“I think she’s going to be nice to work with,” said Kitty happily. “I can hardly wait till Monday to begin my training.”
“Can I ride in the station wagon with you when you’re a Canteen worker?” Billy wanted to know.
“If they’ll let you.”
At the corner where they had to turn toward the docks, the taxi was held up by traffic. A crowded Palmetto Island bus in front of them was loading passengers. A dozen or more people couldn’t get on at all. Among them Kitty noticed Lieutenant Cary, one of the physicians from their own hospital. It seemed a shame to leave him to wait for the next bus when there was plenty of room in their launch.
As the taxi crept through the traffic near the spot where the young lieutenant stood, she called out to him, “Come down to the dock.” She pointed down the side street toward the bay. “We’ll give you a ride over to the island in our launch.”
He acknowledged her invitation with a dignified bow. When they moved on Kitty turned to Brad and said, “Seemed a shame not to pick him up. You know him of course—Lieutenant Cary?”
“Oh, yes.”
Kitty was surprised to find Brad’s cool tone reflecting some of her own instinctive dislike of the man. She tried to disregard the feeling for she scarcely knew Lieutenant Cary. She had encountered him only a few times in her father’s office at the hospital. Though he made obvious efforts to be friendly Kitty had an unaccountable aversion for him. But she could not let her ungrounded prejudice go so far as to make her pass by one of her father’s co-workers, when she had plenty of room to take him home. Transportation conditions were bad enough, without anyone traveling with unused space.
Brad was most helpful in loading Hazel’s suitcases into the launch. By the time they had loaded the launch and warmed the motor, Lieutenant Cary came sprinting toward them. Brad and Miss Dawson saluted their superior officer as the physician paused a moment on the dock.
“This is really kind of you, Miss Carter,” Cary said, stepping into the launch. “I had no idea there’d be such a traffic jam when I came over.”