Music of the Wild 



so close I could focus six of them, the least large 

 enougli to he considered unusual in hrokeu Avood, 

 on one small jjhotograj^hic jjlate. ^Vhere several 

 sprang from a common ])ase some of them were 

 forced to lean, but the great average grew skyward 

 straight as ])ines, and in tlie stillest hour the wind 

 whispered among the interlaced hranches. and in a 

 gale roared to drown the Aoice of the thunder. 



Little trees beginning their upward struggle to 



reach the light caused me to feel that they were 



The Abid- destroying pictures of great beauty. At last we 



ing Place fom,,j j^,^ elevation of some heiyht and climbing 



of the Al- . . . ^ ^ 



mighty 't. scciu'cd tlic view that awaited us. As soon as 

 we ^yeve level with the top of the undergrowth, 

 that was a tangle in the most open spaces, not 

 so dense wliere the trees grew closer together, it 

 a])peared to stretch aAvay endlessly, making a vari- 

 egated, mossy, green floor that at a little distance 

 seemed sufficiently material to bear o\n- weight. 

 Knowing this to be an illusion, I sent my soid join*- 

 neying, instead. Crowding everyA\here arose the 

 big, Aine-entA\'ined tree trunks, stretching from 

 forty to seventy feet to their branching. The cool 

 air of this enclosed space between the bush tops 

 and the tree brandies had a spicy fragrance. The 

 carpet of green velvet beloAv and the roof of green 

 branches above formed a dominant emerald note; 

 but it was mellowed witli the soft grays of the tree 

 trunks and tinted with tlie penetrant blue of the 



40 



