“How do you do, Mrs. Mantel?” the girl of the Red Mill returned quietly.
“How—— I had no idea you had come across. And in my unit?”
“I was equally surprised when I discovered you, Mrs. Mantel,” said the girl.
“You—— How odd!” murmured the woman in black. “Quite a coincidence. I had not seen you since the fire——”
“And I hope there will be no fire here—don’t you, Madame Mantel?” interrupted Ruth. “That would be too dreadful.”
“You are right. Quite too dreadful,” agreed Mrs. Mantel, and swept past the girl haughtily.
CHAPTER XIV—A CHANGE OF BASE
Ruth’s daily tasks did not often bring her into contact with the chief of her unit. This was a very large hospital—one of the most extensive base hospitals in France. There were thousands of dollars’ worth of supplies in Ruth’s single department.
At present the American Red Cross at this point was caring for French and Canadian wounded. As the American forces came over, were developed into fighting men, and were brought back from the battlefield hospitals as grands blessés, as the French call the more seriously wounded, this base would finally handle American wounded only.
Ruth went through some of the wards in her spare hours, for she had become acquainted with several of the nurses coming over. The appeal of the helpless men (some of them blinded) wrenched the tender heart of the girl of the Red Mill as nothing she had ever before experienced.