Dart was pretty impressed with the letter he got from Dot today. “How do you manage to keep so sharp? Mebbe eating pencil sharpeners and honing stones for breakfast does the trick. Or do you still have the edge your father put on you with a razor strop when you were young enough for him to handle that way?”
He writes that Burke also wrote a sharp letter home form the University of Chicago today. He thanked his folks for sending a money order, and in the next paragraph, told about a date he’d been on. The he added, “In case your evil minds are working, I’m not squandering my money on women. Pat’s an inexpensive girl to operate and our two dates have totaled less than $3.00. We have a standing date for a walk during the first snowfall, for each to throw snow on each.”
Burke added the further news that he’d been offered a job as “chief button-pusher and apparatus setter-upper” for the biggest wig in the physical science department. They want someone who will stick with the job until graduation and then receive an appointment as a lecturer and instructor. It’s exactly the type of work he wants to do, so it looks like he’s all set to begin his future.
And now, for Dart’s “news.” At last, he can be sure of himself when he makes a prediction about a test. He completely bombed the literature teat this morning. When he turned in the half-completed mess, Mr. Carter asked him what he thought of the little gem of a test. Dart replied that it must have been a good test because he was unable to answer more than half of it. Mr. Carter chuckled an evil little laugh and Dart swears he detected a strong odor of brimstone in the vicinity of the desk.
If he has time, money, and inclination on Friday, he may go out to the airport and take in the sights of the national air show. They’re using a bomber plant as the display area – the biggest indoor space ever utilized for a show. He’ll even try to win a helicopter ride back into town.
“So you weren’t crying when you woke up the other day? Maybe I’m on a psychic party line and I don’t know the other subscribers.”
He points out a clever comment Dot made in a previous letter – a comment I completely missed. When she was congratulating him on his new job, she commented that the hours sounded as though they’d be hard on his constitution. Immediately, she suggested an “amendment” – an afternoon nap to make up for lost sleep. Now Dart writes “Oh, you kid! An ‘amendment’ to my ‘constitution.’ Where do you get these? … Don’t worry about your puns, Dot. I might complain, but I love them!”
He confirms that his dad’s birthday is Nov. 14 and his mother’s is Feb. 3. He agrees it would be great if she could come west for that alumnae banquet. Then he tells her he must quit. His Spanish homework is done, but he must start journalism.