A Tale from the Skidway 39 



snow and wondered if it hurt my sire to have 

 his sap chipped out like that. At first I 

 thought he would be able to withstand them, 

 I had seen him battle successfully with the 

 hurricane so many times, but I soon saw that 

 he was doomed, and a deep sense of loneliness 

 came over me, even before I saw him laid 

 low. 



" Finally I saw the two choppers looking 

 up at the dark blue tip-top plumes of the giant 

 tree, which were sharply silhouetted against 

 the sky. Already the giant tree had begun to 

 totter and waver, like an old man who leans 

 upon his staff. First he swayed a bit one 

 way, and then the other, and finally, with a 

 great rush of wind that was like the roar of 

 a mighty tempest, and a cloud of snow that 

 was thrown up as it struck, the noble pine 

 lay upon the breast of its mother earth, never 

 to rise again. 



" My sire had fallen within ten feet of me, 

 and, had I been struck, I should have been 

 broken to bits. 



" Once, while they were limbing out the 



