230 THE ADVENTURES OF A NATURE GUIDE 



was so alert, so quiet, and always so cheerful and 

 wide awake. She often went off alone to climb 

 the near-by trails, or for a ride on her burro. Of 

 course she enjoyed playing with other children. 

 Though she had never been to school she had 

 learned to read, and every day out of doors she 

 appeared to be learning new things. 



She was constantly surprising me by asking a 

 lively and original question which showed that 

 she saw many of the interesting things around her 

 and wondered about them. 



"How do beavers sharpen their teeth?" she 

 asked one day. We had returned a few hours be- 

 fore from a visit to a beaver colony, where we 

 had seen a number of large, dead trees whose hard 

 wood showed the marks of the beavers' gnawing. 



Harriet really wanted to get on top of Long's 

 Peak; she was curiously, thoughtfully interested 

 in the things to be seen on the summit of this 

 rocky, snowy landmark that towered so grandly 

 14,255 feet into the sky. Although I had never 

 taken anyone so young I was eager to go up with her. 



One autumn day, just after Harriet was eight 

 years of age, we went up. We started off on 

 horseback. The trail begins in a mountain valley, 

 9,000 feet above sea level. The Peak rises in the 

 sky one mile higher. After galloping a short dis- 

 tance we walked our ponies so that they might 

 breathe for a stretch before taking another gallop. 

 Harriet wanted to know why it was we slowed 



