Philip of Texas - James Otis |
We were hardly more than thus housed before a distant roaring could be heard, not unlike thunder, and in a short time the wind was upon us in a perfect hurricane, cold as icy water.
At one instant the perspiration had been running down my face because of the exertion of hurrying the sheep and mules into the fort, and in the next I felt as if I had taken a plunge into a bank of snow.
My teeth chattered as I followed the Mexicans, who were running into one of the buildings, and I noticed, as I went at full speed, that the mules and the cattle had turned tail to the storm of wind, standing with lowered heads, as such beasts are wont to do during a tempest.
There was no rain, but a sort of mist hung in the air, which soon gave way to a blue haze, and I fancied it had a peculiar odor, like the smoke from burning straw. I paid no great attention to it at the time, however, so eager was I to come to the heat of the fire, which had been speedily built in that hut to which the Mexicans fled for refuge.
It was while I stood there striving to get some comfort from the cheery blaze, that the leader of the company came into the room. Joining me at the fireplace, and knowing of course by this time that I was having my first experience with a Texan "norther," he explained to me the peculiarity of these storms, which, as I found out later, are frequent in these regions.