1 I'll put them down, they'll be needed and I must go prepared for nursing.
2 I can feed and nurse and pet and scold them, and Mother will be my stand-by.
3 She is a capital nurse, and you may trust the precious babies to her while you do more housework.
4 "I'll go and tell Amy," said Meg, feeling a little hurt, yet rather relieved on the whole, for she did not like nursing, and Jo did.
5 Jo liked this, and after an energetic rummage from garret to cellar, subsided on the sofa to nurse her cold with arsenicum and books.
6 All day she haunted the room, jealous of any other nurse, and prouder of being chosen then than of any honor her life ever brought her.
7 This left Jo to her own devices, for Mrs. March had taken her place as nurse, and bade her rest, exercise, and amuse herself after her long confinement.
8 News from their father comforted the girls very much, for though dangerously ill, the presence of the best and tenderest of nurses had already done him good.
9 How they ever grew up alive in that whirlpool of boys was a mystery to their grandma and aunts, but they flourished like dandelions in spring, and their rough nurses loved and served them well.
10 The girls knew nothing about illness, and Mr. Laurence was not allowed to see her, so Hannah had everything her own way, and busy Dr. Bangs did his best, but left a good deal to the excellent nurse.
11 No pins were ever stuck into their cotton vitals, no harsh words or blows were ever given them, no neglect ever saddened the heart of the most repulsive, but all were fed and clothed, nursed and caressed with an affection which never failed.
12 She only said, "Thank you, deary," but something in her face made the girls change the subject, and talk as cheerfully as they could about Mr. Brooke's kindness, the prospect of a fine day tomorrow, and the happy times they would have when Father came home to be nursed.