cks they wear and the cigarettes they smoke. Aeroplanes had to be
instituted and prizes offered for them by a newspaper, and ammunition
wasn't provided till a newspaper took up the matter. To be mob-ridden is
bad enough, but to be press-ridden is worse!

Now, war is a military matter, and should be controlled by military
authorities. Mrs. Wynne, Mr. Bevan, and I should not be out here waiting
for work. We ought to be sent where we are needed, and so ought all Red
Cross people. This would put an end, one hopes, to the horrid business
of getting "soft jobs."

_7 November._--Whenever I am away from England I rejoice in the passing
of each week that brings me nearer to my return. I had hardly realised
to-day was the 7th, but I am thankful I am one week nearer the grey
little island and all the nice people in it.

Yesterday I went to Lady Georgina Buchanan's soup-kitchen, and helped to
feed Polish refugees. They strike me as being very like animals, but not
so interesting. In the barracks where they lodge everyone crowds in.
There is no division of the sexes, babies are yelling, and families are
sleeping on wooden boards. The places are heated but not aired, and the
smell is horrid; but they seem to revel in "frowst." All the women are
dandling babies or trying to cook things on little oil-stoves. At
night-time things are awful, I believe, and the British Ambassador has
been asked to protect the girls who are there.

_8 November._--This afternoon I went to see Mrs. Bray, and then I had an
unexpected pleasure, for I met Johnnie{8} Parsons, who is Naval Attache
to Admiral Phillimore, and we had a long chat. When one is in a strange
land, or with people who know one but little, these encounters are
wonderfully nice.

The other night I dined with the Heron Maxwells, and had a nice evening
and a game of bridge. Some Americans, called de Velter, were there. I
think most people from the States regret the neutrality of their
country.

[Page Heading: VISIONS OF PEACE]

Everyone brings in different stories of the war. Some say Germany is
exhausted and beaten, others say she is flushed with victory, and with
enormous reserves of men, food, and ammunition. I try to believe all the
good I hear, and when even children or fools tell me the war will soon
be over, I want to embrace them--I don't care whether they are talking
nonsense or not. Sometimes I seem to see a great hushed cathedral, and
ourselves returning thanks for Peace an