“It's Dr. Anderson,” he said. “They're in trouble in Cunjee—there's a pretty bad outbreak of influenza. Some returned men came up with it, and now it's spreading everywhere, Anderson says. Mrs. Anderson has been nursing in the hospital, but now two of her own kiddies have got it, so she has had to go home, and they're awfully shorthanded. Nurses seem to be scarce everywhere; they could only get one from Melbourne, and she's badly overworked.”
“Norah will go, I suppose,” said David Linton, with a half-sigh—the sigh of a man who has looked forward to peace and security, and finds it again slipping from his grasp.
“Oh, yes, I'm sure she will. They have a certain number of volunteers, not nearly enough.”
“I'm going,” said Tommy, and David Linton nodded at her kindly.
“What about you and me, Jim?” Bob asked.
“Well, Anderson says they have a number of men volunteers. Such a lot of returned fellows about with nothing to do yet. I told him to count on us for anything he wanted, but the need seems chiefly for women.”
“Must they go to-night? It's pretty late,” said Mr. Linton.
“No, not to-night,” Norah answered, entering. “It would be eight o'clock before I could get in, and Dr. Anderson says I'm to get a good sleep and come in early in the morning. Tommy, darling, will you mind if I leave you for a few days?”
“Horribly,” said Tommy drily. “It would be unpardonably rude for a hostess. So I 'm coming too.”
Norah laughed down at her.