Show A f c < Sl I W t rri i WOJl1S 1Ufl 1tOjt Hchb to Hio Motiici1 and if iiiis JW the IVIalileii Clara Bell in Cincinnati Inquirer Ah me how the truth does differ from fiction Doesnt the hero of novel or 1 I play invariably i get hurt if at all in the I 1 j way of a broken leg or something that I I lays him up in a nice clean manner compatible com-patible with sentimentality Moreover j I I isnt it the rule that the heroine turned nurse shall find her employment in that j i capacity made congenial by the duties of smoothing the dear fellows forehead and I reading to him Thats romance Heres reality The pastor of mv church is an I r earnest Christian a practical doer of good I and all that sort philanthropic thing f He is all the while getting up visitation committees for the tenementhQuse poor old victual distribution coteries and secondhand sec-ondhand clothes agencies He got it j into his benevolent head not long ago that some of us girls ought to do amateur t nursinc hi the public hospitals I The plan took well because TITO nan heard that London aristocratic maidens were practicing it and he speedily had six enthusiastic volunteers IVe went through with a preliminary training to the extent of reading a book of directions for nursing Then we reported for duty We were to form a kind of relief gang each girl to devote one whole day in six to actual attendance in the ward of a certain cer-tain hospital Our services were accepted ac-cepted lYe drew cuts for turns and I hit the first day Early next morning I presented myself in a very plain but neatlyfitted bib and tucker to the house physician of the institution I fluttered myself that I was prepared for any fate wiiich duty might impose upon me but down deep in my heart of hearts 1 was hopefully expectant of the brokenboned hero of the novel and the play for a patient What was my joy therefore on being assigned to a chap in exactly that lineAVhatI What mean is that both his legs and one arm had been fractured Of course he wasnt piecisely the ideal thing His brow wasnt as high and white as the fictionist had described a stubble growth of beard impaired whatever of beauty his face might ordinarily have possessed and they had stuck him fast in a structure struc-ture of splints and plaster of paris so that his one iintnrnrolilo iiAQifinn vaa nrvt j I I picturesque I was bound to make the best of him however and at the first op portunity I suggested that I might lead the morning paper to him j Unless you Want to drive me crazy I young woman lie growled unaware that f was a volunteer and not a hired I hospital attendant youll kindly keep your tongue quiet The shock was something dreadful I withdrew to a corner and wept When that was done with I returned to find I him asleep and snoring But I made one additional eflbrt to realize my expectation ex-pectation On his showing the first signs of awakening and betraying > ain by low sighs quite romantically I quietly stroked his fevered brow He was wide eyed in a minute For heavens sake dont bang and plow my head he exclaimed I cant stand it I have only a vague collec tion of how the rest of the day wore wearily away One of the fondest of my delusions was dispelled but when the next days volunteer and I came to compare com-pare notes and he related how she had been allotted to the care of an old bummer I I bum-mer just j over an acute attack of delirium treinens I concluded that I had been I rather fortunate Id had a broken i limbed patient l at all events though hia f behavior had not been all that t I had expected j ex-pected On the whole 1 dont think that i amateur nursing has the elements of I fashionable popularity I |