This story should appeal to all those who tried to do what they thought was right. It tells of one such effort made by a person named Nancy - the main character of the story. We first meet her in 1909, when she leaves the protective time of childhood and enters the perilous years leading up to adulthood. This leads into the years of the 1914-18 war, with all its horrors and social disruptions. We join her in her occupation at a gasmask factory, whose products she hopes will save some of the boys she saw queuing to join the war, to be exposed to its obscene gassing - to come. We follow her life through a time when it appears to have "e;neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help from pain"e; (to borrow a phrase from the poet, Matthew Arnold). However, as we follow her life, we hope that she will find her way to things better. Life can only be a journey of hope.

This story should appeal to all those who tried to do what they thought was right. It tells of one such effort made by a person named Nancy - the main character of the story. We first meet her in 1909, when she leaves the protective time of childhood and enters the perilous years leading up to adulthood. This leads into the years of the 1914-18 war, with all its horrors and social disruptions. We join her in her occupation at a gasmask factory, whose products she hopes will save some of the boys she saw queuing to join the war, to be exposed to its obscene gassing - to come. We follow her life through a time when it appears to have "e;neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help from pain"e; (to borrow a phrase from the poet, Matthew Arnold). However, as we follow her life, we hope that she will find her way to things better. Life can only be a journey of hope.