Dart writes a sympathetic letter concerning Dot’s achy feet. He wishes for her a job in Greenwich where she can stand for long hours on a soft floor.

He’s glad she likes Ohio and says, not very cryptically, that he has hopes they have a future together in Ohio.

He talks a bit about El’s finace, Don. He hopes Dot’s family will like him as much as they seem to like Don, but it’s hard to top a Dean’s List from medical school. He asks when El and Don plan to marry and then says something about having plans of his own, but needing to wait until they know each other better before he can mention them. Still, he can dream, can’t he?

He mentions how kind the nurses from his former ward have been. He received a card from one and a visit from two others. I suspect they’ve all taken an extra smidgen of concern for this handsome young sailor who can’t seem to find a way out of the hospital.

There is a touching paragraph where Dart ponders his eventual reunion with Dot. His thoughts get as far as the tight embrace and luscious kiss, and he wants to hold his imagination right there. He misses her in such a viseral way that he can think of almost nothing else.

His P. S. reveals that he suspects the mumps have spread to his left jaw. He dreads the swelling and discomfort that will follow. (Not to mention the extended stay in the hospital!)

Dot was gleeful that her letter from Dart was eight pages long, while the one he wrote her mother was only four. Her mother suggested they swap letters so that each could see what he’d written to the other. Dot didn’t fall for that line.

She says that his work in the wood shop sounds like it might have been fun, and a good way to take his mind off his troubles. She promises to swallow her pride and send an outline of her less-than-dainty feet so he can make a pair of shower slippers.

She’s sorry his friend will not be able to stop by for a visit, but she has an idea of how he might get visitors, if he’d like. There are three girls he met at Andrews School who are working and sharing an apartment in Chicago. They’ve offered to pay him a call if Dot can get specific instructions about how they’d find him.

She reports that she likes her job better each day, but she’s nervous about going in tomorrow. The manager and only other employee of her department left on a two-month vacation, so Dot will be alone and in charge during her absence. The woman is going to Texas to spend time with her husband before he ships off to war. That little statement served to remind me how nearly everyone is in some way impacted by the war. What sacrifices this whole country made during the long war years!

Because she keeps Dart’s picture in her bedroom, she doesn’t give many people an opportunity to comment on it. She tells him that when she sleeps, he is just two feet away. She’s sure that’s why she has such wonderful dreams.