Then the car brought the little party to the spot where in the morning sunshine they caught the gleam of the Red Cross flag.
The place was a deserted stable sheltered by a rise of ground. To the front lay the British trenches, covered with thatch and the boughs of many trees; to the right and some distance off, hidden behind breastworks, were enormous long distance guns.
Also one of the surgeons explained to Lady Dorothy and Nona, who seemed most interested, that on the hill beyond the hospital where nothing could be seen for the denseness of the shrubbery, several of the officers had their headquarters and from there dictated the operations in the trenches and in the fields.
The night before must have been a busy one, for as the car stopped behind the improvised hospital, soldiers in khaki could be seen staggering back and forth with the wounded, surgeons with their work showing all too realistically upon them. Then there were the sounds as well as the sights of suffering.
As Barbara Meade crawled out of the automobile she felt her knees give way under her and a darkness swallow her up. Then she realized that she must be fainting again.
CHAPTER XVII
Dick
“Steady,” a voice said in Barbara Meade’s ear, as a strong arm slipped across her shoulders, bracing her upright.
And so surprised was she by the voice and its intonation that she felt herself brought back to consciousness.
“Dick Thornton,” she began weakly, and then decided that in truth she must be taking leave of her senses, to have an image of Dick obtrude upon her at such a moment and in such a place.