By this time Ted was looking from one speaker to another and then back at Jack.
“What’s all this?” he asked in a low tone.
“Well, first of all,” Jack put a hand on Mary’s shoulder, “let me introduce Nurse Mary Brown. She’s a native of the South Sea Islands from Ohio.”
“Kentucky,” the girl corrected.
That called for a lot of explaining. Jack was only half through when Mary exclaimed:
“Those beasts must have winged you!” She pointed to a splotch of blood on Ted’s sleeve.
“Only a flesh wound, really nothing.” He tried to toss it off. “I didn’t even feel it at the time. I’ve sort of got it fixed up.”
“That may be,” said Mary, moving toward him. “But where I come from wounds don’t stay ‘sort of fixed up.’ That’s too dangerous.”
Producing a small first-aid kit from beneath her native dress, she went to work.
“I’m going to get this war paint off as soon as I can,” she confided to Ted as she worked. From the tone of her voice Jack guessed that Ted had made a hit.