six o'clock
Until a month ago she had scarcely had a thought beyond Mac and the progress of his case ; even now she missed his constant demands upon her , and her heart ached for the disappointment that awaited him . But under these disturbing thoughts something new and strange and beautiful was calling her . Half mechanically she spent the rest of the afternoon reestablishing herself in the nurses ' quarters at the hospital which she had left nearly four months before . At six o'clock she put on the gray cape and small gray bonnet that constituted her uniform , and leaving word that she would report for duty at nine o'clock , went to the corner and boarded a street car . It was a warm evening for November , and the car with its throng of home-going workers was close and uncomfortable . But Nance , clinging to a strap , and jostled on every side , was superbly indifferent to her surroundings . With lifted chin and preoccupied eyes , she held counsel with herself , sometimes moving her lips slightly as if rehearsing a part .