(ttlounfain^op 



mood and unable to decide whether to precipi- 

 tate or to move on. 



Commonly the upper surfaces of cloud-strata 

 appear like a peaceful silver-gray sea. They 

 appear woolly and sometimes fluffy, level, and 

 often so vast that they sweep away beyond the 

 horizon. Peaks and ridges often pierce their 

 interminable surface with romantic continents 

 and islands; along their romantic shores, above 

 the surface of the picturesque sea, the airship 

 could sail in safe poetic flight, though the foggy 

 depths below were too dense for any traveler 

 to penetrate. 



One spring the snow fell continuously around 

 my cabin for three days. Reports told that the 

 storm was general over the Rocky Mountain 

 region. Later investigations showed that that 

 cloud and storm were spread over a quarter of 

 a million square miles. Over this entire area 

 there was made a comparatively even deposit 

 of thirty inches of snow. 



All over the area, the bottom, or under sur- 

 face, of the cloud was at an altitude of approxi- 

 mately nine thousand feet. My cabin, with an 



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