236 WAITING IN THE WILDERNESS 



little for identification marks until they learned 

 how living things made a living, what ad- 

 ventures were their lot, when and where the wild 

 folks worked and played especially how they 

 played and why each living thing lived in a 

 particular locality. Just as people who want the 

 story of Robinson Crusoe care little for the name 

 of the author, or what the book looks like they 

 want to identify the book by knowing the story. 

 So it is with the great story of Natural History; 

 it is not the identification marks and brands of 

 natural history figures that make the outdoors 

 delightful and helpful. Ninety-nine per cent, of 

 woodcraft is first-hand experience. 



A tree that has more than a single leader or 

 top point probably has had an adventure with 

 wind, porcupine, a falling tree, insects, or some- 

 thing that removed the original single top. 

 So when I see a double-topped tree I wonder 

 what has happened in the treetop. And in 

 treetops I have had adyentures numerous and 

 exciting; adventures with ants, with swarms of 

 bees, with two skunks, with a porcupine, with 

 breaking limbs, with two bear cubs, with a black 

 bear under me coming up to see what I was like 

 who was not frightened, while I was frightened 

 enough for both and I have watched forest fires, 

 rain- and wind-storms from treetops. 



The information found in treetops and else- 



