Nancy Dale, Army Nurse Read online

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  LETTERS

  As the farmer's truck rolled away Tini glared at Nancy. She stomped herG.I. shoes on the pavement and burst forth, "How dare you? Hand me myletters!"

  Laughing suddenly Nancy handed them to her. "He thought we had escapedfrom the asylum across the hill," she chuckled.

  "You look like a lunatic!"

  "And you act like one!"

  Tini turned and stalked back into the pine thicket. Nancy took off herbe-decked helmet, mopped her hot face with her sleeve and followed.

  She finally overtook Tini and asked, "Why did you do that, Tini?"

  "I have a right to mail letters if I like."

  "Then why didn't you send them through the regular channels at thecamp?"

  "Who wants somebody pawing over your letters, looking at addresses?"asked Tini.

  "I don't believe anybody pries into who our letters are sent to."

  "And what business is it of yours?" Tini stopped suddenly and turned onNancy.

  "Any regulations given to this unit concern us all," stated Nancyfirmly.

  "Zat so!" Tini's tone was biting with sarcasm.

  "And if I broke the regulations it would be your business to jack meup." Suddenly Nancy's tone became pleading. "Tini, can't you see thatall these rules are for our own good, and the safety of the boys outyonder we're offering our lives to save?"

  "I understand what we're going into the same as you, Nancy Dale. Butsome of the restrictions are utterly silly."

  "We've got to trust the judgment of our superiors about that. Theyunderstand the whole situation better than we do."

  "I see no reason why we can't tell our family and friends what we'vebeen doing. I didn't let out any military secrets in those letters."

  "The other night under the net you asked me how to spell camouflage.You were evidently telling them about our instructions in camouflage."

  Tini's fair face flushed. "Well, what of it?" she snapped. "It's nosecret that our men use camouflage."

  "You shouldn't write about it for the simple reason that LieutenantHauser ordered us to say nothing of the things we've been doing on thistrip. Those are orders. The very fact that you tried to get somebodyoutside to post your letters proves you have a guilty conscience aboutthe whole business."

  "And where did you get the right to jack me up about anything I do?"

  "I have only the right that every American should use--to try to seethat information about our military activities doesn't get into thehands of our enemies."

  "So you're implying that my family and friends are enemies!" Tini'seyes were flashing fire now.

  "Oh, Tini, this is so absurd," mourned Nancy.

  "Of course it's absurd your trying to stop my sending mail out."

  Suddenly Nancy lost all patience. She stopped short and by her verymanner forced Tini to stop. "You have no reason in you, Tini!" sheexclaimed. "Now I'll give you two choices--you either hand thoseletters to Lieutenant Hauser to be mailed, or burn them."

  "So! Since when have I had to take orders from you?"

  Nancy ignored the question and continued, "You know perfectly well thatthe rest of us tore up the letters we wrote in the swamp before we knewwe were not to write descriptions of what we had been doing. Thoseletters you have must have been written back there. You've had no timefor writing since we came on here."

  Tini ignored the plain truth with which she had been faced and startedon toward camp. Nancy caught up with her, saying, "If you don't do oneor the other you'll place me in the embarrassing position of having toreport what just happened to Lieutenant Hauser."

  "So you're one of the spying, little tattletales!"

  Nancy's brown eyes were full of fire now as she said, "Tini Hoffman,this is no schoolgirl business we're in. Thousands of lives maysometime be at stake because some thoughtless person like you has seenno sense in certain censorship restrictions. If we don't conform tothose regulations now, it'll be too late to learn how when we get overthere. I'm taking no chances, Tini, no matter what you or anyone elsemay call me."

  With this statement Nancy swung away from Tini and took the nearestpath back to camp. Before the tent tops were in sight, however, Tiniovertook her.

  "All right," she said in a peevish tone, "if it'll ease your pain I'llburn the dern letters."

  "That's the sensible thing, Tini."

  They stalked on under the sighing pines in silence. Nancy felt quitewretched over the whole situation, not only at Tini's persistentdisregard of the regulations, but at the awkwardness of her ownposition in discovering her at it, time and again.

  However, she was determined to see that Tini did burn the letters, andsaid as they came in sight of the cook's fire, "You could burn theletters there, Tini, and have it over with."

  Sullenly Tini stuck her four letters into the flames. Nancy paused amoment beside her to see that they really burned. While they waited agroup of nurses had come in with a camouflaged captive.

  "Oh, there's Tini!" one of them called. "Did you catch Nancy?"

  "Me catch Nancy!" exclaimed Tini with mock humility. "It's Nancy whocatches me always!"

  "What do you mean?" asked Ida Hall, who was in the group. She glancedfrom one to the other, sensing that something was very wrong betweenthem.

  "Nancy's much too good for me to catch her at anything," continuedTini, unmindful of how her sarcasm might be taken.

  When she stalked off alone Nancy spoke to Ida wearily, "I was stillhiding when the gun was fired."

  "Then you and Janice Williams were the only two who weren't caught,"Lieutenant Hauser told her a few minutes later. "You'll have the honorof presiding at supper and serving the ice cream and cake."

  This brought exclamations of delight, which only subsided whenLieutenant Hauser lifted her hand for silence. "But I have somethingthat I think will be even more welcome," she said.

  "Hope it's mail from home," said Nancy. During the past week she hadlonged for that letter her mother had been writing on the night sheheard about Tommy.

  "Exactly what it is," said Miss Hauser.

  As the mail was dug from the big mail pouch and handed to the nurses,happy exclamations went up. One by one the girls went to their ownquarters to enjoy their letters in the privacy of their cots. Nancykicked off her muddy shoes, and discarded her dirty, painted coverallsand sat cross-legged under her mosquito net. She ripped open hermother's oldest letter. She couldn't keep back the tears as she readthe brave words, written while her own heart must have been so heavy.

  "We must not let ourselves think for a moment that our Tommy is dead," her mother wrote. "If he is a prisoner of the Japs he will need all the prayers and helpful thoughts we can send him. Only last week at church Philip Brinkley, who was shot down over Germany and made a prisoner, told us a little about his escape. But the thing that impressed me most was what he said about our prayers. He said he could actually feel the prayers we sent up for him at our mid-week meeting. You know that's when we especially hold thoughts for those who have gone over. We must make Tommy feel our support and God's that way, too, darling."

  Tears were swimming in Nancy's eyes when she finished the letter, notbecause she feared Tommy was really dead, but for the beautiful braveryof her mother's letter. She dried her eyes finally and picked up therest of her mail. Two were from girl friends back home, another from anold beau.

  Then her heart skipped a beat when she saw the last was from Australia.It wasn't Tommy's writing, though the script was slightly familiar.When she ripped open the letter she saw it was from her mother'sfriend, Miss Anna Darien, in Sydney. Miss Anna and her mother had beenin college together. Instead of marrying, Miss Anna had specialized inphilosophy and was now a lecturer of international repute. The war hadcaught her in Australia, and there she must stay for the duration.

  When Nancy read the prized letter she called across to Mabel on thenext cot, "Say, listen to this--Mis
s Anna Darien, a friend of ours inAustralia, saw Tommy recently."

  "Not really! What does she say about him?" Mabel asked, dropping herown letters to listen to Nancy.

  "Here--I'll read it to you. She says, 'You can imagine my surprise whenTommy, on a brief furlough, came to call on me. It was hard to believethat anyone could mature so fast in three years, since I saw him backin the states.'"

  "When was that written?" asked Mabel.

  Nancy glanced at the date. "Oh my goodness--two months ago. Took a longtime to come. They used to reach us in a month."

  "Quite a while before your brother took that fatal flight."

  "Yes. But it's wonderful to hear from somebody who's seen him thatrecently."

  "Go on. What else did she say?" urged Mabel.

  "'He asked me to write you'," continued Nancy. "'He knew you would bedelighted to hear from someone who's seen him over here. You'd reallybe proud of this brother of yours, Nancy. What a responsibility it isto be a pilot on a bomber! Already his chest is gay with decorations,but to me he's the same dear boy he used to be when I visited yourhome. He told me to tell you not to worry about him, that if the Nipsget on his trail he'll play the same trick on them he used to play onyou. He said you'd remember his childhood prank that always brought youto tears.'"

  By this time all four nurses in the tent were listening and Ida Hallasked, "What was that, Nancy?"

  Nancy was trembling between tears and laughter as she explained, "Heused to play dead! And he trained our old dog, Bozo, to do it, too. Iused to tag him around something awful, and just to get even he'dsometimes sprawl on the ground, looking dead as Hector. And Bozo wouldbe near by, his old legs flopped over. Many times I thought Tommywasn't breathing. I'd shake him and begin to cry, then he'd jump up andgrab me. Then I'd be mad sure enough!"

  "Not a bad idea--that playing dead," commented Mabel. "One of thefellows we had in the hospital back yonder said he tried it once, andthe Japs just passed right over him in the field. If he'd batted aneyelash they would have jabbed one of their awful bayonets rightthrough his vitals."

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  _Nancy Couldn't Keep Back the Tears_]

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  Before Nancy had a chance to read all her letters the warning bellsounded for them to prepare for chow. She had only time for a face andhands washing, using her helmet as a basin. A clean pair of coverallswas the extent of her dress-up for the honored place beside JaniceWilliams at the table.

  Every one was in a high mood. They all made merry over the best dessertthey had had since they left their original camp. Through the hilarityNancy felt an undercurrent of expectancy, as if some important newswere about to break through. Even Lieutenant Hauser seemed in a buoyantmood.

  When all had been served ice cream and cake Janice leaned closer toNancy and said, "I hear that Major Reed came out on the truck thatbrought the treat from the Canteen."

  "When?"

  "While we were out on camouflage."

  "Something must be cooking," Nancy said with anticipation.

  "Nell Streets cut her foot so didn't go on the hunt. She saw the majorand Lieutenant Hauser having a long confab."

  "Wonder what's up?"

  "Nell has a hunch we're going to be alerted before so long."

  "They've really been putting us through the paces. Wouldn't it bewonderful if they sent us to the South Pacific?"

  Tini Hoffman sat next to Janice, and Nancy suddenly became aware thatshe was listening to their conversation.

  "I can fully understand now why Lieutenant Hauser insists that we saynothing about the nature of our training," continued Janice. "It surelyindicates the tropics. That information in a spy's hands might place afew bombs in our path."

  "That's exactly why we can't be too careful," said Nancy.

  She glanced at Tini, and saw that she actually had the conscience toflush under the memory of what she had been about to do. Later as theyreturned to their tents in the twilight Tini overtook Nancy.

  "I'm glad you made me burn those letters, Nancy," she said. "It wasthoughtless of me to try to send them."

  "I'm glad you realize it, Tini. Of course it's not easy for any of usto submit to so many restrictions, but we have to submit if we expectto be of any use."

  "I was afraid my best beau would think I didn't care, it's been so longsince I sent him a letter. But I had two from him just now. He says heknows there'll often be long intervals when we can't hear from eachother. He's so understanding," murmured Tini.

  "We've got to think of the good of our unit and our boys over yonder,Tini," said Nancy, "and ourselves last." But she wasn't so certain,even as she spoke, that the spoiled Tini would think of anything buther own wishes next time she was tempted to break the regulations.

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