Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-02-29

north.
Our orange and grape fruit trees We're
not yet in bearing, and, in fact had been
nipped hard by the December frost the
week before we came, but the weather had
been so warm after our arrival that we
found it difficult to believe that a really
cold night was possible in Florida.
Yet even us we sat there tanning our
selves a negro known as Dandy Green,
who works a little patch" of his own in
the pine woods half mile beyond our
place, came Gathering, muleback, along
the road that leads to Citrus Park. Seeing
my brother on tho veranda, Dandy pulled
up and shouted:
''De's cole wabe COMM Look out fer
yer cukes."
Ruel laughed outright 1t sounded like
joke.
''Oh, I'ze a-tellin you do troof, Cap'n
Rool,' Dandy cried. "Shes comm fer
sho.''
bring on your cold wave" Ruel re-
marked, laughing. Just come out into
the field, girls, and see those bean heads
poke up the dirt, - he continued, swing
ing to his feet. We all followed him, but
had scarcely turned the corner when felt
a cool puff of wind from the northwest.
'Ah, doesn't that feel refreshing!"
Gene exclaimed.
Yes; fetch on the cole wabe, " said
Ruel, and he stopped to take good long
breath. We then noticed that the sky in
tho northwest had turned dull, dark
color.
well, that's queer!" Ruel said, looking
along the bean rows. They've stopped
hopping. But don't the rows of whtish
green bean heads look odd, just coming
out of the ground? What would thoy
think of this in old Vermont for the 18th
day of February? You must write mother
about it, Mat
While we stood there for less than ten
minutes, looking at tho beans, the sky
darkened SO rapidly that the sunshine
faded out, and scattered drops Of rain fell
such cool puffs OF wind cams that quite
suddenly Gene turned up the collar of her
thin shirt waist.
You're not cold'' Ruel said.
NO but it is really great deal cooler"
she replied.
Gene and went back to the house. and
in ten minutes more we were closing tho
windows. The wind blew in gusts and
the whole sky had turned dark.
Ruel came in and put on his sweater;
then wheeled out his bicycle
I'm going up to the Park station" he
said to rs.
The distance is three miles. and he was
gone about 40 minutes, should think,
but before he came back Gene and had
kindled a fire and put on our wool dresses.
did you ever see such wind?" Ruel
pyrl1iO1pI a ho 4 Ln
west veranda. Here, Gene, come shut
this door when take in my wheel, or you
will be blown out of the room. A cut
ting, cold wind too. I could hardly keep
warm riding.
And do you know what the operator
at the station says, girls?" he added
HE says there's norther coming, and l
begin to believe it. Have you looked at
the thermometer
We had not but we found on inspection
that the temperature had dropped to 81
degrees, fall of 81 degrees in two hours
WELL thank fortune, it is still % de-
grees above freezing pointr' Ruel replied,
coming to the fire. Il don't believe it
will drop low enough to freeze the crops.
It's because we wear thin clothes and tho
early part of the day was so hot that we
shiver So.
The wind increased toward night, and
SO did the cold. Geno and + bestirrcd
ourselves to prepare warm supper Ruel
was out of doors stopping the windmill,
which had pumped the tank full of water
and was flooding the back yard He look
ed blue with cold when at last he came ill.,
mo oranges or grape fruit for me to-
night. Fry some bacon, girls, and let's
I,,r. l. III.
he.
While we were cooking he went out into
the field to secure three or four fertilizer
barrels that the wind was rolling about
1t grew dark by o'clock-an inky kind
of darkness One could not see objects
two yards distant from the veranda steps,
and the searching wind blew out tho two
hanging lanterns which we usually kept
burning near the door.
'Forty-six degrees Ruel announced
when he came in. 'Girls, Pm fri ghtened
You don't suppose everything is going TO
freeze, do you? Think what that II be to
us, Why, our all is il it,
For the first time real anxiety was felt
by us, and tho hot supper failed to cheer
us, for frost would destroy nearly every
thing we possessed. In Vermont we had
sometimes lost few green plants in the
spring or in the fall, but had never known
any real anxiety from cold weather. Here
we had 81 acres of tender green vegetables
which had just broken the ground under
temperature of so degrees, and now the
mercury was sinking deep into the fortics
and what felt like a wintry hurricane was
raging.
Ruel pushed back his plate and went to
the blackening window. "This will be
tough night for cucumbers, - he muttered
"Who would have believed it:''
Few Florida houses are built to with
stand wild weather. Drafts wandered in
and played crisscross about our sitting
room. Cold puffs of piercing air drove us
close to the little fireplace, the heat from
which appeared wholly lost. The house
creaked, the lamp fiared and smoked at
each rush Of the storm. Ruel was obliged
to fetch the thermometer close up outside
the window to read it. Once an hour he
dashed out to see how it stood. At s
O'Clock it indicated IL degrees, and at 9
49,
Thirty eight, and still dropping" said
he. I'VE are in for it. Florida will freeze
out tonight, sure.
l can scarcely describe the sense of loss