o. If she's got to have a husband, I don't know of a better one
than you, except St. John, and he is already married once.
But--I--am--surprised! Isn't she--er--rather young?"

And she could not understand why they laughed.

CHAPTER XVII

A HOSPITAL WEDDING

Peace, with writing pad and pencil in hand, climbed laboriously up into
the deep window recess overlooking the wide lawns of Danbury Hospital,
and propped her crutches against the sash, so that by no chance they
could fall to the floor out of her reach while she was composing her
weekly letter to St. Elspeth.

"I've got _so_ much to write her," she sighed, chewing her pencil
abstractedly. "I wish I could work a typewriter. 'Twould be so much
easier to 'tend to all my letters then. It's tiresome writing things by
hand. If it wasn't Elspeth, I wouldn't try today. It's so lovely and
cool just to sit here and watch folks pass along the street. I 'most
wish now that I had gone with Gail and Dr. Dick in their auto.--There,
that's the first thing I must tell Elspeth. She'll be awful glad to know
Gail is going to have such a nice husband. And the ring he gave her is
too pretty for anything. Everyone has diamonds for their 'gagement
rings, but it takes someone with brains to think up a ring out of
sapphires and topazes, 'cause his birthday is in September and hers in
November. When I get married, that's the kind of a ring I want, only I
hope my husband's birthday stone is a ruby, 'cause I like them best of
all."

Peace paused in her soliloquy long enough to write the date at the top
of the page; then again thrust the pencil point into her mouth as she
gazed reflectively out of the open window.

"Well," said a voice with startling abruptness almost at her elbow, "I
shouldn't want to be in her shoes. No matter which place she chooses
someone is going to feel hurt."

"That's what she gets for being so popular," laughed another voice,
which Peace recognized as that of Miss Keith.

"You should say 'they,' instead of 'she,' for Dr. Race is as popular as
Miss Wayne," interposed a third speaker; and the pair of startled brown
eyes peering around the corner of the window seat beheld a quartette of
white-capped nurses seated at a long table in the hallway, busy with
heaps of snowy cotton and great squares of surgeon's gauze.

"I wonder what Miss Wayne has done now?" thought Peace, when, as if in
echo of her thoughts, the fourth member of the little group asked
hes