She seated herself at the table, waiting steadily for what was to
come.
The ineradicable instinct of the sex directed her eyes to her
dress, before the Germans appeared. Looking it over to see that
it was in perfect order, her eyes fell upon the red cross on her
left shoulder. In a moment it struck her that her nurse's costume
might involve her in a needless risk. It associated her with a
public position; it might lead to inquiries at a later time, and
those inquiries might betray her.
She looked round. The gray cloak which she had lent to Grace
attracted her attention. She took it up, and covered herself with
it from head to foot.
The cloak was just arranged round her when she heard the outer
door thrust open, and voices speaking in a strange tongue, and
arms grounded in the room behind her. Should she wait to be
discovered? or should she show herself of her own accord? It was
less trying to such a nature as hers to show herself than to
wait. She advanced to enter the kitchen. The canvas curtain, as
she stretched out her hand to it, was suddenly drawn back from
the other side, and three men confronted her in the open doorway.
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