And so it went until four hours were gone. Then Nancy appeared with a young lieutenant and Sally crept away to her quarters for more sleep.
“How do you like it?” a gray-haired nurse with a kindly face asked.
“Fine, so far,” was her answer. “Just swell. And so different!”
“Yes, it’s different all right. You might like to know,” the nurse’s voice dropped to a whisper, “I’m Danny Duke’s mother.”
“Danny’s mother!”
“He told me about you and Nancy. He likes you.” The gray-haired woman gave her a fine smile.
“And we like him. He caught me once, saved me from a broken leg or something,” was Sally’s reply.
“Yes, he told me about that.” She laughed. “Danny’s just a boy, you know. He’s my only child. You won’t tell that I’m his mother?” she begged. “It’s a bit irregular, my being on a ship with him. But I wanted it, so I told them if sons could sail the sea then mothers could, too. So they took me on, just for this trip. It’s sort of a tryout for all of us, you know.”
“Yes, I know. I won’t tell a soul. Thanks so much for telling me.” Sally moved on.