[Pg 57] [Pg 57] Without replying Barbara's answer was yet sufficiently reassuring. At the same time she was wondering if these past few months had changed Eugenia as much as she appeared to be changed. But perchance she had always been mistaken in her view of her. Then both girls started suddenly to their feet. For the little French girl, Nicolete, had come upon them unawares. She gave Barbara a glance revealing but little affection. Then beckoning Eugenia mysteriously aside she soon ran off again like a sprite in the moonlight. [Pg 58] [Pg 58] CHAPTER V St. Gudula CHAPTER V St. Gudula Several weeks later Barbara Meade walked down the steps of a house in Brussels out into one of the streets near the Palais de la Nation. The house had once been a private residence, but since the coming of war into the heart of Belgium had been turned into a relief hospital by the American Red Cross Society. Barbara walked slowly, looking at all the objects of interest along the way. She wore a dark-blue taffeta suit and white blouse and a small blue hat with a single white wing in it. Evidently she was not in a hurry. Indeed, she behaved more like an ordinary tourist than an overworked nurse. Yet a glance into Barbara's face would have suggested that she was dreadfully fagged and anxious to get away from the beaten track for a few hours. It chanced to be her[Pg 59] one afternoon of leisure in the week, so for the time she had discarded her nurse's uniform. She was also trying to forget the trouble surrounding her and to appreciate the beauty and charm of Brussels. [Pg 59] Yet Barbara found it difficult to get into a mood of real enjoyment. These past few weeks represented the hardest work she had yet done, for the funds for the
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