Dart’s letter begins with a powerful prayer. “Please let it be true! Oh, if it could only come true now! The news that Japan has offered to surrender. By the time you get this, it will probably all have blown over. But now we hope and pray that it will all be over soon.”

Almost as though it’s too big a hope to wrap his head around, Dart switches subjects to the more mundane. He reiterates that the ship was emptied out yesterday so that cleaning and painting can begin. They will also fumigate every nook and cranny. “They’ll just about have to melt the ship down to kill that hardy breed of cockroaches which has grown up in the compartments.”

The portion of the crew not on leave is living in barracks about two miles from the ship. He says it’s convenient for liberties, but there are certain inconveniences about it, too. He mentions that they are still under “dual command,” but offers no further explanation of what that means.

The other inconveniences become clear when he describes his daily schedule, described by Dart as a “merry chase.” The barracks are in a quiet section far from the bustle of the shipyard. The men eat breakfast near the barracks, then take a bus to the ship for 0800 muster. They work on board until about 1100, then get back on the bus to go back to the barracks area for lunch. It’s another bus ride and muster at 1300.

He laments a lack of mail in his week at this location. To remedy that, he’s decided he’d better start writing to more people.

He writes that his pal Hal Martin, who has a place on Lake Sunapee and with whom Dart has shared some liberties, is going to Boston for the weekend. While there, he’s going to check on train schedules for Dart, to aid in his planning for the eventual leave. Where that schedule is concerned, he’s still in the dark. His parents want him to come to Cleveland first and be there when Burke is home, but he would rather go straight to Greenwich. Naturally, Dot wants the same thing.

Speaking of plans for his leave, he knows they’re in agreement about her traveling back to Cleveland with him, but he disagrees with part of her plan. She suggested she could stay at the home of a friend from Andrews, but he wants her to stay at his parents’ apartment. His mother means every word of her invitation, and besides, he and Dot have much to do during his 30 days, so he wants them to be together every possible moment.

He interjects how wonderful it was to hear her voice on Sunday. She sounds exactly the way he remembers her.

He tells her to accept the Miller’s invitation to go sailing with them while Dart’s in Greenwich. “I’ll probably be seasick, but I’d surely love to go. No swimming from the fantail for me, though. Better warn Mr. Miller that he can put anything he wants to over on me, because I don’t know a thing about sailing. I can sing out with a mean ‘Heave around on five,’ if he happens to have five mooring lines for his boat. ”

Maybe they should have the party for announcing their engagement on his second night in Greenwich. That would give them the maximum time to be openly engaged around her friends and family. Like the thought that opened this letter, that seems to be too much for Dart to bear thinking about. He wants so much for their engagement to begin as soon as possible!

Dot’s letter also begins with big hopes for the news out of Japan. “God grant that you and Gordon and thousands of other boys won’t have to leave the country again. Oh, I hope it will be official soon!”

She was hoping for an uncensored letter from Norfolk today, but got no letters at all. She can’t complain, because she hasn’t been writng very much lately herself.

Gordon called again last night and Betty let Dot speak with him for a minute. He said he got Dart’s letter a long time ago, but would wait until he was home to tell her about it. He sounds so good that she’s beginning to think the Pacific climate works wonders on folks.

Three weeks from tomorrow she will finally leave Franklin Simons. “I’m sure that’ll be a blow to everyone concerned. There’s no conceit in my family – I have it all.” She admits it hasn’t been a bad year and a half, but she hasn’t moved her life forward much, either. Still, she’ll miss the people there.

It’s now looking doubtful that the Chamberlains will be going to Sunapee over Labor Day. They had hoped to host Dart’s parents, but since they aren’t coming, Arthur Chamberlain is not sure it’s worth the time and gas to go up there themselves. Maybe they can swing a quick trip when Gordon’s home.

The end of summer is shaping up to be a busy one. El’s roommate is coming this weekend, Gordon will be home the following week for 16 days, followed by Dart’s visit and their engagement announcement. She hopes she’ll be able to settle down and learn how to study again.

Tomorrow she goes horseback riding with Janie, El and friends. She has only ridden bare back before, so she assumes she’ll be providing plenty of laughter for her companions, especially if she gets a frisky horse.

How she longs for the day when letters will not be a necessity between them. (But, oh how happy I am that these letters are around for me to savor!)

“Guess the words ‘I love you’ are just about the best three in the world, but ‘See you shortly’ run a close second.”