p.

The needle book will be a
good investment if I only
get it as I have some sew-
ing to do: the Sanitary
Commission has furnished
me with needles & thread
though. In consequence
of my fever & exposure my
head is as bald as Grand-
fathers used to be, but I
can see that the new hair
is in prospect, so I am not
quite an old man, yet.
There are some twenty-one
or twenty-two Vt soldiers
here now, all of whom have
made application for fur-
loughs, but those who
were here when I came
applied a month before
so I think my chance
is in the distance, yet
a while, at least.

[page break]

I got a letter from Charlie
Newton last night tell-
ing me of his [underline]reEnlist-
ment, furlough & marriage[/underline].
In regard to the first, he
is muddled; respecting
the second, he was again
clear, but of the third, I
can only say he is a fool
and she, a ninny.

No female will ever marry
me after giving me [underline]three
final dismissals[/underline], and she
has done this to him to
my personal knowledge.
[underline]Once[/underline]before the war and
[underline]twice[/underline] since he came out.
I will close now.

"Thy" dutiful son

W. B. Stevens,
[P. P?]