There was an expression of sadness in her eyes, and every now and then a quiver of pain swept over her red lips and found vent in a deep sigh, which plainly betrayed that she had some secret anxiety or trouble on her mind. She was rather slightly formed and delicate in appearance, yet there was strength and vigor in her movements, despite the air of depression that pervaded her attitude. Presently a door, opposite the one by which she had entered, opened, and a tall, rather awkward man came into the room. He eyed his visitor with a keen glance, as he bowed courteously to her, and then stood waiting for her to state her business. She arose as he came forward, and, extending a slip of printed paper toward him, remarked: “I have come to you, sir, in reply to this advertisement for nurses.” The man regarded her with surprise. Her every tone and word and gesture betrayed culture and refinement—that she had been delicately and even aristocratically reared, and although adverse circumstances might have driven her to the necessity of working for her own support, he wondered that she should have chosen the laborious avocation of a common nurse. “Have you had any experience in nursing?” he inquired, as he took the slip from her and ran his eye over it. “Yes, sir, although I have never been regularly trained. I had a—a friend”—her voice faltered slightly over the word—“who was an invalid for several years, and so I have had a great deal of experience in the sick-room.” “Hum—how old are you?” asked the superintendent, glancing sharply at the beautiful face of his companion, and thinking that she seemed very young for one who professed to know so much regarding the care of invalids. A delicate flush arose for a moment to her cheek, as if she felt the touch of irony in his question; but she replied with the utmost self-possession: “Twenty-one last month. I would like very much, sir, to become a trained nurse, and that is why I have applied to you to-day.” “You are slightly built—you do not look very strong, and I do not need to tell you that it takes a robust constitution to endure the hardships of nursing,” the man returned, as he regarded her curiously. The girl straightened her lithe form with a movement that was replete with energy. “I know that I do not have the appearance of being very strong, but I am,” she said positively. “I have had long and thorough training in physical culture—I continue the practice of the various exercises daily, and my muscles and sinews are strong and flexible as steel.” As she concluded, she threw out her right arm with a movement which showed that there was great latent strength in it for one apparently so delicately built. “You are quite pale, too—you do not look very well,” continued her companion, without appearing to heed her statements. “I am naturally pale—it is a complexion that I inherit; but I am never ill,” she quietly responded. The superintendent bent his head in thought a moment.