CHAPTER XII 



SIEEEA THUNDER-STOKMS 



THE weather of spring and summer in the mid 

 dle region of the Sierra is usually well flecked 

 with rains and light dustings of snow, most of 

 which are far too obviously joyful and life-giving 

 to be regarded as storms; and in the picturesque 

 beauty and clearness of outlines of their clouds 

 they offer striking contrasts to those boundless, all- 

 embracing cloud-mantles of the storms of winter. 

 The smallest and most perfectly individualized 

 specimens present a richly modeled cumulous cloud 

 rising above the dark woods, about 11 A. M., swell 

 ing with a visible motion straight up into the calm, 

 sunny sky to a height of 12,000 to 14,000 feet 

 above the sea, its white, pearly bosses relieved by 

 gray and pale purple shadows in the hollows, and 

 showing outlines as keenly defined as those of the 

 glacier-polished domes. In less than an hour it 

 attains full development and stands poised in the 

 blazing sunshine like some colossal mountain, as 

 beautiful in form and finish as if it were to become 

 a permanent addition to the landscape. Presently 

 a thunderbolt crashes through the crisp air, ring 

 ing like steel on steel, sharp and clear, its startling 

 detonation breaking into a spray of echoes against 



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