bombs mostly, but some incendiaries had also been
dropped, because fires were blazing here and there. As
usual, most of the bombs had fallen in the poorer part of
the town and most of the houses hit had been little wooden
ones. Everywhere I saw sledges carrying the pathetic
belongings of these poor people to some place of com-
parative safety out in the country.

We were very hungry by this time, so we went to the
local hotel to get some breakfast. I had just swallowed a
mouthful of coffee when another air-raid alarm came.
We stuffed bread and butter and boiled eggs into our
pockets because if we stayed there we might have been
delayed for hours, and we were in a hurry. To delay
matters, there must needs be an argument over the bill, but
we finally got into the car and out of the town in time. A
few miles out of the town we heard the drone of aeroplane
engines overhead and stopped the car quickly and took
cover in the forest, dressed in our white capes. I saw a
squadron of nine bombers flying high overhead. But as
they left us alone we got back into the car and drove on.

The next big town was Kouvala, and there, too, we were
welcomed by another air-raid alarm. In our hurry to get
out of this place in time we took the wrong road for
Helsinki and had to turn back and go right through the
town again, driving through crowds of people scurrying
for shelters. However, this alarm was evidently in plenty
of time, because we saw no planes until we were well out
in the country, when it was a question of taking cover once
again in the woods.

We seem to have been lucky all through because all
along the way we saw signs of recent bombing, though
the next stage of the journey passed quietly enough except

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