rked unceasingly
though it was a thankless task--for soap and soda did not exist, and
food, save the vegetables and a little pork, was hard to get.

A week sped by, and then one afternoon a military auto drove up to the
door. As I saw it enter the yard, I trembled lest it bring bad tidings
of H., but a kindly officer reassured me, by stating that though he
brought only word of mouth, my husband was still in the land of the
living. He also announced that it was his duty to requisition my
property as a French emergency hospital and that he would be obliged if
I would put all the beds I owned at his disposal. A doctor and some
_infirmiers_ would be sent immediately to put the place in working
order. Would I help? And did I know of anyone I would care to have
with me?

"You will be voluntary prisoners, you know, for this is the _zone de
operations_, and you will not be allowed to leave."

I bethought me of Madame Guix. Was she still alive?

My friend said he would be glad to accompany me to Rebais, as that was
as near as any place for recruiting a nurse.

And so again I whisked across the Marne. This time _en grande vitesse_,
and in little over an hour was greeted by the gentle superior who 'mid
the ruins of all the neighboring houses was quietly continuing her work
in the convent.

Yes. Madame Guix was there--a heroine, so I learned, loved and respected
by every soul who had been obliged to remain in that unfortunate town. I
found her ministering to twenty-six severely wounded men--French,
English and Germans--quite alone to do all the work, an eighty-year-old
doctor coming in but once every two days.

"I cannot leave them," said she, pointing to the soldiers, when I asked
her to ally forces in the reconstitution of my hospital. "But just as
soon as they are able to be removed, I will come, I promise."

In the parlour below, the Sister Superior told me of the invasion, while
I waited the return of the military motor which was to bear me home.

"She is wonderful," said Soeur Laurent, referring to Madame Guix.
"Wonderful--afraid of nothing. Once at the beginning of the invasion
she was put against the wall and a brute of a German aimed and pulled
the trigger of a gun he had found in a corner. She had accidentally
covered it with a wounded man's great coat! He accused her of hiding
arms! Then in the thick of the battle, she went out into the German
lines and sought a doctor for our men--feeling herself i