g," remarked Uncle John.

"But think of the suffering we can allay by its use," exclaimed Maud.
"If ever morphia is justifiable, it is in war, where it can save many a
life by conquering unendurable pain. I believe the discovery of morphine
was the greatest blessing that humanity has ever enjoyed. Don't you,
Doctor Gys?"

The one good eye of Gys had a queer way of twinkling when he was amused.
It twinkled as the girl asked this question.

"Morphine," he replied, "has destroyed more people than it has saved.
You play with fire when you feed it to anyone, under any circumstances.
Nevertheless, I believe in its value on an expedition of this sort, and
that is why I loaded up on the stuff. Let me advise you never to tell a
patient that we are administering morphine. The result is all that he is
concerned with and it is better he should not know what has relieved
him."

On a sunny day when the sea was calm they slung a scaffold over the bow
and painted a big red cross on either side of the white ship. Everyone
aboard wore the Red Cross emblem on an arm band, even the sailors being
so decorated. Uncle John was very proud of the insignia and loved to
watch his girls moving around the deck in their sober uniforms and white
caps.

Jones endured the voyage splendidly and by this time had convinced
himself that he was not again to be subject to the mal-de-mer of his
first ocean trip. As they drew near to their destination an atmosphere
of subdued excitement pervaded the _Arabella_, for even the sailors had
caught the infection of the girls' eagerness and were anxious to get
into action at the earliest moment.

It was now that Uncle John began to busy himself with his especial
prize, a huge motor ambulance he had purchased in New York and which had
been fully equipped for the requirements of war. Indeed, an enterprising
manufacturer had prepared it with the expectation that some of the
belligerent governments would purchase it, and Mr. Merrick considered
himself fortunate in securing it. It would accommodate six seriously
wounded, on swinging beds, and twelve others, slightly wounded, who
might be able to sit upon cushioned seats. The motor was very powerful
and the driver was protected from stray bullets by an armored hood.

In addition to this splendid machine, Mr. Merrick had secured a smaller
ambulance that had not the advantage of the swinging beds but could be
rushed more swiftly to any desired location. Both ambulanc