The Cold Snap | Page 2

degrees extra, if so be they make the temperature
superlatively low; while he would very likely grumble at a much less
positive chilliness coupled with the disheartening feeling that he was
enduring nothing extraordinary. The general exaltation of spirit and
suspension of the conventionalities for the time being, which an
extraordinarily, hot or cold snap produces in a community, especially in
the country, is noteworthy. During that run of mine to the post-office
every man I met grinned confidentially, as if to say, "We 're hearty
fellows to stand it as we do." We regarded each other with an increase
of mutual respect. That sense of fellowship which springs up between
those associated in an emergency seemed to dispense with ordinary
formalities, and neighbors with whom I had not a bowing acquaintance
fairly beamed on me as we passed.
After tea Ella (Ella was a sister) got the evening paper out of

somebody's overcoat, and was running it over in the dainty, skimming
fashion peculiar to the gentler sex when favoring the press with their
attention. It reminds one of sea-birds skimming the water, and anon
diving for a tidbit. She read aloud: "Old Prob. reports another cold
wave on the way East. It will probably reach the New England States
this evening. The thermometers along its course range from 40° below
zero at Fort Laramie, to 38° in Omaha, 31° in Chicago, and 30° in
Cleveland. Numerous cases of death by freezing are reported. Our
readers will do well to put an extra shovelful on the furnace overnight."
"Don't forget that, Jim," said father.
A gentleman friend called to take Ella out to a concert or something of
the sort. Her mother was for having her give it up on account of the
cold. But it so happens that young people, who, having life before them,
can much better afford than their elders to forego particular pleasures,
are much less resigned to doing so. The matter was compromised by
piling so many wraps upon her that she protested it was like being put
to bed. But, before they had been gone fifteen minutes, they were back
again, half frozen. It had proved so shockingly cold they had not dared
to keep on, and persuaded themselves accordingly that the
entertainment had probably been postponed. The streets were entirely
deserted; not even a policeman was visible, and the chilled gas in the
street lamps gave but a dull light.
Ella proposed to give us our regular evening treat of music, but found
the corner of the room where the melodeon stood too cold. Generally
the room is warm in every part, and Jim got upbraided for keeping a
poor fire. But he succeeded in proving that it was better than common;
the weather was the matter. As the evening wore on, the members of
the family gradually edged around the register, finally radiating from it
as a centre like the spokes of a wheel, of which the collected feet of the
group made the hub.
My wife is from the Southern States; and the huge cold of the North
had been a new and rather terrifying experience to her. She had been
growing nervous all the evening, as the signs and portents of the
weather accumulated. She was really half frightened.

"Aren't you afraid it will get so cold it will never be able to get warm
again,--and then what would become of us?" she asked.
Of course we laughed at her, but I think her fears infected me with a
slight, vague anxiety, as the evidences of extraordinary and still
increasing cold went on multiplying. I had so far gotten over my
bravado earlier in the evening that I should have been secretly relieved
if the thermometer had taken a turn.
At length, one by one, the members of the family, with an anticipatory
shiver over the register, went to their rooms, and were doubtless in bed
in the shortest possible time, and I fear without saying their prayers.
Finally my wife suggested that we had better go before we got too cold
to do so.
The bedroom was shockingly cold. Going to bed is a test of character. I
pride myself on the fact that generally, even when my room is cold, I
can, with steady nerve and resolute hand, remove the last habiliment,
and without undignified precipitation reach for and indue the nocturnal
garment, I admit, however, that on this occasion I gave way to a weak
irresolution at the critical instant and shivered for some moments in
constantly increasing demoralization, before I could make up my mind
to the final change. Then ensued the slow and gradual conquest of the
frozen bed to a tolerable warmth, a result attained only by clever
strategic combinations of bedclothes and the most