l to be moved.
Then she uttered a moan, and fainted in her husband's arms.

A little later, when the saddened group had been driven back to the
cottage that had been so happily prepared for the reception of their
soldier, they read Spence Cuthbert's note, hastily written as the Rough
Riders were embarking at Santiago. It told of the terrible suffering
that had impelled her to remain behind when the _Gray Nun_ went north,
of her disappointment at not hearing anything from Ridge, and how she
had at last discovered him in the Santiago hospital, to which she had
been transferred immediately after the surrender.

"I did not dare write sooner," she continued, "for we had no hope that
he could live; but now he is again conscious, and has recognized me.
The doctors talk of sending him north as soon as he can be moved; but,
remembering the horrors of the _Seneca_ and the _Concho_, I dread the
voyage for him even more than I do the pestilent air of this awful
hospital. In fact, I am in despair, and know not what is best to be
done."

"I know!" exclaimed Rollo Van Kyp, as Dulce, with tear-filled eyes,
finished reading this pitiful note. "He must be brought back on the
_Nun_. Mr. Norris, she leaves New York to-morrow with a fresh lot of
nurses for Santiago, and if you will only take the run down on her you
can bring the dear old chap back in comfort."

Mr. Norris hesitated a moment. "Do you realize," he asked, "that if
your yacht brings back a single yellow-fever patient it may never be
safe to use her again?"

"My dear sir!" cried Rollo, "if she were all that I had in the world
she would still be at the service of my dearest friend."

So Mr. Norris thankfully accepted the young millionaire's offer, and
sailed the very next day for Santiago.

A week later a Red Cross nurse, worn and wearied almost to the point of
exhaustion by her days and nights of caring for sick and dying
soldiers, sat in a Santiago hospital beside one of her patients, gently
fanning him. His eyes were closed, and she hoped that he slept. As
she watched him her own eyes slowly filled with tears; for she did not
believe he would ever gain sufficient strength to bear removal from
that house of sorrow. The air of the ward was hot, damp, and lifeless.
Sickening odors rising from the streets of the filthy city drifted in
through its open windows. The whole atmosphere of the place was
depressing, and suggestive of suffering that could only end with de