E peculiar charm and fascination that trees 

 exert over many people I had always felt 

 from childhood, but it was that great nature-lover, 

 John Muir, who first showed me how and where 

 to learn their language. Few trees, however, ever 

 held for me such an attraction as did a gigantic 

 and venerable yellow pine which I discovered 

 one autumn day several years ago while explor- 

 ing the southern Rockies. It grew within sight 

 of the Cliff-Dwellers' Mesa Verde, which stands 

 at the corner of four States, and as I came 

 upon it one evening just as the sun was setting 

 over that mysterious tableland, its character and 

 heroic proportions made an impression upon 

 me that I shall never forget, and which familiar 

 acquaintance only served to deepen while it yet 

 lived and before the axeman came. Many a time 

 I returned to build my camp-fire by it and have 



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