"I am the nurse—in charge of this ward," she said, almost fiercely. "Get back into bed, Jacob."
He obeyed her, and she finished serving the breakfasts, for there was no further alarm. Later, however, the man humbly asked to assist her with the more seriously wounded, and she accepted his offer in the spirit in which it was made.
She went no more to look out; but she knew by the immediate silence that the hospital enclosure was deserted. In the distance was the rumble of heavy lorries dragging away the big guns to prevent their capture by the Germans, and the rattle of cannons and caissons as well, as the horses galloped to the rear with the batteries.
Men's lives were being poured out like water to save these guns from capture. The roll of the advancing German batteries drew nearer. The marching by of troops was no longer heard. This was almost a rout; those who retreated made no secret of their desire to escape, and they ran!
Belinda tried to continue the usual routine of her work. She neglected none of the wounded. For the most part these Germans were silent before her; with each other they whispered excitedly.
Rescue for them was possibly near. But how about Belinda?
The dressings were over for the day. Even Ernest, the boyish pneumonia patient, was quieted. But the hour was late and nobody had eaten since breakfast. As for herself, a cup of coffee hastily swallowed had been all with which she had broken her fast.
Of course, the cooks had gone with the other hospital attendants. She wondered if she could find in the cooking hut the materials for a meal for her thirty-four patients. It was a task from which, after her tiring morning, she shrank.
And at that moment a heaven-sent smell seemed to assail her nostrils. Of course, it could not be! It must be an hallucination!
The door of the ward swung slowly inward. A figure in a cook's cap and long white apron backed in, bearing a huge cauldron of smoking broth.