Vigil in the Night Read Free

silence.
      “What do you think they’ll do with me?” Anne spoke dully.
      “You’ll find out only too soon, I’m afraid. There’s a special committee meeting at five o’clock.”
      Nurse Jenkins reached forward and patted Anne’s arm. Her faded old face suddenly was human.
      “Don’t take on, my dear. They can only throw you out. And, mark my words, that’s the best thing that could ever happen to you.” Old Martha paused to take a long breath. “While I’m about it I’ll give you my opinion. Yes, and my advice. Nursing’s a rotten job. You’re better out of it. I’ve had my fill of it. Year after year I’ve worked myself to the bone. And what is my reward? I haven’t got a penny to show for the penal servitude I’ve suffered all my life. And when I’m worn out, when my rheumaticky bones refuse to work any more, they’ll chuck me aside like an old boot without a pension. I’ll be fit only for the workhouse. And there’s hundreds like me. It’s a scandal crying out to heaven. You know I’m right, even though you’ve only had three years of it. You know the life is slavery.
      “You’ve been careless and foolish, but it’s the luckiest thing that ever happened to you. You get out, my dear, and stay out. Marry that garage fellow that’s sweet on you—Joe Shand, isn’t it? Have a home of your own and a lot of children. They’ll give you all the nursing you want. And believe me, it’s the only kind of nursing any real woman wants. I wish to heaven it had come my way!”
      The old nurse subsided, exhausted by her outburst. Anne gazed back at her with grave intensity. For the moment she forgot her present trouble, so bent was she on expressing the inmost conviction of her heart. She murmured, as though to herself:
      “I know it’s true, a great deal of what you say. But I love my work. It’s wonderful work, work that really matters. We’re wretchedly paid; we’ve got to put up with a lot. But it could be changed. If only we’d stick together, fight together, we could get better conditions for ourselves. That’s one of the greatest ambitions of my life, to try to do that. But even if we always had to work under the most miserable conditions, I still think it would be worthwhile to be a nurse.”
      Nurse Jenkins sniffed as she rose. “Well, your theories are very nice, my dear. But they don’t seem to work out in practice. You take my advice, my girl, and clear out of nursing while the going’s good.”
      Left alone with her thoughts, Anne felt with renewed intensity the horrible anomaly of her position. What a hypocrite Martha must think her! Yet her determination grew firmer. She had taken up her attitude. No matter what it cost her, she must protect Lucy.
     
    CHAPTER 5
      At half-past five there came the dreaded summons from the matron. Anne’s blood pounded in her ears as she entered Miss Lennard’s familiar office.
      The matron sat at her desk, and close at hand were seated the four members of the hospital committee: Amos Green, the miners’ agent; Mr. Weatherby, the coalmaster; Sam Staples, the auctioneer; and the Reverend Mr. David Perrin. They all scrutinized Anne with blank, curiously impersonal faces. Standing beside the matron, making pretense of turning over some papers, was Doctor Hassall. He did not even look at Anne.
      For a moment there was silence. Then Miss Lennard said abruptly:
      “Nurse Lee, we have been considering your case, and most painful it has been. Have you anything to say for yourself?”
      A cold shiver ran through Anne. What could she say that would not incriminate Lucy? The members of the committee sat like magistrates upon the bench.
      “I have really nothing to say,” she stammered.
      “Nothing!” exclaimed Amos Green. “Can’t you even offer some excuse for this damnable thing you’ve done?”
      Anne gazed at the stocky miners’ agent. He had been her father’s friend, had often given her sweets when she was