The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-01-17
BY RUTH AYERS
CHAPTER XVIII

MAR Ell - Ii
you may 90 in. Mrs. Lenox."
A starchod. white nurse showed
Mary into DR.. O'Connelrs con-
sulting room the next afternoon.
Mary had waited scarcely at all
when the deep bass voice Of DR..
O'Connell doomed:
so this is Gilbert's wife. And
how are you. my DEAR"
DR.. O'Connell had a thick thstch
of iron gray hair. A smile
twinkled in eyes behind steel
bowed spectacles.
Before left the Base Hospi-
tai l was given this to deliver to
you" He handed her a letter ad-
dressed in Gilbert's handwriting.
Mary reached eagerly for the let
ter. aware anew of a feeling she
could not name.
Now let's have a look Let's
see about these facial nerves and
see just how deep the damage has
gone" DR.. O'Connell went on.
He tapped her face with light
fingers. AS if to put her at ease
he kept up a flow of conversation.
Your husband is doing a
mighty fine job in France. It's the
young medical men who are do
ing the real surgery at the front.
That's why I came back. Here in
England 1 can serve my country
better by being on hand when the
cases that are invalided home ar
rive. Ordinarily. it takes months
to build up a seriously wounded
man to the point where plastic
surgery would be any good at all. !"
1T makes me proud to hear
about Gilbert"
You have every reason to be
proud of him, my dear" He tilted
her face under the strong white
examining light and studied the
injured cheek critically.
You don't know how much this
means to me-" she said at length.
Save your thanks until after
wards" he said gruffly. TT will
be time enough when we see if the
operation is successful"
You mean there's a doubt ?"
she paled.
well, there's always a doubt.
We never know in advance what
the results will be. We can only
hope. Here's what l want you to
do. You'll be admitted to the hos
pital today. Well operate tomor-
row morning, if you agree"
With the dispatch which char
acterized DR.. O'Connell, Mary
found herself a patient in pri-
vate room in the same hospital she
had left only a few weeks earlier.
She purposely waited until the
gruelling routine of tests was over
to read the letter from Gilbert.
She had to be alone.
MY dear" she read, "Dr.
O'Connell will bring you this
message from me because I fear
you have not received any of
my letters. Service is uncertain
and vastly slow in wartime.
You will soon undergo this
operation. When I trust you to
DR.. O'Connell Pm leaving you
in the best hands I know. You
have my best wishes for all the
luck in the world.
This has to be brief because
DR.. O'Connell is leaving imme-
diately. But it carries sincere
affection.
Gilbert"
Mary leaned back on her pill
low, the letter tight in her hand.
So he had written!
The words she had just read
brought back the first time she
had ever seen his red head tower
ing above others in the air raid
shelter. Someday she would tell
him all about it and, perhaps, by
then she would have learned the
mystery of Carla Marchetta's
strange part in the events that
had taken place since that night.
That Carla was engaged in a
mysterious m ssion, she now
firmly believed. Her own intuitive
desire to uncover that activity had
been cut short yesterday, by the
summons from DR.. O'Connell. But
she would endeavor TO pry out the
secret when she was well again.
The scratching Of starched skirts
grew louder as nurse approached
her bedside. The imperturbable
British calm was, for once, upset,
Mary noted.
Another ship has been sunk"
the nurse blurted out. Nobody
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