EDWARDS] NATURE-PLAY IN THE MOUNTAINS 



281 



Under the influence of the Knowles experiment we have taken 

 small week-end parties into the mountains. The boys have made 

 their beds on level places under the trees. Rolled up in blankets, 

 upon freshly harvested fallen leaves, redolent of the forest, and 

 roofed in only by a clear sky crowded with stars, the young 

 adventurers have rested after the day's climbing. One night, 

 midway to dawn, a little fellow ran to me crying — ^"Say, there's 

 a big owl up in the tree, throwing nuts at me." I reassured the 

 lad and soon, lying down by my side, he was dreaming again. 



Fig. 2. In the Little Santa Anita Canyon. 



Early one morning, before the first rays of the sun had lighted 

 the mountain crest, in Indian file the boys and I stole quietly up 

 toward the head of little Santa Anita Canyon. In some places 

 the sides of solid rock above the rushing water were so steep we 

 had almost to hang on by our teeth. Finally, in a forest glade 

 not fifty yards from us, three black-tail deer, two does and a fawn, 

 stood still for several minutes while we paused to watch the grace- 

 ful creatures. Our friend, who holds a lease of the region for his 

 camp, has treated the deer so kindly that they will frequently 

 approach near to the cabins. In past hunting seasons nian>- ot 

 these beautiful animals have been murdered by city s])()rtsnicn, 

 just for the fun of it. The "sport" of shooting one of these deer. 



