ers walked in front, and
soldiers walked at the side, till we arrived at the Hotel of the
Angel--of all ironical names! Six women, including the searchers,
joined us, and were very pleasant and kindly while our hand luggage
was being examined sufficiently for us to get out some things for the
night. They had a beautiful time, reading all the letters that lay
scattered about in our belongings, and taking the keenest interest in
all our possessions. Poor souls! They certainly needed a little
diversion. One girl had said good-by to her fiance that morning, and
another was a bride of twenty-four hours. She had married in haste to
take the name of the man she loved before he went off to the frontier!

We were allowed to choose our bedrooms, and Kitty and I elected to
share one big one. Then we were told that we must be undressed and
searched, so one by one we were taken off by two damsels, who were
soon able to declare that we were not concealing anything criminal
about us.

The big man whose pockets had swallowed up our pass and tickets again
appeared upon the scene, and proved to be the burgomaster of the town.
He interviewed Lyra in one room--questioning and cross-questioning--and
then he came to me. His suspicions seemed to be allaying, and his
attitude was almost paternal. Although we had no passports, we were
able to prove our identification very successfully--the girls by
papers and letters, and I luckily had in my possession my permit to
visit all the Italian galleries, with my photo pasted on to it. This
proved me to be Conway Evans, living in Florence; but while the
examination was going on, I wondered how long it would be before the
question of my nationality would crop up.

"Where is your husband?" "Florence, Italy." "Where do your father and
mother live?" "Lausanne, Switzerland." "Where is your son?" "With my
father and mother." "Where were you born?" "Georgetown, Demerara,
South America."

I have always loved my colonial birthplace and suffered gladly the
epithet of "Mudhead," but I don't suppose I ever experienced the same
relief from it as when I realized that the worthy burgomaster's
geography did not locate it amongst the British possessions, and that
he was willing to swallow me whole as an American if I could deny my
Russian nationality!

We were certainly very kindly treated. A supper of eggs and milk was
prepared for us. While we were eating, the German girls sat with us
and we got quite friendly