gay and amusing. I should have been sorry to come away, but it
would have been far better than being left till all the lights are out.
I could have said truly to the Giver of the feast, "Thanks for an
excellent time." But now so many of the guests have left, and the fires
are going out, and I am tired.

END OF THE DIARY.

* * * * *

The rest of the story is soon told.

Miss Macnaughtan left Tehran about the middle of April. The Persian hot
weather was approaching, and it would have been impossible for her to
travel any later in the season. The long journey seemed a sufficiently
hazardous undertaking for a person in her weak state of health, but in
Dr. Neligan's opinion she would have run an even greater risk by
remaining in Persia during the hot weather.

[Page Heading: STARTING FOR HOME]

Dr. Neligan's goodness and kindness to Miss Macnaughtan will always be
remembered by her family, and he seems to have taken an enormous amount
of trouble to make arrangements for her journey home. He found an escort
for her in the shape of an English missionary who was going to
Petrograd, and gave her a pass which enabled her to travel as
expeditiously as possible. The authorities were not allowed to delay or
hinder her. She was much too ill to stop for anything, and drove night
and day--even through a cholera village--to the shores of the Caspian
Sea.

We know very few details concerning the journey home, and I think my
aunt herself did not remember much about it. One can hardly bear to
think of the suffering it caused her. A few incidents stood out in her
memory from the indeterminate recollection of pain and discomfort in
which most of the expedition was mercifully veiled, and we learnt them
after she returned.

There was the occasion when she reached the port on the Caspian Sea one
hour after the English boat had sailed. She called it the "English"
boat, but whether it could have belonged to an English company, or was
merely the usual boat run in connection with the train service to
England, I do not know. A "Russian" vessel was due to leave in a couple
of hours' time, but for some reason Miss Macnaughtan was obliged to walk
three-quarters of a mile to get permission to go by it. We can never
forget her piteous description of how she staggered and crawled to the
office and back, so ill that only her iron strength of will could force
her tired body to accomplish the distance. She obtained th