Dart likes the recent note he got from Dot – the one where she drew Bugs Bunny. He told her Bugs was his favorite movie star.

He assured her he has no objections to her writing him letters on typing paper. “As long as they are from you, I’ll cherish them and welcome them with trembling fingers and speeding pulse.”

Commiserating with Dot about the punctuation test she had last week, he told her of the calculus tests he had at Shaw High School. They consisted of one question for which students could score either a 100%, a 50%, or a zero. He claims to have scored mostly zeros.

Continuing their conversation about dives and greasy spoons in East Cleveland, Dart tells Dot that he used to frequent them with his pal John Angel so they could watch people. He started to tell her about another thing he and Angel used to do on weekends, but he thought better of it and decided to keep her in suspense. (And the other readers of these letters, as well, it would seem.)

He tells of waiting all day for his new doctor to show up, as scheduled. He’s received quite a bit of good reading material lately, so he passed the hours reading. Unfortunately, the doctor never showed. He also happened to mention that making it to Cleveland on the weekend of March 17th was highly improbable, but the 24th looks better.

Dot’s 10-pager is really two letters written on the same day. She reports that even though the new stationery she sent him is quite thin, he should still write on both sides because of the paper shortage. (So many shortages to deal with on the home front!)

She settles in to answer his last three letters, amounting to 15 pages. First, she thanks him for a cartoon he sent her. It has been lost to the ages, so I have no idea what it was about. She hesitates to call it a “cartoon” because she takes such topics seriously. Still, she’s happy that it graces her mirror frame.

Dot mildly scolds Dart and his pals for telling jokes behind the nurse’s back and suggests that the nurse undoubtedly could tell a few jokes that would make a sailor blush. “And don’t think the Andrews girls are angels, either,” she warns.

In answer to his question about the film he sent her, she says that she took it to be developed two weeks ago and it still wasn’t ready  when she checked. She reports that it is mostly snapshots of her family because he can look at her picture anytime, but how else can he “meet” her family? She mentioned that she is enclosing photos of her brother and her neice, but would like them back.

She can’t understand how he can spend so many weeks lying in a hospital bed and still write such interesting letters. She mentioned the “Camp Case Dissertation” he wrote and confessed she didn’t understand much of it except that four guys consumed 126 Cokes in two days. Dot’s roommate says that may explain why he’s been in the hospital so long!

She expresses deep regret that he keeps getting new ailments and wishes him a speedy recovery from phlebitis. Then she asks if he’s being truthful with her about the seriousness of his condition. She really wants him to be completely honest, even if things are bad.

Dart’s comparison of the old edition of Esquire with it’s current style amused Dot. She claims to have no inkling of the kind of magazine it was, but her roommates were kind enough to enlighten her.

She congratulated Dart on escaping the clutches of brazen females over Leap Year. Still, she warned him to be very careful in four years, because she will be 21, bold and as fresh a loaf right out of the oven, so she will make her move on him then.

She told him to think positive thoughts about good weather when he’s home on leave soon. She ended with a promise that if he is a very good boy and gets well enough to come home, she will bake him some oatmeal cookies.