It’s a hurried note from Dart today, but he crams a lot in. He’s very tired from an all-day working party he was part of yesterday. He’s not complaining because he says the other men had it much worse. No further details are forthcoming, so maybe he’s being mindful of the censors. Speaking of which, I’m pretty impressed by how long it’s been since we’ve seen any part of his letter cut out with a razor. He seems to be taking the censorship rules to heart.

He raises the issue of the “Dear John” letters he’s written about before. He explains that when he wrote that letter about them, he was “under the influence of current events.” He watched as some of the fellows received such letters and seemed very hurt by them. He’s since learned that in some of the cases, the fellow himself had been chiseling,” (cheating?) and in other cases, the girl was just a passing fancy anyway. Sometimes the girl was to blame, sometimes not.

His point in bringing it up now is to say that he loves her beyond anything he thought possible before he met her, and he trusts her thoroughly, without the slightest doubt in his mind. “So, Dearest, please forgive a sailor his blue moments. These are the things I should write on scratch paper and throw over the side.”

He gushes a final thought, “Goshamighty, you’re nice, Dot.” I love the simplicity of that line. Yes, he loves her looks, and he tells her so often. He thinks she’s funny. He appreciates her positive outlook and her way with children. I trust he feels his share of lust for her as well. But the sweet “you’re nice, Dot,” also reveals that he just genuinely likes her.