"The unqualified nerve of you!" gasped Ruth. "But come in. I'll speak to Madame la Directrice and see what can be done. But how did you ever get permission to come here?" she repeated.
"It is our furlough. We have earned it. Haven't you earned a furlough yet?" Helen demanded, making big eyes at her chum.
"It never crossed my mind to ask for one," admitted the girl of the Red Mill. "But merely your having a furlough would not have won you a visit so near the front."
"Really?" asked Jennie. "Do you mean to say this is near the battle line?"
"You'd think so at times," returned Ruth. "But answer me! How did you get your passports viséed for such a distance from Paris?"
"Forget not," said Jennie, "that Mr. Cameron was over here on Government business. Helen can do almost anything she likes with these French officials."
"Humph!" was all that came from Ruth in answer to this.
"You don't seem glad to see us at all, Ruthie Fielding!" cried Helen, as they crossed the courtyard and mounted the steps to the hospital.
But Ruth was frankly considering how she could make the best use of her two college chums, now that they were here. In less than twenty-four hours she expected to leave Clair for an extended absence. She had been troubled regarding her duty to the Red Cross.
Circumstances had played into her hands. She could trust Helen and Jennie to do her work here at the Clair Hospital while she was absent.