When Nancy and the major were outside she said, “Oh, Major, do you think there’s anything we could do about it? Would they be willing to send a searching plane out to look for Tommy?”
“Of course they would, my dear. But Goodwin’s information is rather vague about some things. We’ll wait till tomorrow. Maybe with the aid of a map he’ll be able to give us more accurate directions.”
“Oh, Major, I don’t know how to thank you.”
“You don’t have to, young lady. Captain Dale is about as important to the Air Forces as he is to you. We don’t give up such men without a struggle.” They walked on a few steps before he added, “Now you must go back and get some rest. We can’t afford to have any sick nurses on our hands.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vernon Goodwin had a relapse that night, and for the next few days Nancy feared they had learned all from him they would ever know. In the meantime, however, glorious news was brought back from the fighting front. The great number of reinforcing troops had finished the job for which they had come. The last nest of “Yellow Jackets” had been cleaned from the island.
This news called for such a celebration as the nurses had not had since July Fourth, for their work had lightened somewhat. Planes had taken some of their serious cases back to hospitals in Australia. Even when the wounded were brought in after the final victory there were still some beds unoccupied, so the nurses found a few hours out of every twenty-four to give to personal needs once more, and a bit of recreation.
But Nancy had little heart for amusement during those trying days. She could think of nothing but Vernon Goodwin lying at the point of death, and that Tommy might be alive still, somewhere in that jungle a day’s boat ride to the north.
“Ah, snap out of it, Nancy,” wheedled Mabel, the afternoon before the party when she came upon her pal sitting on her cot, staring into space. “We’ve all decided to put on our whites for the shindig. It will be good for the morale of the patients to see us looking like real nurses for once.”
“We’ll only make ourselves targets for the Zeros that come over.”
“Can’t you realize yet they’ve cleared out those Yellow Jackets! We’ve got something to celebrate over.”