Content Warning: The section of the guide includes discussion of illness and death.

The author’s fondness for nighttime results in her being promoted to night nurse.

Believing in the healthful benefits of laughter, she quickly brings the spirit of her “merry, social, New England town” (31) to her formerly gloomy charges. Their faces “lighting up, with smiles of welcome” (31) fill her with pride and affection. Evening activities include reading aloud, letter-writing, attending to the men’s needs, accompanying Dr. P on his second daily rounds, and settling them in for the night. After 9 o’clock, when the day nurses complete their tasks, the author’s “nocturnal adventure” (31) begins.

The author divides her ward into three rooms, which she describes as her “duty room,” “pleasure room,” and “pathetic room” (31), according to the severity of the patients’ needs. Two men who work the evening hours alongside her are Dan, the watchman, and the pathetic room’s faithful attendant, who brews a very strong coffee and tends to men weakened by fever.

The author spends half her daylight hours asleep, the other half exploring Washington. She finds her experiences caring for the soldiers amusing, instructive, and interesting. She makes a study of snores, ultimately concluding that she can recognize her patients by their unique snores.