My First Summer 



these darlings of Nature coming forth from 

 spray-sprinkled nests on the brink of savage 

 streams, Samson's riddle comes to mind, 

 "Out of the strong cometh forth sweetness/ 1 

 A yet finer bloom is this little bird than 

 the foam-bells in eddying pools. Gentle 

 bird, a precious message you bring me. 

 We may miss the meaning of the torrent, 

 but thy sweet voice, only love is in it. 



July 13. Our course all day has been 

 eastward over the rim of Yosemite Creek 

 basin and down about halfway to the bot- 

 tom, where we have encamped on a sheet 

 of glacier-polished granite, a firm founda- 

 tion for beds. Saw the tracks of a very large 

 bear on the trail, and the Don talked of 

 bears in general. I said I should like to see 

 the maker of these immense tracks as he 

 marched along, and follow him for days, 

 without disturbing him, to learn something 

 of the life of this master beast of the wil- 

 derness. Lambs, the Don told me, born in 

 the lowland, that never saw or heard a bear, 



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