Still no mail for the lonely sailor. Hal got word from Ira, who is still aboard the Haggard that there is no equipment left on the ship. It won’t be long now until there’s nothing left of the old girl.

Dart probably won’t go on liberty, unless he decides to see a movie. There’s really not much to do on liberty these days.

There was some sort of official inspection in Dart’s vicinity today, but he never saw any evidence of it. All he did was work, work, work, and then wait around for four hours when an announcement on the PA system reported that the farce was over.

He fears that Dot’s English teacher is following in the grand tradition of those at Shaw and Case; never asking for the assignments that she gave the class. “Do not be bitter, Dot! As they say, ‘It’s good training for your mind.’ Yeah, sure. If you don’t go batty while being trained.”

Now he wishes he’d called tonight because he doesn’t know where to call over the weekend if he wants to find Dot.

During all these letters of loneliness, I’m surprised the subject of Dot taking a train down to Norfolk has never been raised. I guess a) she’s busy at college, b) she has no money for travel, c) there’s no one who could be her chaperone, and d) no nice girl, even with a diamond on her finger would travel unescorted to visit a man out of state. What a pity she can’t see his living quarters and meet some of his buddies.

Dot’s letter is nearly glowing. She’s over the moon after her phone conversation with her beloved tonight. She’s sorry he’s feeling so blue, but his voice made her feel better than she has in days.

House mother Miss Olin poked her head into Dot’s room while she was writing this letter and asked Dot if she would be able to get any sleep tonight after such a nice phone call from her man. Dot responded that she sort of hoped she wouldn’t sleep because it was much more fun to think about Dart and how lucky she was to have him. Miss Olin confirmed that Dot had found herself a very nice young man. In a separate incident, Phyllis, a housemate that Dot is becoming quite fond of, asked Dot when she knew she was in love with Dart. Dottie answered that it couldn’t have been more than 10 seconds after she first laid eye on him.

She’s chiding herself a little about spending so much of the phone call griping about college. But then, that allowed Dart to talk with her in that way he does, easing her concerns and making her feel so much better. “It was almost as if we were sitting on your couch at home and you were trying to convince me that I shouldn’t be discouraged. Thanks loads, my Darling.”

The thing that bothers her the most about school is how much she and her roommate Eleanor fight and bicker. She says it shows that neither of them is mature enough to be in college, but she vows to take another path. If she refuses to fight with Ellie, Ellie will have to quit fighting altogether. Dot’s so glad she was not raised an only child like Eleanor,  who was raised to believe she’s second only to God. Her plan now is to disarm with charm and try to make Ellie like her.

Shortly after she and Dart hung up, Dot called his mother, who was still aglow from her talk with Dart earlier. “I broke the news to her that I was going up to their house next weekend and she took it like a sport. Why, in no time she will have built up such an immunity to me that I won’t bother her at all.” In truth, Helen Peterson loved Dot from their very first meeting and always treated Dot like a daughter.

After wishing Dart a “Happy Navy Day,” Dot suggested that as disgusted as he is with the Navy, isn’t he glad he’s not in the Army or the Marines? He would have likely fought the war in the mud instead of at sea. Most importantly, if he’d not been in the Navy, he and Dot would likely never have met! That fact alone should help him endure whatever the Navy dishes out.

She has no intention of boring Dart by tooting her own horn about that A+ she received on her Robert Frost essay. After all, good English grades are the only ones he’s ever received. She still claims to “know nuttin’ about grammar,” but both Dart and I would disagree.

“I’d give almost anything to be able to do exactly what we were doing two weeks ago at precisely this time. That was the best night of my life – and to think that even better nights are yet to come seems almost unbelievable! The kiss you gave me over the phone wasn’t quite like the ones you gave me two weeks ago, but it was far better than none at all. After the talk we had that night, I felt as though I couldn’t know you any better, but I realize there are still a few things to be discussed later – much later.”

How she wishes she could squeeze him right now and tell him all the ways she loves him, but she’s not much good at expressing that. Because she claims to bottle up her feeling inside herself, she warns him to watch out the next time they are together, because it will all come out in an explosion of emotion.

She thanks him once again for the phone call and for making her feel so much better about things.