“Dear me!” exclaimed the nurse. “You are awake.”
“Am I hurt much?” was Ben’s prompt question.
“There are no bones broken,” replied the nurse, coming to his side.
“How soon can I get up to the aviation grounds?”
“You strange boy!” voiced the astonished nurse. “No fever, no delirium, good for at least two weeks here, and talking about going to the aviation grounds. I suppose you would start right off in another of those dreadful airships——”
“If I had the chance? Oh, sure,” laughed Ben. “Why, what is there to be serious about?”
“You must ask the doctor, and here he comes,” announced the nurse, stepping to one side.
Voices and footsteps sounded in the hall outside. Ben caught the words spoken by one. The tones were familiar, yet puzzling.
“Doctor,” a man was saying, “you have given the boy the best room in the hospital?”
“The very best, sir.”