The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-03-07
THE COURAGEOFAW WOMAN.
THINGS THAT MADE HER FLIyCH
AND THINGS THAT DIDN'T.

she Hsa LooLed Down the Bsrrci or = Loaded
Pistol without ousninR. and HAD Used n
Yoil Enectivciy In . Desperate Emergency
-somethirg That she Could Not stand.
She had been to a swell luncheon. and looked
positively brilliant as she came In, with hints Of
tho good time she had had yetlurking in her eyes.
"Tnis is absolutely my last dissipation" she
said, taking of her hat and rubbing her forehead
rcfe. lively. IT am quite sure now that one can
not serve two masters. Besides, 1t costs me 81
cab hire every time I go-I can't take the cars In
these things-and Embarrassment besides"
Embarrassment y
Eyes. You see it's all right II you are a person
not apt TO be noticed; but, IL you forget and let
yourself out at all. and attract anybody interest,
it's all over with you. Inevitably there comes
the question, Where do you live . and then the
game is up. You say that you are from the
country, only stopping for a few days In town
with friends; you s~ay-well, you say anything
anything but the truth. You can't sit up and
admit that you are at q boarding house in New
York and alone. I've looked down the barrel
OF a loaded pistol without finching-tha is. out
wardly-but I am not bravo enough to stand
q society woman's stare or a society mans we'll
meant effort not TO look surprised. Oh! poverty,
poverty. what untold crimes are in
they namei You don't mind my taking my
hair down. do you'll That tircsomc Blanche has
put about a pound OF hairpins In II. II looks
nice, though, don't II T. turning her head round
for inspection. let mo see, one. two. three,
four-actually forty.Hve hairpins. What q re-
lief TO get them outi
Nobody would take mo for q woman Of train
ingi No. I suppose not. I always had good
style. but I am trained, schooled. drilled, thor
oughly, entirely. down to the very tips OF my
toes. You don't believe that-that about my
looking down a loaded pistol But it's tho
truth. I don't lie except when I'm forced into
'it, as I was to-day. You know there are nine Of
us girls. ! come In third, and we three older
ones were born with the proverbial silver spoon
in our mouths. When things went fiat,
and wo had TO hustle, our attention was
directed to trained nursing as a profession.
quiet, retired, and womanly. Mother said
sho would feel better satisfied II we
got at that instead OF more venturesome
things. I proposed being q drumme and trav-
cling for mems neckwear. or face powder. or
embroidery silks, or something of that kind. but
the family fairly gasped at the idea. Then l
spoke OF being a reporter. and said that i had a
born Intuition for news. An eStinguisher was
put on that and on everything else l suggested.
The Office OF nurse was safe. sheltered. away
from the public eye, and eminently respectable.
so there arc four OF us trained nurses, minister.
ing angels. so to speak, at whose bidding pain
and evil vanish as by magic.
"Once out OF the traces, irksomo traces they
were. l took u case or two to test my mettle. and
then l hustled round among tho big doctors !
knew and got them to look me IN a better posi-.
ton. My three years OF married life, during the
silver spoon epoch, stood me In good stead. and
even though / looked young the Mrs. to my
name was a distinct advantage. j received an
offer OF the supcrintcndency OF a hospital in u
big Western city; not to be ma,ron. mark you.
/ had noscd round sufficiently to find out that
the Office Of matron. singly and by itself was not
desirable. but that to be superintendent, al
though 1t involved work and being on the jump
all the time. also meant being ones own mis-
tress. I went to the front at once.
1--WE haven't had very good order In the hos
pital hitherto. Mrs. w. the mouthpieco OF the
Governing Board. told me-quite a good-looking
mouthpiece. large and expansive. We're a
young institution yet, and IL takes time to regu-
late things. We hope u good deal from your
New York discipline. Make c~ast.iron rules and
stick to EN- and you'll come out ahead
well! OF all the higgledy pigglcdy mcsses I
ever undertook to manage that place was the
worst There weren't any rules in particular
about Snysnins: Hppare ,his and ,S very , iiitie e. at,
taught TO think OF the utmost Importance, both
In ahygienic way and every other way. ! did
and me mighty airs. and at tho end N OF a couple
OF months the faculty complimcntcd inc
didn't lack for money. It was We'll en-.
dowed. and the management was anxious
that IL should ~ Uhdo be a , show Sp place; a iiaas' nnr rigid and
their patients, and l persisted in having my
rules carried out in every smallest particular.
tend everything, and often l iongcd for the old
days OF self.indulgence. or even for one hour OF
uninterrupted time 10 my self.
Sometimes l had a chance to do a kindly
thing. One OF the patients was a fencing mas
ter, stranded without money in a strange city.
When he got well enough TO work l took fencing
lessons from him and got some other women TO
take fencing lessons enough 10 exc out his board
until he could go elsewhere. He took a fancy TO
mel had known how to fence beforehand
when he was leaving insisted on my acceptinga
SGT OF foils that he thought a good deal OF in
token OF his gratitude. was always devoted TO
the sport and l had quite enjoyed practising
denco In my room. and thereby hangs a tale.
One Of the departments OF the women.s ward
Of the hospital was down In an /, back OF where
the lying'in ward, In fact. One night. Just at
bedtime, one Of the younger nurses came to my
what she thought was a mans footstep in the
free ward, and that she thought she had heard
Why did YOU not go and see what Il was
about = i asked, but she said y was all dark
thai one Of the nurses two or three nights before
had heard the same t~hing-just a mutfied kind
OF sound, they did not know exactly what. I
laughed at her for being so timid, and said that
the next day ! would have the outside entrance
Xamined and made even more secure.
1T Is impossible for any one to have come
in l said. but II you hear anything further
come for me on the instant,
81 then went. TO bed. | had a woman named
Katie sleeping in an antcroom just outside my
door. l had been advised to have her there in
case l needed anything, but she was too
slcepy.headed to be much protection; besides. |
never was a nervous person. My father and
uncles were army officers and l suppose l inner
tied some small share Of courage. Later In the
night i heard the nurses tap at my door, and
she came in with a white. scared face and said
she had heard the. sounds again. Wasn't I
afraid 10 got and should she wakcn the
nigh, watchmani ! said stun and nonsense.
and hinginR on u wrapper and lighting my
little bull s'eyc lamp that ! could swing on my
arm, l set out on AN investigating tour. ! heard
the muificd whisper, and walked toward the
room whence the sounds came, moiioning to
TO the nurse to 40 back, something she was very
glad TO do. My heart gave an uncomfortable
thump when ! saw that one of the young doe
tors was in that room, u proceeding entirely un-
called for and in express violation OF rules. lie
saw me Just as plainly MS ! saw him..
alt is useless for me To pretend that ! do not
know who IL in this ROOM, l said, turning my
back. Doctor, ! will wait for you outside and
wait did, trembling inwardly and wondering
what l should do. but determined to net out my
part. The doctor came OF II family we'll known,
and his father had contributed 10 the hospital.
Mrs. W., you know what this means to me-