The San Francisco call., 1909-11-28
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horrible night nave ever spent
i In my foolish little faith in human
ity had assured myself while looking
up the street and number of my patient
Snat Doctor - would be careful to
send me among nice people.
II am the trained nurse" I sale 20
the man who met me in the hall.
"oh, you are. are your" he answered
in tones I was not used TO hearing.
I followed him upstairs into a small
back bedroom. where I found my pa
tient a young woman not much older
than myself apparently. pinched and
thin and raging in delirium- My pro-
fessional armor having still many weak
places in it, instead OF regarding her
as merely case" a great wave OF
pity swept over me and / took her
straight to my heart. I hurried into
my uniform and went to work with a
will to try to reduce her temperature.
There were no conveniences IN the
house. The meals were being sent In
from a restaurant, there was no serv-
ant. no coal in the bin to provide fires
for hot water, and the house. as far as
I had seen Il, was guileless of carpets
and furniture with the exception of
two scantily furnished bedrooms.
Having been reared in wholesome
country home. all this was to nae only
another claim upon my sympathy and
thought almost regretfully OF my SIS
week in the face of this struggle with
honest poverty. With the assistance of
coal oil stove and improvised appn-
ances, I finally got my patient into
state between slumber and stupor ane
sat down moment to watch her. Then
my eve caught the general disorder of
the room. Nothing was in place. al
though there were so few places. Pick
ing up all sorts Of articles of clothing
from the floor. the backs of chairs and
the foot of the bed, I found them very
much drabbled and soiled, but to my
surprise. exquisitely dainty. The bu-
reau also was full of beribboned, frilleG
lingerie, which. to me. was another dis
crepancy with my homespun idea of
an honest struggle with poverty
The womans face. now in repose,
was harder and less attractive than 1
had thought 1t at first. when coming in
from the light; and the only words she
said during the whole afternoon formed
an incoherent appeal. always ending
. with Tom, Tom AS stood over her
taking her temperature, she seemed to
shrink from me in fear
II was all very strange. but I was
kept so busy every minute carrying out
Doctor -'s orders and sustaining
my great weight of dignity as grad
uated nurse that 1 had no time to
reach an opinion. All the responsible
fly of the profession had settled upon
my shoulders as I realized myself in
sole charge of this case. with no head
nurse over me and no night nurse to
rely upon. This was to be a record
case for accuracy and vigilance and I
did not care whether I got minutes
rest or sleep during its continuance.
The door opened with jerk just as
my patient was falling into something
like natural sleep.
"Tomr the woman shrieked and went
of into a fit of crying. The man.
standing in the doorway without re-
moving his hat or taking the cigar out
of his mouth. looked long and hard at
me as If I. not he. had been the dis
turber.
Come out here a moment" he said
in an undertone.
Closing the door gently behind me.
tried to tell him that 1 had just got her
quiet when he. opened the door. ex-
planning carefully the patients tenn
perature, pulse and respiration.
The man, without having paid the
slightest attention to what I had been
telling him about the case, said.
You're all right. That - doctor
didn't send a night nurse did hep
NO" told him: he said he thought
sse"-it had not occurred to me until
that moment that did not know the
name of my patient-"might sleep dur
ing the night if ! could get her quiet
this afternoon. But now that she had
been aroused" trying to put severe
and reproachful meaning into my
words, there was no telling what
might happen"