The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-12-23
EVENING STORY
In Times Like These.
BY GERALD ST. ETIENNE.


mirror and smiled with qualification. |
She was going TO make a very pretty |
nurse. The blue of the uniform was
especially becoming to her style OF
beauty and matched her eyes wonder
fully. The while starched collars and
cuffs made her look Just too stunning
for anything''--there was no use try
ing to tell herself that they didn't.
Just wait until she had passed the
probationer term and won the right
to wear q cap; wouldn't she make the
other nurses fade into Oblivion? What
the uniform lacked in headgear she
endeavored to make up for in crimps
TO her pretty blond hair. At last.
when everything was satisfactorily ad-
justed, she started out the corridor
with a "bring-on-your-m illionaires'
look in her face.
Leonore was just like lots of other
girls. She had entered the hospital
to take a course of training with the
thought that all was sunshine and
pretty uniforms. Altho she would not
have confessed it. uppermost in her
mind had been the thought that after
about the first month she would be
instrumental in saving the life of some
handsome young millionaire. who in
gratitude would throw his fortune and
his heart at her feet. 1t required the
first day to take all those silly notions
out of her head.
Take those crimps out of your
hair! Don't let the superintendent see
you with those. 1t is positively against
the rules" one of the nurses warned
Leonore before she had a chance to
report to the head nurse for duty.
With a pout on her lips she hurried
back to her room and flattened out
the crimps with q pint of water.
IT don't know how to take tenn
peratures," Leonore announced to the
head nurse the first thing, expecting
of course to be put in charge of a ua-
tient at once.
Certainly you don't" the head
nurse smiled, not unkindly, land you
time, either. .Scrubbing out the operat-
ing room is the first thing you will
do"
Poor Leonore! Never had she
worked so hard as she did the first
week. Every night she went to bed
too tired to be homesick. but by the
end of the week she was taken i'll. In
bed, off duty, she had a chance to
think. She hadn't as much as seen
a patient and she had been there seven
whole days. She had scrubbed every
thing scrubable in the place. tho, she
warm water was ever with her. Her
hands that had once been lily white
were swollen and red. Her arms
were chafed right up to the elbows.
and her best uniform was ruined. She
wasn't a nurse, she was a char woman.
She just would not stay. The people
at home couldn't expect her to. The
thought of home brought the tears
that had been trying to come forth
for hours. After an hour of weeping
she felt better, but the resolve to go
home was still with her. She hated to
been beaten by the work. tho. She
would just tell them she was going
home for few days.
"Why, we are so short of nurses we
can't possibly spare you" the superin-
tendent said when LeOnore interview
ed her.
. 81 can't help it; I am going anyway.
even il L. can't come back" Leonore
started to sob. She hoped the note
of rebellion in her tone would win her
instant dismissal, but probationers
were too scarce for such indulgence
on the part of the superintendent.
"Come back as soon as you are bet
ter" the superintendent gave in. But
when Leonore was gone she was al
most sure she would not see her
again.
There was no one to meet Leonore
at the station. By the time she reach
ed home she was tired and worn out,
but not too tired to sob out the whole
miserable tale in her mothers arms.
st knew it was too much for you,
darling" her mother comforted. You
don't have to go back to that horrid
hospital
"Have YOU Sc an Gerald this week."
Leonore asked as soon as she was
rested. Hasn't he been in every
day."
HE was in last evening"" her
mother answered. but the poor, dear
boy looks so worn OUT
How does he look in uniform
stunning, wonderful-doesr-t he?.
HE does look fine" her mother
smiled, "for Gerald is a handsome
| boy"
yes" Leonore agreed, land he must
! be having a ripping time. A soldiers
life is the life, mother. I wish I could
have stayed until he got his uniform.
am going oat to the camp this very
afternoon"
Three o'clock found Leonore in the
car on the way to the soldiers train
| ing camp. Her cheeks were flushed
with the expectation of the welcome
she would be sure to get, for Gerald
| was madly in love with her. But they
| had quarreled. 1t was the first time
! she had remembered that since she
| left to go to the hospital. Gerald had
| objected to her going into training;
he had said her place was at home,
| and that a nurses life was the life of
| n dog. She had persisted that he was
| all wrong and had left for the hos
pita1 the day he was to report for
military service. Now she knew that
| he was right, tho, and could acknowl-
| edge that she was in tn. wrong. Her
| welcome would be a pleasant one, she
| felt sure of it. AS the car drew near
| the camp she pictured what a fine
time Gerald was MANIFESTATIONS pa
| rades before applauding admiring
people, dances. parties, receptions in
his honor and in honor of the uniform
| he wore. Oh, it was wonderful, she
knew it was.
| Leonore held her head very high as
the guard escorted her to where Pvt.
Gerald Montgomery could be found.
She felt sure sha> wo lid find him par
| taking of afternoon tea with some of