on last year.

All present were then photographed by magnesium flash, and if the
result be good, it may appear in The Esperantist.

At midnight I went to the Hotel to sleep, and to dream that no longer
was I merely H.B.M., but that I had become some eminent person on a
pleasure-progress!

Next morning I woke up and gladly saw that my watch only indicated
seven o'clock, and that half-an-hour of bed still remained. It is
terrible, methinks, to have to jump out into the cold at once on
waking up! I was accordingly quietly resting when suddenly I had a
fright. The hand _still_ pointed to the seven! Has the eminent man
entered a beautiful land where time is not? I listen: no, the watch
has stopped! Certainly I must have lost the train. I dress post
haste, and go to the station. Joy! It is only eight, and there is
still time enough.

The sun was already shining in a cloudless sky when I met M. Bourlet,
and went with him into an overheated train. Why are French trains so
hot? I could scarcely breathe, and my feet were almost roasted on the
iron plate of the warming apparatus.

About eleven o'clock we arrived at Chateau Thierry, and once more
met M. Mehrmann, who took us to M. Borson, the President of the new
Group there. With him was an Esperantist circle, and we chatted for
some minutes. I then found that champagne in champagne-land is much
more agreeable to the taste--in my opinion--than that which we have
in England. I told those present that I had visited the town last
year on a bicycle, and had much admired the Town Hall, where we had
to speak later on. And, certainly, had anyone told me that in less
than a year I should enter this Town Hall in a frock coat and silk
hat to discuss Esperanto, I could not have believed it. Truth is
often very, very strange.

As the sun was so bright, we clambered up to the ancient castle, or,
more accurately, the castle site, of King Theodoric II., which gives
its name to the little town.

The Esperantist Group is called the Group of _Kastelteodoriko_.

At midday we descended from this eyrie, and went to the charming home
of Mme. Mehrmann, where we dined. This calls to mind that, before
ever entering France, I dreaded the French cuisine; but quite without
reason. If only our country inns were as comfortable as our
neighbours', we should probably see more Continental tourists.

Throughout this journey I learnt a great deal about French every-day
life, which certainly would never