"_I've been called away for half an hour--a poor fellow in my ward who kept asking for me. He's only twenty-five, and so young and strong, with the dearest funny little smile. He's so helpless. I feel just like a mother, with all these big babies around me--and they're quite as troublesome, but very dear. I begin to realise, John, that I had never really lived. I see things quite differently, and you'll probably find me another kind of Muriel altogether. I expect you've changed also--haven't all values changed these days? We lived in a very little world once, and thought too much of ourselves._" He dropped the letter, a chill had come over him. Was it envy of those big babies, and particularly the one "with the dearest funny little smile?" Changed!--what did she mean by that? He hadn't changed, why should she? True, they hadn't met for a year--and she had not written lately. Why had he not insisted on their marriage? He laughed then, a little uneasily at a thought that said, "You're jealous!" and read on-- "_It was very wonderful when you wrote about our settling down when it is over--if ever. Somehow it seems too much to hope from life. Things were getting very crazy in 1914 and I feel this war is putting our relations on a more sensible basis._" A more sensible basis!--what on earth did the girl mean. Was she getting unnerved? He read the sentence over again. Yes, he must insist on their marriage. She wanted a controlling hand; this war was too much for her. With this resolve, he read on again, and became easier in mind. "_John, I couldn't leave this now, like this, with all this life going on. It must be terrible for women to sit and wait at home. Poor things. I read some of their letters to the men here and I nearly break down. I am feeling a little shy of you, John, you are so famous now. The nurses here bring me cuttings about you, and in the mess room, there's a Sphere photograph of you coming down a gangway. I love the naval uniform, and to think that I've never seen you in it! Be kind to all those dear little middies, they must feel so lonely on that big dreary sea._"