Chapter XXI

Early that afternoon, after her mother had left
the Trellis House, Rose went upstairs to her
own room. She had been working very hard all that
morning, helping to give some last touches of prettiness
and comfort to the fine, airy rooms at "Robey's,"
which had now been transformed into Sir Jacques
Robey's Red Cross Hospital. As a matter of fact,
everything had been ready for the wounded who,
after having been awaited with anxious impatience
for weeks, were now announced as being due to arrive
tomorrow.

Meanwhile Anna, her hands idle for once, sat at
her kitchen table. She was wearing her best black
silk apron, and open in front of her was her _Gesangbuch,_
or hymnbook.

Thus was Anna celebrating the anniversary of her
husband's death. Gustav Bauer had been a very unsatisfactory
helpmeet, but his widow only chose to
remember now the little in him that had been good.

Calmly she began reading the contents of her hymnbook
to herself. All the verses were printed as if in
prose, which of course made it easier as well as pleasanter
to read.

As she spoke the words to herself, her eyes filled
with tears, and she longed, with an intense, wordless
longing, to be in the Fatherland, especially now, during
this strange and terrible time. She keenly resented
not being able to write to her niece, Minna, in Berlin.

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