Of the whole crowd Dart used to go on liberties with, he’s the only one left in Norfolk. Finch, Cotton and Harper are all on destroyers. Puckett is in the hospital with a fractured jaw, a fractured skull and a cracked roof of his mouth, all of which he had for 35 days before they were discovered. Hal just left for Boston, assigned to the USS Glennan.

Last night, he and Hal made a little bet, over which Dot will be the arbitor. Although Hal has been assigned a ship, he has no idea when he’ll board her. Dart, with his future still a mystery, bet Hal that he would board his, as yet unknown ship before Hal boards his. When each man logs into their new ship, they will enclose a note in an envelope, stating the date and time he stepped aboard. When Dot has received both envelopes, she will open them and determine the winner. The loser must then host a weenie roast at Lake Sunapee for the winner, at a time to be determined in the future. So much intrigue! Such fun!

Ira left base last night after joining Dart and Hal for a brief liberty. He’s been assigned to the destroyer Bordelon, one of 12 “tin cans” that will escort the Midway on her 18-month goodwill tour of the world. The tour left Norfolk this morning with Haggard men serving on 8 of the 12 destroyers. “The Hapless Haggard sails on, in spirit!”

Ira will serve as the senior quartermaster on his ship. The quartermaster is the fellow who navigates the ship and steers her through tricky waters and delicate dockings. He’ll make the rank of Chief before his discharge. His enlistment date was one day before Dart’s. “Just think, I might have been first class or chief if I’d gone right into it.” (Instead of the dead-end detour into the V-12 unit at Case.)

But for his three years’ service, he has no regrets. They brought him to where he is now, engaged to the world’s most perfect girl. He’s thrilled, proud and delighted with the outcome.

He mentions receiving Dot’s 12-page masterpiece in the mail today. Unfortunately, I’ve not found a 12-page letter from Dot in recent days. He says he read parts of it to Hal, who “suffered a a horrible and agonized demise at the close of your poem.” What could that mean? I hope it’ll become clear.

His final paragraph is a series of “I love yous” which she is to read with long pauses between while she imagines a healthy kiss in each pause.

Dot cut her first class today. She was feeling lousy and knew that tap dancing wouldn’t make her feel any better. The only thing that might would be a phone call from a certain someone, but she’s not counting on that happening. Still, just “visiting” him through this letter has soothed her.

She heartily disagrees with his assessment of his recent letters. They’re all masterpieces to her, and just about the only thing she looks forward to each day. She says he’d better not do a thing to change them, thus proving the old adage “Love is blind.”

Instead of him becoming a journalist, she suggests he try movie critic. He always makes his reports about the movies he’s seen so compelling that she wants to run right out and see them. Neither her time nor her allowance will permit such a luxury, but she sure values his reviews.

She makes him a promise that someday she’ll say “it” in front of his mother and father, but for now she wants some credit for how far she’s come in the last year. “Do you realize that a year ago tonight we were fools enough to go upstairs to bed almost as soon as your mom and dad did? And you were still asking permission every time you kissed me. But the worst part of all was that I hadn’t told you how very much I loved you. Considering the short amount of time we’ve been together this year, our advances would be stiff competition for science and all of it’s modern marvels.”

I was overjoyed when she reminded Dart of a very early letter she’d written to him on which she’d written the initials E.N.I.P.T.G.T.Y.W.L.M.S. He’d begged her to tell him what those letters meant and she promised to tell him someday. He’s probably forgotten about the episode, but she’s decided to reveal the secret message finally. The letters simply mean Every Night I Pray To God That You Will Love Me Someday. What a sweet thought, what an endearing sentiment. The fact that she was thinking such thoughts in the earliest days of knowing Dart is further evidence that these two were destined to love each other.

Finally she copies a free verse that Janie wrote tonight about her room here at the house Dot lives in. It’s a lovely little piece about the simple elegance of the shabby Victorian room she now occupies.

It’s late and Dot’s tired. She says goodnight.