Dear Daddy,
Very busy time--commencement in ten days, examinations tomorrow; lots
of studying, lots of packing, and the outdoor world so lovely that it
hurts you to stay inside.
But never mind, vacation's coming. Julia is going abroad this
summer--it makes the fourth time. No doubt about it, Daddy, goods are
not distributed evenly. Sallie, as usual, goes to the Adirondacks.
And what do you think I am going to do? You may have three guesses.
Lock Willow? Wrong. The Adirondacks with Sallie? Wrong. (I'll never
attempt that again; I was discouraged last year.) Can't you guess
anything else? You're not very inventive. I'll tell you, Daddy, if
you'll promise not to make a lot of objections. I warn your secretary
in advance that my mind is made up.
I am going to spend the summer at the seaside with a Mrs. Charles
Paterson and tutor her daughter who is to enter college in the autumn.
I met her through the McBrides, and she is a very charming woman. I am
to give lessons in English and Latin to the younger daughter, too, but
I shall have a little time to myself, and I shall be earning fifty
dollars a month! Doesn't that impress you as a perfectly exorbitant
amount? She offered it; I should have blushed to ask for more than
twenty-five.
I finish at Magnolia (that's where she lives) the first of September,
and shall probably spend the remaining three weeks at Lock Willow--I
should like to see the Semples again and all the friendly animals.
How does my programme strike you, Daddy? I am getting quite
independent, you see. You have put me on my feet and I think I can
almost walk alone by now.
Princeton commencement and our examinations exactly coincide--which is
an awful blow. Sallie and I did so want to get away in time for it,
but of course that is utterly impossible.
Goodbye, Daddy. Have a nice summer and come back in the autumn rested
and ready for another year of work. (That's what you ought to be
writing to me!) I haven't any idea what you do in the summer, or how
you amuse yourself. I can't visualize your surroundings. Do you play
golf or hunt or ride horseback or just sit in the sun and meditate?
Anyway, whatever it is, have a good time and don't forget Judy.