“I don’t know whether I’ll faint at the sight of real blood,” she said, “but I shall know pretty well what to do if I can keep my nerve.”

The application of anaesthetics was another thing fully explained by Gys, but this could not be demonstrated.  Patsy, however, was taught the use of the hypodermic needle, which Maud and Beth quite understood.

“We’ve a big stock of morphia, in its various forms,” said the doctor, “and I expect it to prove of tremendous value in comforting our patients.”

“I’m not sure I approve the use of that drug,” remarked Uncle John.

“But think of the suffering we can allay by its use,” exclaimed Maud.  “If ever morphia is justifiable, it is in war, where it can save many a life by conquering unendurable pain.  I believe the discovery of morphine was the greatest blessing that humanity has ever enjoyed.  Don’t you, Doctor Gys?”

The one good eye of Gys had a queer way of twinkling when he was amused.  It twinkled as the girl asked this question.

“Morphine,” he replied, “has destroyed more people than it has saved.  You play with fire when you feed it to anyone, under any circumstances.  Nevertheless, I believe in its value on an expedition of this sort, and that is why I loaded up on the stuff.  Let me advise you never to tell a patient that we are administering morphine.  The result is all that he is concerned with and it is better he should not know what has relieved him.”

On a sunny day when the sea was calm they slung a scaffold over the bow and painted a big red cross on either side of the white ship.  Everyone aboard wore the Red Cross emblem on an arm band, even the sailors being so decorated.  Uncle John was very proud of the insignia and loved to watch his girls moving around the deck in their sober uniforms and white caps.

Jones endured the voyage splendidly and by this time had convinced himself that he was not again to be subject to the mal-de-mer of his first ocean trip.  As they drew near to their destination an atmosphere of subdued excitement pervaded the Arabella, for even the sailors had caught the infection of the girls’ eagerness and were anxious to get into action at the earliest moment.

It was now that Uncle John began to busy himself with his especial prize, a huge motor ambulance he had purchased in New York and which had been fully equipped for the requirements of war.  Indeed, an enterprising manufacturer had prepared it with the expectation that some of the belligerent governments would purchase it, and Mr. Merrick considered himself fortunate in securing it.  It would accommodate six seriously wounded, on swinging beds, and twelve others, slightly wounded, who might be able to sit upon cushioned seats.  The motor was very powerful and the driver was protected from stray bullets by an armored hood.

In addition to this splendid machine, Mr. Merrick had secured a smaller ambulance that had not the advantage of the swinging beds but could be rushed more swiftly to any desired location.  Both ambulances were decorated on all sides with the emblem of the Red Cross and would be invaluable in bringing the wounded to the Arabella.  The ship carried a couple of small motor launches for connecting the shore with her anchorage.