Chapter XI: Act III: The Lady of the Lamp

Scene. In a hospital. Soldiers are lying on cots and
chairs. Florence Nightingale comes in with a lamp in
her hand.

_First Soldier._ Hush, here comes the Angel of Mercy to look after us poor fellows. How tired she must be after working all day.

_Second Soldier._ Yes, the Lady of the Lamp.

_Third Soldier._ She has done more for our country than all the soldiers during this terrible war.

_All the Soldiers._ That she has. May Heaven bless her brave heart!

* * * * *

America! America!
Thy loyal children we!
Dear Mother Land, our lives we pledge
In service unto thee.

YOU and I
And ALL of US TOGETHER
Will make this WORLD of OURS
Sorry and Sad—

IF
YOU and I
And ALL of US TOGETHER
Do not
DO RIGHT.

BUT
YOU and I
And ALL of US TOGETHER
Will make THIS WORLD of OURS
HAPPY and GLAD—

BECAUSE
YOU and I
And ALL of US TOGETHER
WILL
DO RIGHT!

We Will Be
GOOD CITIZENS, FOR WE LOVE OUR
COUNTRY AND OUR FLAG.

* * * * *

Transcriber’s Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired. The table of contents uses the œ ligature in Phœbe Cary’s name. In the text it’s italic and the transcriber assumes that the printer didn’t have an italic ligature. As we’re not constrained by that, all instances of Phœbe Cary’s name now have the ligature.

Page xi, “DRESMAKER’S” changed to “DRESSMAKER’S” (AT THE DRESSMAKER’S)

Page 166, the pronunciation key for petroleum uses a dot and macron combination above the two es in the text. As this is not a character available to us, the macron and acute have been substituted: ḗ.

End of Project Gutenberg's Our Home and Personal Duty, by Jane Eayre Fryer