"The patient is only ill from neglect and nervous exhaustion," explained the nurse, "or I would not invite you down."
A second white-capped and white-robed attendant opened the door. Dorothy stepped in first. A woman sat on a leather chair in the far corner of the room.
"She is very weak," explained the second nurse to the first, "and I really was afraid to let her go."
The woman raised her head.
"Miss Dearing!" exclaimed Dorothy, too surprised to suppress her astonishment, "Why, I am so—glad I have found you!"
The woman tried to open her lips, but a sudden movement of her head showed that she had fainted.
"And you know her?" asked the nurses, quickly restoring the woman to consciousness with simple restoratives.
"Slightly," replied Dorothy. "I will wait to see how she gets along."
From the scene in the waiting-room Dorothy hurried back to the side of Captain Mayberry. She wanted to ask Miss Pumfret about the bed.
"Oh, here you are!" exclaimed the little woman pleasantly. "I was just telling Nick what a girl you are. Perhaps you can tell us how to go about getting him into the private ward. He liked it first-rate here," she hurried to explain, "but there's no sense in keeping this bed from some one who may need it."