United States -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
Sam knew that a woman of the self-advertising, club-organizing class
will always say that to a reporter at the time she gives him her card so
that he can spell her name correctly; but Sam recognized that this young
woman meant it. Besides, what was there that he could write about her?
Much as he might like to do so, he could not begin his story with: “The
Flagg Home for Convalescents is also the home of the most beautiful
of all living women.” No copy editor would let that get by him. So, as
there was nothing to say that he would be allowed to say, he promised to
say nothing. Sister Anne smiled; and it seemed to Sam that she smiled,
not because his promise had set her mind at ease, but because the
promise amused her. Sam wondered why.
Sister Anne fell into step beside him and led him through the wards of
the hospital. He found that it existed for and revolved entirely about
one person. He found that a million dollars and some acres of buildings,
containing sun-rooms and hundreds of rigid white beds, had been donated
by Spencer Flagg only to provide a background for Sister Anne--only
to exhibit the depth of her charity, the kindness of her heart, the
unselfishness of her nature.
“Do you really scrub the floors?” he demanded--“I mean you
yourself--down on your knees, with a pail and water and scrubbing
brush?”
Sister Anne raised her beautiful eyebrows and laughed at him.
“We do that when we first come here,” she said--“when we are
probationers. Is there a newer way of scrubbing floors?”
“And these awful patients,” demanded Sam--“do you wait on them? Do you
have to submit to their complaints and whinings and ingratitude?” He
glared at the unhappy convalescents as though by that glance he would
annihilate them. “It's not fair!” exclaimed Sam. “It's ridiculous. I'd
like to choke them!”
“That's not exactly the object of a home for convalescents,” said Sister
Anne.
“You know perfectly well what I mean,” said Sam. “Here are you--if
you'll allow me to say so--a magnificent, splendid, healthy young
person, wearing out your young life over a lot of lame ducks, failures,
and cripples.”
“Nor is that quite the way we look at,” said Sister Anne.
“We?” demanded Sam.
Sister Anne nodded toward a group of nurse
“I'm not the only nurse here,” she said “There are over forty.”
“You are the only one here,” said Sam, “who is not! That's Just what
I mean--I appreciate the work of a trained nurse; I understand the
ministering angel part of it; but you--I'm not talking about anybody
else; I'm talking about you--you are too young! Somehow you are
different; you are not meant to wear yourself out fighting disease and
sickness, measuring beef broth and making beds.”
Sister Anne laughed with delight.
“I beg your pardon,” said Sam stiffly.
“No--pardon me,” said Sister Anne; “but your ideas of the duties of a
nurse are so quaint.”
“No matter what the duties are,” declared Sam; “You should not be here!”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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