R.F.D. 1, Amesbury, Mass.,
c/o F. E. Boody.Dear Ruth, -
You must have had a swell time at Yale Commencement. You certainly are a lucky girl. I have had several postals from Grace but no long epistles. I cannot help congratulating myself on the distance between 67 Mead and 67 Porter. I have also heard from Rae, Marion, Betty, Dot, and Florence. I take it you got all "Credits". Rae and Grace did too. I went up to Haverhill and spent the afternoon with Alice Noyes last week. I stayed to supper and had an awfully good time. Alice's ΣΘΧ sister is ever so nice, and her Freshman sister, Mary, is pretty quiet but she'll get waked up.
This is a glorious place. We are boarding at a large gray farmhouse with nice big trees near it. The house has been painted and papered this spring and is very attractive and comfortable. We have dandy rooms but we hardly look into them all day, for there are so many prettier places than the house. There are four other boarders - all ladies. One of them is quite young and awfully jolly and we have great fun. Mr. and Mrs. Boody have five children between sixteen and six but there is only one at home at present. However the oldest daughter is coming sometime or other and then we are going to learn to ride horseback.
There is only one horse and one cow so the barn is not so attractive as its predecessors have been. But there is a nice dog and a cat with four angelic kittens so I find something to pet. How I wish I might take one of the kittens to college to catch mice.
The Powow River flows by the house and just above it widens into Tuxbury Pond. We have two boats at our disposal and are on the water a good deal. Papa and I each take a boat and go way up river. It is the loveliest row for you can almost touch both banks and you go under a bridge and part of the way the trees arch over head. The pickerel fishing is good too. I went out twice without even having a bite but Monday papa, Harold, and I went and got thirteen pickerel and I caught the biggest one. We started at 8.30 A.M. and we returned at 4.30 P.M. We sat down to dinner at 4.45 and we hadn't had a thing to eat since breakfast.
The horse and carriage are at our disposal and the electrics run in sight of the house. There are lots of pretty places to visit and we are never very hard up for something to do. I have a friend from Roxbury whose summer home is on an island opposite Newburyport. She has spent the day up here twice and I have been down once so far. It is great having her so near.
We leave here Aug. 11 and go to Bath, Maine. c/o John M. Clark for 10 days. Then I shall probably go to Danvers to both Gertrude's and Mildred's. Write soon.
Lovingly,
Betsey.July 27, 1904.
[According to the 1903-1904 student directory, Ruth and Betsey were roommates in 66 Wilder. In the 1904-1905 directory, Ruth is in 66 Mead and Betsey is in 67 Porter, so Betsey is evidently talking about the proximity of their two rooms for the coming year when they won't be roommates any more.]