"I wish you'd try a bit to buck up," he said.
"What for?"
"Well, just for your country's sake."
"My country! Why isn't my country where I have been, helping to lower the temperature of hell?"
The bitter tone rang through the words. Norval was glad for the company of this young doctor; glad to have someone, who, really did not matter, share with him the moments when the memory of horrors he had witnessed overwhelmed him.
"Our country is going to be there soon!" The doctor's voice was strained. "A big country like this has to go slow."
"Slow be damned! This is no time to put on brakes. Are they, are they actually steaming up, Burke? You're not saying this to—to quiet my nerves?"
"No. Your nerves are settling into shape. Yes, our country is heaving from the inside."
"Thank God!" Norval sighed.
"And you bet, Mr. Norval, I'm going on the first ship if I have to go as a stoker. If there's one blessed trick of my trade that can help fellows like you, lead me to it!"