In the Sierra 



streams, and making them shout and boom 

 in reply to the thunder. 



How interesting to trace the history of 

 a single raindrop! It is not long, geologi- 

 cally speaking, as we have seen, since the 

 first raindrops fell on the newborn leafless 

 Sierra landscapes. How different the lot of 

 these falling now ! Happy the showers that 

 fall on so fair a wilderness, scarce a single 

 drop can fail to find a beautiful spot, on 

 the tops of the peaks, on the shining glacier 

 pavements, on the great smooth domes, on 

 forests and gardens and brushy moraines, 

 plashing, glinting, pattering, laving. Some 

 go to the high snowy fountains to swell 

 their well-saved stores; some into the lakes, 

 washing the mountain windows, patting 

 their smooth glassy levels, making dimples 

 and bubbles and spray ; some into the water- 

 falls and cascades, as if eager to join in their 

 dance and song and beat their foam yet 

 finer; good luck and good work for the 

 happy mountain raindrops, each one of 



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