ed Girl,' or Christie in 'Work,' that a woman
can support herself and her family without losing caste or self-respect.
Her stories of the comradeship of New England boys and girls in school
or play have made her a popular author in countries where even brothers
and sisters see little of each other. The haste and lack of care in her
books are the result of writing under pressure for money to support the
family, to whom she gave the best years of her life. As a little girl
once said of her in a school essay, "I like all Miss Alcott's books; but
what I like best in them is the author herself."

The reader is referred to 'Louisa May Alcott: Her Life, Letters, and
Journals,' edited by Ednah D. Cheney, published in 1889.

THE NIGHT WARD

From 'Hospital Sketches'

Being fond of the night side of nature, I was soon promoted to the post
of night nurse, with every facility for indulging in my favorite pastime
of "owling." My colleague, a black-eyed widow, relieved me at dawn, we
two taking care of the ward between us, like regular nurses, turn and
turn about. I usually found my boys in the jolliest state of mind their
condition allowed; for it was a known fact that Nurse Periwinkle
objected to blue devils, and entertained a belief that he who laughed
most was surest of recovery. At the beginning of my reign, dumps and
dismals prevailed; the nurses looked anxious and tired, the men gloomy
or sad; and a general "Hark-from-the-tombs-a-doleful-sound" style of
conversation seemed to be the fashion: a state of things which caused
one coming from a merry, social New England town, to feel as if she had
got into an exhausted receiver; and the instinct of self-preservation,
to say nothing of a philanthropic desire to serve the race, caused a
speedy change in Ward No. 1.

More flattering than the most gracefully turned compliment, more
grateful than the most admiring glance, was the sight of those rows of
faces, all strange to me a little while ago, now lighting up with smiles
of welcome as I came among them, enjoying that moment heartily, with a
womanly pride in their regard, a motherly affection for them all. The
evenings were spent in reading aloud, writing letters, waiting on and
amusing the men, going the rounds with Dr. P---- as he made his second
daily survey, dressing my dozen wounds afresh, giving last doses, and
making them cozy for the long hours to come, till the nine o'clock bell
rang, the gas was turned down, the day nu