QUERCUS ALBA 



out stint. Neighbors were comfort- 

 ably near, but friendly now. For 

 all this time he grew, his crown 

 rising season by season higher to- 

 ward the sky, his girth widening 

 by successive annual rings, his 

 great arms spreading wider and 

 wider. On and on the expansion 

 went, slowly but inevitably, until 

 the last point of development had 

 come, and the giant tree was no 

 longer a standard but a veteran. 

 Then, for some reason, gradually, as 



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