boiled her own water, and ladled the tea out of a little
silver caddy, and dipped the bottom of each cup in water before it was
filled to prevent slippings on the saucer. She had a kettle-holder
worked in cross-stitch--red wool roses on a black wool background--and a
cosy ornamented with a wreath of bead flowers. The eggs were boiled to
order, hard or soft, just as you liked, in a silver pot filled with
methylated spirits out of a fascinating, thimble-like measure. Pixie
watched the various preparations with rapt attention, while the two
elder girls chatted together at the end of the table.

"I want you to give me Whitey's address," Bridgie said, "so that I can
send her some flowers. Esmeralda sent me a hamper this morning, so I am
rather rich and would like to share my goad things. You said she was
nursing a case in the city, so she probably has no flowers, and it's
cheery to have boxes coming in as a surprise. It's so hard for nurses
to live in a constant atmosphere of depression and sickness. When one
is ill for a long time, as you were, one gets so bored and wearied by
the monotony of the sick-room, and it's such bliss to be free again, and
speak at the pitch of your voice, and be done with medicines, and
pulses, and temperatures, and tiresome rules and regulations, but the
nurse never gets free. Just when things are beginning to get cheerful,
she goes away to another darkened room and another anxious household,
and the whole programme begins over again. They love their work, of
course, but it must be very hard sometimes. Don't you think so?"

"I--I--" Sylvia pursed up her lips and elevated her eyebrows in
deprecatory fashion. "I never thought of it! It does sound horrid when
you put it like that, but I'm afraid I just took it for granted that it
was their work. Whitey never grumbled. She left that to me, and was
always cheerful, though I found out afterwards that she had been awfully
anxious about her sister. I wish I had thought of sending her flowers!"

"Send these--do!" cried Bridgie eagerly. "She will like them better
from you, and I don't mind a bit so long as she gets them. I'll send
over the box, and you shall address it and put in a little note. Yes,
you must, because I felt rather mean about not bringing some for
yourself, but there were not very many, and as I was going into town I
couldn't resist taking some to the woman in the waiting-room."

"The woman in the-- What do you mean?"