196 With Feet to the Earth 



will fly to. It has more sheer vigor and 

 exhilaration when it gets upon a mountain 

 top ; but up there it seldom has anything 

 to fight, for it likes to wrestle, it enjoys cut- 

 ting itself against trees, wires, and fences, 

 as a horse on the last stretch of a race 

 takes whip and spur ; so it booms and 

 hisses among the weeds and rocks, and 

 swoops down the leeward slope to tussle 

 with the woods. But they love it, too, 

 even when it costs them, here and there, a 

 branch or a hatful of foliage, for they can 

 repair themselves. And to see the golden 

 rain of leaves at such a time is worth long 

 journeys. Every live man knows that the 

 world wakes when the wind blows. How 

 the clouds hurry and dance, the water ruf- 

 fles and leaps, the loose earth flies, and 

 trees wave their arms as if appealing to be 

 made foot-loose, that they, too, might be 

 as men, walking ! Failing that, the trees 

 clutch their toes the tighter into the ground 

 and thrash their limbs and bend and toss 

 their heads. Perhaps by exercise they 

 grow in height and grace, like other crea- 

 tures, as we know they do in muscle. The 



