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10 THE ASTRAKHAN APPLE TREE BLOOMS

---------x--------THE ASTRAKHAN APPLE TREE BLOOMS - 1 THERE WERE no frosty nights this spring; even, suitable warmth prevailed while the earth was being prepared for seeding, and afterward mild, slow rains fell. All the grasses, herbs, and plants-cultivated and wild-shot up in a few days and grew in such lushness and abundance as the settlers had never before seen. The colder the winter the milder the spring. When they bored the sugar maples the sap flowed more plentifully than ever; the more severe the winter cold the greater the flow of nourishing fluid in the trees. The weather gave promise ofblessed crops next fall. And the Astrakhan apple tree at the gable blossomed for the fourth time. For three consecutive springs the blooms on the tree had frozen. This year they remained their full time, this year the apple tree would bear fruit for the first time. A sapling had grown up from seeds that had come from Kristina's parental home, DuvemiHa in Sweden, and now the sapling had grown into a tree. Kristina had worried lest the young roots freeze and die in the cold Minnesota winters. During the cold season the naked, icy branches poked up through the snowdrift against the wall as if reaching for help. But each year anew the large, rough, hairy leaves decked it in green. And now Kristina's tree had reached its fruiting age. Never before had it displayed so many blossoms. The white-pink flowers hung in clusters, and unharmed by frost or wind they lived their lives to fullness. Then the branches shed their flower clusters and the fruiting began. As the mild spring days passed, the limbs became covered with tiny green nuts; by summer the tiny apples crowded each other for space. The swelling ofthe fruit could be noticed from day to day; within a few summer weeks they would grow into large, juicy apples. 9I THE LAST LETTER HOME The Swedish tree bore a noble fruit; Kristin~s mouth watered as she thought ofthe fresh taste only Astrakhan apples offered. In this taste her childhood memories lay embedded: In the mornings when she picked the fallen fruit she would split an apple by squeezing it in her hand; then she would count the seed compartments: each apple had always five. The fragrance of the fresh fruit filled her nostrils like morning's own breath. She would bite into the apple, bite through its transparent skin to which the dew still clung, and moistened her lips. Here the Astrakhan apples were said to ripen in August. This autumn Kristinas own children would for the first time taste the fruit of a noble tree from the country where their mother had grown up. She pointed to the green, unripe fruit; soon they could eat the kind ofapples she had eaten at home. How delicious they were! But they must not touch them until the apples were ripe! Kristina would be able to show her children how she had transplanted part ofher childhood from the Old Country to the New. -2FROM THE WORLD outside their home came further evil tidings. The Civil War-predicted to last only a summer-had gone on through the whole winter , and,this spring it took on still greater proportions in combat and bitterness . Outing the first year the North and the South had fought each other to train, as it were, but during the second year the soldiers were experienced and knew how to handle their weapons. Consequently the war grew bloodier. The long-awaited successes ofthe North were not yet apparent, but the adversities were smaller than during the first year. The great trouble was that the Southern generals remained as clever as before while the Northern commanders were as incapable as ever. Karl Oskar had subscribed to the Minnesota Pioneer, printed in St. Paul, and he tried to follow the war in English. His two oldest sons, who read the language well, were very helpful to him. The news was seldom encouraging. But he still trusted fully the country's leader whom he had helped elect: Old Abe would put everything in order! Lincoln would save the Union! Sometimes, however, he wondered ifhe trusted so much in the President because he wished to rely on his own ability to select the man. They had not yet heard anything about the threatened draft. The North still had as many volunteers as they could train and equip. The number of soldiers...