The San Francisco call., 1909-11-28
The San Francisco Sunday Call

Hurrying back to the room where the
poor dead thing lay I met. not Doctor
-. but the horrible Tom standing
near the door and. either by design or
not. between me and the telephone
You wouldn't leave me all alone at
such a time as thisr' he began to
whimper
Before could get away he had
caught me by the arm.
IF you touch me win kill you
cried.
Come, come now. this is no place 20
make a fuss" he began to say.
IF you touch me 7 will kill myself
before I will leave this house other
than as I came into-it."
"oh. come. you don't pretend TO be
one or these trained nurses and lady.
too" he laughed.
knowing the fate of the poor thing
under the sheet did not care whether
he killed me on the spot or whether
killed myself. Reason had given way
to impulse. and nothing at that mo-
ment made the slightest difference
to me.
All this time, however. had been
edging over to the window. which I
had opened. and drawn the shade over
after the woman died Now could at
least scream for help. whether 1T came
or nos.
Seeing this the man. with an OATH
5oof5a6 xrharo
window was raised and faced the
street. Here we waited without a
word; the poor dead thing under the
sheet. the beast in human shape and
the trained nurse. nothing but a pulp
of fright on the inside. trying TO pre-
serve a forbidding exterior. Alert TO
each move made by the other we stood
there. Once when the man coughed 1
put my head out the window ready
to call. but, seeing he made no move
In my direction. drew back and waited.
1t was winter time and the light did
not come until late.
When at last DIR. did come we
were both as stiff and cold. almost as
the corpse. and the tension being sud-
denly relieved I lost my grip on myself
and tainted. The relief OF feeling that
this horrible strain was over turned
my senses topsy turvy. But when at
last 1 came TO myself. the man having
been sent to the drug store for a
restorative. 1 poured out to DIR. -
the story of my horrible nights ex-
perience. hoping that he would not feel
too responsible and too conscience
stricken at having been the uncon-
scious cause Of it all.
1 happened to know at the time that
DIR. had a young daughter of his
own at home. not much younger than
I. although the circumstances OF her
sheltered life had kept her still mere
child.
What did Dr. - do? What did this
man. himself the father of an innocent
young daughter. say to me? He had
heard the storylof my peril. knew the
nature OF the house in which I had
spent the night. had listened to the
recital of the insults to which I had
been subjected at the hands of this
man 1OAA- 4nCn nc SotN u AliC-
DO you expect to go through your
professional life still believing your
self to be a lady2''
1t was two to one, laughed in the
face of the doctor and in the presence
of the dead. Every trained nurse in
this town is going to hear this I said,
"for her own protection. 1 don't have
to nurse I have home I can go to.
so at the risk of its spelling my pro-
fessional career every nurse in San
Francisco is going to know your
opinion
The man came back and the doctor
sent him off again. He said number
of things about being established and
that nothing I could say would hurt
his reputation. He ended. however, BY
saying there was no use in giving up
my career, as I would make a good
nurse and be valuable to the profess
sion, and I ended by saying 1 would let
the matter drop.
Since then I have nursed under him
and been treated with respect.