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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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The interpreter and these two men talked. There was quite a lot of conversation, and finally one of them came back accompanied by the interpreter, and he said, in very halting English--they had telephoned too, in the meantime--he said, “Come this way.” She interpreted it, “Come this way.”

So we followed him. The girl was left behind. We went down a little corridor and turned to the right. We didn't go upstairs at all. This was all on the ground floor. There is a wing, you know, that leads out onto that garden. We went up some stairs into that wing, and out in that wing was the Ambassador's office. We were shown into the Ambassador's office, and almost immediately into his personal work office, where there was a man with him who was obviously an interpreter.

Mr. Gromyko was very polite, very cordial. He spoke no English, although I learned later that he could speak English just as well as I could. I didn't know it at the moment. Everything was done through the interpreter. The interpreter said that he was glad to see us, and asked us to make ourselves comfortable--just a little cordial exchange.

Then we sat down and we began to talk. I was as ingratiating as I know how to be, and congratulated him on something or other that he had done or said recently. Then I proceeded to say how interested we were in the I.L.O., and how much we wanted Russian support for the idea





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