afternoon (its number is 5666, and I warn you against it)
which takes four hours, though it only stops twenty-four times also. The
sinister fact is that all the trains on this route stop as often as they
can, which I attribute to that general wave of idleness which is to-day
spreading over Europe. But number 5666 is worse than others; or else it is
getting old and tired. I notice that among the trains doing the return
journey there is no number 5666; I suppose it has just as much as it can do
to get there and that it never does return.

The PREMIER was not far out to count on this protective element, and it is
still the fact that, if you approach Luzern carelessly, it is ninety-nine
to one that you will spend the best years of your young life on that
particular stretch of railway. But nowadays there is a back way round, by
Basel. Be quite firm in asking for your ticket. If the ticket man says,
"You mean Bale?" or, "You mean Basle?" say, "No, I don't. I mean Basel."
You have me and my friend, _Amtliches Schweizerisches Kursbuch_, behind
you. Stick firmly to your point, and by approaching Luzern from the North
you will approach it by a real express which only takes two hours to do its
sixty miles and hardly stops at all to take breath. So that finishes with
Bern, as to the spelling of which, though you would personally like to see
some more "e's," you now repose confidence in me. Would you like me to
quote my authority?... All right; I won't say it again if it frightens the
children.

In the old days of Peace, Luzern was full of honeymoon couples, and, when
Peace and honeymoons and all that sort of nonsense were put a stop to, it
became full of German interned prisoners of war. It boasts many first-class
hotels. One of them is patronised by the Greek ex-Royal Family. A little
unfortunate; but still you cannot expect to come and enjoy yourself in
Switzerland without the risk of running into an ex-Royal Family every
corner you go round, and, what is more, a Royal Family that wouldn't be ex-
if it wasn't for you. It is a very good hotel, and I recommend it for
anyone who proposes just to pop over here.

Get hold of L.G. while he is not busy and explain to him how thoroughly
misguided all his policies are, especially as to the Near East. My idea is
to group, according to subject and side, all those who intend to get hold
of the PREMIER, while he is alone, and to have a quiet chat with him. I
have my eye on a large hangar on