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in the sky--also no sign of our airplane! There were people standing around. They finally told us that there was a great storm ahead, and the plane had been cancelled. Not a cloud in the sky, no plane! This was bad news indeed! I'd have to get on a train and arrive way after Guinzburg and Getzloe, who had said I was crazy, anyway. I was standing there grumbling when a big fat Russian general came up to me, several medals on his tunic, a cheerful, handsome face--a big fellow with a barrel chest. He said, “You and your girl are going to Moscow?”

I said, “Yes, but there seems to be no plane.”

He said, “I, too, was going to Moscow. Do not think they are lying to you about the storm. There is a very bad storm ahead. That's why the plane hasn't even been brought out of the hangar. But,” he said, “I have to get to Moscow very badly. So the minute that storm clears up, I'm going to fly my own plane up to Moscow. Would you and your girl like to be my guests?”

I said, “That would be exactly what the doctor ordered.”

He said, “It may be the middle of the night. I don't know when it will clear up. I presume you'll be able to find your girl.”

I said, “I think I 11 know where she is. We're at the Astoria Hotel.”

He said, “I will phone you.”

I said to Mina, “One of your phony charm boys. That's the last we'll ever see of him, but how nice of him to make the gesture.”