East (the Arab countries, Turkey, Iran), has contributed greatly to lessening the severity of the locust peril in each of these countries — above all in Lebanon, where this peril is no longer frightening and terrifying as it was in the past. What reaches Lebanon today of locust swarms is nothing but the remnant of the destruction which its immensely numerous swarms have suffered, whether in the homeland from which they set out or in the countries through which they passed; and the serious preparations made by the specialized departments in Lebanon, together with the awareness of the Lebanese people, are sufficient to wipe out this slight remainder of the locusts that reaches us.

As for woman's part in fighting the locust, it is still of great importance, especially in the remote districts and villages which the equipment and the control teams find it hard to reach, owing to the ruggedness of the paths and the absence of means of communication. In such a case woman can give man and the responsible specialized departments important help in ridding us of this fearsome plague — whether by giving information about its movement and direction, or by guiding the control teams to the places where the locusts have alighted and laid their eggs.

These things greatly help the official and popular control teams to follow its movements, to fight it, and to destroy it.

Annabelle, so that she seemed born anew?

When are you going out with Roger again...?

I said: I don't know... when he asks me.

She said: Are you in love with him...!

I said: Don't be silly, my dear... I've only seen him twice.

I never suspected her at all... and when Roger came to take me out, I thought it was chance that had kept her at home... She had hardly heard the sound of the car before she ran out to it ahead of me and jumped in beside him, saying: I'm coming with you.

In this she seemed a child...

And off we went... She had adorned her neck with a necklace of spring jasmine blossoms... and all the while she kept giving me her loveliest smiles, as if she never stopped making me feel I was an old woman... or an aunt of hers... By the time we came home she had arranged with him to meet her at the tennis party the next day. I took it without caring, for I was not in love with Roger... though I had felt at ease with him and thought that something might happen... Annabelle quickly tired of Roger when she met another her own

age... and I would not have thought of Roger again but for the remark Tom made when he said: You let her rule you.

And even if he was right — she was much younger than I... my little sister... It was hard for me to believe she had grown up, but she reminded me of it at every opportunity.

She had made a habit of borrowing my things... my shoes... my handbag... anything she wanted... And that evening she flew into a rage because I would not give her my white scarf... I told her: I need it tonight... And she shouted: What do you want with a white scarf? To make yourself look younger in it?... Then she went out in a temper.

My brother Tom, coming in, muttered: The wicked thing!... Then he took me by the shoulders and said: Don't give her the scarf...

I said: She's a child!

He said: She's a girl, and a jealous one — don't you understand?... Laurel, you are ten times more attractive than she is, and she knows it... You have your own wonderful personality... something Annabelle does not possess.

I laughed, protesting: No!

He said: Oh yes! You could have married ten years ago if you had wanted to... Now take care she doesn't snatch Jonathan away from you.

I said: Don't be stupid... I don't imagine she would.

Joe was Dr. Paul's partner, and he had been sent to see my father in one of the bouts of his illness...

I was at my father's side then... and after we had come to know each other better I said to him: You have a doctor's face... And he said: And what sort of face is a doctor's face?... I said: Like yours... calm... wise... thoughtful. He said: You almost make me believe I'm "Superman"... Then he took off his spectacles and said: And now, how do I look to you — is mine a face that could be loved...? I said: Without a doubt!

That was all that was ever said of love between us... There was no need to speak of love, for we knew it without words.

I was waiting for Tom's wedding... Two days before it my brother had arranged everything... He said to me: Annabelle will be kept busy with Charlie, the bride's brother... Tom was uneasy, and I felt some of his uneasiness without knowing its source.

The morning of the wedding was one of the loveliest dawnings of spring... And my

brother Tom appeared dressed in his finest clothes, looking elegant...