he was sleeping again. berthe went to the window. even in her happiness she was afraid, for she was remaining longer than her leave.... the window faced the south, and the apothecary shop was on the edge of town. the day was like a pearl—snowy distance, a soft-toned sky and the low shine of the sun. deep down in the west, like an island, was a thick brush of cedars, preserving their green across the miles, and calling to her with something of the native wonder of old mother earth; and to the right, east of south, was the huge blurred stockade where king cholera was so far imprisoned with the bait of fresh lives each day.
the old mother was in her winter bloom, so pure and deep-eyed, so calm and above sorrow in her distance and coloring, that it became to berthe a moment not to be forgotten—such a moment as would make a woman homesick in heaven.
...if the big man would only come back. they might be angry for her staying. it would be so easy to lose all that she had won from the germans. they had come to rely upon her more and more, realizing the character of her service, and forgetting its origin in judenbach. she did not want to disappoint them. with peter mowbray here in good hands and climbing back to life—no woman in the midst of war could ask more.... at the bedside again, she pondered the recent weeks to this hour. without words, without heaviness, he had come along, fitting so blithely into the new places, bringing his laugh and his skepticism of self always, asking for no sign nor reward of the future, building no dream of heaven, but standing true to the tasks of earth. greatly more, and differently, she loved him now, and the distance held the green of cedars.
...an officer came to her from the bullet-ward.
“you are to stay until mr. boylan, the correspondent, comes,” he said.
“but will they know? they were good to let me come.”
“colonel hartz has signed the order. word has been sent to the entrainment wards. you were attached there, i believe?”
“yes.”
“let us know in case of any need here.”
“yes. thank you.”
