CHAPTER I
Off to Mexico
THE Head Nurse, Miss Bossem, rushed out of the Dolls’ Hospital toward the children. “You’re late, Miss Helpem,” she called to Mary Frances. “Go right on duty rolling bandages for the soldiers who start for Mexico to-day. The troop-train leaves at two-thirty. Hurry, now, or you won’t get them to the station on time.”
Then, turning to Billy, “Get the ambulance ready immediately,” she commanded, and Billy disappeared into the garage.
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You see, Mary Frances finished the course in First Aid Nursing with the Red Cross Preparedness Class just before her birthday. Being very proud of her newly acquired knowledge, she wanted to show Billy how much she had learned.
When Billy promised her any favor she could think of as a birthday present, Mary Frances joyfully asked him to spend a whole day at the Dolls’ Hospital in the playroom, pretending they were little kiddies again—that she was Miss Helpem, the assistant nurse, and that Billy was the ambulance driver. To keep his promise, Billy consented.
Just as they stepped into the playroom door, they seemed to grow smaller and smaller, until they were no bigger than the dolls themselves.