ing but little of trees and being interested in the 

 fire, I paid no attention to these cones until a 

 number of thin, brownish bits, like insects' 

 wings, came fluttering and eddying easily down 

 from the treetop. 



The ashes and the earth around me were still 

 warm, and the air was misty with smoke. Near 

 by, a tall snag and some fallen logs smoked and 

 blazed by turns. Again, a number of these 

 tissue bits came fluttering and whirling lightly 

 down out of the fire-killed treetop. Watching 

 carefully, I saw brown tissue bits, one after 

 another, silently climb out of a blackened cone 

 and make a merry one-winged flight for the 

 earth. An examination of these brown bits 

 showed that they were the fertile seeds of the 

 lodge-pole pine. With heroic and inspiring pio- 

 neer spirit, this indomitable tree was sowing 

 seeds, beginning the work of reconstruction 

 while its fire-ruined empire still smoked. 



It is the first tree to be up and doing after 

 destructive flames sweep by. Hoarded seeds by 

 the million are often set free by fire, and most of 

 these reach the earth within a few hours or a few 



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