Nearly sixty, but still active as a cat, she set to work with a will.
Her sitting room at Undercliff she turned into an office. Her mornings she gave to interviewing applicants and her afternoons to visiting.
Ruth Caspar was one of the first to apply.
The little slight Jewish lady with her immense experience of life greeted the beautiful peasant woman who had never yet over-stepped the boundaries of Sussex with a brilliant smile.
"There's not much I want to know about you," she said. "We belong to the same regiment. Just one or two questions that I may fill up this form."
How many children had Mrs. Caspar.
"Three, 'M ... and a fourth."
Mrs. Lewknor waited.
"Little Alice," continued Ruth, downcast and pale beneath her swarthiness. "Before I were married."
Mrs. Lewknor wrote on apparently unconcerned.