Hopes Mrs. Stowell will soon come to town for another visit. School will start soon, and she will have to leave her dissecting laboratory and father's office, where she is in charge. Yesterday father thwarted an attempted scam. Carrie Miner gone to college. A nearby married couple not happy. Another couple as romantic as characters in a Ouida novel. Wm. Cather [Stout #1]
Won Latin prize at end of school year. Grades of 90 in rhetoric, 95 in Latin, and 100s in physics, astronomy, and ancient history. Teacher wrote a message in report card praising her literary interests. Has fixed up a room at father's office as a library. Is reading the Latin Bible, astronomy, geology, history, Homer, Milton, Swinburne, Ouida, and George Sand. Sister Jessie in school musicale yesterday. Mother, Mrs. Wiener, Mrs. Garber, and husbands [Charles F. Cather, Charles F. Wiener, and Silas Garber] had a picnic. Longs to go to Europe. Mary Miner doing well at piano. P.S.: As usual, Cather house is a gathering place for young people to flirt. William Cather, Jr. [Stout #2]
Has been studying Greek and reading Bulwer-Lytton and Dickens. Brothers Roscoe and Douglass competed in the Firemen's State Tournament. Is serving as a reporter for the Republican, edited by Dr. McKeeby. Has been to picnics in the Garbers' grove. Local couple flirting ridiculously. Jessie, Roscoe, and Douglass singing in cantata. Is going to baseball game in Superior, Nebraska, with Mary and Hugh Miner. Is going to dance at platform in the Garbers' grove tonight. Willa Cather [Stout #3]
Why did Mariel buy the disreputable Sappho? Kit and Mr. Myres flirting. Is feeling lonely but takes refuge in French history, George Eliot, and long horseback rides. Was at Mrs. Garber's on Sunday. Kit loaned her copy of Sappho to a church woman—how depraved! Is doing vivisection on frogs. Mariel could set up lab at newspaper office. Willa Cather [Stout #4]
Enclosing first issue of the Lasso [an alternative literary paper at the university]. Has marked her own articles with asterisks. Willa Cather [Stout #6]
Had to leave without saying goodbye because of grandmother's illness. Brother James has the measles. Sister Elsie prates of Willie and "Willwese" [for Louise]. Louise dislikes the name Willa but will not call her Love in front of others. Could Mariel and her sisters come to visit? Louise may do so. Mrs. Wiener's health has improved, and Mrs. Garber is her pleasant self. W. Cather [Stout #12]
Has been lonely since Louise's visit. Tried to bribe James to leave them alone. Spent a few days at uncle's home near other families from Virginia. Aunt hosted a "literary" at which a truly atrocious singer did twelve songs. Climbed the windmill in the evening and enjoyed the sight of moonlight glistening on ponds and corn tassels. Had to pull off skirts to climb down when a storm approached. Roscoe away haying, but when he gets back they will go up the river to their island. Baby brother Jack has been ill. Please greet a certain blonde [Louise?] if she sees her. Drove her about the countryside with one hand or none, but she didn't object. Still dreams about it. Don't read that part to Ned [Ellen] and Frances. Cather [Stout #15]
Children were all dressed up for her homecoming. Is reading Virgil and botanizing. Mr. Wiener now boarding at Mrs. Garber's. Thanks for being mainstay during past winter and spring, when she [Cather] was despairing over the loss of what she had lived for. Appreciates her patience these past years while she raved over a certain girl's beauty, charm, and talent; rhapsodized over merely touching that person's hand; and suffered through the loss of love. Loving too much is a mistake. Hopes they can meet in Crete [Nebr.] Douglass may come, too. Willa [Stout #17]
Feels exiled. Why doesn't Mariel write? Cooks sometimes to relieve boredom. Rides bicycle when weather permits. Planned and orchestrated a wedding breakfast for her [Cather's] cousin and Hugh Miner. Looked after the children the previous week while parents went to Hastings. Enjoys playing cards and going visiting with Douglass and Roscoe, when he comes to town. Has been reading Arabian Nights and Alice in Wonderland to James. Willa [Stout #22]
Enclosing a letter to Professor Adams. Has been to see Regent Kaley, who says decision on new instructor to replace Professor Bates rests with regents and chancellor. Please speak to them about it. Is confident she can stay in the job if she gets temporary appointment. Age and sex are against her, but would take it at lower rank and less pay than a man. Willa Cather [Stout #23]
