“I’m going to phone Miss Anna Darien,” Nancy told Mabel at once. “Maybe I can go over to see her tomorrow.”
“Oh, you mean your mother’s friend who wrote you about seeing Tommy?”
“Yes. I can hardly wait to hear what she has to say about him. Don’t you want to come with me?”
“Sure! But won’t she be surprised when she hears your voice over the phone?”
“She lives somewhere on the harbor. It will all be sightseeing just the same,” explained Nancy.
“I never dreamed Sydney was such a huge place. They say it’s as large as some of our biggest American cities.”
“It’s surely nice to be in a foreign city where people speak English,” said Nancy.
“Does make it seem more homelike,” admitted Mabel, “even if they do express things a little differently.”
Marian Albans, a Red Cross volunteer, helped Nancy get in touch with Miss Darien in a distant section of the city. Miss Anna was as delighted to hear Nancy’s voice, as Nancy was to hear a familiar, loved friend, speaking in a strange land. Even slight bonds grow stronger when mere acquaintances meet in a strange land, and those bonds that are already strong are drawn much closer. Nancy felt almost as happy as if she were going to see her own mother.
“I hope this phone call isn’t all, my dear,” said Miss Anna over the wire. “We must have time for a visit with each other.”