The Cretaceous Seas 157 



able with her beside me. With her appreciative 

 ear, to listen for what my mind conceived, and 

 my lips uttered, she never contradicted me when 

 I uttered an opinion. No! she realized that I, 

 with my vast store of experience might well be 

 her teacher, and she enjoyed the story of my life 

 so much that her eager face, and flashing eyes, 

 were a stimulus to my mind, awakening old ex- 

 periences and memories long forgotten. Although 

 she had been with me for a short time, she had 

 become necessary to me. I knew how much I 

 would miss her in the adventures that lay before 

 me. While these thoughts were passing, I was 

 delighted to hear her gentle voice call out "Papa, 

 here I am." And looking up I saw her leaning 

 out of the mouth of a cave a short distance above 

 me. I cried out with pleasure and rushing to 

 the beach picked up the dry trunk of a small 

 pine, with stumps of branches on either side. I 

 carried it to the bluff and leaning against it, 

 made a convenient ladder for Maud to descend on 

 which she rapidly did, and stood beside me. Of 

 course our chief talk was about this miraculous 

 event in our lives and we wondered what was in 

 store for us. We thrilled with delight when we 

 realized how lovely the country was. The cli- 

 mate temperature. We smelled the delicious 

 odor of magnolia blooms, for a beautiful forest 

 skirted the hills and plains before us to the east, 

 and north and south, while to the west, as far as 

 the eye could reach a great ocean, whose western 



