me length on the patient
self-sacrifice of the teachers of Braille: the spirit they display
animates the entire staff. The work of the V.A.D.'s is beyond praise.
Very few of these noble women actually live on the premises; most of
them live in annexes provided for them by the St. Dunstan's management.
What they do, what they endure, can best be comprehended by following
them through a day's work.

They rise at 6 a.m., and after acting as their own housemaids for their
sleeping apartments, wend their way to the various houses to which they
are assigned. Breakfast hour is at 7 a.m. After this meal, the real work
of the day begins. At the Bungalow, where I was staying, the V.A.D.'s
ate at three tables; and after each meal two were told off to clear the
tables. At 8 o'clock the men had their breakfast, two of the women being
given the task of waiting on each table; and as they had to attend to
sixteen men, all healthy specimens of humanity, some of whom had been
out on the lake since early morning, getting up a voracious appetite,
their work was far from light. There was, I might say just here, no
shortage of food at St. Dunstan's, not even while the war was on; and we
had a lingering suspicion that Sir Arthur had a "pull" with the Food
Minister. At any rate, he secured us all we could eat, and of excellent
variety; and there were few in London who could say as much after food
was rationed. Breakfast over, the Sisters, as they are called, went to
the dormitories. Each dormitory held twenty-five beds; and with these
and in other ways, they were kept busy until 11.45. The dinner hour was
twelve o'clock. After dinner some of the men always went for a row on
the lake; and of course, they needed some one to steer the boat. A
Sister was called, and she gladly joined the boys. During my entire
stay at the Bungalow, I never heard one grumble or complain at these
calls on her time and energy. At 2 p.m., the morning Sisters went off
duty, and their time was their own until six in the evening, when they
again came on, and devoted themselves to the needs of the men until nine
o'clock. They were allowed one afternoon a week, which afternoon began
at 6 p.m.; and on this day they were on duty until this hour from six in
the morning. In addition, they were granted a week-end every three
months. These women did their bit during the war--and are still doing
it--as truly as did the men at the front. Their work was hard,
nerve-racking, and oft