So all and all I feel a whole lot better then I did only for my feet but feet or no feet I will enjoy myself in Chi and I only wish I was going tomorrow instead of wait till Sat.

Your pal, jack.

Camp Grant, Oct. 7.

FRIEND AL: Well Al its Sunday night and I haven’t been to Chi or nowheres else and I don’t care if I ever go anywheres and the sooner they send me to France to the front line trenches I will be tickled to death.

Well old pal I decided yesterday A.M. to stay here and not go and I made up my mind all of a sudden and it was partly because I wasn’t feeling good and my feet pretty near killed me and besides they are going to pick some of us out for corporals and sargents pretty soon and I figured a man would have a better chance of getting a officer job if you didn’t ask them for leave all the while.  So as soon as I changed my mind about going I found one of the boys that was going and asked him to call Florrie up as soon as he got to Chi and tell her I couldn’t get off and for her to come out here today and see me and bring little Al.

Well Al yesterday and today has been the 2 longest days I ever spent and it seems like a yr. since yesterday A.M. and it don’t hardly seem possible that I was feeling so good yesterday A.M. and now I don’t care if school keeps or not as they say.  Yesterday A.M.  I was up before the buggle blowed all ready and so excited I couldn’t hardly eat breakfast and just before inspections Shorty Lahey seen me smileing to myself and asked me what was the joke and I told him they wasn’t no joke only I was going home and he says he hoped I would have a good trip and come back safe in sound so I said I guessed they wasn’t no danger of anything happening to me and he says “You will he O.K. if you keep your eyes open.”  So I said “What do you mean keep my eyes open.”

So he says “Your a game bird but they’s no use of you takeing reckless chances so you want to be on the look out every minute till you get back.”

So then I asked him what and the hell he was talking about and he says “Didn’t you know that Nick the Blade was going along with you?”

Well Al it seems like Sebastian got wise that I was going home on leave and he seen a chance to get even with me for laughing at him or that is he thought I was laughing at him but I really wasn’t but any way as soon as he found out I was going he told them his brother in law had fell and struck his head on the brass rail and was dying and wanted him to come home and they eat it up and give him leave.  So when Shorty tipped me off I said I would wait and go on a later train but Shorty says that wouldn’t do me no good because Nick wouldn’t be a sucker enough to try and pull anything on the train amidst all them soldiers but would wait till we was in Chi and then he would get his gang and lay for me and the way he generally worked was come right up to your flat and get you and if your wife or kid says I yes or no it would be taps for them to.  And Nick could come back here to camp and they wouldn’t never know he was mixed up in it.