he tried to make
light of it by enclosing a foolish little rhyme, which I must copy
so that I shall not forget it.

'When it is _time_ to take _hour_ pulse
You'll find a use for what is in it,[A]
(On _second_ thoughts, I'd like to add
I wish you'd take mine every _minute_.)'

"Conventions are _so_ puzzling, little diary, that I don't know
what I ought to do. Somehow, I feel quite sure that the
Superintendent wouldn't approve, for a doctor should not be making
presents to a pupil nurse; yet P. has been so kind that I hate to
think of hurting his feelings by giving it back. Besides, I love it
... and it is engraved R. W. Then, too, if I should return it, he
might think that I didn't credit him with having done it while
acting in Donald's place as my guardian, and if it was not that
thought which prompted him, why ... Oh, I don't know what to do!

"Worse still, Dorothy Roberts came up unexpectedly and saw the
watch. Of course she wanted to know from whom it came and I
answered, on the impulse, 'From my guardian.' I'm sure that she
believes that it was a present from Donald and therefore perfectly
proper, for I have told her all about his relationship to me, and
it hurts me to think that I have been guilty of a lie. Of course it
wasn't one in actual words, perhaps; but I had the spirit to
deceive, and now I can't confess without involving P. and she might
think that he is in ... Oh, I can't write it, for of course he
isn't. How could he be? No, it was just a natural act of his
generous heart, because he knew that I was without relatives to
give me a graduation gift.

"I hope that I sleep my uncertainties away, for to-morrow must hold
nothing but sunshine and smiles."

[Footnote A: Poetical license--meaning 'what is in the box.']

CHAPTER XXVIII

"BUT A ROSE HAS THORNS"

The May day, the day of fulfilment for Smiles' dreams and the fruition
of her work, had come. Her healthy, mountain-bred body had enabled her
to keep well and strong; she had gone through the full three years with
scarcely a day's illness, and she was ready to graduate with the class,
some of whom would have to stay longer to make up time lost by illness.

Rose awoke early to a sense of something unusual in prospect. On the
window of her room the rain was pattering merrily. All nature was one to
her, and she loved the showers as much as the sunshine, but, when she
began to realize what day it was, they brought a feeling