have been gayer for him. However he seems cheerful + tomorrow we are going to spend a long day at Cromer where both Meg + Ethel + their respective clans including Birdie are all congregated so we can kill quite a [illegible] of birds with one stone!

You probably saw in yesterday's "Times" that Frank + the Allied [illegible] have returned to Murmansk on the coast of Kola. He never reached Moscow at all! Vologda apparently is the nearest spot he ever got to. We had a line from him on Sunday saying he was back at Murmansk but what [illegible] portends we have no idea. But of course the sea there is always open so a retreat home would be possible. This morning Father has received a letter from him dated July 6 from Archangel + saying they were on the point of proceeding to Vologda + would push on to Moscow if + when it was thought to be advisable. That comment has at present not arrived it seems! He says, "Here we are lying off the town (Archangel) in a river a mile or more wide with very low banks. The town is on the right bank + looks wonderfully picturesque at night with its golden spires. The sun sets here for almost an hour; at Murmansk it was high in the heaves all night! Please ask Jess to give my love to Arthur when she writes.