CHAPTER XI
THE POOR CAT
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue were now going farther down into the sunny South. They had left far behind the bleak and cold of the North where there was ice and snow when they had come away. In Georgia they had found soft winds and balmy skies, but now, as they were headed into Florida, they were to find it even warmer.
Orange Beach, where Mr. Brown expected to meet Mr. Halliday and attend to some business, was in the southern part of Florida, somewhat inland from the ocean and on a river which Bunny, at least, hoped would be filled with alligators.
As for Sue, all she hoped for was to gather oranges and orange blossoms. Both children, in a way, were to have their wishes gratified.
As the train went farther south, the scenery grew more and more green, for Bunny and Sue were getting into the land where there is never any snow or ice, and only occasionally a little frost, which all orange growers dread. Sometimes, to keep a frost from hurting the orange trees, great bonfires are built in the groves and kept going all night.
"Oh, look what a funny tree!" cried Sue, as the train was passing through a swampy bit of forest. "It looks as if it had whiskers!"
"Oh, isn't it funny!" echoed Bunny. "What is it, Daddy?"
Daddy Brown leaned toward the car window and looked out. Several trees were now seen, each one festooned with what Sue had called "whiskers."