“Oh! Then I shall be happy!” the little Burmese girl exclaimed. “To be near the front to care for wounded soldiers, that is for me a little bit of Heaven.”
“That is a nice way to say it,” was the quick reply. “That’s just the way I feel about it. We shall be friends.”
“But is there a hospital here in the forest?” Isabelle asked, surprised.
“Oh yes! Not a large one, but well equipped. After our meal I am to show it to you.” After that they marched in silence beneath the great trees.
“It’s like a big church,” Jan whispered. “The kind they have in England.” And so it was.
“Why! This is quite a hospital!” Gale exclaimed as an hour later the head nurse led them into a long, low building of permanent wood construction. “I thought it would be only a tent,” she explained.
“Not a bad location for a base-hospital,” was the quiet reply. “Only one wing is occupied now. But tomorrow? Who knows?” The motherly woman sighed. “This is war.”
One fact amazed Gale. In one corner were sixteen wounded aviators. Six were Chinese, the others Americans.
“I hadn’t heard about air battles in this sector.” She showed her surprise.
“In war there are many surprises,” said the nurse. “This is only the beginning for you. Each day your horizon will be broadened, but only at the commanding officer’s order.”