In the Sierra 



another mountain range with topography 

 as rugged and substantial-looking as the 

 one beneath it snowy peaks and domes 

 and shadowy Yosemite valleys another 

 version of the snowy Sierra, a new creation 

 heralded by a thunder-storm. How fiercely, 

 devoutly wild is Nature in the midst of 

 her beauty-loving tenderness ! painting 

 lilies, watering them, caressing them with 

 gentle hand, going from flower to flower 

 like a gardener while building rock moun- 

 tains and cloud mountains full of lightning 

 and rain. Gladly we run for shelter beneath 

 an overhanging clifF and examine the re- 

 assuring ferns and mosses, gentle love tokens 

 growing in cracks and chinks. Daisies, too, 

 and ivesias, confiding wild children of light, 

 too small to fear. To these one's heart goes 

 home, and the voices of the storm become 

 gentle. Now the suri breaks forth and fra- 

 grant steam arises. The birds are out singing 

 on the edges of the groves. The west is flam- 

 ing in gold and purple, ready for the cere- 



