2Q2 Musings by Camp- Fire and Wayside 



advantage of his misfortune and slay him. Hearing 

 his fitful moaning by day and night, the search had 

 a fascination, mingled with wonder and fear, such as 

 Adam had never felt before. He was about to 

 break into the realms of mystery and see for him- 

 self what was there. He hoped to look upon one 

 of the warriors that had taken part in the night 

 battle in the skies. At last he located the mysteri- 

 ous thing at the crossing of the tops of two trees, 

 one of which had fallen into the arms of the other; 

 but he could not see it — verily, it was a god! As the 

 sun rose over the trees the breeze grew stronger 

 and the mysterious being uttered growls and shrieks 

 of defiance. Smoke issued from between the inter- 

 locking arms. Suddenly flames leaped up and 

 curled and seethed through the piny foliage. 

 Adam fled precipitously to his cave. When the 

 night again came down he saw a huge yellow ser- 

 pent writhing along the mountain-side. It cast its 

 coils around dry trees and mounted to their tops. 

 Every bird and every living thing fled from this 

 monstrous thing. The tiger and the cave-bear, 

 which feared nothing on earth but each other, raced 

 away in terror, heedless of the galloping urus and 

 bounding stags, and plunging herds of stampeded 

 elephants. Why should this dragon, which could 

 clasp the mountains in its wrath, have whimpered 

 and moaned in the tops of the trees? It was plain 

 that every living thing knew his power and dreaded 

 it, the lion no less than the hare, the eagle no less 



