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Farm 34 Njoro Kenya.

June 7th. 1921.

My dear John Buchan

You must think me a most ungrateful brute not to have written sooner to thank you for your book about the Twins. I am not as bad as I seem, as the box which it was in got mislaid at Kilindini harbour, & was only recently retrieved, & it was no good writing to you till I had received and read the book. Well I have now read it through twice, & I cannot say how enormously I enjoyed it. You have

so arranged it that one finds oneself actually living with & talking to, or rather being talked to by, the twins. What delights me so much is to find that they were so exactly what one had always thought they were, as their letters to each other are just the same as their conversations with oneself. I think that is always a pleasing thing to find such absolute genuineness. What delightfully simple enthusiastic thorough a pair they were! I was always devoted to them ever since the days at Eton when I first knew them, they being my juniors by about 1 year.

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We had always kept in close touch, but one special quality they had was that whenever one met them, even after an interval of some years, one started again exactly where one had left off as if it was only the day before. I saw a lot of Francis in 1914 as we were both working at Carlisle & Gregson's for the Staff College Exam, & we always had luncheon together at a little AAC shop where we used to discuss Arthur's & Rivy's affairs. Francis was so miserable about Rivy, as he always said that Arthur would be a millionaire again

but Rivy, who had no natural gift for business, had given up all he cared most for to win his position, & would never really recover again. Francis never once mentioned that he himself had lost everything! When we were married in 1915, after Rivy had been killed, Francis wrote to me & sent as a wedding present a print "From Rivy & me", just as if Rivy was still alive. They were the most lovable pair, and I am sure all their friends will agree with me that we owe you a very great debt of gratitude for having given us a book that we can always read & so

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remember those gallant Twins, & try & better our own lives by the splendid example they have left us. Thank you so much for giving me a copy. I shall always prize it, & often read it. How are you yourself? I was so very sorry to hear from Eileen that you had had to have an operation. I do hope you are fit again. We are very busy out here developing our property. I have a really delightful farm about 3300 acres on the bottom slopes of Mt. Londiani, running up from the Molo River. It is