“Indeed we could! Part of our work, too, is giving instructions and demonstrations to people. Good health and sane living are so dependent on proper diet.”
“More so than most people will admit,” said Judy. “You’ll learn about that in nutrition class.”
“Well, it seems I’m in line to learn lots that will help me even after the war is won,” Kitty answered, and she felt her interest and anticipation in the work increasing.
“The most exciting part of the work comes at the time of an emergency,” explained Mrs. Evans. “I helped once during a flood out in Mississippi. That was when I first went into Canteen work.”
“When we read about such things in the papers they seem so unreal and far away,” said Kitty, suddenly feeling a great sense of responsibility in her new undertaking. She realized now that a Canteen worker must have the courage and endurance of a true soldier if she was to fulfill her obligations.
There was much more she wanted to ask Mrs. Evans and the girls, but at that moment the band began playing and Jimmy Barnes, a young storekeeper, came to ask her to dance with him.
The second dance had just begun when someone tapped her partner on the shoulder. Kitty looked over the sailor’s shoulder to see the spotless white of a Naval officer’s uniform. She was surprised to recognize Lieutenant Cary.
She could not suppress a startled exclamation, “Oh, you?”
“Sorry to break in, but I had to apologize for leaving yesterday at the dock without telling you how much I appreciated the ride from town, but I was late for an appointment.”
“Oh, that was O.K. Dad had told me to phone so we’d have a way of getting Miss Dawson’s bags up from the dock.”