Ed. I am to nervus to write & I am just writeing to tell you whats came off & if 1 of these dutch men gets Minnie I want you to have the place Ed. & if any body makes a fus a bout it show them this letter & I dont want none of Minnies people to get a hold of it after what shes pulled off. I know now that the old man was right when he says I shouldent of never mixed up with the dutch. but its to late & what can I do. Minnies going to get rid of me just like she wanted to & the reason she done it this way in sted of sticking a knife in my back is because they cant never prove this on her. & prof. Baker says that any body with sence could of saw this comeing & Minnie knowed it before we left home & probly some of them dutch friends of hern tiped her off. your lucky Ed. & if I was to do it over again I would marry some old stiff with out no looks & it wouldent be no dutch man neither.
I been up on the deck since I begin this letter to see was they a boat comeing after us but they is none & evry body says its a cinch we will get to bremen. remmember Ed. I want you to have the place & an other thing I want you to do is to tell this hole thing to pres. Wilson & show him this letter if you half to go clear to Wash. & see that he gets these dutch for what they done to me. I am to nervus to write Ed. but I want you to have the place & dont let Minnies folks get a hold of it & take it your self Ed. you & Kate & do the best you can with it. Its a good thing now that you tended bar all them yrs. at callighans. If Louis Shaffer says any thing to you brake him in 2 & tell him what you think of he & his famly the hole kit & caboodel of them.
I been up on deck again & the capt. told prof. Baker we would be in bremen in 4 hours & prof. Baker says he will male this letter for me & look you up when he gets back. some day he will be back in the good old US but I wont never be Ed. & I wont never see you again & I wont even be burred in the semmitery where I payed for the lot & may be not burred at all but eat up by the croes. Minnies got the st. room door locked & wont let me in but I seen her since the news come & I told her what I think of her. She busted out crying & may be shes a little sorry now but what good is that now & why did she do it & why did she in sisst on us comeing & make me come when some thing told me I should stay home or go to cedar lake & why did I ever make that trip to french lick last winter or why wasent I sattisfide to marry a plane irish girl like you & leave the dutch to the dutch.
I am to nervus to write & I just want to tell you the place is yours & you wont never see Minnie again because even if the zar or some other dutch man dont grab her she will be a shamed to look you in the face. & good buy Ed. & god bless you & the same to Kate.
II
Bremen, Germ. .
Bro. Eddy. Well Eddy I says good buy to you in my last letter & I give prof. Baker the letter to male for me in case some thing hapened but nothing hapend & it wasent nessary for him to male the letter & I maled the letter my self & now Im writeing you an other letter when I dident expect never to be writeing to no body again & I wouldent of maled that other letter only I was to nervus to know what was it I was doing & now I got to write you this letter & let you know Im still a live & they wasent no navy over took us and when we got here they wasent no body even looked mad let a lone ack like they was going to shoot us full of holes. Minnie & prof. Baker says every body here are talking a bout the war.
As far is Im consernd I dont know what there talking a bout because they dont talk nothing but dutch & for all as I know they may be talking a bout the ball game. There all exited tho & theys solders all over town but what do I care a bout there solders because if they start after us all as we got to say is wear america citzens & they dont dare touch us. If they beggun monking with us uncle sam would here a bout it some ways & I guess pres. Wilson would make them wisht they had of left us a lone.
But Ed a man aint got no busness over here un lest he can talk dutch & Im glad our
