December 2 Thursday – Arden Smith stopped at Sam’s house in a fifteen minute span when he was returning to the depot to bring a guest back. Sam had left for the wrong train and so went out into a “bitter blizzard” again. Smith, possibly a member of family friends, left this note:

Banking on the old Missouri acquaintance and the family friendship I enclose some business scrip with the hope that you will have leisure to drop down some evening and see my son ‘Edwin Arden’ in our play. It has been a great success.

Smith asked Sam to help with the local press. Was this a personal note or an actor angling for free publicity? Sam wrote across the left margin of this letter: P.S. So It’s all right, after all. It was business, but he had not time to wait [MTP].