Nancy giggled nervously as she turned to see her pal’s forehead smeared with dirt where she had tried to go through the corn furrow.
“Exciting, but awful!” she agreed.
At the sound of the whistle they were off again. Over and over the gruelling performance was repeated. Then they had to turn and come back across the field in the face of the fire. Nancy found this easier. At least they could see that the shots were going far above their heads.
Most of them came in across the goal line triumphantly, though some were slightly hysterical between laughter and fear. Only two or three staggered back, tense and shaken.
During the rest of the afternoon their men instructors gave them illustrations of jungle camouflage. In the densely wooded section below the pine thicket and bordering a creek, they had to try to locate a half dozen men whose helmets and garments had been camouflaged.
“Hide and seek when we were kids was never half as thrilling as this,” said Nancy, as she and Mabel started off on the search.
Next morning Nancy, Mabel and Ida Hall were among the dozen nurses instructed to camouflage themselves and hide in the woods for the others to locate. Nancy had dabbled at painting in school, and did a fairly good imitation of bay leaves across Mabel’s face and coveralls. Then before their small mirror she touched up her own countenance to look like woods’ shadows. A net was secured over her helmet and in it she twisted pieces of jasmine vines and bay leaves, leaving some of the vines to trail down across her face.
They were given ten minutes to hide before the others of their unit were sent in search of them. Nancy found a spot of dense growth not far from the highway where a scuppernong vine trailed over some low bushes, and a near-by jasmine crowned an old stump with yellow blossoms. She stretched flat under the scuppernong, and stuck her head among the yellow blossoms. Certainly she could not have found a more fragrant hiding place.
She heard the shot fired for the search to begin, then came faint sounds of the cautious searchers. In spite of orders, whoops and little screeches escaped the nurses when anyone was discovered. Several passed close enough for Nancy to touch them, but still she wasn’t noticed. Like an ostrich sticking his head in the sand, Nancy closed her eyes at each approach, feeling somehow that she was better hidden that way. Someone was coming near almost at a run when the shot was fired to end the race. Nancy was thrilled to know she was among those who had missed being found.
She was about to crawl out of her hiding place when she saw that the approaching girl was Tini Hoffman. Tini seemed to have no interest in the search, however, but was intent on reaching the highway. While Nancy had crouched under the bushes she had heard several cars go by. Cautiously she lifted her head as Tini passed and saw some letters sticking from her coverall pocket. Suspicion stirred. No doubt Tini was intent on mailing those letters she had written in the swamp describing their activities.