December 3, 1919, From Richard

La Fayette, Indiana
December 3, 1919

Dear Esther,

I have been paying for my good time by working hard this week, which accounts for my delay in answering your letter from home. So you can successfully fool people; and consequently they think that you prefer to go back to school! Well, that is a strange way for everyone to have you placed. Why do we all think wrongly?

I have wondered if you got back to I.U. all right and have regained your lost sleep. No doubt ou are as busy as you ever were, readjusting yourself to the old routine. I surely did have a great time last week end but not what I could have had had I been home. See? Only two more weeks + and we'll beat the trail for home, walking perhaps if they take the trains off. Really the coal is in serious shortage everywhere. They even have partly closed the "movies" here. Ha. Now I can't spend "all" my time and money there.

We get our vacation from noon, Saturday, December 20 to January 6. I guess you get the same time off, do you not? I think we ought to get more time off than I.U. because we do so much more work. Then too we are confident that Purdue appreciates us if we do work. But they surely do soon kick a fellow out if he continually flunks. You don't worry about anything serious happening to you if you miss a train, do you? I know the officials can easily scare Freshman for awhile; but they can't do it longer than a year.

This cold weather seems to chill all social activities; meetings are postponed, dances not popular, and no place to take a date after nine o'clock. Of course we put the blame upon the coal miners and Reds.

I hope you are still in a good humor, and enthusiastic over school and the boys of I.U. Good luck and best wishes from

Yours Truly,
Richard.