Page:Six months in Kansas.djvu/157



, 1856.

,—You will feel anxious, to have a whole month pass by without even a word from us. It has, however, been the fault of no one. Soon after closing my last, sickness and the most freezing cold weather entered hand-in-hand into the cabin. Both were wholly unexpected guests, and quite unprepared for. The cold never took such a fearful grasp of this country before, within the memory of Indian or missionary. The cabins of new settlers, from necessity poor at best, are made with the understanding that winters here are not severe. Think of the thickness of a "shake" only, between one and the cold measuring twenty degrees below zero!

A sorry sort of experience the past month has been to our little household; cheered very often, it is true, by the great kindness and constant attention of people about us;