74 Bog-Trotting for Orchids 



They motioned me to join them. As I did so, great 

 gusts of wind dashed over us, and suddenly huge hail- 

 stones pelted the earth. Leaves and small twigs and 

 young apples fell on every side, while the half-grown 

 nuts from the Butternut-tree (^Juglans cinered), in the 

 doorj^ard, were soon stripped away, with the leaves 

 and broken limbs of the tree. Some of the hailstones 

 were the size of small hen's-eggs, perfect, oval ices 

 which might have been turned out of glass moulds. 



Soon the air became very chilly, as during the first 

 snow on a damp November day, while the ground was 

 white with hailstones. This abrupt change in the at- 

 mosphere from heat to extreme cold caused untimely 

 deaths in the chicken yard. The old mother hen lost 

 her head completely, and unable to find shelter in the 

 barn because of the banging doors, she put her head 

 in a crevice while her brood ran about and perished 

 wdth cold or were killed by the stones. 



Merwin's mother sadly watched the devastation of 

 her little garden, and the death of her chickens. It 

 was impossible to go to their rescue without danger 

 to our own heads. This storm continued about two 

 hours, alternating now and then with a calm, to return 

 again and again with sudden fury. At the end of that 

 time, although it still rained sadly, I started for home, 

 knowing that with rubber boots I could wade, if neces- 

 sary, through any ordinary streams. 



The weather had turned so cold that an icy coating 

 covered the meadow grass and the borders of the road, 

 and promised not to melt aw^ay in haste. 



