The Washington herald., 1919-01-20
Confessions of
A War Bride
Chapter I2s.
! Salute 4 Wonan's Big Service
and Take Thought Of Myself.
Chaptcr &S.

Whether Eloise could possibly be
mistaken in the identity OF DR.. Ger
tets and her first Prince Charming.
the Duke of Riminez, was a puzzle
which frazzled my nerves. Certeis
certainly had made no betraying ges-
lures. He had merely left our ouita
circle as soon as he had heard the
message" requesting &C" not to in
trigue against the French But this
was exactly what any bored man OF
science would do. Probably Certeis
also had hoped TO break up the seance
by leaving. Had he suspected any
cestry he would have remained IL
only to ridicule US into disbelief.
The one detail in all the possible ac-
cusauons against Certeis which I
could not explain away was his inter
est in the sunker treasure How 1
hated to think that his interest was
connected with the loss Of the chart
from my ring, However. re-
garded Certeis, whether as Daddy
Lorimers physician, as a government
secret service man, as a grandee OF
spain, or as an international spy. he
He fascinated me.
But l knew. very well that it was
high time / had done with mysticism
and romance. For them ! had wob-
bled about like a toy dancer on a
| slack rope ana, as usual. it was Mar
tina Palmer who restored my equI-
librium.
Martha had been East, not on law
business, as we supposed. but on a
holy mission. She told me the story.
| in order to explain what a typical case
of the iu is like at its worst, and not
to prove herself a heroine.
Martha has a second cousin. a
trained nurse. who was employed at
Hog Island, and who came down with
| the epidemic there. This young wom-
an hasn't a relative in the world ex-
cept Martha. When she seemed about
to die, the doctor wired and Martha
was hurried to the hospital. Doctors
and nurses insisted that the case was
hopeless, the patient had the dreadful
bubonic symptoms. bloated abdomen
and spotted skin. The girl wanted to
die-everybody gave her up-except-
| ing Martha.
May l take care of herr" Martha
asked the doctor. OF course she could
Hog Island hospital like all others
" oe AoAANIS-b4s SAAOl VI AAAA stS. ~
Martha put on a white cap and ging-
ham gown; she encouraged her pa
| tient until the will te live came back
to the numbed brain; she nursed
| through the dreadful days and worse
nights until the miracle was accom-
! plished and the girl entered the con-
valescent stage. to the astonishment
of the hospital staff.
| II r1akaS little StOry in the
telling. this true tale of one woman S
herosm. but l like to think that il
| compares well with stories of brave
deeds performed by soldiers overseas
| Martha's only comment is a general
one: she says that few persons realize
! that we are living through one OF the
most frightful plaques ever visitec
, on humanity. that women ought &c
! think of this because the plague will
! come back in recurring waves, and It's
toll may be cut down IL women will
| only think as much about the family
health record as they do about theil
| spring bonnets. Martha is bitter
/ sometimes.
set her story down here to remind
myself OF the contrast between Mar
tha's deed and the startling adven'
lures have lived through and
thought so wonderful although theii
product was nothing better than q
few thrills.
! Thousands of girls would envy me
rather than Martha but they know
as l do that l should stand at atten'
ton" whenever Martha passes by
And I know. too, that Bob would de-
ride my adventures-but how he would
| approve OF Martha! Except when he 4
stubborn, Bob is always so sane!
(To Re Continued