Page:Old ninety-nine's cave.djvu/170

 Her behavior during the recent unhappy occasion was eminently praiseworthy in one of her temperament and years.

"Then too," she added, "Reuben says I'll make a good nurse and he is a natural nurse."

"H'm!" Dr. Herschel had seen "natural nurses" before; but at the mention of that black man's name his expression visibly softened; no fair-minded critic could question his ability.

"How old are you?" he asked.

"Seventeen."

"Plenty of time in which to consider so serious a question. First get a good education, and then if you still wish to enter upon that life I will assist you in doing so. From time immemorial nursing has been the field of usefulness peculiarly adapted to women. History's pages are dotted with the names of heroines in camp, field and plague-stricken districts, in short, wherever the sick and wounded have needed care nurses have lived a life of such unselfish devotion as to have earned the gratitude of millions. We bow