XLI 



THE BROOK'S TOOLS AND ITS WORK 



"TELL me," I said to the visiting Geologist, 

 "how our brooks and gorges came to be." 



"That is simple," said he, and straightway be- 

 gan to talk about glacial epochs and erosion and 

 levels. 



We were sitting in the Professor's library before 

 the open fire, while outside a very deluge of rain 

 was falling. I always liked the Geologist. Although 

 physically he looked down on ordinary individuals 

 from a lofty height, he did not try to "tower it" 

 over us intellectually. He talked to me even as 

 to an equal, and I appreciated the compliment, 

 though I did not always understand what he said. 



When he was through, I inquired, "Then did 

 the water itself actually make the gorge in which 

 it flows, and not the glacier?" 



I had a suspicion that this was really what he 

 had been telling me all along, but I wanted it 

 put in a simpler way. 



Very patiently he began again. 



"As the glacier melted under the influence of 

 the sun and the rain there was much water to be 

 disposed of. This water could not well stand still, 

 for the hillsides were too sloping. It simply 

 obeyed the law of gravitation and followed the 

 path of least resistance. This path was not often 



