QjKimt&imc6 



ern sky it had a column of snow whirling that 

 was dazzling white in the afternoon sun. On my 

 left a mountain rose with easy slope to crag- 

 crowned heights, and for miles swept away before 

 me with seared side barren and dull. A few cloud- 

 lets of snowdrifts and a scattering of mere tufts 

 of snow stood out distinctly on this big, bare 

 slope. 



I wondered what could be holding these few 

 spots of snow on this wind-swept slope. I finally 

 went up to examine one of them. Thrust out and 

 lifted just above the snow of the tuft before me 

 was the jeweled hand of a kinnikinick; and every 

 snow-deposit on the slope was held in place by 

 the green arms of this plant. Here was this beau- 

 tiful vinelike shrub gladly growing on a slope 

 that had been forsaken by all other plants. 



To state the situation fairly, all had been burned 

 off by fire and Kinnikinick was the first to come 

 back, and so completely had fires consumed the 

 plant-food that many plants would be unable to 

 live here until better conditions prevailed and the 

 struggle for existence was made less severe. Kin- 

 nikinick was making the needed changes; in time 



i73 



