CHAPTER NINEALERT
During those first busy days at the hotel Nancy saw little of Tini. Though she managed to get in always before eleven, and was at hand for breakfast, she took most of her other meals out.
One noon when Nancy, Mabel and Shorty were on a shopping expedition they came across Tini in a swanky Chinese restaurant, sitting at a table with a smart-looking woman, obviously about ten years her senior.
Nancy’s trio, in a high mood, was having a final fling. They had carefully checked over their funds to be sure they would have enough for a meal in this expensive restaurant. They were surprised and not altogether pleased to find Tini ahead of them with someone who would probably foot her bill.
“She hasn’t paid a particle of attention to what Miss Hauser said about our going in groups,” Mabel grumbled on seeing Tini.
“Has she ever paid attention to any regulations she could break and get by with?” asked Shorty, whose round, babyish eyes took in more than her guileless face betrayed.
Nancy gave her attention to the menu card, but when the other two were occupied with thoughts of food she sent the woman sitting opposite Tini a critical look. The stranger was a blonde like Tini, but her chic hat and smart clothes could not hide the hard sophistication in her face. A group of WACs came into the dining room, and Nancy saw the woman’s eyes follow them to their seats. Two army nurses, not of their unit, entered a moment later and again she trailed them. Nancy made up her mind to ask Tini later about the woman, then tried to dismiss the unpleasant subject, and enjoy this meal they had been anticipating.
The chop suey and Chinese tea proved to be all that had been anticipated. Though they dawdled long over the food Tini and her companion were still at their table when Nancy and her friends rose to go.
When they had left their tips and paid for their food Mabel said in an impish tone, “I’ve gotter pass by Tini’s table on the way out.”
“Now, Mabel, what are you up to?” asked Nancy.
Mabel made a face at her and retorted, “None of your business!”
Tini’s back had been to them, but now she glanced up and saw them, and Nancy noticed the flustered look on her face.
“Hiya, Blondie!” burst forth Mabel. “Chow was swell, wasn’t it?”
Tini nodded at them coolly.
At the door Mabel said, “Oh, boy, did she and her high-brow friend snoot us!”
“High-brow, did you say?” asked Nancy in a sarcastic tone.
“You shouldn’t tease her so, Mabel,” Shorty chided. “Tini’s such a stickler for form.”
“Social form only,” added Nancy. “Not military form.”
“Dumb bloke! That’s all the sense she has,” said Mabel in disgust.
The girls spent another hour shopping, then were too weary for any more that day, so returned to the hotel. They stopped in the lobby for Mabel to get a magazine, and Shorty some mints. Too tired to stand, Nancy dropped into one of the large chairs in sight of the elevator. She was sitting there in a fog of weariness when she saw Tini and her luncheon companion come in and ring for the elevator.
“So,” thought Nancy, “you’re either taking her up to our room—which is against regulations, or she lives in the hotel herself. In either case I mean to find out where she goes.”
Nancy had no time to let Mabel and Shorty know she was going up, but made a dive for the elevator as the passengers crammed in. Their room was on the eighth floor, but to her relief Tini’s friend got off at the seventh.
Several other nurses got off at the next floor with Nancy and Tini, but the two girls found themselvesside by side as they approached their own door.
“Mabel certainly embarrassed me in the restaurant this noon,” said Tini in an ugly mood.
“Oh, you know Mabel!” exclaimed Nancy. She slipped her key in the lock and opened the door.
“She’s very common and loud at times!” snapped Tini.
“But with a heart of gold,” stated Nancy. “I’d trust Mabel with my own soul.”
“Hump!” grunted Tini as she tossed her cap to the bed.
Nancy sat down on her cot and slipped her aching feet into her bedroom slippers.
“That was a beautifully dressed woman you were with. Where’d you meet her?” asked Nancy.
“She’s Carl’s aunt, Mrs. Webber. He made me promise to look her up if we got to the west coast.”
“He did. Does she live at this hotel? I noticed she got off at the floor below.”
“Oh, no. She’s only visiting here—came to meet me.”
“I see. But how could she know you were here?”
“Carl wired her.”
“How did Carl know?”
Suddenly Tini flared. “And what business is it of yours?”
“Oh, what a nettle you are!” said Nancy.
Mabel came in a few minutes later. “You really got ahead of us,” she told Nancy. “Didn’t know you were coming on up.” Then her gaze fell on Tini, andshe left the rest of her remark unfinished.
“Sure,” said Tini, sitting up suddenly, “she had to come up and spy on me and my friend.”
“Why Tini Hoffman!” exclaimed Ida Hall, lifting her head from the bed where she had been recovering from the after-effects of some shots. “How can you be so rude?”
Mabel went to the foot of Tini’s bed and fairly shook it in her rage. “Let me tell you something, Tini Hoffman. If you didn’t have a bad conscience about the way you’ve broken the regulations ever since you got into this unit, you wouldn’t make such a remark.”
“Mabel’s right,” Ida Hall agreed. “Anyone who can’t stand up under watching by all the rest, has no right to stay with us. This is serious business, Tini. You can bet your bottom dollar none of us is going to let anything crooked get by.”
Tini began turning the pages of a magazine to show them how little importance she put on what they said. A strained silence filled the room, and Nancy was thankful when it was time to dress for dinner. Mabel was a fast dresser and sat checking over the list of necessities while she waited for the others.
“Well, I think I have everything mentioned on this list that I want to take,” she concluded. “Do you gals want me to read it over to see if you’ve forgotten anything?”
“Good idea,” said Nancy, giving her auburn curls a final touch. She had had her hair set early that morning, and wondered when she would ever get inside a hairdresser’s again.
“She’s Carl’s Aunt, Mrs. Webber,” Tini Told Nancy
“She’s Carl’s Aunt, Mrs. Webber,” Tini Told Nancy
“She’s Carl’s Aunt, Mrs. Webber,” Tini Told Nancy
“Bathrobe, bedroom slippers, brassieres, garters, garter belt, girdle, handkerchiefs, money belt—” Mabel began.
“For goodness’ sake!” burst forth Tini. “Can’t you see I’m reading? I’ve checked that list a dozen times and have everything on it.”
“If them’s orders, Shavetail Hoffman, I’ll desist!” exclaimed Mabel, snapping to attention and giving Tini a mocking salute. “Come on, girls, let’s beat it,” she added, turning to Ida and Nancy. “I’m ready for more chow.”
Though Mabel tried to dissipate the stormy atmosphere by her light mood, Nancy could not shake off her depression and a sense of foreboding. The nurses and medical officers had a long, private dining room at the rear of the first floor. Nancy noticed that for a change everyone seemed to be on hand.
Major Reed was in a high mood as he sat with a group of his medical officers. Nancy’s heart swelled with pride when she glanced from one to the other of their personnel. Here were medical men trained in all branches of healing, and nurses with various specializations for assisting them.
At the end of the meal, when Nancy was finishing a piece of lemon chiffon pie, she glanced up to note that the room had been cleared of waiters, and Sergeant Bohler was standing at the rear door by whichthey entered. Then all eyes were drawn, as if by some strong attraction, toward Major Reed, now standing by his table.
“I have the privilege of informing you,” he began, “that we have been alerted. No member of this unit will leave the hotel again, nor may you use any telephone, send out any mail, or by any means communicate with any person outside this room that we will embark in a few hours. Everyone must be packed and ready to leave at any moment. When you come down to meals again come prepared to march to your ship, if necessary. Everything in your rooms must be ready for instant departure.”
No cheers greeted this long-anticipated order, for any demonstration might bring information to alert spies they knew were not far off. Sergeant Bohler left the door, the waiters returned to clear off the tables and the nurses and doctors went straight to their quarters.
When their door was closed Mabel burst forth exuberantly, “Boy, oh boy! To think we have sailing orders at last!”
“I’ve got that hollow, going-away feeling for the first time since I left home,” said Ida Hall a little wistfully.
“It surely does make you feel serious when you stop to think what we may have to go through before we get back to these shores,” said Nancy.
“But we’re going to see the world, gals, before weget back!” Mabel was the only one who had no close relatives to leave behind, so her adventure-loving wings had no silken cords to bind them to home shores.
“Wish they’d waited another day, dern it!” exclaimed Tini. “Just my luck though. Wonder how long we’ll have to wait.” It was the first time she had spoken since they returned to the room.
“I imagine Major Reed doesn’t even know that,” said Nancy. “We’ll just have to be ready to go at any minute.” She was already gathering up her toilet articles from the dresser as she spoke.
“I’ve heard they often go aboard ship about midnight,” said Ida. “We’d better keep on most of our clothes.”
It was about ten o’clock before they finished packing and turned out the lights. Taking off only their coats, the four nurses lay down on top of their beds. Nancy dropped into a light sleep, but was roused by an almost imperceptible movement near the door well after midnight. Though the room was in total darkness she knew someone was moving across the carpet. A beam of light fell across Tini’s empty bed as the door was opened with noiseless caution, and Tini herself stepped into the hall.
CHAPTER TENEMBARKATION
The moment Nancy saw Tini step into the hall she knew she was intent on making some secret contact with someone outside their unit. With noiseless speed she jumped from her bed and followed through the door in her stocking feet. In spite of her prompt action Tini had vanished by the time she reached the dimly lighted hall.
She couldn’t have rung for the elevator and taken it in so short a time. With swift insight Nancy surmised she was headed for her friend on the seventh floor by way of the fire-escape stairs. How glad she was she had made a point of asking Mrs. Webber’s room number at the desk last night before dinner.
For an instant Nancy stood there in the silent hall in an agony of indecision. What should she do? She was tortured between two speculations—that Tini, herself, was a spy in their midst, or had innocently, but foolhardily let herself be drawn into a net of spies. No matter which she was it seemed obvious her intention was to let Mrs. Webber know they were alerted.
She thought of Major Reed. Even had she knownhis room number she would have hesitated to go to his room at this hour of the night. Lieutenant Hauser was three doors down the hall. Even while Nancy was trying to decide what she should do, she was on her way there.
To her relief she saw light under the crack of Miss Hauser’s door and found her superior officer fully dressed. Nancy wasted no time in preliminary explanations, but burst forth as soon as she was inside. “Tini Hoffman has gone out—to Mrs. Webber’s room, 705,” she said. “She’s Carl Benton’s sister. They’ll find out we’re alerted.”
“Thanks, Nancy. This is not unexpected,” Lieutenant Hauser said, and acted promptly, picking up the phone. “Connect me with Major Reed, room 829,” she told the operator.
A moment later she was saying into the phone, “This is Blanche Hauser. Nancy has reported the expected. Set off the action—705.”
She was as cool as a veteran under fire when she put the phone back in its cradle. “We’re not surprised, Nancy,” she said, seeing the girl’s puzzled look. “We have the trap set, and had to let things go this far in order to spring it.”
Nancy’s brown eyes were wide with wonder as she asked, “Then Tiniisa spy?”
“I think not—just a fool in the hands of spies!”
Nancy wanted to cry, but she couldn’t let her superior officer see her give way in this crisis.
Miss Hauser came to where Nancy had dropped limply on the foot of the bed. She placed her hand affectionately on her shoulder and said, “Of course I know all that’s happened before, through Major Reed. You’ve been wonderful, Nancy—dependable as old Plymouth Rock. Without such as you our national freedom would long since have been undermined.”
“It hasn’t been an easy position,” Nancy admitted.
“We’ve been fully aware of that. But when you stop to realize you’ve probably saved our convoy from some horrible disaster what does any of that matter?”
“Are you sure it’s not too late?”
“I hope so. Your prompt action has always been taken just in time. You’d better go back to your room now, or your other roommates may rouse and be curious.”
“I’m afraid I’ll never sleep, not knowing what’s happening.”
“You deserve a full explanation, Nancy, but it probably won’t come before sailing. I’m not at liberty to say more. Major Reed will have to do that.”
With what composure she could command, Nancy went back to her room and crept to her cot without rousing the others. She strained her ears at the sound of the elevator gliding up and down several times, but it told her nothing of the stark drama being enacted on the floor below. Never before had shefelt so like a small cog in a gigantic machine. She must perform her function efficiently, leaving to a greater mind the finished product that the machine turned out. Toward dawn she finally went to sleep and didn’t rouse till her two friends were ready for breakfast.
“Tini must be hungry this morning,” said Ida Hall. “She’s already gone down.”
“But she left her coat and cap,” Mabel observed.
Nancy said not a word as she touched up her lips. When they returned to their room an hour later all the things Tini had left on her bed, musette bag, pistol belt, canteen, short coat and overcoat, were gone.
When Ida Hall commented on this, Mabel observed, “Her foot locker and suitcase, too. Something’s gone wrong, girls—wonder what?”
Nancy could only remain silent, feeling miserable and deceitful, even while she wondered what had actually become of Tini. When nothing more was seen of their blond roommate by lunchtime, Mabel confronted Miss Hauser with a question about her in the dining room.
Miss Hauser’s manner was as casual as could be when she replied. “Miss Hoffman didn’t pass all the tests,” she said. “Some do fail to get over at the last minute, you know.”
Silently the trio went back to their room. Each sat on the side of her bed, staring into space. After aninterval Mabel said, “She didn’t fail on her physicals, I can bet you that. Tini’s strong as a mule.”
“And just as stubborn about having her own way,” Ida asserted.
Nancy offered no opinion, for fear she would betray more than she should. The afternoon dragged by. Nancy brought Shorty in to be a fourth at a table of bridge, and they played until time to go down for dinner.
“I didn’t think units were held over, after alert, more than twenty-four hours,” complained Mabel. “Sure wish we’d get on the move.”
“Maybe the convoy is delayed somehow,” suggested Ida.
Nancy wondered if Tini had anything to do with the delay. She tried to forget the unpleasant incident. When they were in the dining room that evening she suggested, “You girls had better lay in a good meal. This may be the last you’ll get before you’re too seasick to eat.”
They took her advice and put in full orders. A few in the crowded dining room had started eating and Nancy had taken only one bite from the breast of a chicken when Major Reed came in. His face told all who turned toward him that the moment had come.
“This is it!” he said, when he rapped for attention. “You will file out immediately to the room across the hall and wait further orders. Your room baggage will be taken care of.”
Now they understood why they had been told to come to meals, prepared for marching orders. They filed into a drawing-room across the hall. Some did not even sit down, expecting to be on their way to the docks at once. However, when an hour passed and marching orders had not yet come, they lit more cigarettes and hunted seats. Nancy, Mabel, Ida and Shorty huddled together on a window seat.
“Why in heck didn’t they let us finish our dinner?” Mabel wanted to know. “I’ll see that wasted, juicy steak to my dying day.”
“I’d be glad for even a drink of water,” said Shorty.
“No law against drinking from your canteen,” Nancy told her. “I guess this situation rates as an emergency.”
The time dragged into an eternity. Everyone wondered what had happened. Would they be sent back to their rooms for another night’s sleep? Then at long last Major Reed appeared to give them the final alert. Nancy glanced at her watch. It was ten minutes of twelve. They had been waiting in this room over four hours. She wondered what was back of the delay.
They were packed into trucks waiting in the alley at the back of the hotel. Then by dark, back streets, their convoy approached the dock. When the nurses were lined up beside a long warehouse Nancy’s heart swelled with pride that she was one of this brave, snappy unit. Every nurse wore her dress uniform and carried her overcoat over one arm. Her musettebag, filled with a score of oddments she might need in an emergency, was slung over her shoulder. In her pistol belt was a first-aid kit, and on her left hip was a freshly filled canteen.
With a rhythmic shush, shush of many feet they passed by the long warehouse, and went across the dock to the great ship rising like a giant from the water. To Nancy it seemed incredible that anything so large could remain afloat. She had taken only two ocean trips in her life, and those were on small, coast-wise steamers between Charleston and New York in the good old days when no subs darkened the waters, nor death wings roared overhead.
They marched up the long gangplank and were directed to their quarters. Everything moved with oiled smoothness. The staterooms had been turned into bunk rooms. Some of the larger ones, that had once been luxury suites, had as many as sixteen bunks lining the walls, three tiers deep with a double bunk to each tier. Fortunately Nancy, Mabel, Ida and Shorty got together once more in a small four-bunk cabin. Each nurse would have to use her bunk for lying, dressing and sitting, for all floor space was filled with the hand luggage.
Each nurse hung her helmet on the head of the bunk, close to her life preserver and well-filled canteen. In her musette bag Nancy had crammed what she thought she might need in case they had to take to lifeboats. She had a small flashlight, some milkchocolate, a change of undies, an extra pair of dark glasses, cleansing tissues, a small comb, two tins of concentrated food, and many other odds and ends.
An hour after going aboard the nurses slipped off their coats and caps and stretched out on the bunks, prepared to jump up the moment there was any indication of leaving the dock. But for hours longer there came that steady tramp, tramp of soldiers’ feet as the transport was packed to sardine-tin tightness.
It was still dark, however, when Mabel shook Nancy out of a sound sleep to say, “I think we’re moving!”
The other two girls were already pulling on their overcoats to go on deck, and together they rushed out. Faint streaks of dawn were in the sky. Hawsers had already been released and the giant ship was being eased out of the harbor by tugs that looked like midgets in comparison.
The first light of day was striking glints from the water when they slipped through the submarine net at the mouth of the harbor. The net-tender waved at them, and Nancy thought a little wistfully that this was the only farewell they had had. She watched the shoreline of our country recede, not without a feeling of sadness dulling her joy. But her sadness was more for those she left behind than any fear of what might be ahead. She was young and strong and eager to do her share, fully aware of the privilege and responsibility of being part of this great task force.
Her group, huddled close together, had fallen silent when suddenly the loud speaker began to bellow, “Life jackets—all personnel must wear life jackets.”
There was a general exodus to individual quarters to don the uncomfortable rig, which they dubbed their “Mae Wests.” Not until their journey ended, weeks hence, could they be separated from them again.
Nancy couldn’t sit still after she was safely girded in her life jacket. She kept popping her head up to the porthole to see what was happening outside. One of the others filled the spot every time she vacated it.
They had orders to line up for breakfast at seven. The nurses were scheduled to eat first. It was an hour, however, before they had been served and could finish eating.
When they reached the deck again Nancy burst forth, “Look, girls, this is the real thing!”
They joined her at the rail to see that their transport was now one of a great convoy of vessels of all sorts, moving steadily into the southwest.
“Breath-taking, isn’t it?” said Shorty.
“I can hardly believe we’re really on our way at last,” said Nancy happily.
CHAPTER ELEVENAT SEA
That journey across the Pacific was a never-to-be-forgotten experience. Though the intensive training of the last busy weeks was over there was still plenty of routine in their lives. “Abandon ship” drills were part of every day’s program. They never knew when they were coming, nor whether, this time, it was the real thing. Every nurse, swathed in her Mae West, must be standing at attention by the lifeboat assigned her when the Colonel passed for inspection. Nor did his inspection stop there, but their quarters must always be tidied so as to bear the scrutiny of those piercing gray eyes.
The soldiers laughed at the women when they appeared with the most unexpected items to be taken along just in case this life drill was the real thing. Ida Hall invariably came out wearing dark glasses while Mabel always brought a rubber bathing cap.
“I’ve got to protect my permanent from the salt water,” she explained, when a young sergeant asked if she was going swimming. “I figure I won’t get another wave any time soon.”
Nancy had a horror of being adrift without lightsand water, so always had her flashlight and a well-filled canteen.
“If I forget everything else I hope I won’t leave my knife behind,” said Janice. “I may need it to slay sharks or cut up fish to eat.”
Though they got what fun they could from this serious business, it gave Nancy a feeling of safety to know that everything had been so carefully planned for their welfare. She couldn’t help wondering at times, however, if Tini’s wilfulness had really supplied the enemy with information they sought about the convoy. She had caught only occasional glimpses of Major Reed, but at no time was there opportunity to speak with him privately, so her curiosity about the whole matter had to be stilled.
Every time she looked across at the great flotilla of ships to port and starboard, fore and aft, her sense of security grew stronger. She was never weary of watching the sea and those other ships.
In spite of their drills and regulations they had much real leisure, which was most welcome after so many weeks of rigorous training. Most of the small discomforts of the crowded transport could be endured, but Nancy did feel the pinch of their limited water supply. With so much water all about them it seemed strange to be rationed on water, but on such a packed ship the water supply was a real problem.
They had to line up for the bathroom, then each nurse was allowed only a basin full of water for bathingand clothes washing. The girls had to dodge about their cabins to avoid the lines of clothes constantly drying. However, most of them stayed in their cabins only for sleeping and dressing, so could make the best of what could not be helped.
For dinner the first evening they changed to their summer beige suits, for there was to be dancing afterward. There were numberless men for every girl, so none lacked for partners. Nancy was surprised about ten o’clock that first evening to glance around and discover Major Reed asking her for the next dance. This was the first time he had spoken to her since Tini had vanished from their midst.
“Oh, you!” she exclaimed eagerly.
She gave him her hand and they moved on to the floor, but the place was so packed it was like trying to dance on a dime.
Nancy laughed and said, “It’s impossible!”
“And the air’s thick enough to slice,” he added. “Why endure it when there’s so much grand fresh air on deck?”
“Do let’s go outside,” agreed Nancy. “I’ve been wondering what the stars are like out there.”
They escaped to the deck by a side door and finally worked their way to the prow. The black-out on the ship made the spangle of stars a thousand times more brilliant than Nancy had ever seen them. They stood at the rail a few minutes, watching the brilliant points of light swim crazily in a dome of purple velvet.
“Abandon Ship” Drills Were Held Every Day
“Abandon Ship” Drills Were Held Every Day
“Abandon Ship” Drills Were Held Every Day
“I can hardly wait to see the southern cross,” said Nancy.
“A wonderful sight,” he told her. “Two of the stars point toward the south pole, as Polaris indicates the north.”
“You’ve been down under before?” she asked eagerly.
“I came out in the late spring, before Pearl Harbor, a civilian then. I remember I was sight-seeing at Pago Pago about the middle of May.”
“I’ve never been any farther than New York by steamer,” Nancy confessed. “I didn’t dare hope I’d really make it down here—right where I want most to go.”
“Things do work out sometimes,” he said with deep content. “They have for me.”
They fell silent a moment while they watched the other darkened ships moving across the wide expanse.
After an interval he said in a low tone, “Miss Dale, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to thank you for your cooperation.”
“There was nothing else I could do.”
“Of course. But you did it more tactfully and successfully than many others would have.”
“Naturally I’ve been curious to know what really happened the other night when I went to Miss Hauser about Tini.”
“It’s a long story that goes way back,” he began,and glanced around once more to be sure no one else was in hearing distance. “You’ve helped us trap two of a ring we’ve been trailing a long time.”
“Oh, Major Reed, really?”
“Their specialty has been getting in with women in the service, not only nurses, but WACs, WAVES, and even Red Cross workers, to worm information from them by subtle tricks at which they’re very adept.”
“And Tini Hoffman’s temperament made her a gold mine for them, I should think.”
“Exactly. We took some great chances letting her stay as long as she did, but it proved to be worth it in the end.”
“Then you did spring the trap Miss Hauser spoke of?”
“Indeed we did. We had had a plainclothes man watching Tini ever since we got to port, but without you on the inside even he might have failed.”
“Oh!” breathed Nancy, just beginning to realize fully how important had been her position.
“We had had an eye on this woman who posed under the name of Mrs. Webber, before. She serves as the sister of any of the ring who have girls coming into the port.”
“I see,” said Nancy. “She looked capable of such a post—a hard-looking sister!”
“Tini got in such a dither to see Mrs. Webber that night, because Carl said he was flying out to see herbefore she left. She was to meet him for lunch at the Chinese restaurant next noon—then alert orders came and she couldn’t get out, so she thought she had to go to Mrs. Webber so Carl could understand why she broke the date.”
“Then Tini was not really crooked—a spy,” said Nancy in a tone of relief. She couldn’t bear to think that, even of Tini.
“No—just foolish when it comes to a realization of the danger she might have placed this convoy in.”
“Did that have anything to do with the delay in our leaving?”
“I’m afraid it did.”
“But you haven’t told me just what did happen down there in room 705.”
“We had placed a dictaphone in Mrs. Webber’s room while she was out, and let Tini have her say, to get the record, before we went in to take them both into custody. Fortunately Tini mentioned the name of the place she was to meet Carl next noon, and it was a simple matter for the FBI to be there to pick him up. He had shaved his small mustache, but otherwise the description you first gave, served an excellent purpose.”
“Well, what do you know about that?” Nancy said in wonder.
How little she had dreamed when she went into the service that she would become involved in such a plot!
“I was so miserable over the whole business,” she added after an interval, “but Tini was always placed right under my nose. I couldn’t help knowing the awful things she did.”
“We placed her close to you deliberately. We knew you were entirely to be trusted,” he said.
She flushed in the darkness and after a moment murmured, “Thank you, Major Reed. I’ll try never to betray that trust.”
“Miss Hauser told me one of your roommates asked about Miss Hoffman after she had been gone a half day, so I presume you gave no hint of what you knew to the others.”
“No, I didn’t. Tini had given herself a bad enough name. There was no use making it worse.”
“You have a wise head on your shoulders, Nancy.”
Her pulse quickened as he called her by her first name.
“No, Tini’s not really a traitor—just one of those thoughtless, self-willed people, who can do as much harm as a real spy,” said the major, “and you’d be surprised, Nancy, to know how many of those are crippling our war effort.”
Nancy sighed. “We really do walk a narrow plank over dangerous waters, don’t we?”
“Indeed we do!” he agreed. “But for everyone who would betray us there’s millions loyal to the core, like you.”
“I appreciate your telling me just what happened.Naturally I’ve been wondering, but hadn’t dared ask.”
“You have a right to know if anyone does. Such service as you’ve rendered never brings medals, Nancy—we have to keep too quiet about these undercover activities.”
“At least I’m glad it’s all over, and we don’t have anyone else like Tini in our unit. They’re a grand bunch—all of them.”
“Are you telling me!” he exclaimed.
Nancy lifted her head, feeling a wonderful sense of freedom as she drank in great gulps of the clean, fresh air. “My, it’s great to be here—on our way!” she said.
“It really is,” he agreed. Then he hastened to ask, “Say, Nancy, have you seen the sick bay?”
“You mean there’s a hospital aboard?”
“Almost inactive now. But it’ll be jammed on the return trip.”
“How do you find it?”
“I’ll take you down and show you through right after breakfast tomorrow,” he suggested.
“Oh, that would be swell!”
Nancy went to sleep that night with a feeling of eager anticipation for the morning. Sleeping was a tight squeeze amid all their possessions. Several times during the night Nancy was vaguely aware of Mabel giving her a shove and ordering, “Keep to your side, gal!” But on the whole she got the best sleep she hadhad in three nights.
When she remarked about resting so well Mabel said, “Yeah, I believe you could sleep through storms, fire and torpedoes.”
Nancy’s visit to the sick bay was really her first preview of the seriousness of overseas life. Here were careful preparations for looking after those who were giving their blood in battle, and must be taken home for recovery. The sick bay was really a miniature hospital.
“They’ve thought of everything that might possibly be needed to help our men,” explained Major Reed to the nurses, for Nancy had asked to bring her three roommates along. “This operating room alone seems a miracle to me.”
“Looks about like any other to me,” said Nancy.
“It’s so built that any jolt or tilting is overcome before it reaches the operator’s hand.”
“I’ve heard of such marvels,” said Nancy with deep interest. “Much like the floating studios which radio companies use to counteract sound.”
“Something of the same idea,” said Major Reed.
They were shown the laboratory, a small pharmacy and some contagious wards. The double-deck bunks were hung from stanchions. There were dental chairs and protected sections for psycho-neurotic cases. In fact, everything was there to make a miniature hospital.
“Maybe we’ll get a chance to work in one of theseon the way back,” said Shorty.
“This one will probably be in use before we get over,” Major Reed told them. “Among so many passengers there’ll no doubt be some who will need attention on the way.”
“If you need help let us know,” said Nancy when they thanked the young doctor who had shown them through.
So the carefree days slipped by. The air was bracing; the food excellent. Nancy felt her skirts grow a bit tighter at the waist, and knew she was gaining weight. She didn’t object, for she was sure much hard work and a rationed diet would soon reduce her to the old measurements.
There were games of all sorts, long walks along the decks, new acquaintances to broaden life’s horizon, and every night dancing for those who liked the bright lights of indoors. Nancy and whoever she happened to be with, generally chose the deck with its stars and glimpses of their convoy. There was a hilarious celebration when they crossed the equator and another when they crossed the international date line. They began to feel then that they were truly in another sort of life. Before reaching port they had left the budding summer of their own hemisphere for the approaching winter of this strange southern world.
Then one noon Nancy and Mabel stood at the rail and saw their first flying fish.
“We’re approaching land!” Nancy exclaimed eagerly.
“And look—there’re terns skimming the froth in our wake,” Mabel noticed.
An hour later planes came out to meet them, circling overhead, like guardian wings to watch them safely into port. And then at last their first glimpse of a foreign shore. Then a few minutes later the word went round, identifying the harbor in which they would land.
“It’s Sydney, they say, Mabel!” cried Nancy joyously. “I can hardly believe we’ve really reached Australia.”
CHAPTER TWELVEA DREAM
Though there had been no one to bid them farewell there was plenty of welcome awaiting the Army Nurses on reaching Sydney. Australian Red Cross workers greeted the young women when they had marched down the long gangplanks. Cars were ready to drive them to the beautiful house, set amid lovely trees and flowers, where they were to stay temporarily.
The nurses had so long been accustomed to the motion of the ship that they now felt a little giddy and unsteady on their feet.
“I’ll surely be glad to get my legs adjusted to earth once more,” said Nancy.
“Feel as though I couldn’t walk straight,” Mabel complained. “Say, but isn’t this a swell joint,” she added, glancing around the lovely room to which she and Nancy had been assigned. There was everything for their comfort. The pretty curtains and bedspreads were a joy after the bareness of their ship cabin. The bath had a real tub in which they could compensate for weeks of indifferent bathing.
They had left late spring at home, but found approachingwinter on their arrival in the southern hemisphere. Their heavy coats were in order on all excursions outdoors.
“Funny, but I had the idea we’d have to go round out here half dressed, drinking ices and waving fans,” said Mabel.
“Tommy prepared me for this,” said Nancy a little wistfully. “He left home last fall and found spring when he got here. Strange, but he seems so much closer now that I’m here.”
“Gee, Nancy, wouldn’t it be wonderful if he did turn up!”
“Oh, he must! He will, Mabel! Yet sometimes I think it’s sort of selfish of me to—to think he may be spared when such terrible things have happened to other people.”
“I guess it’s natural for us all to have such feelings—that these horrible things can’t happen to us.”
“I suppose we’ll have to get into the thick of it before we fully realize how terrible it really is,” said Nancy, sensing that their first real tests were not far off.
That evening after dinner Lieutenant Hauser called them together and said, “We’ll have several days here in Sydney. We don’t know exactly how long before we’ll be moved out to an evacuation hospital. You’ve all earned a little vacation. Take this time to see the city and enjoy yourselves to the full. Our real work is not far in the future.”
Eyes sparkled, while happy laughter and comments filled the room.
“The only restrictions,” continued Lieutenant Hauser, “are to guard your tongue and be back in your rooms by eleven at night. The Red Cross volunteers have planned many things for you, but you’re free to do as you like. Have a good time, for you’ll need pleasant memories when you get into the thick of things.”
“I’m going to phone Miss Anna Darien,” Nancy told Mabel at once. “Maybe I can go over to see her tomorrow.”
“Oh, you mean your mother’s friend who wrote you about seeing Tommy?”
“Yes. I can hardly wait to hear what she has to say about him. Don’t you want to come with me?”
“Sure! But won’t she be surprised when she hears your voice over the phone?”
“She lives somewhere on the harbor. It will all be sightseeing just the same,” explained Nancy.
“I never dreamed Sydney was such a huge place. They say it’s as large as some of our biggest American cities.”
“It’s surely nice to be in a foreign city where people speak English,” said Nancy.
“Does make it seem more homelike,” admitted Mabel, “even if they do express things a little differently.”
Marian Albans, a Red Cross volunteer, helpedNancy get in touch with Miss Darien in a distant section of the city. Miss Anna was as delighted to hear Nancy’s voice, as Nancy was to hear a familiar, loved friend, speaking in a strange land. Even slight bonds grow stronger when mere acquaintances meet in a strange land, and those bonds that are already strong are drawn much closer. Nancy felt almost as happy as if she were going to see her own mother.
“I hope this phone call isn’t all, my dear,” said Miss Anna over the wire. “We must have time for a visit with each other.”
“That’s what I called for,” explained Nancy. “We have several days to do just as we please. I want to come out there to see you.”
“Just fine! But it’s not easy to get here, my dear. You’ll have to come early in the morning on the ferry that crosses the harbor to take workers from here over to the city. There isn’t another ferry until it comes to bring the workers home. Our manpower is very much rationed here.”
“Then I’ll come early and stay late,” Nancy said with a laugh.
When she put down the phone Marian Albans said, “I’ll be glad to see you to the ferry. It would be rather complicated to give you directions for going there.”
“That’s awfully nice of you,” said Nancy gratefully. “That will make it easier, and you can point out the sights as we go.”
When Mabel learned she would have to spend theentire day she decided to go only to the ferry with Nancy, so she could do more sight-seeing in the city.
When they went out early next morning a stormy wind was blowing, which Marian Albans called a “Southerly Buster.”
“Feels as if it’s right off the South Pole,” she said as the two Americans and the Australian went out into the street bundled in overcoats and mufflers.
They caught a tram, as the Australians called their street cars, for a long ride through the fascinating streets of the strange city. By the time they reached the quay where Nancy was to take a ferry across the harbor a driving rain cut off their view. Wind whipped the water into whitecaps, and the crossing promised to be rough.
“Do I have to walk very far after I leave the ferry?” Nancy asked.
“I’ve only been over there once myself—to a place near your friend’s address. But you take a tram on the other side, up the bluff, and get off at Military Road,” explained Marian.
Marian was a very English-looking girl, who told them her parents had come out to Australia a few years before her birth. She had a fair, aristocratic face and the natural bloom in her cheeks of which so many English girls may well be proud.
“Maybe Miss Anna will come to meet me,” said Nancy hopefully.