Cherry Ames, Student Nurse

Cherry sat cross-legged on her suitcase and tugged. There! The two stubborn locks finally clicked shut. This would make her new uniforms look like accordions and she mourned for the new blue dance dress. But at least they were in. Cherry puffed and with a toss of her head sent the dark brown curls off her glowing cheeks. Then she sat bolt upright on the suitcase and gasped.

"How do I look?" said Midge from the doorway. Billowing over her small figure was Cherry's gray probationer's uniform and crackling white apron, miles too big for her. From around the collar, her freckled face peered out, grinning impishly.

"Midge Fortune!" Cherry exploded. "You thirteen-year-old hazard! Unhand that uniform right away! Do you want to make me miss my train?" She darted after Midge and wormed her out of the dress. "And now I'll have to battle with that suitcase again!" she groaned. She gave the squirming Midge a little shake. "Honestly, if you weren't Dr. Joe's daughter, I'd cut you up for stew and feed you to my worst enemy!"

"You haven't got a worst enemy," Midge pointed out calmly. She folded the garments with care and bravely attacked the suitcase. "And besides," Midge went on, with a fine disregard for any connection, "your new red suit is the best-looking thing in Hilton." She looked at Cherry admiringly.

And Cherry was well worth admiring. She was slender and healthy and well-built; she moved with a proud erect posture that made her seem beautifully tall and slim. Her eyes and her short curly hair were very dark, almost black — the clear-cut black that glistens. Groomed to crisp perfection, Cherry was as vivid as a poster in her red wool sports suit. And her face fairly sparkled with warmth and humor.