Ruth and Arriving in Hutchinson

Eventually Ruth wanted me to come and see her. She'd tell me about her boyfriend Bill and her cousin who was a good friend. She'd tell me about her and Bill going dancing on Saturday.

I'd write and tell her that it would be of no use for me to come, 'cause she had a boyfriend and he wanted her to dance, and I wanted to go to church and Sunday School.

She talked to her mother and her mother said that she would take care of Bill, while Ruth would entertain me.

So I took her at her word and quit my job and went to see Ruth. When I got off the train, there was Ruth, her mother, and her cousin. They took me way out in the country.

They entertained me well for a while.

On Thursday and Friday everything went well. On Saturday night, Bill showed up and wanted to go to the dance. When I said I didn't want to go to the dance, Ruth's mother made Ruth stay home.

After that, Ruth hardly spoke to me, and I wanted to get out of there. It was too far to walk, so I waited until someone headed into town to get a ride with them. I was pretty discouraged by the time I got a ride.

I knew I had a brother in Reno County, south of Hutchinson, so instead of going back to near Beloit I went to Hutchinson and got a job there and didn't have a girlfriend for a long time.

The first night in Hutchinson I went to the Home Theater, which was a vaudeville show. Some call them girly shows. I started thinking "What if one of those girls was my sister? Would I approve of her doing that type of thing?" So I didn't go back.

The next night I went to the City Amusement Park. They had different kinds of music there, but I still felt uncomfortable. That was a Friday night.

By Saturday I had gotten a roommate, a 17-year-old boy. I was 18 or 19.