Dart cannot let a new month begin without writing to his sweetheart. There’s not much to write about except the weather, and that can be summed up in a single word: RAIN.

He tells her about the port they’re in now, saying it has a name, but he’s not sure what it is. He only knows it by the obscene and vulgar nicknames the crew has given it. There’s much more land around than there was in the previous base of operations, with more hills, and the vegetation is less tropical. There is no liberty or shore recreation permitted at this location. It happens that this very cove is where they were anchored during May’s full moon. He was able to see the hills backlit by silver and admire the twinkling lights on the calm water. It was beautiful, but he would have preferred being home and watching the full moon with Dot.

Not knowing how long it’ll take for his letter to reach her, he sends birthday greetings now. “It’s about time to wish you a very happy birthday, Darling. This is an occasion for one of those congratulatory kisses (and other kinds, too) that I want to bestow when the time comes. I hope that the coming year will bring you much success and happiness, and that it will bring us ever closer together. If it’ll make you feel happier to be reassured that I love you, then here’s that reassurance: I love you very, very much. Maybe by your twentieth birthday, and from then on, these wishes can be spoken to you.”

It sounds strange to think that she is not quite 19, and may soon be engaged. On the surface, that sounds so young, yet anyone who reads the letters of these two would never doubt their maturity nor their ability to make a success of a marriage, even at their young ages.