He bowed formally before her, his eyes glittering, and asked in his peculiarly harsh voice:
"Are you, Nurse Genau, in charge of this ward, Fräulein?"
"Yes, Doctor," she managed to say calmly.
"I have a report on Case Seventeen. That case should go back to the operating table."
"Yes, Doctor."
"Well!" ejaculated Doctor Herschall. "Lead on. Let me see him."
Not a word or look betrayed his recognition of her. Belinda's fears were a veritable whirlpool in her mind. What was his determination? How would he treat her in the future? Her brain revolved these questions until she was dizzy; but she turned and led the way down the ward.
The Herr Doktor glanced keenly at the patients as he passed. One took the opportunity of begging for something for which he had already asked the visiting physicians and had been refused.
"Who am I to tell you offhand what you may eat?" barked Doctor Herschall. "For all I know of your case you may eat Schwarzsauer und Kartoffel klösz. It is the visiting physician who knows your case. Be still."
The man sank back cringing like a whipped dog. Belinda's limbs trembled. She had often heard him speak in the same harsh tone in the New York hospital, but it shocked her now as though she heard it for the first time.