After a short sledge ride, we arrived at the house, and soon discovered we were an “ international ” party. Between us there were four different languages : Russian, French, English, and Finnish. Somehow we made ourselves understood to each other, and very soon were all talking together. Words fail me to describe the sense of peaceful security which came over me while here. Before getting to Raiyoki I had been feeling sick and ill. The worry and strain had told on both Barry and me. The continued coming up against one difficulty after another had given me a very violent headache, which just vanished once I was amongst friends. Over and over again I found myself wishing Athelstan Riley and Lord Northcliffe could have been present, and seen how heartily I was enjoying myself with these men and women they so ignorantly denounce as brigands and murderers. The words “ shaking hands with murder ” came again and again to my mind, and what puzzled me most of all was the fact that I could neither see nor hear of any trace of the love of bloodshed and slaughter. As I listened, I could discover no trace of the hatred and bitterness I have listened to in railway carriages in England during the war. It seemed to me, though, that the mass of people are all alike. It is only the few who are hateful and brutal. People everywhere are much alike : in fact,
