Handwritten letter from Pauline “Paul” Starkey Wells in Woodside, CA to her sister, Gertrude Starkey Pitcairn. Seal pressed into the upper lefthand corner reads “CAREW” surrounded by a laurel wreath. Paul has been anxiously awaiting Gertrude’s letter and was glad to receive it. She expects to hear the decision sometime next week. If she can’t come home now, she wonders if she might come home in the spring. She was interested to hear about Gertude’s boy; She knew Gertrude could make “a lovely guardian angel for some poor boy that needed help.” Although she did not care for David when she first arrived in California, Paul has come to “like him well,” and he has been a comfort to her in her homesickness. She believes he would make an honest, independent gentleman and “man of the world,” and she has been “trying to put a little spiritual-mindedness into him” as well. She is disappointed that it will likely rain tomorrow because their Sunday walks through the woods are the only times she and Davie can speak together alone. Her cut “shadow pictures” are very popular there. She has taught Addie and David how to do them, though Addie doesn’t cut accurately enough. Paul is glad the Parkhursts are in Vineland, and she inquires whether Dan (?) is also there. She hopes Geroge will write to her, and she thinks he could be a help to Willis. She instructs Gertrude not to let Will get tired of hearing her name, “because if you are going to be his sister, I want him to like your sister.” Names mentioned: Dr. Tuller, Willis / Will (Tuller?), David / Davie / Dave, Addie (Adeline Tripp?), the Parkhursts, Dan (?), George (George G. Starkey) Places mentioned: Vineland