half after six in the morning
` Where there 's a will , ' '' quoted Donald , with inward satisfaction over the fact that his ward had fulfilled his prophecy , and he stole a few minutes out of the busy morning to motor to the Merrimans ' apartment to bear the joy-bringing tidings personally to little Rose , whose eyes shone happily and whose lips smiled their thanks , but who -- perversely , it seemed to him -- gave Miss Merriman the reward which he felt should have been his . Dreams do come true sometimes , if they _ are _ true , and so at last arrived a bright May morning when Smiles folded away her little play uniform forever , and -- by right of conquest -- donned the striped pink and white gingham dress and bibless apron of a probationer , within the doors of the newly built home of that old and worthy institution which had had its inception , more than sixty years before , in the loving heart of Nursing Sister Margaret . There Rose entered into a new life , as different from that of the old physical freedom of the hills , and personal freedom from restraint , as could well be imagined , for , as Donald had told her , she was now mustered , as an untrained recruit , into a great modern army ; and discipline is the keynote in war , whether the battle be against evil nations or evil forces . From half after six in the morning until ten at night , when with military precision came `` lights out , '' her life was drawn to pattern . It was not a hardship for her , as with some others , to arise at the early hour ; and the brief prayer and singing of the morning hymn , in company with her fifty-odd sister-probationers and pupil nurses , impressed her strongly the first time in which she had part in it , and never failed to strengthen and uplift her for the day 's toil . Times were to come aplenty , to be sure , when the old call of untrammelled freedom stirred her senses to mute rebellion ; but , as often , her all-absorbed interest in the work silenced it speedily . Right at the outset Rose experienced the same shock which hundreds of other would-be nurses have had .