204 THE EARTH MADE READY FOR MAN 



ago, so hot that the rain hissed off in steam the mo- 

 ment it touched its surface, had no great ridges upon 

 it. But when it became colder and a crust of soUd 

 rock had formed, the surface began to crack and 

 wrinkle, that is, the mountains appeared. The 

 mysterious force within our earth which God used 

 pushed and crumpled the crust of the earth as it 

 grew cold, making cracks and fissures all through 

 the rocks, and finally raising them up in long ridges. 



If you should take the leaves of your book, or 

 some sheets of paper which are lying flat, and push 

 them from each side they would rise up in a ridge. 

 Try it and see if they do not. If it had been the 

 book cover that you had pushed, it would have 

 cracked and broken where you bent it. 



In the same way the rocks of the earth's crust 

 cracked and broke when they were bent upwards, 

 and the chains of jagged mountains were formed. 

 This opened up to the action of rain water the 

 hidden rocks, bringing them nearer to the surface 

 where man can find their treasures. The moun- 

 tains, you see, are the doors through which God 

 opens the storehouses of His underworld. 



Those long chains of mountains which have been 

 folded up on the earth do even more for us than to 

 bring the storehouses of the underground rocks 

 within our reach. They help to fill the storehouses 

 which we have learned are upon the surface of the 

 earth. For they cover their own slopes and the valleys 

 below with growing things. They catch the clouds 

 that come floating in from the ocean and cause them 

 to give up the rain which they hold. They store up 



