s was a pretty lilac check, and
she wore a cap with a frill round it, and long tails at the back. Her
apron bib was high to the collar in front, and fastened with straps
which crossed at the back. Nothing could be neater and more serviceable
than the dress.

The kind Sister, having seen that Effie was all right, gave her a
friendly smile, and then led her along several dim passages, up and down
many stairs, until she finally found herself in a long, light ward,
where from thirty to forty women were lying in bed. The Home Sister
introduced Effie to the Sister of the ward, who went by the name of
Sister Kate. Sister Kate nodded to her, said a word or two in a very
busy voice, and then Effie found herself practically on the threshold
of her new life. The Sister who had been kind to her during tea, who had
shown her to her room, and instructed her how to dress, had vanished.
Sister Kate looked far too busy and anxious to be worried by questions;
and Effie, capable and active as she always was, found herself, for the
first time in her life, with nothing to do, and overcome by strange
nervousness. She was too much embarrassed to be of real use. Her face
was burning with blushes. Sister Kate was tired with her long day's
work. There was a great deal to be done to put the ward straight for the
night, and she really had no time to devote to the probationer. The
women lying in their beds seemed to have eyes and ears for no one but
Effie. Between sixty and seventy eyes turned on her wherever she moved,
whatever she looked at, whatever she did. Some of the eyes in the pale
and harassed faces looked kindly and interested, some of them merely
amused, some of them cross and discontented. Effie knew that these women
would be querulous and even rude under the touch of strange and
untutored hands.

At last the night nurses arrived, the bell rang, and Sister Kate came
forward to show the new probationer the way to the dining hall.

Here were several long tables, where the nurses, all dressed exactly
alike, sat down to supper. Effie took her place, and quickly discovered
that the others were far too tired and hungry to pay any attention to
her. She felt too excited to eat, and sat watching the faces of those
around her.

Supper was immediately followed by prayers, and then came bed. Effie's
first evening as a probationer was over.

She did not know whether to cry or to laugh as she laid her head on her
pillow. The reality was so diff