SHASTA RAIMBLES 



ing winds, how busy they are, and what a 

 breadth of sound and motion they make, gUnt- 

 ing and bubbling about the crags of the sum- 

 mit, sifting through the woods, feehng their 

 way from grove to grove, ruffling the loose hair 

 on the shoulders of the bears, fanning and rock- 

 ing young birds in their cradles, making a 

 trumpet of everj^ corolla, and canying their 

 fragrance aroimd the world. 



In unsettled weather, when storms are grow- 

 ing, the mountain looms immensely higher, 

 and its miles of height become apparent to all, 

 especially in the gloom of the gathering clouds, 

 or when the storm is done and they are rolling 

 away, torn on the edges and melting while in 

 the sunshine. Slight rain-storms are likely to 

 be encountered in a trip round the mountain, 

 but one may easily find shelter beneath well- 

 thatched trees that shed the rain like a roof. 

 Then the shining of the wet leaves is deUght- 

 ful, and the steamy fragrance, and the burst 

 of bird-song from a multitude of thrushes and 

 finches and warblers that have nests in the 

 chaparral. 



The nights, too, are dehghtful, watching 

 with Shasta beneath the great starr\' dome. A 

 thousand thousand voices are heard, but so 

 finely blended they seem a part of the night 

 itself, and make a deeper silence. And how 



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