p.

Jerusalem tomorrow to have lunch with the Samuels.
This has been brewing for 2-3 weeks, & I am to meet
a Colonel who is 2 i/c to the G.O.C. Palestine.
I have a feeling that there is something behind
all this, & that the lunch is not entirely social -
even though I am told by [Burskein ?] that the Hon Mrs
likes me so much - & the plot thickened by the
fact that Helen Pine, the A.T.S. headmistress, is coming
too. Perhaps I shall be wiser by this time tomorrow
to be able to tell you more. But coming on top of
my lunch with [ ?], it is all rather strange.
I went up to Haifa on Wednesday, with [Den ?], to
watch a recruiting march, in which 70 of my boys
were taking part. So I went & had lunch with
the Hopkins, and I enjoyed seeing them again.
Poor Jack has been pretty ill - 5 weeks in hospital, & now
6 weeks sick leave. He was x-rayed & they found
one lung as flat as a pancake & of course suspected
T.B. - but it was not, & he seems to be coming
on well now. Nina was blooming, & is still teaching
art, according to the Royal College, to the young of
Haifa - & Sheila was quite sweet after a shy
beginning. It seems there has been talk of having
an army major, or liaison officer with the Navy - &
that my name came up in the discussion about
it. That really would be rather an interesting job,
and I told Jack that my present engagement was due
to end on Aug 1st. I shall write & say thank you