“I’ll be back,” she had whispered, “when the war is won.”
That night Lena may have whispered in her sleep. She may even have gone out to talk with her hairdresser. If so, Norma knew nothing of it. She was too weary for that. She retired early. She did, however, remain awake long enough to twice catch the gleam of light from Rosa’s cot. She liked the little Italian girl, but—
Once again she recalled one question asked her back there in Chicago. She had been given a final examination before her induction into the service. One of the women in that examining group, she had been told, was a psychologist. In the back of her mind all during the examination she had asked herself, “Which one is she?”
When a little lady with keen dark eyes had leaned forward to ask: “If you suspected that one of your companions was a spy, what would you do?”—a flash came to her. “She’s the psychologist.”
She had thought the question over, then replied slowly, “If I saw her setting a fire or stealing papers I’d report her at once.”
“But if not?” the little lady had insisted.
“If I merely suspected that she was a spy, I’d wait and watch, that’s all,” had been her whole reply.
In the eyes of her examiners she had read approval. That’s what she was doing now—watching and waiting.
“All the same,” she told herself now, “I’m going to ask Rosa why she flashes that light at night.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day three things happened. Norma saw her favorite Lieutenant. She asked Rosa a question and received a surprising reply, and Millie, the shopgirl who was in the Army now, led them all in an amusing adventure that might not have turned out so well.
In the afternoon they drilled as a squad, as a platoon, and as a company. It was a hard workout, but to Norma it was a thrilling adventure.
“All this is the real thing!” she exclaimed once.
“I’ll say it is!” Betty laughed. “These new shoes are burning up my feet!”
“It’s the real McCoy, all the same,” Norma insisted. “It’s what I’ve been training for all my life! My father thought it was just for fun, for after all, I was a girl.”
“How little he knew!” Betty replied soberly.
Marching and drilling were not hard for Norma. She had time to think of other things. She began studying the ancient fort, and the atmosphere that hung about it like a cloud.