A sad reward! But there'd be a
good deal of sympathy."
The small package contained trifles of sewing and knitting materials she
was going to take to Mrs. Welden, and she held out her hand for it. She
knew she did not smile quite naturally as she said her good-morning
to Tewson. She went out into the pale amber sunshine and stood a few
moments, glad to find herself bathed in it again. She suddenly needed
air and light. "A sad reward!" Sometimes people were not rewarded. Brave
men were shot dead on the battlefield when they were doing brave things;
brave physicians and nurses died of the plagues they faithfully wrestled
with. Here were dread and pain confronting her--Betty Vanderpoel--and
while almost everyone else seemed to have faced them, she was wholly
unused to their appalling clutch. What a life hers had been--that in
looking back over it she should realise that she had never been touched
by anything like this before! There came back to her the look of almost
awed wonder in G. Selden's honest eyes when he said: "What it must be to
be you--just YOU!" He had been thinking only of the millions and of
the freedom from all everyday anxieties the millions gave. She smiled
faintly as the thought crossed her brain.
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