She went in and seated herself in the hall. "I want to rest," she said to a soldier who stood there. "I don't feel quite well."
A slight, elderly lady in a black dress, and with her bonnet a little awry, came down the stairs, and stood looking about as though she expected some one.
"Can you tell me where Miss Blank is to be found?" she asked of the soldier to whom Margaret had spoken. "She has been out in the tent wards, and there she comes," he said, nodding toward a young woman who came in at the door furthest from them, and, with a face expressive of apprehension, approached the waiting lady.
"You wished to see me?" she asked tremulously.
"Yes," was the reply. "You will be ready to return home to-morrow, or as soon as communication is reestablished. I will send your transportation papers to-night. You need not go into the wards again."
The young woman stared in speechless distress and astonishment, her eyes filling with tears.
"Is that Miss Dix?" Margaret asked of the soldier.
"Yes," he replied. "She makes short work of it. That is one of the best nurses, and the best dresser in the hospital."
"Why is she dismissed?"
"Miss Dix has probably heard something about her. She's a good young woman, but the old lady is mighty particular."