The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, September, 1913: Vol. LXXXVI, No. 5Various
General
The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, September, 1913: Vol. LXXXVI, No. 5
Various
Periodicals
“Yes, surely,” mused the White Linen Nurse. Just at that moment she
was mostly concerned with adjusting the curve of her shoulder to the
curve of the Little Girl’s head. “I could sit more comfortably,” she
suggested to the Senior Surgeon, “if you’d let go my skirt.”
“Let go of your skirt? Who’s touching your skirt?” gasped the Senior
Surgeon, incredulously. Once again the blood mounted darkly to his
face. “I think I’ll get up--and walk around a bit,” he confided coldly.
“Do, sir,” said the White Linen Nurse.
With a tweak of pain through his sprained back, the Senior Surgeon
suddenly sat down again. “I _sha’n’t_ get up till I’m good and ready,”
he declared.
“I wouldn’t, sir,” said the White Linen Nurse. Very slowly, very
complacently, all the while she kept right on renovating the Little
Girl’s personal appearance, smoothing a wrinkled stocking, tucking up
obstreperous white ruffles, tugging down parsimonious purple hems,
loosening a pinchy hook, tightening a wobbly button. Very slowly, very
complacently, the Little Girl drowsed off to sleep, with her weazen,
iron-cased little legs stretched stiffly out before her. “Poor little
legs! Poor little legs! Poor little legs!” crooned the White Linen
Nurse.
“I don’t know that you need to make a _song_ about it,” winced the
Senior Surgeon. “It’s just about the cruellest case of complete
muscular atrophy that I’ve ever seen.”
Blandly the White Linen Nurse lifted her big blue eyes to his.
“It wasn’t her ‘complete muscular atrophy’ that I was thinking about,”
she said. “It’s her panties that are so unbecoming.”
“Eh?” exclaimed the Senior Surgeon.
“Poor little legs! Poor little legs! Poor little legs!” resumed the
White Linen Nurse, droningly.
Very slowly, very complacently, all around them April kept right on
being April. Very slowly, very complacently, all around them the grass
kept right on growing, and the trees kept right on budding. Very
slowly, very complacently, all around them the blue sky kept right on
fading into its early evening dove-colors.
Nothing brisk, nothing breathless, nothing even remotely hurried, was
there in all the landscape except just the brook, and the flash of a
bird, and the blaze of the crackling automobile.
The White Linen Nurse’s nostrils were smooth and calm with the
lovely sappy scent of rabbit-nibbled maple-bark and mud-wet arbutus
buds. The White Linen Nurse’s mind was full of sumptuous, succulent
marsh-marigolds and fluffy-white shad-bush blossoms.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account