Tragic were the parting scenes witnessed in that ward next day, and, as Hansie laughingly extricated herself from the crowd, she promised to come back "very soon," little thinking that she would be in their midst again on the morrow.
The new nurse, an inexperienced girl, after having gone through the ward once with Hansie, quietly fainted away.
"Shall I stay?" Hansie asked her, when she had recovered.
"Oh no; I must get used to it. But what must I do when the babies are dying like that?"
"You must pray to God to take them quickly. Very little can be done to save them. Report your worst cases to the doctor regularly every day; then, at least, the responsibility does not rest on your shoulders."
It was terrible, leaving them all in such a state.
Arrived at Harmony, Hansie found a note from Mr. Cinatti asking her to come over to the Consulate immediately, because Dr. Kendal Franks, who was visiting Irene next day, wished to see her before he left.
She went at once, and found a dinner-party in progress at the Consulate, the German Consul, Baron Ostmann, the Austrian Consul, Baron Pitner and his wife, one of the directors of the Dynamite Company, and Dr. Kendal Franks. She was shown into a private study, where Mr. Cinatti joined her, in great excitement.
"Come in to dinner," he urged, but Hansie wished to see only Dr. Franks and said she would wait.
"Tell me," she said before Mr. Cinatti left her. "Is there any danger for my mother in connection with those petitions?"