"That fence is too high, Tom!" his sister Pam cried. "You'll never make it!" "Oh, no? Watch me!" bragged Tommy.

What happened when Tom, astride Captain, tried the five-foot fence ultimately led Tom and Pam to the great Crimean adventure.

The children's father, Captain Rodney Clayton, had left with his company, the Nine Lancers of the Light Brigade, to join other British regiments in the Crimea. It was the year 1854, and war with Russia was impending.

All preparations had been made for battle, but no one had given much thought to its inevitable aftermath—the tragic lot of the wounded. The charge of the Light Brigade was an example of high courage, but when the survivors were brought into Scutari Hospital, nothing was ready.

As sometimes happens in world events, the one person who could possibly have handled the situation was trained and ready, and went to meet her destiny—Florence Nightingale.

Boys and girls alike will be thrilled by the story of the magnificent job done under almost impossible conditions, in the thick of the bitterest fighting of the Crimean War, by this dedicated woman whose life work brought nursing to its present high professional level.

From the dust jacket