[Stories from the Diary of a Doctor.]
By the Authors of "The Medicine Lady."
XII.—THE PONSONBY DIAMONDS.
Few cases in their day interested me more than that of Beryl Temple, and this, not so much from the medical point of view as from the character of this strong-minded and brave girl.
It was on the occasion of her mother's death that I first became acquainted with Beryl. She suffered keenly at the time, but her courage and presence of mind and fine self-suppression aroused my interest, and when, a month afterwards, she came to me and told me in the simple manner which always characterized her that she was not only friendless but without means of support, I eagerly asked in what way I could help her.
She replied with a blush, and something like tears in her eyes.
"Of all things in the world," she said, "I should like best to be trained as a hospital nurse—do you think I am suited to the profession?"