221 Wildwood Av: Victoria B.C.

2 May/16

Dear Acus

Little Alice left - us yesterday, & the house feels a good deal less cheery without her. She is wonderful at - Keeping her heart up, - or at [?] her own smoke & Keeping a bright-face through all. She gave me your cheque, of course, before we left-Vancouver, & you must let-me say thank you for it, & all the more because my Eczema is running up a doctors bill. Alice may heave told you how the Dr. [?] me tar my feet- with disastrous consequences. It has laid me by the heels, & given me really extreme pain, but is now much better, though it is still desirable to keep the feet above the groin, & I think I shall be lucky if I am able to put on boots & walk into town under another fortnight. Meantime Mother has gone lame with a specially bad corn, & Duke finds us inadequate dog owners, & goes off scallywagging daily.= At this moment comes a letter from Aunt A. telling us [?] was enroute to an artillery training school near Exeter: it is a great relief to hear that he is safe out of this Sinn Fein [?]; but poor [?] will have had a bad time. It is some time since we heard from her & she may be in England before you can get to Kilgobbin, if she is lucky in letting the house. Otherwise, I shall be sorry if you [?] seeing the place. If you do get the do not forget to ask if the B.C. bulbs have done any good but I do not expect you will be long in England, especially if Joffre orders the general advance: even without it maintaining the stale-mate Keeps up a terrible drain on us. However, we must see it through, hard though it be.

With much love from us all three, especially from
[?] father
Robert L. Leighton