“A prison you’ll be glad to stay in,” Nancy informed her, “when you hear how those mosquitoes sing outside it.”
Long before day, however, each of the nurses was rolled in a blanket under her net and the discouraged pests had returned to their swamp muck.
The Nurses Washed Their Clothes in the River
In the days that followed the nurses discovered what it meant to do all their bathing and clothes washing in the shallows along the river shore. With only a compass to guide them, they learned to cut their way through the dense undergrowth of the river swamp. More than one rattler had to be killed in the process. But many others they left alone, as they had been given careful instructions about poisonous snakes and insects in various parts of the world. They crossed streams and lagoons in high boots, and several times ate from their mess kits the food they prepared for themselves on all-day hikes.
All nursing work was suspended while they were put through these physical fitness tests. To Nancy’s amazement, Tini Hoffman stood hers along with the others, for she seemed to understand its significance. Tini became another person when there were no men around on whom to turn her charms.
They had been camping on the river shore only three days when at breakfast one morning they were given orders to be prepared to leave by noon.
“I’m surely ready to go,” said Tini, who sat next to Nancy on the long bench at the table. “It’s been an eternity since we had any mail.”