Water is a bit rougher, but am feeling fine.

Onboard the S.S. Chicago...

Monday, May 21, 1917:

Lady in next cabin still sick. I slept like a log: didn’t get up until about 11 A.M. Ate a good dinner at 12:15. The time is continually changing so that it is hard to keep track of. At 2 P.M. the Norton-Harjes men met and received a few instructions regarding lifeboats and each man was presented with a button to distinguish him from the rest. There about 40 of us on board.

Much excitement! Cited a boat on our port bow. Everybody rushed for their glasses and Kodaks. We passed her at about 8 miles at 2:30 P.M. She proved to be an Italian contraband ship bound for New York. She saluted us with an Italian flag and an American flag.

Water is a bit rougher, but am feeling fine. Am growing a mustache.

Forgot to say that yesterday several of us wanted to be inoculated and found that to get the boat surgeon to do it, it would cost us $5.00 at throw. So we looked up a young doctor going over with the hospital corps who fixed us up for nothing.

Inoculation causing no trouble whatsoever.

Read some more steamer letters this P.M. Grandma Robbins wrote me a very good one for this day. Dorothy’s are superb and I don’t know what I will do when they run out. Guess I will have to start over again. She also fixed up a little calendar with a short sentiment for each day. They are good because she did it.

And Dorothy's steamer letter:

No. III – Monday

Deac-dear,

Just a tiny note today. I cut this out of the paper because it reminded me of that last walk of ours in the rain. Only your eyes were not the only things that talked. I shall never forget that last glorious evening together up by the lake—it couldn’t have been improved upon. Hope the ocean is behaving itself & you are well. “Bon soir, monsieur, je vous aime”—etc.

Dorothée