''Good morning,'' they all sang out.
''Good morning,'' my nurses answered.
''New ''un?'' one asked at last, with a nod at me. ''Come up from the pads? Is she bad?''
''Cracked Nancy on the cheek.''
She whistled. ''They should bring ''em in bound. Young, though, ain''t she?''
''Sixteen, if she''s a day.''
''I''m seventeen,'' I said.
The new nurse looked at me, in a considering sort of way.
''Sharp-faced,'' she said, after a minute.
Ain''t she, though?''
''What''s her trouble? Delusions?''
And the rest,'' said the dark nurse. She dropped her voice. ''She''s the one—you know?''
The new nurse looked more interested. ''This one?'' she said. ''Looks too slight for that.''
''Well, they come in all sizes . . .''﹌思﹌兔﹌網﹌文﹌檔﹌共﹌享﹌與﹌在﹌線﹌閱﹌讀﹌
I didn''t know what they meant. But being held up for strangers to study, and talk and smile over, made me ashamed, and I kept silent. The woman went off on her way and my two nurses gripped me tight again and took me, down another passage, to a little room. It might have once been a pantry—it was very like Mrs Stiles''s pantry, at Briar—for there were cupboards, with locks upon them, and an arm-chair and a sink. Nurse Spiller sat down in the chair, giving a great sigh as she did so. The other nurse put water in the sink. She showed me a slip of yellow soap and a dirty flannel.