134 FOREST FANCIES 



As Josiah made his slow way down the 

 stream, he met a woodchopper entering the 

 forest; and though he cried, " '0 woodsman, 

 spare that tree !' " the man, unheeding, passed. 

 Soon the early morning stillness was broken 

 by the sound of a quick axe, followed by the 

 crash of a falling tree. 



III. — The King of the Fokest 



One summer morning a bugle call awoke the 

 echoes among the mountains, and a young man 

 came merrily over the hills. As he went, he 

 meted out land for farm and for forest, that 

 Nature might best serve Man. At sight of a 

 pretty maid in the wood he swung off his big 

 gray hat and smiled. 



* ^Pardon me; I thought I was alone — alone 

 but for the wild things, the trees, and — God.'' 



*'I live here in the forest," she replied. 



'*I envy you," he said. 



**Then if you love the trees, why that hatchet 

 in your hand?" 



'^You don't think that I could cut down a 



