'" In sheer exuberance of spirits
Gloria's laugh bubbled out again, then as quickly stopped. "Oh, you will
think me such a silly! I ought not to laugh, ought I?"
"Yes, keep on all the way, dear; you won't feel like it, I'm afraid,
coming back. The first time I 'came back' do you want to know what I
did?"
_"Cried,"_ Gloria said softly. A new mood was upon her now, and a gentle
solemnity gave her piquant face a new attraction. Gloria's moods were
wont to follow each other with surprising swiftness.
"Yes, I did. I saw so much that I could not help, that it made my heart
ache. Children that needed attention and love and care, and mothers
with tired hands, and wives whose faces wore a hopeless look. Yes, I
_cried_."
After this the two walked on in silence. But Gloria's eyes were bright
and her breath was coming in quick, strong waves through her red lips.
The picture her companion had given set her tingling, and then came the
thought she had up in the mountains--Couldn't she help?
Seeming to think she had said too much, the District Nurse began
chatting in a cheery way, as though to turn her companion's thoughts
into a different channel. In this mood, the one chatting lightly, the
other listening, they drew near to "Dinney's House.
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