LET US GO AFIELD 



with the Sierra? The Rockies? Do you know 

 how exceedingly beautiful Nature is in some of the 

 most favored portions of those countries, how ex- 

 tremely fascinating they are in the best of Nature's 

 moods ? In the high mountains the air is so brilliant 

 it carries an actual sting, almost like that of dia- 

 mond rays. The grass and the trees are as green as 

 emeralds not less. The blue of the cloudless sky 

 so much bluer than you ever can see blue in lower 

 or moister countries is deep sapphire, or sapphire 

 plus something. 



The sunset is made up of a million giant opals. 

 Topaz and tourmaline lurk in all the rocks. Lapis 

 lazuli and aquamarine lie at the bottom of all the 

 lakes. Have you never sat on the high shoulder of 

 some hill, up near the clouds, where the wind blew 

 clean, and felt the same fascination you experienced 

 when you looked at a mass of glitt'-.mg gems 

 jewels accumulated by some monarch who could 

 afford to buy them and keep them just as this Re- 

 public can afford to buy and keep the best of its 

 mountain landscapes? 



It is enough simply to be alive in the high Sierra, 

 in the upper Rockies above the timber line, up 

 near the snow. Lower down, also, the scent of the 

 pines, the taste of the white water, the sight of the 

 blue, wavering pennant of the camp fire these are 



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