Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III THE MATERNITY NURSE Of course Alvina made everybody pay for her mood of submission and sweetness. In a month's time she was quite intolerable. " I can't stay here all my life," she declared, stretching her eyes in a way that irritated the other inmates of Manchester House extremely. " I know I can't. I can't bear it. I simply can't bear it, and there's an end of it. I can't, I tell you. I can't bear it. I'm buried alive — simply buried alive. And it's more than I can stand. It is, really." There was an odd clang, like a taunt, in her voice. She was trying them all. " But what do you want, dear? " asked Miss Frost, knitting her dark brows in agitation. " I want to go away," said Alvina bluntly. Miss Frost gave a slight gesture with her right hand, of helpless impatience. It was so characteristic, that Alvina almost laughed. " But where do you want to go? " asked Miss Frost. " I don't know. I don't care," said Alvina. " Anywhere, if I can get out of Woodhouse." " Do you wish you had gone to Australia? " put in Miss Pinnegar. " No, I don't wish I had gone to Australia," retorted Alvina with a rude laugh. "Australia isn't the only other place besides Woodhouse." Miss Pinnegar was naturally offended. But the curious insolence which sometimes came out in the girl was inherited direct from her father. " You see, dear," said Miss Frost, agitated: " if you knew what you wanted, it would be easier to see the way." " I want to be a nurse," rapped out Alvina. Miss Frost stood still, with the stillness of a middle-aged disapproving woman, and looked at her charge. She Telieved that Alvina was just speaking at random. Yet she dared not check her, in her present mood. Alvina was indeed speaking at random. She had never thought of being...