“The General Staff.” Each letter of each word came bitingly.
“Nothing, Aunt Eeenie!”
Miss Kerr threw out her chin, and enunciated carefully:
“No woman can talk to that many men about nothing for half an hour. You fail to realize Evelina that everything you have you owe to me. Your training, your education, your clothes, even the straightening of your teeth I paid for!”
The girl cringed in the blackness. Her voice was subservient:
“I ... I ... know it, Auntie. I swear ... to God ... I didn’t tell them ... and I never will! I’d get thrown out of training ... before ... I’d....”
Miss Kerr’s words sealed her lips. They beat into her brain:
“A private who accuses his general ... is always court-martialed!”
Then she turned upon her heel and closed the door after her.
For ten minutes the student nurse sobbed dryly. Complete exhaustion then smothered the sobs. She fell asleep.