34 BRUNO 



CHAPTER VI 



TT is hard to remember just when we first be- 

 gan to talk Florida. Then a neighbor went 

 down there on a prospecting tour, and returned 

 bringing enthusiastic accounts of the climate 

 and opportunities. We were greatly interested, 

 and at once sent off for various Florida papers, 

 pamphlets, and books. 



Julius had always dreaded the bleak northern 

 winters, having some chronic troubles, a 

 legacy of the Civil War. It is only in literature 

 that a delicate man is interesting; practically, 

 it subjects him to endless trials and humilia- 

 tions, so we never gave his state of health as a 

 reason for the proposed change. Instead, we 

 flourished my tender throat. A woman may be 

 an invalid without loss of prestige, so not one 

 of our friends suspected that our proposed 

 change of climate was not solely on my account. 



We decided that as soon as our northern 

 property could be disposed of, we would turn 

 our faces southward and try pioneering. 



