presently he spoke
again in a way that showed he had
made a fool of himself.
"Well," he said, "neurology's not in
my line, and I'd like your candid opin-
ion of her. AS a psychologist, wouldn't
you say that she's running a risk of
overstrain? One can see that she takes
things too seriously"
wasn't inclined to give Trafford an
other chance of snubbing me, but when
a fellow apologies practically l think
one ought to be decent. Besides, the
nervous system is a thing I've worked q
good deal at, and Trafford doesn't know
anything about it, so l put down my
book again and thought the thing over
carefully.
"There's no doubt" l said at last,
"but that she's inclined to be neurotic.
That very fine, soft hair, of that partiou.
lar shade, goes with what outsiders call
a highly strung nature"
"Oh, you've noticed her hair, have
your" Trafford asked, and 1 said that OF
course any man who was interested in
physiology and psychology would pay
particular attention to the hair.
"These women are perfect brutes tC
one another" he went on. "She's toe
good to lose through a breakdown. and
4 u llh0 w CaSS hSI WOIh a Wv. AS bcu
ior resident I'm responsible for a thing
like that, but if 1 speak to Buzz (Mis'
Buzzard is our matron) she may turf
rusty"
"Speak to the chief tomorrow morn
ing when he comes around; then he'll
look at her."
"He does that already, "Trafford said
"But she's SO plucky, she brightens NJ
when he's about"
/ couldn't suggest anything more, ex
oept to KEEP an eye on her, and we agreed
to make the poor little things work a
light as possible.
HAS she friends near?" Traffort
asked me when / said Good night.
And l was able to tell him that
thought she had, and that she Away
went to see them when off duty.
Well, when l thought over his sin
terest and responsibility as senior resi-
dent" I couldn't help laughing at Traf
ford, for l knew very well that Nurs
Morrison wasn't interested in him, bu
all the same, after keeping an eye Oh
her, as l had promised, I began to fee
that he was quite right in saying tina
she needed to be looked after. She be
gan to develop a set look about thu
mouth and a strained appearance Of thu
eyes hat l didn't like at all. She woult
jump if one spoke to her unexpectedly
and once, when going round at night il
my slippers l brushed against her, sh'
threw up her arm with a little cry as i
expecting me to hit her.
I was much hurt at this and spoke Il
her, but only said vaguely that she wal
always expecting something to harper
now, and of course ! couldn't bother her.
Presently queer rumors got about the
place, and one could see quite well, by
the way that the other nurses put theiI
heads together in the wards and scatter
ed directly she went near them, that
they discussed her pretty often.
She only made one friend among them
all-big, bouncing, red checked Nurse
Gore, whose laugh was a thunderclaI
and who was reported to take her holi-
days in August because of the grouse.
1t reminded me of the oak and the ivy
and all that sort of thing to see them
together.
One day Nurse Smiles, with WHOM
used to have little chats bsforeNzNurst