AUTUMN 13 



spruces must have stood there. Some of 

 them, in all likelihood, were of a good height 

 long before any white man set foot on this 

 continent. Many of them were already old 

 before they ever saw a paleface. What 

 dwarfs and weaklings these restless creatures 

 are, that once in a while come puffing up the 

 hillside, halting every few minutes to get 

 their breath and stare foolishly about ! 

 What murderer's curse is on them, that they 

 have no home, no abiding-place, where they 

 can stay and get their growth? 



It is a precious and solemn stillness that 

 falls upon a man in these lofty woods. 

 Across the narrow pass, as he looks through 

 the branches, are the long, rugged upper 

 slopes of Lafayette, torn with slides and 

 gashed into deep ravines. Far over his head 

 soar the trees, tall, branchless trunks push- 

 ing upward and upward, seeking the sun. 

 In their leafy tops the wind murmurs, and 

 here and there a bird is stirring. Now a 

 chickadee lisps, or a nuthatch caUs to his 

 fellow. Out of the tangled, round-leaved 

 hobble-bushes underneath an occasional robin 

 may start with a quick note of surprise, or a 



