laimed each other out of all the
world and now were putting aside their personal happiness that they might
give their service where it was so really needed. There were no
whimperings of heart, no conscious self-righteousness; only a great
gladness that hard work lay before them and that they understood each
other.

"Good-by, man o' mine. Whatever happens, remember I am yours for always,
and death doesn't count," and Sheila laid her lips to Peter's in final
pledge.

"I know," said Peter. "That's what makes all this so absurdly easy. And,
sweetheart, you are to remember this, never put any thought of me before
what you feel you have got to do. Don't bungle your instincts. I'd swear
by them next to God's own."

And so they went their separate ways.

There was no apprenticeship for Sheila in the hospital whither she was
sent. The chief of the surgical staff gave a cursory glance over the
letter she had brought from the San, signed by the three leading surgeons
in that state; then he looked hard at her.

"Hm ... m! And strong into the bargain. You're a godsend, Miss O'Leary."

Before the day had gone she was in charge of one of the operating-rooms;
by midnight they had fifty-three major operations. And the days that
followed were much the same; they passed more like dreams than realities.
There were a few sane, clear moments when Sheila realized that the sky was
very blue or leaden gray; that the sun shone or did not shine, that the
wards were cheery places and that all about her were faces consecrated to
unselfish work or to patient suffering. These were the times when she
could stop for a chat with the boys or write letters home for them. But
for the most part she was being hurled through a maelstrom of operations
and dressings with just enough time between to snatch her share of food
and sleep. Her enthusiasm was unbounded for the marvelous efficiency of it
all. She could never have believed that so many delicate operations could
have been done in so few hours, that wounds could heal with such rapidity,
that nerves could rebound and hearts come sturdily through to go about
their business of keeping their owners alive. And every boy brought to her
room was a fighting chance; but the fight was up to her and the surgeons,
and they fought as archangels might to restore a new heaven on a befouled
earth. Life had always seemed full and worth while to her. Now it seemed a
super-life, shorn of everything petty and futile.