On Monday, February 8th, I went out to La Panne to start living in the
hotel there; but I was really dreadfully seedy, and suffered so much
that I had to return to the flat at Dunkirk again to be nursed. My day
at La Panne was therefore very sad, as I nearly perished with cold, and
felt so ill. Not a soul came near me, and I wished I could be a Belgian
refugee, when I might have had a little attention from somebody.

On Tuesday, February 9th, a Belgian officer came into Adinkerke station,
claimed our kitchen as a bureau, and turned us out on to the platform. I
am trying to get General Millis to interfere; but, indeed, the rudeness
of this man's act makes one furious.

[Page Heading: ILLNESS AT DUNKIRK]

_14 February._--I have been laid up for some days at the flat at
Dunkirk. It is amazing to realise that this place should be one's
present idea of comfort. It has no carpets, no curtains, not a blind
that will pull up or down, and rather dirty floors, yet it is so much
more comfortable than anything I have had yet that I am too thankful to
be here. There is a gas-ring in the kitchen, on which it is possible to
cook our food, and there are shops where things can be got.

Mr. Strickland and I are both laid up here, and Miss Logan nurses us
devotedly. Our joy is having a sitting-room with a fire in it. Was
there ever anything half so good as that fire, or half so homely, half
so warm or so much one's own? I lie on three chairs in front of it, and
headache and cold and throat are almost forgotten. The wind howls, the
sea roars, and aeroplanes fly overhead, but at least we have our fire
and are at home.