Dart’s newsy letter begins with the weather (it’s blustery) and ends with a surprise.

Tomorrow, the crew will load supplies and then depart soon for an upriver destination to load ammunition. After that, they should be coming back to the same berth they’re in now, but may end up in a different Navy yard. Their dock trials yesterday showed that the mechanical sections of the ship seem to be in pretty good working order.

Dart had about four days of work to do recently, which seems to put him in a better frame of mind. He got a first-hand look at how much bigger the Craig is than the “Hag” when he had to run all over the ship to figure out the proper settings for the electrical switches related to the big guns. There were switches scattered fore and aft, upper decks and lower, and he had to try them all in the “on” position, all in the “off” position, and every combination of both. That’s lots of steps!

He’s sorry (well, at least a little) if he had her worried in that recent letter about the pretty girl. He couldn’t stick with the gag as long as Dot has been known to do in some of her letters. He wonders if he should be worried that she admits to smiling at good-looking men, but decides that if she saves her big smiles, the meaningful ones that glow in the dark just for him, he won’t complain.

The last paragraph of her letter from December 10 thrilled him to the bone. “I keep thinking of us and how happy we must surely be together. My Darling Dot, my fiance, the girl I love beyond all hope of description.”

He saved the surprise until the P.S. He almost has an 8-day pass over Christmas! It is approved, but not yet signed, so he’s not 100% sure. But if it comes through, could she delay her train home by a day? He’d arrive in Cleveland the morning of the 21st and they could have about 36 hours together! Please, oh please, oh please!