and permanent — delusion though it may be. 

 Whatever convulsions they may have know^n vs^ere 

 birth throes and growing pains. Venerable beyond 

 human conception, their life is measured, not in 

 years, nor yet in centuries, but in epochs and eons 

 of time; and out of this inconceivable antiquity, 

 w^ith its tumultuous youth, has come repose at 

 last — a serene old age. 



One readily understands in the mountains how 

 the old myths of the gods and giants arose. Why 

 should not the gods have dwelt on Olympus — 

 and here in the Rockies as well? What place 

 more fitting ? A setting, stern and heroic, and not 

 altogether hospitable to the puny race of man. 

 There are places of such sublimity and desolation, 

 you feel you have looked in upon Olympus when 

 the gods were away, and that any moment they 

 may return with their thunderbolts. Wandering 

 alone in these regions is like an excursion into 

 legendary lore — and one would better wander 

 alone, for in our deepest moments the mountains 

 are company enough. 



One companion you may have — should have, 

 in the mountains — a horse, a kindly and sociable 

 animal, who knows your foibles as you know his, 

 176 



