love.

And then, just as everything looked best and brightest, he was told that
he no longer needed a night nurse. Sheila O'Leary was put on the case of
an old lady with chronic dyspepsia. She told him herself, as she went off
duty in the Surgical for the last time.

"You've had the best sleep of all." She smiled at his efforts to pull
himself awake. "I'll drop in when I'm passing, to see how you're getting
on, but otherwise this is good-by and good luck." She held out her hand.

"Why--but--Hang it all! I can't get along without a night nurse. And if I
don't need one, why can't you take Miss Tyler's place in the day?"

"Orders." Sheila announced it as an unshakable fact.

"I'll see Miss Maxwell."

"No use. She wouldn't listen."

"Guess if I'm paying for it I can have--"

Sheila O'Leary's chin squared and her body stiffened. "There are some
things no one can pay for, Mr. Brooks."

Peter colored crimson. He reached quickly for the hand Sheila had pulled
away. "What an ungrateful cur you must think I am! And I've never said a
word--never thanked you."

"There was nothing to thank for. I was only undoing what another woman had
done long ago. That's one of the glad things about nursing; we so often
have a chance at just that sort of thing--the chance to make up for some
of the blind mistakes in life. Good-by. I'm late now."

"But--but--" Peter held frantically to the hand. "'Pon my soul, I can't
let you go until--until--" He broke off, crimsoning again. "Promise a
time when you will come back--just a minute I can count on and look
forward to. Please!"

"All right--I'll be back at four--just for a minute."

It happened, however, that Miss Jacobs--pink-cheeked, auburn-haired,
green-eyed little Miss Jacobs, the first nurse on Peter's case, blew into
No. 3 a few minutes before four. She had developed the habit of blowing in
at least once in the day and telling Peter how perfectly splendid it was
to see him getting along so well. But as he did not happen to look quite
so well this time, she condoled and wormed the reason out of Peter.

"Leerie off duty! Don't you think it's rather remarkable they let her stay
so long? Of course the management, as a rule, doesn't let her have cases
of--of this kind. A girl who's been sent away on account
of--of--questionable conduct isn't exactly safe to trust. Don't you think
so? And the San can't afford to risk its reputation." For an instant the
green eyes shimmered and glisten